We have a UAV device that can stay on the air for up to 50 mins, runs on clean energy, and supports a payload of 8 lbs. Talking to some companies that sell video to real estate companies, it seems they would be interested in a device like this because it competes against helicopter. The only concern from the people we've interviewed, is stability. I still think there must be something out there to mitigate this concern, right?
Draganfly is in process of USA COA certification for many different verticals, and in Canada I believe they are already doing long distance with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. That said, I have a Senior Telemaster that can easily handle over 8lbs of payload and could fly well beyond 9 miles. UHF TX and RX - long range. Long Range Telemetry, Long Range Video, etc.
What I am trying to say is, your UAV has to be more then just capable of 8lbs to be effective in this market. The advancements are much more indepth then that at this point. And for the realestate agencies, they want something thats cheap and gives them pictures and video. No need for 8lbs and 9 mile range when dealing with realestate agencies. They want to film and photograph 1 house at a time, I know this because I do Aerial Photography like this. What the agencies want, is someone to come out, take the shots, upload it to their laptop and be gone ASAP. Simple as that, if they hire a helicopter, its more expensive, but they never have to deal with anyone more then say 30 minutes in length. :) To me your platform is overkill, and you would be competing with every aerial photo company that uses a TREX 450 with an HD camera in the world. Thats the platform most use to do the realestate work. Get it out, take it up, take the shots, land and give them the photos.
Hi Chris, you're absolutely right. This is a technology invented in Europe and we're evaluating the market in US for it. In such case, the device would have to be adapted or COA will need to be filled if market is worth the pain.
Thanks for the reply Peter. What if I tell you that our device has a payload of 8 lbs and can fly autonomously up to 9 miles away from the base station? I think this is something dragangly can't do... do you think this UAV is over killing for real estate?
By the way all of these have super solid stability, including in some cases Position and Altitude hold like the draganfly has...of course you pay a premium for that platform? There are many arduino based quadros that can do the same thing for a WHOLE Lot less then the draganfly. Check RCGROUPS.COM and go to the multi-rotor forum. You will see what I'm talking about...
Already done, microkopter. Draganfly and home brew quadros are doing aerial photography today. Competing deeply against full scale platforms. Especially in the real estate market, they are cheap skates and would rather spend a few hundred then a thousand+ to get their customers house filmed for sale.
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What I am trying to say is, your UAV has to be more then just capable of 8lbs to be effective in this market. The advancements are much more indepth then that at this point. And for the realestate agencies, they want something thats cheap and gives them pictures and video. No need for 8lbs and 9 mile range when dealing with realestate agencies. They want to film and photograph 1 house at a time, I know this because I do Aerial Photography like this. What the agencies want, is someone to come out, take the shots, upload it to their laptop and be gone ASAP. Simple as that, if they hire a helicopter, its more expensive, but they never have to deal with anyone more then say 30 minutes in length. :) To me your platform is overkill, and you would be competing with every aerial photo company that uses a TREX 450 with an HD camera in the world. Thats the platform most use to do the realestate work. Get it out, take it up, take the shots, land and give them the photos.
Just my 2 cents though...