Is this idea too crazy?

[Joel Schuster]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to drop an idea here, it's simple but quite unusual. Probably most of you have seen a remote control quadcopter. For sure you'll agree in that they are very cool toys, especially those with a camera that can be controlled using your phone. Of course, the "drones" capable of doing that are a bit expensive.

So, the idea is: what about renting them? Even if the owner is in the opposite side of the world, in any city. Technically, a drone such as the Parrot AR can be controlled via phone, and I was thinking about an app to control the drone using the owner's device as a "re-transmitter" to the person who is renting. Then, the customer would be able to control and see everything the drone is recording. All what's needed is the owner's phone (with a good internet connection to stream, probably root access too), the drone, the user's phone and an app installed to stream what the drone "sees", control it and handle the payments & rental time.

In summary, you could make yourself an inexpensive tour in any city in the world and explore it, as long as there is a drone for rent in that place.

Basically the owner of the quad would get paid for renting it and a small fee would be taken as profit. Let me know your thoughts. Can you think of a better monetization method? Would you pay to "drive" a drone?

 

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[biophase]

So I'm sitting at home flying a drone in Paris and I crash it into a bunch of people or the Eiffel Tower, what happens then?

I can't imagine trying to fly a drone in a place where I haven't been or in a city for that matter. The drone owner would set up the drone and watch it fly off, wondering if it will ever return, or if it will cause an accident. I can't see this ever being worthwhile to both sides.

 

[Genester]

So I'm sitting at home flying a drone in Paris and I crash it into a bunch of people or the Eiffel Tower, what happens then?

I can't imagine trying to fly a drone in a place where I haven't been or in a city for that matter. The drone owner would set up the drone and watch it fly off, wondering if it will ever return, or if it will cause an accident. I can't see this ever being worthwhile to both sides.

Yea, did you really think this idea through? You are going to give control of a drone in a major city to anyone that has a smart phone?

 

[DeletedUser394]

Better call Saul.

 

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[Joel Schuster]

I know, it is way too crazy and many things could go wrong. At least it's quite funny to imagine.

 

[Guest]

So you want to fly drones? Here’s what the law says

Summary: Where can you fly a drone? As long as you’re not doing it for business purposes, there are very few rules.

Your idea is not feasible because it screams of liabilities such as human errors, accidents of natural causes or man-made, vandalism, invasion of privacy, and all the fun stuff, the FAA has not written laws as of yet regarding flying unmanned aircraft in public space. You can fly as a hobby in your yard or neighborhood but you can not fly above streets, in public places with crowds, over electrical wires, near airports, etc. etc..

Ironically having few laws regarding operation of unmanned aircraft does NOT mean you can do whatever you want. Common sense comes into play here. However having no laws regarding flying drones or r/c helicopters leave a huge gray area in terms of what you can do as a business. People have used r/c helicopters and drones to film movies and documentaries, businesses pay them for fly-through of their warehouses, schools uses them to film their campuses, real estate agents uses them to take aerial photographs of houses, and people rent them out to people to fly in stadiums and private property.

The key word is private. You can allow people to come to your house and fly in your yard and charge whatever you want, but to allow people to fly over cities is a big no no for all the reasons above.

Terrible idea, but you get an e-cookie for effort.

THIS POST REFERENCES LAWS AND POLICIES IN THE US. MY COMMENTS ARE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES AND INSIGHT AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED LEGAL ADVICE. I EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF OR RELIANCE ON THIS POST OR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREIN AS A REFERENCE SOURCE. PLEASE CONSULT A LAWYER REGARDING OPERATION OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT IN PUBLIC SPACE AND OPERATING A BUSINESS WITH SAID PURPOSE OR DO A BASIC GOOGLE SEARCH. I feel I should place this here just in case

 

[MattBnB]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to drop an idea here, it's simple but quite unusual. Probably most of you have seen a remote control quadcopter. For sure you'll agree in that they are very cool toys, especially those with a camera that can be controlled using your phone. Of course, the "drones" capable of doing that are a bit expensive.

So, the idea is: what about renting them? Even if the owner is in the opposite side of the world, in any city. Technically, a drone such as the Parrot AR can be controlled via phone, and I was thinking about an app to control the drone using the owner's device as a "re-transmitter" to the person who is renting. Then, the customer would be able to control and see everything the drone is recording. All what's needed is the owner's phone (with a good internet connection to stream, probably root access too), the drone, the user's phone and an app installed to stream what the drone "sees", control it and handle the payments & rental time.

In summary, you could make yourself an inexpensive tour in any city in the world and explore it, as long as there is a drone for rent in that place.

Basically the owner of the quad would get paid for renting it and a small fee would be taken as profit. Let me know your thoughts. Can you think of a better monetization method? Would you pay to "drive" a drone?

not a good idea. sorry man. hard to monetize, hard to advertize. keep trying though, you will get there.

 

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[Mattie]

Very true, in Michigan before I left these were the discussions coming up. Privacy mostly. I do know they are aloud to fly those things anywhere in the city. The one teenagers was on the news over Lake Michigan and parks area. I've seen a few in the Netherlands and it's kind of creepy when they show up without warning. It makes you feel a bit uncomfortable with a drone filming you and you don't know who owns it. It still is neat to see them.

 

[parkerscott]

brb renting a drone, flying the drone to my location, harvesting drone motors, profit

 

[nzerinto]

It's so odd how everyone calls them drones. What happened to calling them what they use to be called....remote control craft?

