Tag Archives: uav

Jul 25 2014

Skies Fill Up Fast

When the Jackedrabbit Spaketh of the Eye in the Sky, they weren’t kidding. Applications for drone permits are pretty much full, according to the Examiner. How many drones will be filming you from above this year? Oh, not many. Just 200 – about 1 for every 300 citizens, meaning there are more drones than there are cops.

blackhawk wesley clark 2013The 200 is just for the civilian drones, operated by Burners. We also have satellite and military overflights, and who knows what manner of integrated technology the infrared-equipped cops/rangers are testing out at the largest public event on Federal land, on a former military bombing range. There could be all kinds of loony stuff going on overhead.

Re-blogged from The Examiner:


Only three days after organizers of Burning Man opened registration for pilots of radio-controlled aircraft at this year’s event, the cap has been nearly reached.

BurningManDroneImageAs of late Thursday, more than 150 registrants submitted requests to use drones at the annual week-long counterculture gathering in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. When organizers announced the registration Tuesday, it set limit the number of people allowed to use devices to 200.

On Wednesday, event spokesperson Jim Graham said last year’s event saw only a few radio-controlled aircraft and drones, most of which were used by participants to take aerial videos and photographs of Black Rock City. Though registration was required at 2013’s event, organizers believed limiting the number of flyers to this year to 200 would more than accommodate the number of people intending to fly.

Google's "Project Loon" brings Wi-Fi everywhere“We don’t think we had anything close to that last year. We’ll see what we get,” Graham said Wednesday.

But by 11 p.m. Thursday night, 156 attendees had registered for this August’s event.

Despite the numbers, Graham said Friday morning that the organization doesn’t believe it will need to increase the cap.

googleprojectloon2“We had a rush of applications when we announced registration,” he explained. “It has slowed to a trickle. We think the 200 cap is good and was based on our ability to staff and properly support the effort.”

Called by some as an “experiment in radical self-reliance,” Burning Man attracts nearly 70,000 attendees from across the globe to Nevada’s inhospitable Black Rock Desert for extreme art, music and social freedom. The event strongly encourages a participatory atmosphere, and many attendees choose to enjoy the event nude or partially nude.

Google Project Loon balloon on display at Airforce Museum in ChristchurchOrganizers have been traditionally very protective of attendees’ privacy, especially concerning professional photographers and videographers, who are required to register cameras. The event’s strict non-commercial policies also control how photographs and videos may be used, with drones adding another layer of quickly evolving complexity to the mix.

Registration applications, while they last, are available at the Black Rock City Municipal Airport’s website.

So if “most” of them were used to take videos and photos…what were the “other” ones doing?

Some Burners have suggested shooting these things down with water guns, or other means. Last year a young man was killed when his remote controlled helicopter drone crashed in a park in Brooklyn, NY. It’s going to be hard for BMOrg keep 70,000 Burners spread out over 1000 acres safe from 200+ drones that could fall out of the sky at any time. There’s also the risk of drones colliding with birds, skydivers, helicopters, ultralites, lasers, flame effects, UFOs, or anything else in the skies over Black Rock City. Will there be DUIs for drone pilots?

The following footage, from just one drone, has 600,000 views on YouTube. Multiply that by 200, and you have a lot of ad-worthy eyeballs being drawn to Burning Man. So rock out with your cock out! For those bringing your kids, keep in mind that by the time they grow up and pursue a career, it should be pretty easy to locate them at Burning Man from all this drone footage (clue: search technology in twenty years will be much more advanced than today).

Sep 9 2013

The Eye in the Sky: Drone Views of Cargo Cult

From The Week:

aerial 2013When most people think of drones, they probably think of remote-fired missiles raining down on Pakistan and Yemen. But it turns out that drones — or, technically, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — are also a pretty good platform for capturing a flavor of Burning Man, the surreal celebration of fleeting beauty, self-reliance, generosity, and elaborate self-expression held every year in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

If, like me, you’ve never been to Burning Man — or, like Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, you just helicopter in for one day of the weeklong festival — these drone’s-eye views of the big party in the desert are certainly a better introduction than the photos on your friend’s smartphone or Instagram page. If you are a Burning Man regular, here’s a different way to relive the magic.

