What do you do when you accidentally crash your quadcopter on top of a very tall castle tower?

[G+_Donald Burr]

What do you do when you accidentally crash your quadcopter on top of a very tall castle tower?

 

You call these guys.

 

They should totally start an "International Multirotor Search & Rescue" organization or some such.

[G+_Brandon Jasper]

Just don't accidentally crash your 'drone' at the White House. (Yes, I know it looks like it was actually a flying wing but it still applies.)

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/small-drone-found-white-house-grounds-law-enforcement/story?id=28481933

 

The upside is the Secret Service will find and recover it for you.  The downside is they'll be looking to 'recover' you next.

 

Moral of the story is, respect No Fly zones..

[G+_Wayne Black]

That was a great video. I found myself holding my breath at every attempt!

I am surprised though that a SWAT team didn't rush in, plant some explosives around the tower and get that "Evil" drone down!

I can see quad copters being used more and more for search and rescue, especially out in the deserts, so they might want to play nice with us in case they're needed.

[G+_Donald Burr]

Wayne Hobbins Definitely a lot of untapped potential there.  I was reading about a case in Atlanta, I believe it was, where a kid got lost in a dense forest/swamp type area, difficult to search in by traditional methods (on foot, helicopter, etc.) and so the police called in a locally-known FPV multirotor pilot who, using his craft, was able to quickly locate the kid.  There are also some medical/rescue specialized craft being developed, for example one that can be used by lifeguards to quickly bring a flotation device to a drowning swimmer, or to bring resuscitation equipment (defibrilator, etc.) to an accident victim.

[G+_Brandon Jasper]

I think I'll add this to my project ideas.  A SAR multicopter with a winch, downward facing camera, and laser by the winch to make placement easier.  A line cutter as well in case the item it hooks is a bit too stuck to lift.

[G+_Wayne Black]

That sounds like a fun project! As I remember (years ago!) they made small winch servos for sailboats. Line cutter, or release shouldn't be to hard also.

Have fun with that and let us know how it comes out.

[G+_Brandon Jasper]

It's in the queue.  It'll have to be a heavy lifter like an octocopter so it'll be a later project.  On the upside if the platform is solid and I make the winch platform detachable there's nothing preventing a camera rig from being attached.

[G+_Wayne Black]

It's raining in Arizona today, so I'm grounded and have some time to do some internet snooping.

I've ordered one of these to play around with and see if it could be moded into a winch: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001Q118MG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Although not really practical for much, it would be a nice option if needed.

I have a Walkera Scout X4 and by adding 4 more motors ("I need more power, Scotty!") it might be interesting to find out just how much I could lift. Estimates are around 750 grams, which is just over 1 1/2 POUNDS!

Sure flight time would be reduced, but I'm thinking that 10 or so minutes would be plenty.

Anyway, it should be a fun project this summer when the temps are 110º and I'm stuck inside.

[G+_Brandon Jasper]

I have a 3d printer so my rough plan so far is to print a mount for a motor with a reduction gear for the winch.