Guest Posted November 15, 2012 Posted November 15, 2012 It's probably semi autonomous and FPV flight systems have been coming on in leaps and bounds in the commercial and hobbyist sector since the availability of small cameras, GPS and smartphones. A lot of that stuff you can source practically "off the shelf" these days, rather than having to do a ground up build.
Guest wudewasa Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 I couldn't resist, but I truly hope that something is found...
PhloydPhan Posted November 18, 2012 Posted November 18, 2012 I thought that this link might be interesting to some of the members of the forum: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1478852 The poster at the link above modified a remote controlled hobby airplane with a thermal camera to act as a spotter aircraft to assist in hunting feral pigs which were damaging crops on his family's rice farm. He's working on a much smaller budget than the Falcon project, but it isn't pocket change, either - the parts list on his site lists $4500 for the thermal camera, the RC aircraft he modded seems to run somewhere around $100, plus additional cost for some other mods he doesn't go into enough detail for me to price out. I found the hardware end of this project interesting in and of itself. While the thermal video results aren't all that visually compelling on their own, what I also find interesting is that this person used the live-feed video to support ground operations in real time. It will be interesting to see if the Falcon Project takes adopts similar tactics. Certainly not the same thing - the Falcon Project will obviously use a higher-quality thermal camera, will be a blimp instead of an airplane, and presumably won't be used to support armed hunting activities - but perhaps food for thought.
TD-40 Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 William Barnes explains his Bf sighting to a Sacremento news outlet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfV8tLKfb6I
georgerm Posted December 4, 2012 Posted December 4, 2012 He must have found a gold mine to finance this project. He was camping in a small tent for months at a time prospecting and is now loaded.............good for him. Let's hope he find sucess.
bipedalist Posted December 8, 2012 BFF Patron Posted December 8, 2012 Thom Powell discusses on latest blog.
Bill Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 Being on the board of advisors, specifically helping with image analysis, I had suggested that some catalogue of thermal image signatures of known species and entities be assembled to then compare with an "unknown" the project may record in field service. Jeff concurred, saying he'd also envisioned that, as part of the initial test phase. So one of the fur costumes I made for my recent research will be tested as well, with a person wearing it at night and the craft tracking the subject above, to get reference thermal signatures of a person in costume who might try to "hoax" the project and see if we are fooled into thinking we've got a real sasquatch thermal image. That will be one of my contributions to the project, so there is data to identify a hoaxed biologic in a fur costume,if somebody knows the craft is flying in their area and thinks they can fake a sighting and then boast about fooling the project image analysts.. Bill
Guest thermalman Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 (edited) Being on the board of advisors, specifically helping with image analysis, I had suggested that some catalogue of thermal image signatures of known species and entities be assembled to then compare with an "unknown" the project may record in field service. Jeff concurred, saying he'd also envisioned that, as part of the initial test phase. So one of the fur costumes I made for my recent research will be tested as well, with a person wearing it at night and the craft tracking the subject above, to get reference thermal signatures of a person in costume who might try to "hoax" the project and see if we are fooled into thinking we've got a real sasquatch thermal image. That will be one of my contributions to the project, so there is data to identify a hoaxed biologic in a fur costume,if somebody knows the craft is flying in their area and thinks they can fake a sighting and then boast about fooling the project image analysts.. Bill How many thermal pictures do you want? Edited December 8, 2012 by thermalman
Guest Posted December 8, 2012 Posted December 8, 2012 Seconded - great thoughts on catching hoaxers, or trying to ID a person in any sort of "suit."
Bill Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 thermalman: We will need them taken specifically with the Falcon system and the ariel point of view, so there's no variable in image capturing or perspective. But if you have some, when we get to that point, I can recommend any contributions from you for the image database. Bill
Guest thermalman Posted December 9, 2012 Posted December 9, 2012 (edited) Cheers Bill. Just give me a headsup with some notice to what you might need? Edited December 9, 2012 by thermalman
PhloydPhan Posted January 26, 2013 Posted January 26, 2013 It looks like, per the Kickstarter page, they have failed to reach their funding goal. They generated only $11,865 in towards their $355,000 goal.
adam2323 Posted January 26, 2013 Posted January 26, 2013 I like the concept however i truly believe that no amout of video or photography will every be accepted as proof. Its sad to say but until we ahve a body on the ground for examination I just dont see this proving the species existence. But I do look forward to following the project.
Recommended Posts