dronehire

I'm not sure, Google Play just says, "This app is incompatible with all of your devices." Both devices are Xiaomi smartphones. My new phone is running Android 9.

Your app appears to be incompatible with my Android smartphone. It's a fairly new, mid-range phone and I haven't had any issues installing other apps. Any idea why it might be incompatible?

Isn't that Quora?

Again, UAVs are not computer-flown. They're remotely piloted. They are not completely autonomous (yet.)

This is incorrect. Most popular consumer-level autopilot systems used by companies like DJI and 3D Robotics have complete autonomous functionality (except sense and avoid capability) which allows the user to input a flight path and then watch the drone take off, fly through the checkpoints and then land, completely autonomously.

My startup (www.dronehire.org) connects commercial drone operators with clients for aerial photography, real estate photography, precision agriculture, surveying, mapping etc.

Do you think you could create a video that would help us do that?

We've had a couple of blog posts hit #1. From memory, we received around 35,000 visitors on each occasion, spaced over the course of several hours.

This is correct. I believe the post you are referring to is one I submitted a few months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7360260

There is a LOT of interest in commercial drone applications. We already have 100+ commercial drone operators in our directory at www.dronehire.org, with new sign-ups every day. Currently, the most commonly requested services are aerial photography and video for real estate and marketing clients, although we expect precision agriculture to be by far the biggest market in terms of revenue within a few years. Remote inspection of pipelines, powerlines and other infrastructure also has enormous potential, as does package delivery and border patrol.

What is the range of a ~$5K drone? Payload? Battery life? Knowing these approximate parameters would be quite useful for putting one's thinking cap on. If anyone has a good idea, with payload and without payload, that could be helpful.

The answers to your questions depend firstly on the type of drone: multicopter or fixed-wing. With a multicopter you are looking at a maximum flight time of around 30 minutes, give or take depending upon numerous variables such as the payload and specific application (for example, hovering in one place uses less power than moving around). The payload capacity of a ~$5K multicopter would be in the order of 10 - 15kg, although carrying anywhere near this weight would severely limit the flight time.

A similarly-priced fixed-wing drone could stay aloft a lot longer and also have a greater payload capacity - the downside is the inability to hover or do vertical take-off and landing.

There are of course hybrid designs, usually tilt-rotors, that attempt to get the best of both worlds.

Except it's not one million USD. Also it's only open to citizens and residents of UAE.

The one million USD prize is for the international category of the award, and it is open to anyone. Check the official website: http://dronesforgood.ae/

The article seems to contradict itself -- it offers $1M USD and then offers $1M AED, even providing an estimated USD value after exchange rate.

I guess you missed the second paragraph where it states "The award is comprised of a national and international category."

The third and fourth paragraphs then provide detail about each of these categories.

Sorry if this was unclear.

Do you own a Phantom or Phantom 2? The latter, which is referred to in the linked article, uses a much higher capacity LiPo battery (5,200mAh vs 2,200mAh) and consequently has double the flight time. However, you are correct in stating that adding a gimbal and camera will reduce flight time.

It is likely that the drone operator was flying by FPV (first-person view), using an onboard camera and transmitter to stream video back to a monitor or goggles.

An operator will usually have two cameras, one that records high-quality video to an onboard SD card, and another camera for streaming FPV.

This is correct. In addition to the plummeting cost of sensors, communities such as DIY Drones and OpenPilot have made enormous contributions to the accessibility of this technology, by developing open-source autopilots that rival the capabilities of very expensive proprietary products.

DJI and 3DR are two of the most popular manufacturers of RTF (ready-to-fly) drones. If you don't have much experience with flying model aircraft, I'd definitely recommend that you practise with a micro multicopter such as the Hubsan X4 H107C. You could also join a drone user group - see dugn.org - there's a group in San Francisco that is focused on startups.