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Aerial Video Footage of New York Taken By RC Plane
kkleiner writes with this fun bit from Singularity Hub: "Expert remote control pilot Raphael 'Trappy' Pirker recently took his 54 inch Zephyr model plane on a harrowing tour of Manhattan and the surrounding area. The best part: his RC vehicle was fitted with a camera that wirelessly transmitted an amazing recording of everything it saw – Pirker was piloting his craft with this visual feed. As you can see in the video, the results were spectacular. The plane looks to be flying within a few feet of buildings and whizzing past bridges with ease. You have to check out around 2:01 when he starts to buzz right by the Statute of Liberty."
Quite honestly, I'm surprised this didn't cause some sort of panic...
In our fear-based culture, how long until the authorities shut down RC hobbies like that?
As we've seen countless times before, it doesn't have to make any sense. It just has to show that they're "doing something" to "make us safe".
Who wants to bet the DHS will is already at his house taking him into custody as a potential terrorrist suspect of at least some made up charge of "engaging in terrorist-like activies that may help promote terrorism" or some other shit like that?
The magical number is: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
It has been modified and tested at a range of 27 miles, with a supposed max operating range of 120. That's news for nerds.
This was on Ars Technica awhile back:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/12/how-a-rc-airplane-buzzed-the-statue-of-liberty-with-no-arrests.ars
According to this earlier article, the police and TSA talked to him, but surprisingly didn't charge him with anything. He said they were "more curious than confrontational."
es. obviously races, but I think this will fast become quite complex. AR overlays, chasing a ghost of the fastest 100m high traverse of a certain city. very watcheable and fun!
Waiting for the other shoe to...
There is a danger to it, as this video illustrate but that's before I got my 2.4GHz Tx.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtN1AtShkk0
Here's one closer to buildings :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrWyOJmEvY4
I don't do FPV either, too scary not seeing the plane :) I fly it until it's a pixel in the sky, and before I do that I made sure I master orientation of a pixel object in the simulator first.
Way to many edits. Destroyed the flow
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
...there was a perfectly timed Estes model rocket. My money's on the rocket.
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
LOL What's a...
"Statute of Liberty"
Is that a statute about liberty?
How does one buzz it?
Did he just print it out, and fly his plane over it? If so, that seems like something anyone could do.
This is my footer. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
How many flights did it take to compile this footage? What the max range/time that this platform is capable of?
...for infringing people's privacy, a la Google Street View.
My web domain.
Worse than that, I think this story might be a dupe.
Guess he'll be getting a DARPA contract soon. Amazing that he was able to do that with all the lag involved (assuming that there was lag).
Clearly this is a threat to national security? I'm not sure how or why, but I just know that somehow the government doesn't like this.
...in Ramadi in 2005-2006.
You have to get airspace clearance just like every other aircraft, I don't think this guy did.
THL phish sticks
You know how every few months someone posts yet another video of guys taking video from high altitude balloons, and we all yawn because we've seen it a dozen times or more?
This is the exact opposite of that.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
is it just me or has just about everyone glaized over the fact that for the time when these guys were doing this, they were probably having the time of their lives, fuck the authorities, do cool shit with your time.
That the authorities there did not immediately confiscate it is also news for nerds - very good news.
There will be another endless court fight coming, however - the right of private citizens to fly cameras over other people's backyards.
Sigh.
IMO if the government wants to spy on it's citizens, then it should also grant the right for citizens to spy on citizens, including citizens who are government employees. It's only fair, right?
Yeah, it's pretty fucked, either way. But I'd rather have the right for citizens to spy on citizens, than have corporations or government have that right exclusively. The tech is already there. The genie is out of the bottle. Short of complete suppression of garage/basement tech entrepreneurs there is no way to stop it from becoming ubiquitous.
Of course if I wanted my backyard to be really private, I could employ tech (such as lasers or other things not invented yet) to spoof or blind the surveillance - and such would be my right, yes?
Nod to William Gibson.
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
Come on, some technical info on the plane?
