Individuals around the world are building relatively inexpensive aircraft (fixed wing and helicopters) that can fly autonomously. These UAV’s take pictures or videos and transmit them to the ground, follow navigational waypoints for aerial mapping and scientific surveys, and more. In this Where 2.0 session, Anderson shares a personal story of how he and his son started with model planes and added cell phones and robotic kids toys to build amazing UAV’s for less than $1,000.
By automatically taking GPS-tagged pictures, UAVs can populate Google Maps and other GIS services with ultra high resolution (3 cm or better) with timely aerial photography. Anderson demonstrates real excitement for the yet undiscovered applications of these new toys, now cheap enough for enthusiasts around the world to build and share with the help of the DIY Drones community.