Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
(OP)
I posted this in the structural forum but I thought I'd put it here too.
Very cool video by a quad-copter flying over Napa, California after the earthquake - filming damage from beside and above the buildings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQhYbfIz0n4
Wondering what they cost and whether a typical engineering firm could afford these and make use of them for investigations, etc. in hard-to reach places.
Very cool video by a quad-copter flying over Napa, California after the earthquake - filming damage from beside and above the buildings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQhYbfIz0n4
Wondering what they cost and whether a typical engineering firm could afford these and make use of them for investigations, etc. in hard-to reach places.
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RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
https://www.faa.gov/uas/
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
It's actually quite frustrating as my father is a retired commercial pilot (still has the full rating, just not a current medial license above the requirements for private pilot) and he's trying to start up a commercial video and photography service using a combination of drones and light aircraft but these rules are basically stopping him. It's stupid that we can get in an aircraft and take commercial video but if we do it with a high end drone we're breaking the law. He also has offered to let me use the drone for engineering work (site surveys, structural investigations, so on) but I've so far turned him down as it would technically be commercial use (and it's also a $1,300 drone I've never flown before).
Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
Of course if they'd rushed things then the first time one causes an incident at an airport with an airliner or similar there'd be hell to pay.
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
About a thousand bucks.
https://store.dji.com/product/phantom-2-vision
The stability of the image is remarkable.
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESKl2dza16U
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
John R. Baker, P.E.
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Cypress, CA
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RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
The ability to reduce parallax and distortion in recorded video is (at least to my mind) hard to do reliably via image post-processing (it's hard to do even in a still image, and I know because I've tried, I too own a lot of cameras and a lot of lenses, and like to play with them). Whereas an undistorted (or less distorted) image from the start (even if its field of view is limited) would reduce the number of questions, and hopefully the number of repeat flights to determine the extent and type of damage. Having a seperate camera might be the way to go with this, if the operator wants the wide field of view to avoid running into stuff.
"...despite the apparent distortion, for something like this, an extreme wide-angle lens is much more suitable than a so-called 'normal' and certainly better than any shot telephoto lens"
You don't back this up with anything, so I assume you meant the reason I gave above, John.
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
As for your comment about the need for distortion-free videos for doing inspections of structural damage, I agree 100%, but the current state-of-the-art, at least with respect to what I suspect was used to shoot the videos that we're seeing from Napa, that these are still basically 'hobby' type devices with nothing more sophisticated then something like a Go-Pro camera on board. However, I'm sure that if there is sufficient interest in remote inspection of either inaccessible or hazardous areas via these small drones, that someone will decide to invest in more appropriate video gear suitable of professional operations.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
One REALLY noticeable thing is that Napa seems to be much more 21st century than I would have expected; there were almost no overhead wires in the video. Had there been the typical rat's nest of overhead wires, telephone poles, etc,. the video would have be 10 times harder successfully execute. Additionally, that particular quad-rotor was probably flown by direct line of sight, i.e., the operator probably had eyes on the craft at all times. A pure remote flying is another layer of complexity to come.
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RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-drones-utilities-20140712-story.html
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
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RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
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RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
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RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
Our house was built in 1979 and we've lived here since 1987 and during that time, we've had the roof worked on only once about 8 or 9 years ago when we had some dry-rot in the underlying plywood sheeting and they had to lift all of the tiles off the roof to replace the 10 or 12 sheets of plywood that were affected. They then relaid the original tiles having to replace maybe 50 or 60 broken and cracked ones. Over the years I suspect that more tiles have been cracked/broken due to high winds than earthquakes. When there's an 80 mph Santa Ana blowing it's amazing to watch it lift even those heavy clay tiles.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
TTFN

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RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
At least from what I've read and heard, and know from personal experience (our #2 son lived in Napa for several years and we had visited the town on numerous occasions), the two buildings which seem to have sustained the most damage were one that was used for commercial and professional offices (that view of the top floor where it looked like a corner of the building completely collapsed onto the street) had recently been vacated by a private attorney, and the other building (on a corner with all the windows broken and most of the facade missing) was a sort of wine seller's co-op which allowed smaller wineries, that didn't have retail operations of their own, to sell their wines directly to the public.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: Quad-copter video of Napa CA EQ damage - very cool
http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2014/september/mtr...
And here's the link to the video mentioned in the article:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xnTP4ZA1Nk
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.