M37 makes great remote pilot station for drones.

[jim lee]

I find that the open back & seats makes a great setup for piloting remote drones. If you look close on this video you can see our M37 on a couple flyby passes. I'm sitting in the bed flying the machine with goggles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxt1ej6 ... e=youtu.be

if you have the bandwidth try playing it in HD mode.

-jim lee

[Monkey Man]

Thanks for the video Jim, awesome stuff, now all you need is the POV gear to make piloting easier and have "the look"

MM

[jim lee]

Oh it does!



See the camera lens poking out and the disk antenna on top? Wireless live video link. When I fly I'm wearing goggles and "in" the aircraft. Its the only way to fly! Actually, this is why the seats are such the great deal in the bed of the truck. If I don't sit down I'll loose balance and fall down.

-jim lee

[Monkey Man]

I should not have assumed Jim......
I find the POV is a bit much sometimes, if you're feeling a bit off it is best not to do it otherwise chunks may fly too
I have been looking at the DJI Phantom II with the Fatshark system, budget however has delayed this somewhat.

MM

[T. Highway]

Jim Lee,

Excellent video, looks like a very beautiful area. Thanks for sharing.

What is the run time on that? What kind of range do you have before control gets sketchy?

Bert

[m-37Bruce]

Sweet Ride Jim, excellent scenery too!

[jim lee]

The runtime is about 12 minutes on a full charge. We're supposed to get about a Kilometer or so of range. ALl of teh radio gear is really high frequency 2.4 Ghz & 5.8Ghz so its line of sight. YOu have to be careful about flying behind things like buildings etc. Nothing like suddenly going blind while flying to get your adrenaline pumping!


A frame from the video. You can see me in the back of the M37 with the goggles on. Seeing yourself as you hear the copter coming at you is really bizarre feeling!

We're currently making (3D printing) and selling these little machines. They are a kick to fly!

-jim lee

[T. Highway]

Jim Lee,

I thought you built fiberglass sailboats, then I find out that you make flying drones. I tried to freeze frame the video to see if you were wearing a tuxedo like Bond, James Bond while you controlled the drone.

I would like to know more about these drones, are they listed on your website or can you forward me information? Send me a PM or post it here if you like.

Thanks in advance,

Bert

[jim lee]

We do make fiberglass boats. And we make Stereos, even a special 24V one for M37s. We also make LED lights.. Bunch of different marine parts.

Last winter, on a whim, I bought a 3D printer. Didn't take long to realize that 3D printing has come a long way from just doing prototypes. They can print things strong and light enough to make airframe parts. I saw what people were doing with quadcopters and video and thought "I want to do that!" And that's where it all started.

I had to teach myself how to do 3D molding using Solidworks to design the airframe. Been learning about brushless motors and how to size them, propellers, motor controllers, flight controllers, video links.. Etc. etc. Makes my head spin. But, its working! Its taken almost a year to get where I was heading for but its been a lot of fun too. Smashed up a LOT of quadcopters. The neat thing is that the electronics usually survive the wrecks and I can just print new airframe parts.

We are setting up to sell 'em. The issue is HOW to sell 'em. Airframe kits? Full kits with electronics? Fully built and ready to fly? Include the radio with them? I'm working on the website right now trying to lay all this stuff out. Its confusing and I don't know what level people want.

Pricing goes from the Airframe kit at around $95 up to full kit of parts (all the guts too) around $380 up to something like mine with the wireless video link, goggles and HD video recorder for about $1k. I've not even looked at the competition. We may be way out of line for our pricing. I know the prices are all over the map though.

-jim lee

[T. Highway]

Jim Lee,

This is what I like about this site and meeting new people, you just never know what someone's background is until stuff like this pop up.

I think you are on the right track because the drones are very popular right now. I think your on the right track selling different levels of kit builds that customers can custom tailor to their own likes. Plus if you are selling different levels of complete units, someone may already have components from crashed units that they could repurpose onto your new airframe.

Keep up the good work and please keep us posted.

Bert