which drone?

S

Steve crr

Member
Hi, can you help me with the choice of adrone please?
I am disabled, in a wheelchair, with poor muscular control.
I would like a Drone for aerial photography, as such a good quality video and stills camera, or the facilitie to carry one, eg. a Go pro, is essential.
Due to my very poor muscular control, I need something that virtually flies itself. Ideally I tell it where to go and it goes there.
The ability to automatically return to base when battery is getting low or signal is lost would also be important.
I would be grateful for any suggestions or advice on which would be the right drone for me.
Thanks,
Steve
 

Motopreserve

Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
Welcome to MRF Steve!

You ask a pretty big question here, especially with the recent number of new releases. :)

I think you'll find some really great, knowledgable people here at the forum who are always willing to help. Please give us some more details so that we can help you hone in on a choice.

Do you have RC/multirotor experience?

What budget do you have in mind?

Do you wish to build it yourself, or have it be complete and ready to fly (RTF) out of the box?

Enjoy the forum!
 

eskil23

eskil23

Wikipedia Photographer
With poor muscular control, I believe that building a drone is out of the question. (Tiny screws can be a challenge even for a person with full motor skill.)

I think DJI Phantom 3 fullfill your requirements.
 

S

Steve crr

Member
hi,

thanks for your Swift reply .
To answer your questions.
no, I have no helicopter or called copter experience.
my disability is such that I am not really up to flying a copter, I have extremely poor fine motor control and am partially sighted.
I understand that the Patriot 2 drone can be controlled, simply by plotting waypoints for a GPS. the drone will follow the course. this is ideal.
As I said, I would like a return to base function.
I would rather than not put a budget on it.
as if I say a high figure, people will naturally tend to recommend towards that figure. however, if I put a low figure, people will stick to that. they may say it's impossible offhand or recommend that things that really aren't up to it.

to give you an idea I would be quite happy to spend £1000 puts could go considerably higher if necessary.
it must be reliable, as I can't just get up and go and collect it.

I would have loved to have built it myself before my disability but unfortunately now I am incapable.
One proviso to this may be that I could join a modelling club and hopefully pay someone there to build it, if it were the only way

regards,
Steve
 

S

Steve crr

Member
eskil23 said:
With poor muscular control, I believe that building a drone is out of the question. (Tiny screws can be a challenge even for a person with full motor skill.)

I think DJI Phantom 3 fullfill your requirements.
Click to expand...
thanks for your reply, I'll look into it.
Steve
 

dazzab

dazzab

Member
The easiest copters I have flown are DJI Phantom and Inspire. You sound like you may want/benefit from some automated waypoint functionality. You probably could use this to plan flights in advance and take whatever time you need to set them up. I noticed in the DJI iPad app description there is also a mention of voice control but I've never seen any examples of this. But I believe it won't be long before this functionality is available. 3D Robotics just released the Solo as an 'intelligent' copter for filming. It's based on the Pixhawk2 flight controller which is highly programmable. It would be nice to see a project to address needs of people with mobility issues. Again, I think it's only a matter of time. I'd be most interested to hear how this all pans out for you.
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Hi Steve and welcome to MultiRotorForums.com

The ability to fly autonomously via waypoints and return when battery levels get low has become much more common and affordable recently. The two leaders right now (at least in marketing presence, if not actual abilities) are the 3DR Solo and DJI Phantom 3. The 3DR Iris+ can also do what you are trying to do while carrying a GoPro.

Do a little bit of research and don't be shy about coming back and asking questions. :)
 


Motopreserve

Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
Steve,

It would be a great idea to seek out a flying club in your area. Not for building the MR, but for help as a spotter. When you mentioned "partially sighted," the first thing I thought of was a good local flying club would be your best bet. The folks at the club can help with setup and provide support while you fly.
 

JoeBob

JoeBob

Elevation via Flatulation
Total budget to get into a Solo in the air taking photos would be $1800:
$1000 Solo UAV
$ 400 Gimbal to carry your camera
$ 400 for a GoPro.
https://store.3drobotics.com/t/solo

There is a learning curve on Mission Planner (the free ground control software) but it is infinitely flexible with hundreds of possible waypoints for any mission. You can control the speed, altitude, where the camera looks while you're flying, etc. Flight time is the only limit because of batteries.

Could someone who is familiar with DJI equipment come up with a similar estimate? Will he need to buy Lightbridge to get waypoint navigation with a P3? Is DJI easier to manage than 3DR?
 


S

Steve crr

Member
Motopreserve said:
Steve,

It would be a great idea to seek out a flying club in your area. Not for building the MR, but for help as a spotter. When you mentioned "partially sighted," the first thing I thought of was a good local flying club would be your best bet. The folks at the club can help with setup and provide support while you fly.
Click to expand...
Yes good idea
 


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