 

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[tafy]

What happened to calling them what they use to be called....remote control craft?

That implies a hobby type thing, where a drone is way more advanced and they are used a lot in the military.

If you want a fastlane business with drones start thinking software or website, a service that you can provide to the customer or owner.

Think of drones other than flying also, there are drones that go through pipelines checking for damage, drones that go into radiactive area etc.

One day I can see a roofer/builder using a drone to check out if the roof or chimney has any damage or problems to give a easy repair quote, one day these things are gonna be everyday.

 

[liquidglass]

Well you had an idea, even if it's not worth pursuing it shows your creative faculties are pumping out ideas so mark it off the list, and keep thinking


Photographers take 100's of pictures and then narrow it down to a dozen or two that are worth while. Ideas are in the same boat. Write down or record every idea you have, evaluate it later, cross some off, and move forward on the ones you didn't.

Oh then.....PROFIT!

 

[Edwin C]

It is too crazy but there may be an idea there that just needs refining.

 

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[SemiSentient]

Make it so you can text while flying. Every 16yr old would be in then.

What could go wrong?

 

[Joel Schuster]

Just found a different approach on this (and a more realistic one) at http://travelbydrone.com this site has a compilation of videos made by drones in different places. It has called the attention of some tech authority sites.

If it hasn't already been done, probably the next version of this could be something similar to Google Street View, but made up of low altitude aerial maps. Of course, it depends on how convenient it is in comparison to existing Google Maps and other alternatives. Anyways, it would be amazing if anyone who owned an advanced quad could make a map of their region and upload it.

I think that having HD aerial city maps would be interesting. Maybe it could be put together with the Oculus Rift. I see it most likely as an open source project than a business venture, though.

 

[summit]

I think you have something here. you should yourself rent a barn or some real estate, maybe the top floor of a tall building. there, you can have a little obstacle course, or a free range area, all bounded with walls do they don't go into other peoples territory.

I'd pay for this. being at home in America and flying a drone in London next to other remotely controlled drones would be epic, specially with a view overlooking the city!


Disclaimer: everything I say is hypothetical and does not necessarily mean I partake in or perform any actions I claim or mention.

 

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[Joe Cassandra]

Perhaps a bit of a security risk (I fly my drone too close to the White House, they have to shoot it down). Perhaps a virtual taxi ride. A person who wants to make some cash, rents out the use of his drone, he puts it on the top of his car and you can control looking left /right etc. Before it starts, you can map out a course, or perhaps draw it on a virtual map for the driver.

In any case, depending on the price, it would be a novelty item. The fun would wear off after a while because there's a difference between the awe of seeing the great wall of china on google maps and actually stepping physically on it. Just like when Google street view came out, everyone rushed to look up their house and other parts, but now it is only tapped into for navigation purposes (not taking anything away from it, it's amazing what they've done with G Maps).

It also sounds like an idea that Google would come up with as an extension to street view, so perhaps you can approach somewhere there and see what they think.

 

[royalflush]

Here's an idea: try to offer to rent one even if you don't have the product yet. See if people are willing to pay. If not enough people paid for the product, then give them their money back.

 

[The-J]

Sounds like a liability disaster waiting to happen. Even if the drone is too small to cause any physical damage, people may feel that it's infringing on their privacy. Governments may feel like having such a window into their country is a national security breach.

Drones are cool, but I wouldn't go this direction.

 

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[rkmalo1]

Not a terrible idea ( I think it's a neat idea) but I don't think it will work, drones are somewhat difficult use, learning different maneuvers could take a few hours and like other posters above stated, the liability issues wouldn't be worth it. A better idea ..My friend has a drone and we took a few awesome pictures (posted a few below for those interested). I posted them on a few public pages on Facebook and had multiple inquires to take pictures of houses (real estate agents), schools, etc. Not exactly fastlane but def some ok cash for "playing around".

Chicago Skyline:




Soldier Field:

 

[throttleforward]

http://photojojo.com/rentals/view/phantom-2

Drone rental - only $49/day

 

[teabag]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to drop an idea here, it's simple but quite unusual. Probably most of you have seen a remote control quadcopter. For sure you'll agree in that they are very cool toys, especially those with a camera that can be controlled using your phone. Of course, the "drones" capable of doing that are a bit expensive.

So, the idea is: what about renting them? Even if the owner is in the opposite side of the world, in any city. Technically, a drone such as the Parrot AR can be controlled via phone, and I was thinking about an app to control the drone using the owner's device as a "re-transmitter" to the person who is renting. Then, the customer would be able to control and see everything the drone is recording. All what's needed is the owner's phone (with a good internet connection to stream, probably root access too), the drone, the user's phone and an app installed to stream what the drone "sees", control it and handle the payments & rental time.

In summary, you could make yourself an inexpensive tour in any city in the world and explore it, as long as there is a drone for rent in that place.

Basically the owner of the quad would get paid for renting it and a small fee would be taken as profit. Let me know your thoughts. Can you think of a better monetization method? Would you pay to "drive" a drone?

First problem, the pilot needs a pilots license

Commercial use of drones requires this as you are flying in the 'air field'.

Secondly, the technology and equipment needed for this to run smoothly from one side of the world to the other would cost millions!

People already suffer from dodgy internet when playing games with overseas opponents for example. Could you imagine 'lagging' for a split second?

Boom! Instantly shave someones hair, or worse.

This is my 2 cents. I know quite a bit about them as my father and I use drones on the weekend for work ^_^ If you've got any questions I'd be happy to help out.

 

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