did i mention i like technology? things that fly? i remember i alway wanted a remote controlled aircraft, actually a bell 47 helicopter but that was hopelessly outside my financial abilities at the time (think preschool) which was just as well as i would have crashed it right away.
fast forward a few years and drones have become quite affordable; the fact that my salary has gone up a bit since preschool probably helps too. drones have also become much smarter and easier to fly.
and i don’t mean the ones you can get for $100 at your favourite discount store. we tried those and they do not fly well. we actually got a cheap one on the basis that we’d be able to acquire the necessary skills before moving up to a more serious model.
complete nonsense, these small guys compare to proper drones like a beaten up shopping trolley to a range rover.
we got this one, a dji spark. it’s tiny, about the size of an a5 page but really packs quite a bit of smarts. it can either be flown using a remote controller or a mobile phone, preferably both. immediately on taking off it becomes clear that these guys are in a very different league: they just hover in one place rather than being blown away by the slightest breeze. the secret is that is is actually a little flying computer packed with an array for sensors. the most complex sensor is probably the built-in gps which allows the drone to determine where it is in space and detect if it starts to drift and self-correct accordingly without pilot input. the drone also has a downward facing camera & ir sensors; it measures the height above the ground and ‘sees’ changes in the pattern underneath; this also allows sparky to auto-land or (using gesture control) land on the operator’s hand. there are also forward facing ir sensors for the detection of obstacles in the flight path.
of course it does not make the little flyer fool- or crashproof but we were blown away by how easy it is to operate and how stable it is in the air.
the main thing: it is the perfect selfie platform! out of the way stick wielding stone-agers, this is how we do it in the 21st century!
and we won’t ever look stupid on selfies again!