A lot has happened in my drone world this past year, though I really haven’t made much mention of it here. A quick recap of some of the highlights:
- In February, I acquired a 3D Robotics IRIS, a fun ready-to-fly quadcopter with autonomous flight capabilities. I shot this fire aftermath video soon after.
- Built my first quadcopter in April and participated in the Game of Drones – Aerial Action Sports League competitions at the Bay Area Maker Faire in May. Didn’t win any battles, but did hang out in the net a good bit.
First Drone Build: Von Drone California Special
- Presented at dorkbotSF about my drone build and Game of Drones Maker Faire experience.
- Shot a few dronies with friends using the 3D Robotics IRIS and a new DJI Phantom 2 Vision+.
- Invited to O’Reilly’s Foo Camp where I hosted a session on drones with fellow drone pilot friend Chris Poole.
- Participated in Science Hack Day San Francisco and contributed to the Personal Security Drone project.
- Built a FPV 250 racing quadcopter. Needs a bit of tweaking and more air time, but she flies.
Second Drone Build: Turtle 250 FPV Racer Quad
- Built a quadcopter based on the Game of Drones Hiro “indestructible” airframe.
Third Drone Build: Game of Drones Hiro “indestructible” Airframe.
- Shot a ton of aerial videos in exotic locales that are in the ever growing edit queue. Soon, really!
Media Coverage
- I was recently interviewed for Intel’s iQ “online magazine” about the current state of consumer drones. Very humbled to be quoted alongside Chris Anderson, 3D Robotics founder and CEO.
- Back in October, New York Magazine ran an exhaustive piece on drones, “Drones and Everything After.” There’s a bit in there from me about my Burning Man 2013 drone video and experience.
- In September, I was a guest on Rotors Up: The Game of Drones podcast, the very first episode.
I can only imagine what 2015 has in store for our drone future.
