One rather imaginative use of very small computer systems is in flight applications for UAV's. Following that thread leads to an entire world of development going on with multi-rotor helicopters.
I simply had no idea just how far this has come as a technology and how cheaply and readily available such things are.
The level of sophistication is such that for the financial investment equivalent to that of a laptop and a good deal of time to mountaineer a learning curve you can own and operate your very own camera drone. Mind you, like a desktop tower system - you can spend as much money as you want when you get fancy.
The level of sophistication that had been achieved is astounding and it offers the siren's call of technolust. GPS systems that allow a unit to auto-hover in place even with a prevailing wind, GoPro cameras mounted on gimbal systems sending a 1.3gHz video signal and having their record function controlled remotely, HD panels on a tripod offering First Person View(FPV) and/or Head Mounted Displays (HMD) for the pilot.
Some people even mount paintball guns to them...
I don't need a crystal ball to see some of this going on in my future.
No comments:
Post a Comment