DCAWD.com

I want one!

http://vimeo.com/6194911

That is pretty awesome!!!

Very cool!

wow! that initial lift was seriously quick!

Different device. Same idea. All I gotta say is.. where the hell is Gordon Freeman when you need him?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvRTALJp8DM[/video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geqip_0V ... r_embedded[/video]

I need this thing!

wow.

OK, I was trying to think why the Fukushima plant operators don't use stuff like this to take a closer look at the reactors.

Seems ol' Holger Buss has upped his design and can now carry some serious hardware with pan tilt mount. The upgraded software even lets him program POI route following.
Bu I think the best bit is his Follow-Me transmitter where the platform follows the transmitter while recording. That would be awesome to get Shawn and Katie's GoPro setup on that and have an aerial platform that follows the transmitter around the course.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nG7SrWn000[/video]

the radiation can screw with radio control and more importantly, the extreme heat causes nasty updrafts that can throw off stability (i.e. hot air rises, especially when its 700F)

^^^ Yep. The processors that can handle that type of thing are quite a few generations behind todays CPU's. For instance the BEA RAD 750 runs at 200Mhz, and then you need the rad hardened memory and boards. lol, I don't think that thing would work too well with a lead box attached to it! The temps are another reason (as Dan said) that it would be difficult. Would I think it was cool if it could be done? HELL YA.

BTW, great idea about the following camera for Katie/Shawn!!!!! Want to build one?!?! I'd certainly give it a go.

Sweet upgrades...just another step in them turning on us

PGT wrote:the radiation can screw with radio control and more importantly, the extreme heat causes nasty updrafts that can throw off stability (i.e. hot air rises, especially when its 700F)

The POI route following is on-board control, no radio signal received to be jammed or scrambled.

The software also blends accelerometers and GPS-based Z position information that lets you set an altitude. If you watch the earlier ones, he walks over and gives the thing a shove and it returns to the original set position immediately. For the lighter payloads, vertical flight is more than 4.5 m/s, but updrafts are not a problem as lift will be reduced. In GPS guide mode, the position is maintained within 5M, but will use the three accelerometers, the attitude is monitored at 1000 Hz to maximize stability of the platform, and then you have the isolated pan and tilt mount that always keeps the aperture pointed at the position target, regardless of vertical or horizontal position. You could program a 300 ft pirouette around a point, and the camera will always stay pointed at the center.

Operating temps are up to 104 F for that model, so you can't fly directly over the exposed core, but climb to 100 meters with a cross-wind component, and you would not even be in the thermal plume.

I always thought that transitive effects on unshielded processors and circuits start becoming noticeable at around 800 mS of gamma and 500 Ms for neutron. For emergency use like this, I would say beta and alpha are not present in concentrated dosage in the air to worry about. Just spray the thing down when it flys home.
You would have to fly very close and stay longer than the batteries would allow for the circuits to degrade so badly that you would not be able to recover it.

But c'mon, at $5k a pop, who cares of you fly one right into the reactor? You aren't going to make the problem any worse, right? You just know to increase the radius around the plant and shorten the dwell time.

At least people would be able to get some more info than what seems to be available now.

Shoot, sell 10 sec clips to the different news agencies and make a %3000 return on investment.