The video above was taken by Eddie Codel from a DJI Phantom quadcopter UAV. The one below was captured by Tugrik d’Itichi from a TBS Discovery Pro quadrotor. Both UAVs held GoPro Hero3 cameras.

Here’s some more drone footage from 2013:

Aug 20 2013

Drone Alert

Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a UFO? Is it a skydiver?

Most likely, these days, it’s a drone.

BurningManDroneImageFrom the Atlantic:

Just one week to go until Burning Man 2013, the massive annual arts festival in the Nevada desert, and the community’s organizers have thought of everything. In 2013, “everything” includes unmanned aerial vehicles.

Following complaints that a few UAVs were buzzing around Burning Man 2012, disturbing people’s experience and, when equipped with cameras, invading their privacy, Burning Man organizers convened the first ever Black Rock City Drone Summit. Some 40 people attended the summit in person, with another 100 teleconferencing in. Over the past few weeks, they worked to draft “best practices” for UAVs at Burning Man, and they recently released guidelines modeled on those adopted by the Academy of Model Aeronautics. The highlights, which organizers posted on the Burning Man blog, are as follows (full list here):

  • All UAVs carrying cameras will register with Media Mecca and each UAV will carry a unique registration number on a small decal on the vehicle.
  • Operators will avoid flying over crowds and populated areas.
  • Operators will avoid flying during the Temple burn.
  • No flying near the Black Rock City airport or helipads.
  • No flying near the Man any time Saturday the day of the burn.

drone multi rotorBoing Boing has some more details:

1. Be safe! Avoid flying over large crowds or densely populated areas. If you crash into a crowd you can seriously injure people. Follow the AMA safety code when flying any RC device. If you injure someone, you are responsible.

2. If your RC/UAV has a camera and you will record video/still photos from it, you need be aware of the video and photography guidelines in Black Rock City. Additionally, all RC/UAV with cameras need to register with Media Mecca*.

3. Don’t fly near the airport. The airport is located at 5:00 and the trash fence. (See map)

4. Don’t fly near the emergency helipad – Located near Point 1, and another by the airport, usually set up quickly (for emergencies, duh) so stay away from that whole area.

5. On the day of the Man burn (Saturday, September 1, 2013), RC/UAV, helicopters (be they full sized or models) or any other aircraft shall not be flown within the borders of the Great Circle (around the Man) from 7 AM until after the conclusion of the show.

i. The primary reasoning for this is that the pyrotechnics can be set off by static electricity which is caused by any aircraft, therefore creating a very hazardous environment for the pyrotechnics crew working on, in, and around the structure.

ii. Secondarily the possibility of loss of control of the aircraft could cause damage to the structure, Man Base, or harm the working personnel in the area.

red cross droneBurning Man’s “drone summit” had 40 people live and 100 people teleconferencing in. Interest in drones is high, and growing. From the official Burning Man blog:

Participants flying unmanned aerial vehicles(aka drones, RC airplanes, etc.) have developed a set of best practices for flying at Black Rock City this year.

The best practices came out of a July 17“Drone Summit” at Burning Man headquarters that had 40 in attendance and an estimated 100 on a teleconference. Burning Man organizers arranged the summit following participant complaints from BM2012 that included UAVs flying over crowds at the Man burn, one UAV flying at the Temple burn, and a concern that UAVs with cameras were invading peoples’ privacy.

The best practices developed by participants were modeled on safety guidelines adopted by the Academy of Model Aeronautics and updated to address the unique environment of Black Rock City. The entire list of guidelines is here, 

Drone pilots, be careful of skydivers!

As a skydiver jumping at Burning Man I can’t help but post to this regarding drone use. One thing I’d like to add that I wish were on these guidelines is that skydiving operations will be going on Wed – Sat. We mostly land at 5 o’clock of the inner circle and at the airport. If you are going to be in those areas please be aware of skydiving operations! The last thing we want is a skydiver/drone entanglement at 400 feet.