Looking for opinions/build suggestions for work related project.

[ekoelle]

The company I work for does inspections of buildings: roofing, cladding, etc. I've caught the ear of one of our VP's and he's interested in testing out a multi-rotor with FPV for doing some of our inspections. So my question is to you, what platform would you go with as a test bed? RTH and failsafe are a requirement so anything KK2 powered is out.

This would just be a proof of concept here, not necessarily a full out build so it wouldn't need to be lifting a DSLR but would need to be relatively stable. The budget for the test is about $1,500 so I was thinking of going with an RTF kit from 3D Robotics such as the 3DR Quad with telemetry, camera mount, FlySky radio, 5.8ghz FPV setup and two batteries which puts me at $1,358.

The reason I chose the 3DR was that it can be easily upgraded to a hex configuration in the future if need be. Also, commercially available replacement parts is nice so that anyone can get the parts and they are not reliant upon me or some other small shop. So what are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Eric

 

[RoyBro]

Hi Eric,

Before spending $1 of the company's money, I would check to be sure that using a multi-rotor in the manner you suggest, doesn't constitute commercial use of an unmanned aircraft. I'm sure that you wouldn't want spend money on something that you will ultimately not be able to use because of some stupid FCC regulations, or policy, or whatever.

 

[ekoelle]

RoyBro,

Thanks for the heads up. I've actually looked into the laws here in FL and the only thing on the books is related to a restriction on drone use by law enforcement. That being said, the next year will probably be spent testing the feasibility of using a multi-rotor for our inspection purposes. The FAA is supposed to have some rules/guidelines created by 2015 for commercial drone use. The plan is to be ready to go when those regulations are put in place.

Eric