cheap drones for roof surveys?

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guydewdney

guydewdney

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Feb 14, 2004
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Porlock, Zomerzet
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906 Sprinter 313cdi
the property we are looking at buying has an extensive roof, and complex shape, wigh valley gutters etc. the land isnt flat so a cherry picker isnt easy either.

would a 100 200 quid outdoor drone with fitted camera be a useable option for roof surveys? the slates are very delicate in places, and tbh the whole roof needs doing, but its incredibly expensive (300,000) so for a few years we are hoping to 'bodge' it (apologise to chair makers....) and get by.

what makes are worth looking at? we have ipad and android. distance isnt an issue as its all within line ish of sight.

thanks
 
The cheap drones will have cheap cameras and probably no gimbal. The gimbal is the most important part, after the camera quality I suppose. It keeps the camera pointing in a direction, regardless of the position/direction of the drone, so it correcting it's position, fighting wind, etc won't affect the video.

You'll want one that has FPV, so you can see a lower quality representation of what it's seeing live, so you can fly by sight and get all the right bits looked at, you then view the full HD video later on for a proper look.

Cheap drones can be hard to control, and some won't even hover in place, you'll have to be quiet skilful to keep it from crashing, let along survey a roof. If you crash it, you've got to retrieve it from that dodgy roof remember.

Better ones will hover in place without constant intervention, and so are much easier to control.

I'd avoid the Parrot Bebop as their camera is fixed looking forwards, and so uses hugely wide angle lens to compensate.

I'd get a DJI Phantom 4. It's even got sensors so it won't hit the roof accidentally, it'll sense it's proximity and lift to avoid. It's way above your budget, but you can always sell it when done with it, they hold their value really well.

I'd say your minimum requirements would be GPS, a gimbal, and FPV, beyond that it's all ease of use, flight time, video quality and failsafes.
 
Pity you live in Zomerset my neighbour collects boys toys and he has a second hand one that he paid £800 for and it is amazing the picture quality is HD and it can be programmed to proceed to various places and then back to the start ,why not see if there is a local club for those things or ask friends if they know anybody.
 
What TKvS said.

There will be plenty of small companies that would do this for you, with the peace of mind that they are fully insured. If it's not stated up front check they're operating legally, with a current CAA "permission" (licence).
 
my thinking was to use this on an ad hoc basis as being in the sticks, there is no local company with this expertise, and thus would charge on a per visit basis a significant amount compared to buying one.

yes, its mahooosive. It sleeps 36 guests. its a 100 yr old roof, and has had virtually zero maintainance in the last 20 plus years, one aspect has more tingles than nails. the slates are like sponges in places.

so whats should the budget be for a basic level, carp at flying stuff, FPV, reasonable camera (not wedding video quality)

our thimking is that one roofers ladder will cause more damage than it fixes, iyswim.

thanks for the advice so far.
 
TKvS said:
Have you tried service providers such as:
Aerial building inspection and survey.
Redcopters - Prices - Redcopters

they offer the services at not much more than you're willing to spend, it'd be a shame to spend a few hundred pounds and not get a satisfactory result, or even have a disaster with it.
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sadly the price is 'plus travel'..... redbirds is essex, kestrel appears to be manchester ish. again, i could buy one for less..... somersetbis an ar$e of a place for this tech.


hmmm. business opportunity......
 
I'm guessing this is the potential business you referred to in other posts?

It sounds like a substantial investment and in that position I think I'd pony up for the full works on a structural survey including the roof.

The potential repairs could be such a large sum of money virtually rendering the building/business worthless.

Is it a listed building?
 
More to the point, what material are the tiles? Slate/concrete/assy?
 
The problem is that this could be a false economy, there is so much potential for things to go wrong, there is also the aspect of PLI, CAA approval, a substantial learning curve, the possibility that you might not get acceptable results, damage to drone, camera, frighten the horses and alienate any buxom wenches in the locality.

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TKvS said:
The problem is that this could be a false economy, there is so much potential for things to go wrong, there is also the aspect of PLI, CAA approval, a substantial learning curve, the possibility that you might not get acceptable results, damage to drone, camera, frighten the horses and alienate any buxom wenches in the locality.
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WTF :dk:
 
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no horses allowed. or horse owners as 99% are deeply unpleasant....

graphic pics of numptys arnt helpful
 
graphic pics of numptys arnt helpful
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Just trying to provide some perspective, but hey, if you want to spite your face !!!

Perhaps you'd get more help on a drone forum, rather than a car forum !
 
Crikey way to melodramatic.

I've had several big drones, including pro ones carrying DSLRs for work, and even those I can't fathom the couple of gram propellers would do that damage, they're at most sting a bit if you catch a finger on one, but would struggle to image one doing that damage. They have next to zero inertia, and the motors not enough torque to maintain the RPM if they hit something, so the props just stop.

You don't need CAA approval for a drone. The better ones capable of serious altitudes have firmware to automatically lower them in a cone towards all known airports. They're advanced bits of kits.
 
guydewdney said:
sadly the price is 'plus travel'..... redbirds is essex, kestrel appears to be manchester ish. again, i could buy one for less..... somersetbis an ar$e of a place for this tech.


hmmm. business opportunity......
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It's not that simple. You need CAA permission for any kind of 'aerial work', and this requires trained and certificated pilots, commercial insurance, documented procedures, etc.

Unmanned Aircraft | UK Civil Aviation Authority

If you're flying purely for recreational purposes you can't legally fly closer than 50 metres to any vessel/vehicle/structure, or person other than yourself or someone under your direct control.


i-CONICA said:
Crikey way to melodramatic.

I've had several big drones, including pro ones carrying DSLRs for work, and even those I can't fathom the couple of gram propellers would do that damage, they're at most sting a bit if you catch a finger on one, but would struggle to image one doing that damage. They have next to zero inertia, and the motors not enough torque to maintain the RPM if they hit something, so the props just stop.
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Sorry but that's not the case at all - even small electric motors spinning small props can inflict serious (deep) cuts. I've flown electric models for nearly 20 years and multirotors for the last 6, and have seen some nasty injuries from pretty modest kit. Someone I know was cut to the bone recently by a 4" prop on a 160mm micro quad (using tiny 18mm motors).
 
Interesting thread...my fssil just bought one and had his first flight in our garden on Sunday past...my first thought was a roof survey.

It cost £699 so a bit above your budget.
 
I have a DJI professional that I use for roof surveys, it has a 12 mp camera and 4K video it is just about up to the job for close inspections resolution wise I wouldn't go any lower.
It was just over £1000.
 
BIRMA said:
I have a DJI professional that I use for roof surveys, it has a 12 mp camera and 4K video it is just about up to the job for close inspections resolution wise I wouldn't go any lower.
It was just over £1000.
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hampshire's not too far. what would you charge to come to minehead?
 
guydewdney said:
hampshire's not too far. what would you charge to come to minehead?
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Sorry but Minehead is a 300 mile round trip so a whole day I would charge £1000 plus VAT. and that's 'mates rates' or should I say a discount for a fellow MB Club member
 
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