Toronto Star story?

Posted by kstar on January 25, 2013 at 2:05pm

Hi Canadian Drone Enthusiasts,

Hope I'm not treading on any site policies here -- I guess I'm not technically a DIY UAV enthusiast, but maybe I will be soon!


What I am is a science & technology reporter at the Toronto Star. We're doing a series on drones and I want to talk about all the cool uses that aren't military or law enforcement related. I want to show readers the uber-cool, uber-geeky, how-to side of UAVs. 

I've messaged some you individually if I could find your email addresses but that was getting difficult so I thought I'd post here. I would love to talk to anyone who wants to tell me how they got interested in building UAVs, why, and what they think the best, unreported stories are about them.

I'm also looking for kids who build their own or at least know how to fly them. Can anyone put me in touch with a kid?

Please do get in touch! Really looking forward to hearing from some of you -- I think this could be a really cool story.

Kate Allen

kallen[at]thestar[dot]ca

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Replies

  • Hamilton From Above January 26, 2013 at 9:54am

    Terminology That I Use For Describing Small Drone Flights

    I had to develop my own terminology to describe my interests in small
    UAV photography. I use aviation-world descriptions as my Rosetta Stone.

    Elevated Photography - is anything Above Ground Level (AGL) that is below
    Special VFR; meaning flights below 500 feet (AGL), which is the lowest altitude
    that most private pilots and commercial pilots are allowed to fly. Any camera
    mounted on a ground based structure is "elevated photography." Small UAV's
    have the advantage of being able to fly much closer to the ground than
    conventional manned aircraft. So, by default, I also consider Small UAV's
    as an "elevated photography" platform.

    Aerial Photography - is, of course, where most normal flight occurs, which
    starts at 500 feet AGL and goes up to 22 miles-ish for High Altitude Balloons.
    There is this great "no fly zone" that exists from 25 miles-up to 65 miles-up
    where no aircraft or spacecraft can sustain level flight.

    Remote Sensing - is essentially satellite imagery, which starts reliably
    at Low Earth Orbit (120 miles), up to Geostationary Orbit (22,000 miles).

    NOTE TO KATE: whatever terminology you decide to use in your Toronto Star
    articles WILL become the de facto nomenclature that WILL be used by the public
    and imposed on the rest of us.....permanently, so try to gain a consensus

    -peter

  • Derek E January 26, 2013 at 6:33am
    I think that you would also benefit from posting on rccanada.ca for more general RC and multi rotor users. There are not that many drone/UAV users there, but lots of aerial photography and video people. They would likely have great stories about how RC and multirotors are used on family trips and for other good, nonmilitary uses.
  • Distributor
    Dany Thivierge January 25, 2013 at 7:07pm

    Hey hey there you are Kate, glad you can join us here! 

    These guys are the best, I am sure that you will get a lot of information and stories. It was nice talking to you today and as discussed I will setup a time next week for you to come down to the workshop/store to see these in real life.  If weather is good with us we will go flying! 

    Guys I will give them the technical side of the story (you can also do it) but what I cannot provide them with is real life experience since I am now spending way too much time running the store and not really flying anymore. 

    Dany

    http://www.CanadaDrones.com

    CanadaDrones.com
  • Maxime Carrier January 25, 2013 at 6:32pm
    Unfortunately I have no great experience in UAV, I'm building an arduino based homemade tricopter (with some problems) from scratch. I admit my interest is mostly for the theorical side of UAV control. I'm trying to develop an artificial intelligence more adaptative than what the APM actually does, if my attempt is good I will publish my works here.

    So, I think there are many people here who can share their experience, most people take photo and video of their flight/build.

    M.C
  • Hamilton From Above January 25, 2013 at 5:39pm

    Hi Kate,

    I will be responding to your request directly by e-mail with the address's of several

    high-profile UAV people and efforts that are relatively local to the Toronto Stars readership

    in Southern Ontario. I do like the post by Randy Brazeau suggesting some coverage of

    the Ardu-realm, accept that this is a VERY advanced crowd, and there are very few of them

    in the Hamilton and Toronto area. Find them if you can. Include the Ardu-world in your article.

    I think you'll have more success finding people who buy Ready-To-Fly solutions for taking

    elevated video, harassing squirrels and raccoons, and other such pass times.  Lets continue

    this discussion by e-mail.

    -peter

  • Scotty January 25, 2013 at 2:40pm
    Maybe I'm not a "kid", but I'm 19 and studying electrical enginneering. I built my own drone two years ago. Didn't use ardupilot either, I designed the PCBs myself and assembled it by hand. Message me if you want to know more.
  • Ellison Chan January 25, 2013 at 2:34pm

    Kate, this is better than messaging people individually.  In fact mass mailings would be considered spam, and we would have to ban you. ;-)

  • Randy Brazeau January 25, 2013 at 2:17pm
    Perhaps you may want to include one or more people from Arduplane, Arducopter and Ardurover for a good cross section of this hobby.
    There are many talented people in each of those areas.
    Randy
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