Across the globe, military and law enforcement agencies are using drones for security and surveillance purposes. But did you know that there are now personal drones that tech savvy consumers can use? I recently met a man who flies his own drone…. As a hobby!
David Bott is one of a growing number of radio control hobbyists who has discovered the ultimate high tech toy – a personal drone. In Bott’s case, it’s called a quadcopter, a miniature helicopter with four rotors, a camera and virtual reality video goggles that give him a live video feed as his flying robot travels the land.
“Man likes to fly,” he says. “And being able to see footage that others don’t see is just a wonderful experience. I’m getting a bird’s eye view and nobody else sees that.”
Bott and his wife Brenda are from New York, but travel much of the year in a luxury motorhome. He’s an Internet entrepreneur but flies the quadcopter to take aerial videos and stills of his trips every chance he can. We caught up with him in Indianapolis, at the Family Motor Coach Association RV convention.
“These are drones,” he insists. “These are autonomous vehicles. You’re seeing more and more of this. Using Google maps, believe it or not, and your Android tablet, you can actually lot a course and tell it to go and it will actually fly that course.”
Cost of this personal drone? About $3,000 with all the bells and whistles. The quadcopter can travel at a speed of 30 miles an hour and has a range of about quarter mile in any direction. And yes, it’s perfectly legal.
A personal drone. I NEED one of these! Want more information about all this? You can follow David’s blogs and all his videos and pictures at http://www.outsideourbubble.com/
And to learn more about the quadcopter, go to http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1326529