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Rise Of The Drone - Tonight on PBS

Discussion in 'CineStar Showcase (Photo/Video)' started by Howard Dapp, Jan 23, 2013.

  1. Howard Dapp

    Howard Dapp Active Member

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  2. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    I'll watch it of course, but let's all keep count of the number of times they use the same shot/animation more than once.....they tend to repeat animation over and over again -- sometimes laterally inverted as though to fool us....

    Andy.
     
  3. Howard Dapp

    Howard Dapp Active Member

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    It's currently running on the East. Will run for another 1/2 hour. I'm sure there will be reruns. This is great
     
  4. SteveWilson

    SteveWilson Member

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    Saw it. More military-centric than I expected.

    I liked the General's quote that UAV technology is equivalent to biplanes at the end of WW1. Which is to say, poised to take off like a rocket.
     
  5. Howard Dapp

    Howard Dapp Active Member

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    Yes, I found the UAV tech in the 70s interesting.
    Abe Karem is a wizard!
    Not sure if the guy who launched and flew that quad autonomously through and over moving traffic made the right decision. Then again there is no way to know if he wasn't really flying line of sight.
     
  6. SteveWilson

    SteveWilson Member

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    Yeah, might have been fine, but it didn't look good. Even if line of sight, it was so low over people/things.

    It was amazing how close Karem's UAV from the 70's/80's looks like the Predator. He's definitely the father of all the military stuff.
     
  7. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    I began watching last night, but it's on my DVR (thanks for the heads up) so I'll finish tonight. And it looks like PBS Nova shows can be streamed from here: http://video.pbs.org/program/nova/. The "Rise of the Drones" isn't up (yet). It appears there may be a one or two week delay before they post shows for streaming.
     
  8. Howard Dapp

    Howard Dapp Active Member

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    Exactly, didn't look good at all.

    Aside from the military drone capabilities I think the coolest tech was the little quad with the Xbox 360 kinect used for spatial awareness. Amazing how it kept perfect altitude indoors and maneuvered around objects without any external sensors or control. All on-board sensing.
     
  9. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    It up on the Nova site this morning.
     
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  10. Nick Wolcott

    Nick Wolcott Member

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  11. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Thanks, Nick. I am collecting pieces like this to educate my clients and partners. For those of us old enough to remember a time (referenced by Chris Anderson in this piece) when computers were new and everybody was inventing everything, this feels like deja vu. And as early computers were dismissed almost universally as overly complex toys, those with the vision and foresight to see something different were often richly rewarded.
     
  12. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    It's exactly as you say, Steve.
    S100 bus, CP/M, 8" floppy. 64KB of RAM. Altai. And a command line prompt to quicken the pulse: A:>
    Back when Digital Research ruled and biorhythms and chess were the killer apps and Byte and Dr. Dobbs Journal were the pinnacle.

    And then came the suits. :) So let's be ready!

    Andy.
     
  13. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Some of us may end up wearing suits. I just need a slightly more comfortable fit than I had back in the day.
     
  14. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    I'm with you on that. A slight "quantitative easing" in the Z-axis, methinks.

    Andy.
     
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  15. Howard Dapp

    Howard Dapp Active Member

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    Watching now. 4 mins in and I haven't blinked once! Great stuff!

    Amazing that Mr. Singer says we're in the Ford model T phase as far as drone technology! can't imagine what we'll be able to do in 10 years from now...scary and exciting to think about.:)
     
  16. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    (I'm waiting to get to my editing suite machine!)

    In a decade the drones will all be running Windows 11, the electronics will be in sealed boxes, and we'll have 4K FPV. (Hey, the last two are good ideas!)

    Apple, will, of course, have it's own drone, all white, smooth and shiny, running Darwin that will be controlled by Applescript running on your iPhone 9S, but will be apologizing because the GPS mapping doesn't work right and the antennae are suspect. But we'll all want them anyway even if they head to Cupertino when the Come Home feature is enabled. :) The entire Apple copter system will be wiped by the command sudo rm -rf *.

    Graupner will have created the MC-50 32 channel Tx specifically for copter flying so that we don't have to take our eyes off the bird and fingers off the sticks to fly single operator copters with direct drive gimbals that can fly an 8K Colorado camera and stay aloft until the operator needs to pee (biometric sensors will communicate this fact to the copter). Windows 11 equipped copters will achieve incredibly long battery life, largely due to the difficulty in getting them off the ground as the pilot will have to keep clicking OK on the security alert dialog boxes of the form "Do you really want to start the motors now?" and "Did you really want to fly that high?"

    We'll be able to ramp the gimbal motion, and control iris, shutter speed, focus, frame rate, and white balance on the camera from the transmitter. Carefree Mode will recalculate the bearing to the pilot constantly so that we don't care where boom #1 is ever and the copters will all come with TCAS built in. Apple will also be apologizing for that not working quite right too.

    However, the Apple copters will have Arboreal Avoidance Units. These will work for just for me. I'm going to rely on them.

    Starbucks will be delivering tepid lattes via copter with a failure rate high enough to make the phrase "Starbucks bombing" as popular as "fiscal cliff."

    Oh....and the FAA will have just issued its ANPRM (Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making) regarding UAS in the NAS.

    I could be wrong. ;)

    Gotta go.....my Mac is ready for me! Yay.

    Andy.
     
  17. SteveWilson

    SteveWilson Member

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    You really think they'll be that far along? ;)
     
  18. Howard Dapp

    Howard Dapp Active Member

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    I believe by then we'll be controlling our copters with our brains. Single man operation on the most complex shoots. No controller, just an 8" 8K live view screen with OSD displaying brainwave strength;)
     
  19. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    See it, think it, do it. Neural implant attached to the optic nerve bundle and the cochlear nerve bundle. No goggles, just lots of hand movements, twitching and folks wondering if you are having a seizure. Kind of like watching the body movements in pin ball....
     
  20. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Oh, I hope not. I can't even control my body with my brain, let alone control my iPhone with Siri. No, Siri. Down. I didn't mean that. Get off my leg, dammit.....

    I watched the program....I was disappointed. You'd think with the level of funding that the production crew could have afforded lighting rather than making every interviewee hold a flash-light under their chin....jeez....what was the point of that? Even Bambi would look threatening with that lighting. I won't even go near the cost per terrorist of drone usage. That's a political/intellectual/emotional minefield.

    I don't think the shots of the Mr. Brixen (the hobbyist) using Waypoint flying did much to demonstrate the concern that folks on this forum have for safety. Especially as I have a sneaking suspicion that the shots of his bird were not actually of it flying waypoints in an urban area, over an intersection, with cars and people. I can see that coming back to haunt us at a congressional hearing.

    But it certainly underscored the Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times." We are indeed.

    Bottom line: An interesting program -- as much for what it got apparently right as it got wrong.

    I remain concerned that I'll have to hold a flashlight under my chin every time I say the word "drone" in a tone of voice befitting Bella Lugosi (must remember to omit the "bwahahahaha" after I say "drone." ;) )

    Tabb: Better start making plans for new drones to be called nice innocent names. The Snow White, the Innocent, the Bluebird, the Sky Walker, Cloud Dancer, etc. (Ixnay the Cinestar!)

    Andy, the Cloud Dancer pilot.
     

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