evranch
Well-known member
I've never been a quad man. But a friend sent me this video yesterday:
This made me think that quads might finally be practical on the farm as these guys are actually making use of a quad in conditions like mine. And I love the idea of playing loud sounds from a quad to chase the sheep. Buying, training, and maintaining a good border collie is expensive, making a herding drone seem cheap in comparison. The Mavic 2 Enterprise they quoted around $3500, and I'm sure I can build one at a fraction of the cost, especially using my existing TX, goggles etc.
Sheep do not care much about airplanes by the way, they are too fast. They consider them much like a bird, flip their heads up, maybe spooked for a second or two.
Their specs seem pretty reasonable for my use, can anyone more experienced point me in the right direction on a frame and motors for implementing something of this scale? Almost everyone is building miniquads and racers, it seems.
Mavic 2 Enterprise specs:
- 322x242 (12" x 10")
~1kg takeoff weight
- 30 minute flight time at 25kph
- resists wind up to 38kph
- can carry a small loudspeaker to yell at sheep
- fpv cam on gimbal, enough excess lift to carry a HD system like fpv.blue someday (if it's ever released...) and GoPro
- stabilization and basic RTH capability is all I really need out of the FC in case of a flyaway, this would be flown short LOS for the most part to sweep around behind sheep and push them through gates.
This made me think that quads might finally be practical on the farm as these guys are actually making use of a quad in conditions like mine. And I love the idea of playing loud sounds from a quad to chase the sheep. Buying, training, and maintaining a good border collie is expensive, making a herding drone seem cheap in comparison. The Mavic 2 Enterprise they quoted around $3500, and I'm sure I can build one at a fraction of the cost, especially using my existing TX, goggles etc.
Sheep do not care much about airplanes by the way, they are too fast. They consider them much like a bird, flip their heads up, maybe spooked for a second or two.
Their specs seem pretty reasonable for my use, can anyone more experienced point me in the right direction on a frame and motors for implementing something of this scale? Almost everyone is building miniquads and racers, it seems.
Mavic 2 Enterprise specs:
- 322x242 (12" x 10")
~1kg takeoff weight
- 30 minute flight time at 25kph
- resists wind up to 38kph
- can carry a small loudspeaker to yell at sheep
- fpv cam on gimbal, enough excess lift to carry a HD system like fpv.blue someday (if it's ever released...) and GoPro
- stabilization and basic RTH capability is all I really need out of the FC in case of a flyaway, this would be flown short LOS for the most part to sweep around behind sheep and push them through gates.