Multirotors for ecological science and habitat monitoring

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dennis

New Member
I am an environmental scientist looking to use UAVs for all sorts of ecological monitoring. I really think UAVs are going to make a big impact in the environmental field because they allow monitoring activities to have zero impact. My hope is that some of you may be able to help with a recommendation or any ideas you might have.

What I need a UAV to do:
Fly transects in a preprogrammed grid over sensitive prairie areas
Be able to film in infrared, or carry a second camera which could
Have a good interface for use in remote areas. Video goggles are an option, what's your opinion of them?
Be fairly hardy for use in brush and wetland edges.
One of my thoughts was to be able to have one camera looking forward while the other films the ground beneath.

I think my total budget on this is around 3 thousand, so I can't go too crazy! (Even though I've seen some pretty sexy models out there that I'll just have to dream about) Any advice you have would be great, thanks.
 
What kind of distance do you need to cover? What flight time are you expecting? Everything you're saying is possible and it's definitely possible for well under three grand. Prices have come down a LOT in the last couple of years and especially if you're going to build yourself, you'll be able to get a lot with 3,000. You may even be able to build two great copters so you have a backup.

You can get a very good board with GPS for under $200 that will allow you to set GPS waypoints and auto fly any route you setup - I think the only limitation you may run into is flight time, so it really depends on the distance you want to cover.
 
Is building one myself the way to go? It's pretty daunting, I won't lie. I think the models I was looking at are the TBS Discovery Long Range Set, the DJI Phantom 2 with a second camera, and the XProHeli XP2. The Microdrones are way out of my league I think (its never a good sign when you have to call for the price!). I would like it to go as long as possible and then have multiple batteries to complete the work. I think running it for three or four hours might be something I'd try to do if it were possible. As you can tell, I'm new to this, and I don't really know the limitations of the technology. I'm definitely excited about it though!
 
Building yourself seems difficult at first, but you get the hang of it very quickly if you're into it. If that's not your thing, the ready to fly stuff is very good these days.

You should contact TBS to ask about the flight time of the Long Range Set. This would really be the deciding factor there. It may have a long range for tx/rx and FPV video, but if it only has 10 minutes of flight time between batteries, it may not suit your needs. I doubt they'd come back with too great of a flight time, or they'd post it in the specs - but it's worth a shot. In fact, maybe don't even bother since the Phantom will get twice as much flight time at almost 1/3 the cost assembled.

The Phantom 2 has a very long flight time, but you'd have to do some modification to increase range since it's stock FPV setup is over WiFi if I remember correctly. I think they claim the range at 100m. It's pretty much the opposite of the TBS Logn Range, but FPV range is much easier to fix than flight time, without reengineering the whole thing. If I was in your shoes, I'd probably find a way to make the Phantom 2 work. Right now, the 20-25 minutes they promise is at the very top end of what you're going to get out of a copter with the additional payload of a camera. There is a lot of great engineering behind that copter since it's really the most mainstream commercial quadcopter out there right now.

With the phantom, you could use the stock camera to record and add a small FPV camera and transmitter without adding too much weight. This will decrease your flight time slightly, but not by much. I believe the standard 2.4Ghz tx/rx should get you decent range. I saw a guy on youtube who did 1km with just upgraded FPV. You could upgrade the antennas for the radio and receiver too to extend the range. Also, both the TBS and DJI copters have Naza boards I believe, which will allow you to set up GPS coordinates for auto-pilot, hold altitude, hold position, return to home, etc.

The modifications you'd have to make with the phantom don't seem to be that difficult and I know they're very well documented on the Internet. Also, I've seen a lot of custom products specifically for the phantom copters for sale on various websites. And the best part about it is that you'd be able to buy a back up and still come in under budget!
 
Wow, thank you for this advice, what you say makes a lot of sense. Thank you very much for taking the time!
 
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