Mounting a camera on an aerial platform is not a new concept at all for flying enthusiasts. As early as the 19th century, the taking aerial photographs had been already practised by some adventurous flying enthusiasts using hot air balloons and kites as their aerial platforms. Aerial photography, using a kite as a platform, would usually require more innovation on the part of the photographer, for the photographer could definitely not board the kite. Hence, he had to make use of a camera timer that would allow him to operate the camera while the kite was still airborne. At present, the idea of mounting a camera on a UAV appeals more to most aerial photographers, and this idea has greatly expanded the range of aerial photography. The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) or drone, is a small, lightweight, and remotely piloted aircraft controlled by radio from the ground, on which an HD video camera and wireless transmitter can be easily mounted.
The Aerial Camera Drone
The development of miniaturized electronic components for mobile phones and digital cameras has greatly paved the way for the realization of camera-mounted UAVs. Complemented by an analog video transmitter and an HD camera, an aerial camera drone can be easily maneuvered by operators from the ground towards the specifically desired angles for perfect footage and video shots. The imagery taken by the mounted camera is then streamed back to the operator’s monitor via the aerial photography video link. This process gives the drone or UAV operator a realistic first-person view of what the camera is actually seeing above. Any flight deviation or unnecessary aerial movement of the drone can be instantaneously seen by the UAV operator on the on-screen display (OSD). This added awareness from FPV allows the drone operator ample time to react and rectify the drone’s flight attitude.
Most commercially sold aerial camera drones, nowadays, are fitted with built-in standard definition FPV camera, analog video transmitter, and receiver, along with FPV on-screen display. There are also available Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kits in the drone market for aerial photography uav which more advanced and innovative drone hobbyists are more inclined to buy and favor. Since the makeup of a drone can be easily upgraded using several aftermarket items such as UAV’s flight telemetry, “return to home” software, GPS, gimbaled camera mounts HD video camera, more meticulous drone enthusiasts usually buy their own drone equipment and accessories in order to customize their drones to suit their taste and preference.
Commercially available drones and UAVs basically come in two types—the fixed-winged type and the rotary-winged type. The multi-rotor rotary-winged type is highly favored by most drone enthusiasts for two main reasons. First, the rotary-winged type is deemed as a more versatile and stable camera platform. Second, the rotary-winged UAV is readily deployable and recoverable from small confines of an urban area.
UAV’s Capability and Applications
As mentioned above, the rotary-winged UAV is the favorite choice among UAV users for performing various tasks like visual inspection of difficult-to-reach locations like power line cables, elevated external oil rig and refinery structures, bridges, and building facades. The low noise emission of the rotary-winged type UAV makes it a viable platform for surveillance and observation likewise. Lastly, the rotary-winged UAV’s ability to hover and move slowly above makes this vehicle a valuable platform of choice for coverage of important outdoor events.
Marketing and Sales Operations Manager at AMIMON, an HD wireless solutions developer. Visit us at: http://connex.amimon.com/
