"Thank you Graham, your comments are very valuable indeed.
I understand the ArduCopter may just be a starting point for me and the ArduPlane may be more appropriate. I believe there are UAV solutions for game counts available overseas, although…"
bruno voisin's Page
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ModeratorGraham Dyer left a comment for bruno voisin
"Hi Bruno
I don't think game counting is practical from a UAV, I've tried from a fixed wing model but the camera/goggle resolution, stability, inability to look around, terrain, etc makes it very hard. A friend tried with a FLIR camera on a…"
bruno voisin replied to Wessie's discussion Hardware Wishlist for Arducopters in the group ArduCopter User Group"Hi all,
I'm new to UAVs and DIYdrones, and my only hopefully useful skill is good coding experience in C++.
I'd like to get started, so where can I get a full ArduCopter kit in SA (preferably Cape Town) ? Is there maybe a club or…"
bruno voisin left a comment for Graham Dyer"Hi Graham, this is Bruno from Cape Town.
These are my first steps in the UAV world, and I am interested in building a ArduCopter to conduct game counts in a nature reserve. Any advice / recommendation would be most…"
Profile Information
- About Me:
- Former engineer turned into nature conservationist in Botswana, Africa
- Tell us a bit about your UAV interest
- build a UAV for annual game counting (giraffes, antelopes etc)
- Hometown:
- Cape Town
Comment Wall (2 comments)
- At 8:37am on October 17, 2011,
ModeratorGraham Dyer said… Hi Bruno
I don't think game counting is practical from a UAV, I've tried from a fixed wing model but the camera/goggle resolution, stability, inability to look around, terrain, etc makes it very hard. A friend tried with a FLIR camera on a full size heli but they couldn't differentiate between a kudu or a waterbuck or sable.
I did have limited success photographing cape buffalo herds and counting them after on the photo, an old RCGroups thread documents some of it here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=378366
but for general game it's not easy. The RCG thread lists more limitations.
The buffalo had to be out in an open area in winter, in summer 80+% of the herd was under tree cover when the sun was vertical and invisible to the plane's camera.
I think with a large budget one could develop a system to do it fairly well but by that time it would've been cheaper and less time consuming to hire a full size plane.
An Arducopter also has a very limited duration of maybe 12-15 minutes if your system is very efficient which limits a) how far you can fly (6 minutes away and 6 minutes back), b) how much area you can cover in that time.
Graham
- At 11:44am on October 17, 2011, bruno voisin said…
- Thank you Graham, your comments are very valuable indeed.
I understand the ArduCopter may just be a starting point for me and the ArduPlane may be more appropriate. I believe there are UAV solutions for game counts available overseas, although probably also a lot more expensive... but so are game counts using a helicopter on a reasonable size reserve.
bruno
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