Best UAS for Photography and Racing

Assuming a new person wants to start the journey to become an unmanned pilot, a plethora of systems currently available will make choosing the right one overwhelming. Unmanned Aerial Systems, UAS, could be divided in two main commercial categories according to their intended mission, photography or racing. The equipment follows the same basic principles applied in two very different ways. Small UAS, also called drones colloquially, consist of a flying vehicle, a camera as a payload, a radio controller, and a way to display live feed (Nixon, 2017). In the case of racing UAS First Person View, FPV, goggles are a must for high speeds and intricate maneuvers force the pilot to make split second decisions based on live video feedback (Nixon, 2017). The vehicle, can be a fixed wing platform when taking photography, but multirotor provide hovering ability which aids for capturing those great shots. Therefore, unless range is requirement a multirotor is preferred for a vehicle part of the system instead of a fixed wing, plane, aircraft. Racing and photography multirotor vehicles consist of a control board that takes the pilot inputs through radio receiver, and transform the inputs into motor speeds by taking into account IMU and compass readouts to guiding the aircraft in the desire direction (Nixon, 2017). Different platforms have added sensors and instruments that increase functionality like photography UAS will have GPS, camera stabilizing gimbals, altimeters, and obstacle avoidance sensors.

The main difference between photography UAS and racing UAS is the camera, as a photography cameras focus on uncompromised quality, yet racing cameras specialize in low latency and reliability. Unmanned systems intended for racing need a camera component that offers instant refresh without any lag; therefore, most available cameras for racing UAS are analog with low video quality. The live feed for analog cameras could be grainy and is of lower quality when compared to a high definition photography camera, but the feedback is instant which is required when racing at high speeds, more than 60 mph (Nixon, 2017). When recommending a suitable system there are many characteristics that need to be taken into account, and Embry Riddle University created a consumer report published June 2016 that evaluated different available platforms and ranked them according to their scores in: Maximum speed, endurance, payload capacity, camera quality, pricing, communication range, utility, critical metrics, construction quality, operational ease, availability and accuracy of data, user support (Embry-Riddle University, 2016). The Parrot Bebop 2 earned first place because it obtains high marks in all fields while being intuitive to use, cost effective, and with high functionality (Embry-Riddle University, 2016, p 10).

While I agree the Parrot Bebop 2 is a great value for the money and offers novice a great experience to enter into aerial photography, its camera is less than average according to the Embry-Riddle consumer report. I think the camera is as central to the whole vehicle as the experience itself. I recommend instead one of the best cameras with the most functionality for the price, the DJI Phantom 4 Pro. The Phantom 4 Pro has a 4K camera, and its software controls stabilization, so letting go of the controller will make the aircraft hover in place. The return to home function takes advantage of the proximity sonar in the front, back, and bellow to avoid obstacles while cruising back to the launching point where it will land itself using GPS and machine vision. DJI is making flying an UAS easy and accessible to everyone, and their cameras are good enough for professional photography. The altimeter keeps the aircraft below the hard ceiling of 400 feet, and mission modes allow to program the quadcopter to run a whole mission by itself, from waypoint navigation, to follow me mode the system gives the user the tools necessary to take advantage of the stabilize 4K camera to create beautiful video, and capture breathtaking shots.


The Phantom’s camera is good, but it lags during live feed, so racing with it will not be possible. Obstacle avoidance will stop the vehicle from getting too close to an object and the latency means at high speeds the video feed will arrive too late to avoid collision with an object. Most racing UAS on the market rely on fast durable frames with bare minimum sensors and require the pilot to control all the movements of the drone. Racing UAS do not have altimeters, GPS, or obstacle avoidance, and their objective is to be as light, fast, maneuverable, precise and reliable as possible. A good entry choice is the Echine Wizard 200 which is affordable, fast and functional entry UAS for the sport (Nixon, 2017). I however recommend the Connex Falcore for its function ability, bringing the ease of flying found on DJI’s system to platform that can be racing competitive (FliteTest, 2017). The Connex utilizes a sonar on its underside to sense the ground distance allowing pilots to focus on guiding the aircraft around the track without worrying about controlling altitude, angle of attack, or throttle (NURK FPV, 2017, 1:31-2:07). 

