Posted by Nic Rasbanov on October 1, 2009 at 2:31am
Hi All,First post and do not know a lot about UAV.We are busy with a research and conservation project on Whale Sharks and Giant Manta Rays in Mosambique. As The whale sharks are nomadic we only see them on the way past our shores.Presently observation entails going out by boat and hope that you see one and then photographing, tagging and obtain DNA sample. As you can imagine this is a rather hit and miss exercise that is very time consuming and costly.My question is therefore the following:Is there an amateur UAV capable of flying autonomous for +- 10 km at a time and providing aerial photos and GPS data in order to send the boat/s directly to the area of spotting. These animals generally swim within 1000-2000meters offshore and one will be able to use beach launching closest to the area/ square to be observed.Any suggestions and/help will be appreciated.www.giantfish.org
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Nic,
I am in Angola and have heard only nice things about Mozabique and hope to visit there soon.
I don't think the UAV is a problem (FPV may even be a better choice) and 10km is easily achievable but your search pattern and camera would need careful thought so that you maximise your search area at a sufficiently high resolution to see the animals but at the same time minimise the time in the air.
Also you need to consider that losing the aircraft over water could be an expensive exercise if repeated too often and the use of a buoyant airframe and sealing as many of the eletronic units in a water tight box would keep the cost of losses down - recovery should be possible if you maintain good telemetry contact..
If you want to talk more about this please just PM me - I would be interested to come over and help set you up later in the year as I have some leave in November I don't know what to do with.
Replies
I am in Angola and have heard only nice things about Mozabique and hope to visit there soon.
I don't think the UAV is a problem (FPV may even be a better choice) and 10km is easily achievable but your search pattern and camera would need careful thought so that you maximise your search area at a sufficiently high resolution to see the animals but at the same time minimise the time in the air.
Also you need to consider that losing the aircraft over water could be an expensive exercise if repeated too often and the use of a buoyant airframe and sealing as many of the eletronic units in a water tight box would keep the cost of losses down - recovery should be possible if you maintain good telemetry contact..
If you want to talk more about this please just PM me - I would be interested to come over and help set you up later in the year as I have some leave in November I don't know what to do with.
Cheers,
Mike