What sheep Americans have become! A guy does a cool, harmless thing like fly a model airplane over the East River and suddenly everybody on this board is biting their fingernails about whether the government will *allow* us to do such a thing. The government does not *allow* us to do anything; in this country, it's what we, the People, allow the government to do that's important. We allow them do very specific, limited things at our sufferance. Everything else we do at our pleasure and the government can fuck off if it doesn't like it.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
in 3..2..1..
Nifty things - I always wondered why the RC aircraft people never really got into this. The technology can't be that tough to do and there looks to be quite a bit of fun involved. As pretty as this was in a city I would *love* to see a number of rural recording through some of the mountainous regions or night flying. Whilst I have a fairly severe fear of heights I normally still request a window seat on air planes because the anxiety is generally worth the view, I've tried to take pictures but commercial airliners windows aren't optimized for taking them. Were I to guess I would have said money is the primary reason - but well I know more than a few into the larger scale RC planes and money isn't their primary concern (many have more invested than they would for a decent car and the *know* at some point it is going to crash). They have all just looked at me like I was crazy when I asked.
I'm also surprised he got permission (and, for the moment, I'll ignore the 900lb gorilla of our current clamp downs) and note that there are two types of RC planes - those that have crashed and burned and those that will. As such even in rural areas if you are going to go outside of a really small range (basically around your own house) you have to go to specific areas designated for them. It's not just other aircraft (it would be ...bad... if a real airplane hit one of these where it wasn't supposed to be) but they are where people normally aren't so they do not crash on unsuspecting heads. Most of those areas in the film are not that - they are dense urban areas. Whilst the footage is neat, had there been one of the not so rare glitches and someone that was simply walking down a street got killed for it, not so much. The video shows more than one place this would *not* have been an unlikely scenario. Heck they keep manned aircraft that are MUCH more stable limited for that reason too.
Not that I'm against this being in our hands, but just that NYC may not be the best place for fly overs :) (lots of really nice non-urban areas).
------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
FPV (First Person View) RC flying has been starting to become trendy in the past few years and this isn't very different from what has been done in the past. There have been flights that have extended at further ranges with more daring stunts in public areas. Though, what is special about this is particular video is it was shot in the US, which makes FPV practically illegal with the amount of restrictions they place on it. It's the equivalent of permitting one to carry a firearm as long as long as it's bright orange, muzzle-loaded. has "REAL GUN" printed on the sides, shoots blanks and can only be aimed at certified targets in licensed shooting ranges. Anyways, I'd highly recommend anyone to go and take a gander at certain videos on youtube with the name "FPV" and discover a lot on what this awesome hobby has to deliver.
Yet, bragging rights don't apply unless you prove it. Where's the link describing how? The radio range for something like that, never mind the range for video, is daunting. Granted, he's operating above the horizon, but still!
I, for one, want to know the specifics of that side of the setup. I could care less about the other components of the event (no interest in flight); the radio communications holding out over that distance, on minimal power, is notable, however.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
27 miles is no trouble with line of sight and good antennas. Considering it's a plane, which means it can get to some pretty good heights, it's entirely possible for it to be 27 miles away and within RF's line of sight. Just make sure you have good antennas and you'll have no trouble getting 27 miles.
This is old hat.
120 miles is only slightly more difficult. Height is everything, try flying the plane with you on a water tower or a mountain or something. You'll get nutso range.
What's actually news for nerds here is that the cameras used are not only light weight, but some can take a serious beating. Others have linked to videos of these "FPV" setups crashing and then they go on to tell how the camera was a-ok. Crazy stunts in (more of around) the city with a camera strapped on to an RC plane was just a dream a few years ago, now our technology lets us easily pull it off AND get slashdotted!
How was this incident "harrowing"? Was the land surface of Manhattan torn up to several inches deep? Were people's feelings deeply and permanently hurt by this flight? Or is this another journalist using a long word that he/she does not actually have any idea of the meaning of but thinks it makes them sound good?
See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/harrow
One pound of anthrax spores ... (OTOH a bicycle mount would be easier to control)
Keep Doing Good.
This one owns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgWIdpegfuc&feature=related
The guy may understand flying, but he sure as hell doesn't understand cutting footage into a comprehensive, watchable piece of film
Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
Yes, but those RC planes have names like Predator, Reaper and Avenger and cost a lot of money and people with funny looking uniforms drive them. That makes it OK apparently.