Flying an FPV racing quadcopter is challenging in many levels, the angle of attack that increases thrust changes the camera viewing angle, and affects the altitude of the vehicle to the ground, and pilots need to learn how to adjust the throttle, and the angle of attack to fly the drone fast but not into the ground. Connex has also implemented a modular easy to sizable frame that can resist impact with a high definition camera which improves feedback to the pilot (Flitetest, 2017). For anyone starting in the sport the Connex Falcore is the best combination of fast quadcopter design integrated with sensors that allow the aircraft to stabilize itself, optimize flying speed, and make it easy to learn to race while giving great quality video feed.


References

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide. (2016, June). Small Unmanned Aircraft System Consumer Guide. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved from https://assets.erau.edu/cm1/Assets/worldwide/data/erau-suas-consumer-guide-june-2016-release.pdf
FliteTest. (2017, February 20). Connex Falcore – first impressions. [Video file]. Retrieved form https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1d8-HkLjIg
Nixon, A. (2017, October 15). Racing drone buyers guide.  Best Drone for the Job. Retrieved from https://bestdroneforthejob.com/drones-for-fun/racing-drone-buyers-guide-2/
NURK FPV. (2017, January 13). What is the Connex Falcore? [Video file]. Retrieved form https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDU-t3I1KHs

Yorgadjian, O. (2014, April 7). FPV racing – edition 2. [Video file] Retrieved form https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=105&v=e0MzNghCnk0

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
GPS and IMU Replacement Using Stereovision in Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles                         GPS is not effective indoors, and measuring systems like LiDAR are too big to be used on some small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) according to the developers of the Centeye (Barrows, 2016, 0:01-0:28). The idea of the Centeye is to use two light cameras for stereo vision on all four sides of the quadcopter to create a full 360º field of view on which measurements of objects can be made (Centeye, n.d.a). The cameras used on the visual system are less than a 1cm (0.4in) long and weight less than 0.2 grams (0.000441lbs), so they can be installed on Nano quadcopters weighting in at 38 grams (0.0838lbs) (Centeye, n.d.a). While the small format CMOS sensor (Centeye RockCreek™ vision chips) is the heart of the Centeye, the whole sensor is made up of two of the trademark light sen...
Read more
Image
Complexity of ROV Control Stations           The biggest challenge when putting together a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV)  control station is the variability in the market. In my research I could not find a single offering that could be plug and play, and instead every control station is a custom build  accommodating the different sensors and manipulators mounted on the robot. The cameras, sonar, lasers, and other sensors can be patch through using different equipment independently from the ROV controller. The nature of ROV, theater through physical wires to the control station, mean all sensors, motors, and manipulators are connected to their own hardware and software solution allowing operators to customize their station according to the specific components on the ROV. FMC Schilling Robotics, ROV Control Station. joysticks connected to a computer, and arm manipulator on the center under monitors. Monitors showing different s...
Read more
Image
Curiosity Needs to Ration Unlimited Power Power is limited on Mars and solar source won’t cut it when continuous reliable power source is needed. That is why the Curiosity Rover is powered by a Radioisotope Thermal Generator (RTG), a nuclear powered electric generator powered by Plutonium dioxide in a ceramic form (Jet Propulsion laboratory (JPL), 2016). The decaying radioactive material creates heat which is turn into electricity using thermocouples, and the total efficiency of the system is about 6% electric power conversion (JPL, 2016). The RTG on Curiosity can generate around 110 watts of steady electric power and this resource needs to be manage and rationed throughout the day scheduling critical aspects of the mission (LaMonica, 2016). Curiosity’s RTG will last up to 14 years, but the power output at a time is limited, and available power needs to be schedule to operate the sensors, the locomotion, and the data transfer.          ...
Read more