10 drones with the best flight times [from $30 to $3000]I visited the University of Torino in 2007 to speak with the team developing UAVs for the World Food Program. Since then, I’ve bought and tested two small UAVs of my own so I can use this new technology to capture aerial imagery during disasters; like the footage below from the Philippines. UAVs, or drones, have a very strong military connotation for many of us. But so did space satellites before Google Earth brought satellite imagery into our homes and changed our perceptions of said technology. So it stands to reason that UAVs and aerial imagery will follow suit. This explains why I’m a proponent of the Drone Social Innovation Award, which seeks to promote the use of civilian drone technology for the benefit of humanity. I’m on the panel of judges for this award, which is why I reached out to DanOffice IT, a Swiss-based company that deployed two drones in response to Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines. The drones in question are Huginn X1’s, which have a flight time of 25 minutes with a range of 2 kilometers and maximum altitude of 150 meters.

I recently spoke with one of the Huginn pilots who was in Tacloban. He flew the drone to survey shelter damage, identify blocked roads and search for bodies in the debris (using thermal imaging cameras mounted on the drone for the latter). The imagery captured also helped to identify appropriate locations to set up camp. When I asked the pilot whether he was surprised by anything during the operation, he noted that road-clearance support was not a use-case he had expected. I’ll be meeting with him in Switzerland in the next few weeks to test-fly a Huginn and explore possible partnerships. I’d like to see closer collaboration between the Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) and groups like DanOffice, for example. Providing DHN-member Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (HOTosm) with up-to-date aerial imagery during disasters would be a major win. This was the concept behind OpenAerialMap, which was first discussed back in 2007. While the initiative has yet to formally launch, PIX4D is a platform that “converts thousands of aerial images, taken by lightweight UAV or aircraft into geo-referenced 2D mosaics and 3D surface models and point clouds.”

This platform was used in Haiti with the above drones. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) partnered with Drone Adventures to map over 40 square kilometers of dense urban territory including several shantytowns in Port-au-Prince, which was “used to count the number of tents and organize a ‘door-to-door’ census of the population, the first step in identifying aid requirements and organizing more permanent infrastructure.” This approach could also be applied to IDP and refugee camps in the immediate aftermath of a sudden-onset disaster. All the data generated by Drone Adventures was made freely available through OpenStreetMap. If you’re interested in giving “drones for social good” a try, I recommend looking at the DJI Phantom and the AR.These are priced between $300- $600, which beats the $50,000 price tag of the Huginn X1. This entry was posted in Crisis Mapping, Drones/UAVs, Humanitarian Technologies, Satellite Imagery and tagged Aerial, Disaster, drone, Imagery, Response, UAV.

Top Tips to Avoid Online Scams Tech Toys & Gadgets We’ve seen the very promising Parrot Disco announced early this year and now, the French company has announced its availability this September. It’s also got a price tag for those interested in trying out this unique drone. As a recap, below are some of the notable features of the Parrot Disco:parrot ar drone microcontroller Capable to pair with a VR headset so you can “fly” with the drone.ar drone hull paint Could reach speeds of up to 80km/h without losing stabilityparrot ar drone augmenter portee 45-min flight time on a single chargeflight recorder ar drone tutorial

Works with other standard remote controls/SkyController Semi-autopilot – just throw the flying wing and it will propel up and gain altitude automatically “As easy to pilot as playing a video game” Lightweight at 700 grams 8-inch propeller with high-speed engine 14MP nose camera with wide-angle lens and digital stabilizationparrot ar drone 2 new zealand Using a new system called Control Hub & Universal Computer Kit, it could autopilot the drone until the user could take over using a controller. ar drone gps flight recorder manualIt is equipped with numerous sensors and instrumentations like accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, barometer, Pitot tube used in aircraft, and GPS. The Disco is compatible to pair with both iPhones and Android devices and has a price tag of $1,299 (approx. Php60K).

It includes the Parrot Disco, Parrot Skycontroller 2, and Parrot Cockpitglasses. You may also like...Your cart is empty It feels desperately alone APP CONTROLLED PAPER PLANE DRONE TECHNOLOGY WITH A PERSONAL TOUCH Find us on Instagram #POWERUPFPV #POWERUP3 Subscribe to our newsletter And stay on top of the news!Maybe it's the design, or its size and weight, or that you're just as likely to find it sold as a phone accessory as you are in a toy store or camera department of a big-box retailer, but Parrot's Bebop 2 is one of the least intimidating camera drones you'll find. Even less so than most toy drones, since it takes off and lands on its own and has no trouble hovering in place indoors or outside. The fact that it's controlled with a phone or tablet certainly helps. Flying by touchscreen isn't the best experience, but honestly handing someone a regular remote control for the first time arguably isn't any better. Instead of sticks and switches and buttons, you're tapping on a screen and sliding your thumbs around or simply tilting your phone in the direction you want it to fly.

The mobile app is free, but you can make a $20 in-app purchase to unlock more advanced flight-plan capabilities, letting you set waypoints for the Bebop 2 to follow among other things. The quadcopter is small enough to slide into an average backpack and at just over a pound (500 grams), it's easy to travel with. Aside from the propellers there are no moving parts, which helps its chances of surviving a crash. The ABS body is reinforced with glass fiber to toughen it up even more. It's also one of the safest drones you'll find with flexible plastic propellers that stop the second something hits them. Because of these things, the Bebop 2 perhaps comes off as more of a toy and less of a serious camera drone like the DJI Phantom 3 Standard, which currently shares the Bebop 2's $500 price tag. (The Bebop sells for AU$900 in Australia and £440 in the UK, while the DJI is AU$859 and £449.) And frankly, if high-quality aerial photos and video are what's most important, you're better off with the Phantom 3 Standard.

(Similar flight plan capabilities to the Bebop's don't cost more with the Standard, either.) Consider the Bebop 2 if you want something more family-friendly. One that you won't panic as much about when you turn over the controls to a friend for their first time flying. A camera drone that can get decent video and photos for sharing, but also survive crashes and do flips with a couple taps on screen. I actually tested two different Bebop 2s. The first was a preproduction unit that, like the original Bebop I reviewed, occasionally dropped its wireless signal in flight. Not really something you want to have happen when it's hundreds of feet in the air or out over a body of water. Parrot said this was a fault in the early models and not a typical experience. To confirm this, I tested a second unit and, in fact, did not experience any dropouts while testing it. That may have been because of its newer firmware, or there was something actually wrong with the first drone, or maybe both. All I know is the second Bebop 2 I tested performed just fine.

Parrot claims it's possible to fly the Bebop 2 up to 300 meters away (about 985 feet) using a mobile device. That's an average, too, so it can potentially go even further or fall short of that mark. The distance is going to vary depending on everything from trees and buildings to other wireless signal traffic to the device you're using. Even how you hold the device can determine signal quality. That in mind, I tested using the latest firmware installed (version 3.2.0) with an iPad Air 2 in an open field surrounded by trees in a heavily populated area (i.e. with a lot of wireless signals) and was able to get it out to more than 200 meters before the video cut out. Could it have flown farther? Probably, and I might have even gotten the video feed back. But I played it safe and called it back using the automatic Return to Home option. The point is, how far you'll be able to fly the Bebop 2 is dependent on your environment and your device. For the best range and physical controls, you can spend a couple hundred dollars more for Parrot's huge and awkward Skycontroller.