We were on the frontpage of HN a few months ago with a project called Oculus FPV[1]. Having stereoscopic vision helps immensely when judging the distance when flying fpv like this. And the immersion from a wide fov makes it very fun to fly. It was a cool prototype, and should be even more useful with the new generation of Rifts. Sadly, most stock fpv goggles only works as a screen taped in front of your nose.
Maybe Transporter3D will add support for DK2, then it will be as easy to set up as "normal" fpv gear. Edit: Seems like it has basic support at least.
Any chance you have or can provide an English translation of the write-up? The github repo is inspiring, but there isn't a lot in the README about how to piece everything together.
Yeah, I posted it because I thought it was really cool. Unfortunately, everything I post on HN is like an autumn leaf in the wind... No simple way to build Karma on this here webternets :)
You know what? Get more birds in the air, a tighter track, and this could actually be a popular spectator sport. Imagine watching the external views a la regular old racing, with commentators, then plugging in to watch the first person view at any time, and if you have an OVR, watching the OVR version as well.
We worked for a while on a car racetrack using tech like that in '99 (looking for alternative ways to use the webcam technology that would be monetizable). It's definitely an interesting idea and maybe flying is a big enough thrill to get people to actually do it, but you're going to have to deal with one major hassle: give assholes a continent away an opportunity to wreck your precious gear and you're going to have a very hard job keeping them out. The temptation to crash them on purpose would be very large if there are no real penalties attached to doing that. And a $5,000 security deposit is a bit of a limit on growth, and then of course there are non-intentional crashes.
Hmm, sounds like the problem then is making a track that won't wreck stuff and can return your race vehicle to somewhere automatically, then you only need the vehicles to be tough enough to handle crashing into each other.
Also, having the crash being the insert-coin point, rather than basing it on time might help.
I organize a drone enthusiasts group in Fort Collins, CO, and we have some members working on similar custom racing rigs. One member has his own CNC and is designing frames for around ~$200 cost of materials that can jet around at 60+mph. It's incredible to watch.
I've focused more on building a custom rig for getting great video of backcountry skiing, but there's a lot of overlap in the video/radio tech. If anyone has drone questions, feel free to send them my way.
Unfortunately I don't have a video of his frame - My goal is to get one at our next meetup. It's hard to capture because the thing is zipping around so fast!
My videos (trying to iterate on getting better cinematic quality) are at www.vimeo.com/bnzelener
I believe his frame is CNC'd steel. It's really malleable, so when he crashes he'll just bend the bent arm back into place. He uses SunnySky 2300kv motors, KissESCs, a MultiWii flight controller, and a 1300mAh 3-cell battery.
From my experience, the problem is losing the image because of objects in the way, and not so much the distance. But at least my cheap setup can control the UAV ~1km away, and the video is okay to about 600m.
I have one setup here https://github.com/Matsemann/oculus-fpv but it may be a bit overkill for this unless you're very interested.
I'd go for a cheaper and smaller quadcopter if you want to fly like this, and instead of the transmitter/receiver for the video just buy a transmitter and a matching Fatshark goggle. It's the quickest way to get something flying, and if you like it then buy some more advanced stuff.
So a full setup:
* Cheap drone, cheap CMOS camera on the drone, video transmitter. Possibly a battery mounted on the drone if you can't steal power directly from it to the transmitter.
* On the ground a pair of Fatsharks (they have built in receivers) and a battery to power them.
I don't have exact product recommendations, but for instance the support on HobbyKing can help put together a setup where everything matches/works together.
Depends on the power and frequency of the video transmitter and the type of antennas you're using, but typically somewhere between several hundred metres and a few kilometres.
This looks so awesome, could easily be a spectator sport like the pod racers in Star Wars :D Would get even more intense if you add some motor disablers on each racer so if you "Shoot" another racer they crash lol
Maybe Transporter3D will add support for DK2, then it will be as easy to set up as "normal" fpv gear. Edit: Seems like it has basic support at least.
[1]: https://github.com/Matsemann/oculus-fpv