ALL SCI-FI

[Morbius]

I make Drones.

This is the latest effort in one of my favorite hobbies.

https://vimeo.com/556666005

This is what I call the drone from hell. The reason I call it that is because I worked very hard to get this drone to work right. Sometimes when I make a drone it can work perfectly right off the bench. This one refused to work right and after several crashes, after changing all the components, trying different combinations of ESCs, motors, propellers and main body configuration and cameras I finally got it to work right. The video is a first time front yard test of the drone. I’ll only take a drone to the front yard for testing if I’m very confident that I can maintain complete control and it won’t fly away or crash. It’s very complicated to get one of these things to work correctly. Not only must it fly correctly, but the camera system must also work with the configuration set up of the drone. (not always an easy task)

I can probably improve some on the video quality but at this point I know that revisions I’ve made have been in the right direction.

[Gord Green]

Nice job! It takes real skill to scratch build something like that!
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Morbius]

Thanks for the compliment. Its fun making a drone, especially when it works right. It can get frustrating at times when you encounter a problem and have no clue as to what is wrong. When I started work on this drone, I used 4 new ESCs (electronic speed control). The frame I was using was unconventional but it should have worked. I changed everything, even the frame, but not the ESCs, and it still had an uncontrollable yaw. It would slowly turn on its own. I could compensate using the TX (transmitter) but that is not a safe way to fly it. I took it all apart, resoldered all the wiring and connections. As I was rebuilding the drone, I noticed that on one of the ESCs one of the 3 capacitors had teeth marks. My loving dog who thinks everything is a toy must have gotten to the ESC unbeknownst to me. Sure, enough with all new replacement ESCs the drone flew perfectly. That was half the battel as it took awhile to get a camera system working and it finally did work after trying lots of different combinations. The camera system needs to be isolated from the frame as to avoid inherent vibration even though slight. Finally got it right. So, this is a real case of my dog ate my drone. Thanks again.

[Bud Brewster]

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I'm not only impressed with your technical expertise, I'm also dazzled by your showmanship!

The title work and the music is a real plus.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Morbius]

Thanks, and this is a fantastic site, obviously a lot of work but one of the best sites around.

[Bud Brewster]

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Thanks for the kind words! We try to keep it lively, entertaining, and user friendly.

Our motto is, "Chicks dig sci-fi geeks!" (Not that we know any chicks personally. Somebody just told us that.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Morbius]

[Morbius]

This is a short clip to test a new video system namely a Sony CX 440 camcorder. The camcorder is independent of the drone and is merely a passenger on the drone complete with its own power supply.

The purpose of the test was to see if the mounting of the camera would allow for a reasonable video. The camera is mounted on a quad copter. In this test I only used Velcro and some latex tubing for camera isolation. It seems to work okay.

I also have the attachment to allow zoom function which I will arrange next. This will allow remote control of the zoom function through the drone transmitter. I didn’t want to travel too high or too far with the drone in case of a malfunction caused by the weight of the camcorder, but the drone seemed to handle itself pretty well. So onto the next phase of this experiment.

https://vimeo.com/568911913

[Bud Brewster]

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The picture quality of the camera is excellent, and smoothness of the drone's movements is surprisingly good!

I look forward to seeing future videos which might present aerial explorations of interesting places in the San Francisco area where you live.

For example, I read that drive-in theaters are making a comeback in sunny states like California, so perhaps you could take the drone to a drive-in during the day when its closed and record a "virtual tour" the theater.







Or perhaps there's an abandoned drive-in that would be fun to explore, making the drone seem like a probe from an alien race who it secretly studying mankind's civilization!


]


In situations like that, the drone could cruise around at altitudes as low as six feet without the danger of it getting too close to people.

As you can see, Maurice, your drone excites the imagination and makes it fun to come up with new ideas for ways to enjoy it!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Morbius]

I'm in Savannah the home of humidity, intense summer heat, but lots of southern charm.

This is a short video clip to demonstrate my efforts to date using a Sony camcorder in addition to a wide angled camera typically used on drones. It is a split screen video with the wide angled camera on the left (this is what I see looking through goggles) and the Sony camcorder on the right. Unfortunately, I don't know if there is a way to transmit from the camcorder. I think it has something to do with it being in an analog signal? Possibly. If there were, I could use a gimbal to both zoom and direct the camera. But for now, the two cameras are reasonably aligned both in time and direction. I am unaware of a drone mini camera that can both transmit and zoom? You can tell from the cars that come into the gas station that the two cameras in the video are reasonably synchronized.

https://vimeo.com/573446963

http://www.mrgodzilla.com/drone/splitzoom.wmv

[Bud Brewster]

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An interesting experiment, Morbius. The difference between the images created by the two lenses is striking.

If I'm not mistaken, the musical accompaniment in the video is from Big Trouble in Little China. It works well.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Morbius]

Yes that is the sound tract.

[Bud Brewster]

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Have you given much thought to the "virtual tour" idea I pitched?

You've proven that you have the equipment, the skill, and the creativity to make it work.

I don't know if there are still any drive-ins remaining in your area — but if there are, I'm sure the owners would be delighted to allow you in during the day to make an interesting drone video which displays their theater in a favorable way.

Heck, they might like your video so much they'd actually pay you to use it in a YouTube ad! I'm certain this unique idea has never been used to promote drive-ins before!

Hey, wait a second! I'm mistaken!

The beautiful video below was apparently done with a drone. It features the Hounds Drive-In (< — LINK) in Kings Mountain, located right here in my home state of North Carolina!

The video offers a panoramic aerial view of the drive-in, and it presents a powerful ad for this amazing theater, which is only a few years old!

Morbius, you could offer to do the same kind of ad for the drive-ins in you area . . . and perhaps make quite a bit of money! Think if over, sir! You've developed the technology, and you've demonstrated the creative ability to present your videos in an artistic manner!

I think you're ready to turn this hobby into a lucrative cash cow! Take a look at what the guy who produced the video below was able to create!

_________ Hound's Drive In, Kings Mountain, NC


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The pictures below are screen shots from the beautiful video above, which offers a stunning aerial view of the drive-in.







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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Morbius]

This is a short video clip to show that I now know how to take a digital camera and convert it to analog to view transmission in real time and record. The video also shows how my “eye in the sky” can now be directed to focus on a subject as I see it in real time through the goggles. Had these cars in the video had a license plate in the front I could zoom in and read from my skyhigh drone. The video is just a demonstration that after all this time I have finally put together all the electronics to make this work. This is still an experiment and this is the progress to date which I think is a fruitful effort so far. Such a system on a professional version would be much more costly but I think I’ve been able to circumvent the expense with an acceptable quality.

http://www.mrgodzilla.com/drone/I.wmv

I now know.wmv

https://vimeo.com/585580330

[Gord Green]

Awesome!
_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.