Looking for drone advice.

Serafyna thought this was worth mentioning said Sun, Dec 20th 2015 at 6:00am ET

Over my time lurking, I've noticed we're blessed with a plethora of people that specialize in various fields. I'm hoping some of you drone enthusiasts wouldn't mind helping out.

My son saw and fell in love with the Parrot Jumping Sumo/Maze. Essentially it's a rolling 2 wheeled vehicle with a camera, it's controlled via app much like Sphero or Ollie.

I've purchased several quads for him, including the most recent deal with a camera, but I would like to find a land roving drone, with longer play time (30m - 1h) and video capabilities. I've hesitated buying the Parrot because it's 3 star review averages concern me so I thought to ask here and see if ya'll have any suggestions.

Thanks

6 comments, 2 replies
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ceagee said Sun, Dec 20th 2015 at 7:32am ET:

You might want to head on over the the sister sight drone.horse. If you go up to the community link thing at the top right of the page and put your curser over it , it will reveal several forums. Click on the horse drone one and you will find many drone peeps.
Of course, some of them still may show up here.
So I would go there, but check back on your thread here.
Good luck.
Did I drone on too long ?

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mehdaf said Sun, Dec 20th 2015 at 9:54am ET:

It may be time to venture into a local R/C hobby shop, that may help him decide what he wants. There are electric and even combustion powered cars and trucks that will run 30+ mins. Depending on how old he is, he may want to build his own and or add a camera to an existing kit. Be prepared to spend several hundred dollars on something like that. But the upside is that they are infinitely repairable, upgradable, etc. and there is lots of tech help available from online forums.

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djslack said Sun, Dec 20th 2015 at 10:11am ET:

(Edit: I read this differently than mehdaf. If you aren't talking specifically multirotor craft, he's got better thoughts). The long runtime is going to be a problem. The land roving ones are generally on the toy end of the spectrum, and standard battery duration there is going to be 5-12 minutes. There are non-land based quads that fly for 25 minutes, but they're in the $700+ price range.

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dashcloud said Sun, Dec 20th 2015 at 10:15am ET:

Paging @ruouttaurmind for a drone question.

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- @dashcloud I'm happy to help if I can...
  
  ruouttaurmind said Sun, Dec 20th 2015 at 12:42pm ET
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- @dashcloud I'm reading the thread... just a sec...
  
  ruouttaurmind said Sun, Dec 20th 2015 at 12:43pm ET
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ruouttaurmind said Sun, Dec 20th 2015 at 1:14pm ET:

@Serafyna, I mostly concur with @mehdaf... The better "hobby" quality (versus "toy" quality) vehicles are going to be 4 wheeled with independent suspension for stability. The Parrot, and it's two wheeled configuration is unique to the hobby.

There are combustion engine powered cars & trucks that have very impressive power & run time, but i wouldn't go that route. Battery powered R/C vehicles can run 20 minutes on a charge, and are VERY reliable. 3 batteries will bring an hour of fun.

It is possible to add a FPV (first person view) camera & monitor to just about anything, its just a matter of cost. Expect to spend $500 for a good vehicle equipped with FPV camera & monitor.

Finally... the "drone" part... There is a project called Rover that gives a R/C vehicle "autopilot" capability. Using GPS positioning, and equipped with a micro-controller very similar to the Flight Controller used in our flying drones, the vehicle can be programmed to perform autonomous"missions", traveling direction, distance and speed as programmed by the driver prior to the "mission". Expect to spend $600-$800 for something like that.

If your son is a tinkerer, these vehicles can be built from off-the-shelf parts for about a 30% to 50% savings.

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Serafyna said Mon, Dec 21st 2015 at 11:48am ET:

Thank you all for the feedback. I wasn't fully awake when I posted, hence leaving out his age - he's 11.

So, the Parrot with it's recording camera, ability to jump 30 inches high and fairly long run time may be a good intro to see how much he enjoys it? Especially since it can be had for $70 - 120. As I mentioned, I did get him a few quads as well, so that may help him come to realize he prefers a land or air r/c experience more. I'm not prepared to drop $500 on a newer interest :)

I'll check the site, honestly I thought the drone site re-routed to here. blush Ah well, live and learn. I'll read up to see if any entry-level r/c cars with room to grow with the user look promising.

Thanks again for the help.

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