Mr. O. B. Lada of Chicago
So wait, this changes everything: not only is Paul McCartney alive and the head of Al-Qaeda, but he's living in freakin' Chicago? Crazy world...
There's no better target. Hit it once and hear it squeal so loud it's heard all over the world. Then it goes crazy. =D They sure are entertaining when frightened.
Yes, but that video is barely viewable. It would be nice had the author tried to use less cuts and (ob)scene changes. The views were amazing--but I couldn't enjoy them as they lasted only for two seconds or so.
Well, but this is the new Hollywood for us ...
Huh. How could he possibly tell who's innocent at that distance?
Yea, I'm really surprised at the speed and range of that thing. I used to work on models and I've never seen a model that fast before. Of course, my time was 20 years ago. Was the thing a friggen jet or something?
I'm going to go against the general concensus and say that I wasn't at all impressed. The idea itself is cool, and has a huge amount of potential, but the execution was poor. The choice of lens is too wide (don't use wide angle when you're going to be panning / tilting), the camera has part of the plane in shot (again due to the lens being too wide), and apparently there was nothing done to avoid rain drops on the lens (would have been easier to avoid with a less-wide lens). Honestly, nearly everything that _could_ be done wrong, _was_ done wrong, and it was all because they didn't think enough about lens choice. The only bit they did right was not crashing the plane.
If he could strap another camera to this and make the video 3-D, I think he could make a lot of money selling footage to Hollywood.
"Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
Hrm, these guys have been doing this in the Alps and elsewhere. Posting information on how it's done and build information to forums, and helping to refine the DIY aspect of this hobby for over a year. They have flights over multiple MILES in multiple countries, and they fly the plane via an onboard camera. Yeah, it's not NEW news for those who pay attention but it is really cool and geeky and I'm glad to see it's becoming more mainstream with the exception of the fact that now authorities will see it and try to slap it down :-(
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
How slow can a wing like that go?
There's more to it than this.
I read a forum where much of this was posted and I'll try to find it for you. For starters check out this site where they post many of their vids :-) http://vimeo.com/riscyd It's going to take me awhile to find this in my history, some of the vids out there by others buzzing windmills are also "interesting"
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
Got it! Trappy is the guy who does many of these vids and here's where he's building what he feel sis the best plane for the job http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1279141
MANY pages of build details and back and forth on how best to build it etc. I believe this will seriously answer most any questions you have and he gives some radio info too I think. The vids in the Alps are AMAZING! I guess if I had been smart I would have submitted this way back when. D'oh! Hackaday.com linked to some of his earlier stuff and got me interested FWIW.
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1279141
Over 100 pages of details and questions etc. This guy and others have been doing this for awhile :-)
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
lazy ass drum beat along with tired samples/patches made me turn the volume off.
It's kind of like: :)
this or this - but with less testicles
Really makes me wish I could fly.
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
I am more impressed with his mountain flying :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgUoR_7gzzM&feature=player_embedded
...the radio communications holding out over that distance, on minimal power, is notable, however.
Not really. Line of sight is more important than power at VHF+ frequencies. I can set my little ham handheld radio to a half watt output and talk on a repeater about 34 miles away from me. I'm at sea level and the repeater is at about 4000 feet.
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
Many of these craft use illegally modified TV transmitters in the unlicensed 900 MHz bands to achieve these broad distances and this is NOT a good thing.
While I've enjoyed watching these videos for years and have been amazed how the technology has improved so much, it's not a good thing when you're using ground- and air-based wireless links at illegal levels. These high-powered levels not only cause interference to other devices due to the extra power and antenna configurations, but it's even more serious because the transmitters are so high off the ground. Your high-powered transmitter blasts interference over a large area to important unlicensed systems and cause serious problems with other users of these bands.
Keep following the rules. Don't modify your transceivers.
Kriston
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MwfEVIfiGs
These guys are cool, FPV planes are awesome.
Getting close to IMAX quality here on a budget.
Next thing these guys need to do is do a dual cam 3D FPV video.
or perhaps retrofit a nightvision/IR video feed when the moon is full.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
This flies all over Rio de Janeiro, throught tunnels, under bridges... makes this NY video boring ;p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aIq8r4-m3c