[Hackupy-discuss] Aerial camera platform

[Ian Baker]

Hey! Just subscribed. I've been thinking about this aerial camera
platform thing for a while... Helicopters, balloons, airplanes, etc.
Each machine has it's issues, along the lines of stability, cost, ease
of compromise, runtime, lack of anonymity for the person controlling
it, etc.

What I want is a solution that's cheap, easily replicable, requires
little operator skill, holds the camera still, works in wind, runs for
a long time, is easy to aim, is easy to move to another location,
shields the camera operator from identification by police, and makes
the camera itself hard to capture. If it meets these goals, it could
be broadly scalable... Everybody could have one.

Last night I think I figured it out: a simple robot that can climb
tapered metal poles, and carries a gimbaled camera platform. Clamp it
to a lightpost, drive it to the top, recover when
necessary/convenient.

Not quite as hard to catch as a helicopter, but also more stealth.
Doesn't get quite as much altitude, but I don't think we need much.
Doesn't have any of the issues that balloons do. Runs all day, and I
bet it could be built for less money than the smartphone we strap to
it, from flat-pack laser-cut parts and bits of r/c car, in an
afternoon.

My housemate and I are working on designs. Ideas, cad models, etc welcome! :)

-Ian

The touch keyboard: ensouling wit since 2007.