Drones, anyone got one or use one

Hardware
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Ok its not linux, but more of a general discussion topic.

For the start of the new year our local town, instead of organised fireworks they did a display based on drone. Unable to count how many but they created in the sky a display of the french head of Marion with the 3 colours, it then moved to being the name leucate, followed by different colours as if fireworks, quite spectaculaire.

When we were on the beach on holiday the lifeguard had a drone to parole the beach for safety.

After the big storms the hit our région, the assurance company sent a few guys with drone to inspect the roof looking for damage, instead of sending a guy on a ladder.

Drone normally are banned in our village in case they are used for filming.

So …

Questions do you have or use a drone and what controls it.

How do they control hundreds used to create a display, what programming

What range or capacity, dont want to mention the issues in the middle east but read they are being dispatched some great distances to cause problems, but how controlled …..

Just a changé of direction from our normal areas

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I don’t have one. I think they look neat, but I don’t have a use for one.

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Neither do I, just one guy in our village with one. But no point in asking him, he knows nothing.

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I would like to try using a drone for filming birds and native wildlife.

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I have a Parrot Mini drone I bought more than 10 years ago… it was in a bargain bin at an electronics chain store (JB-HiFi). I just looked up Parrot - actually a French company - but I don’t think they make drone products anymore…

The flight time limitations (8 minutes) back then were the main limiting factors…

I wouldn’t use my Drone outdoors… I did once and it just kinda “took off” over my roof and I couldn’t find it! I did a letterbox drop around the neighbourhood offering a reward - and - it turned up by my front door…

I’d really like a good expensive long flight time drone - e.g. something I could throw up in the air and it would follow me riding one of my scooters or my e-bike… But - I can’t really justify that expenditure - those thing are like $3-4-5K ! Or more…

And there’s all sorts of rules and regulations about where and when you can fly them - not near airports - not too high in flightpaths, not over residential areas… I could imagine lotta dirty perverts wanting to fly drones over a nudist resort…

What I like about most drones - is they have clever software built in - and I think many of them actually run Linux (the one they sent to Mars was running Linux). My Parrot drone runs Linux…

One of the things I liked about the Parrot Drone was that it’s controlled from an App - not a joystick - I HATE joysticks! I had an RC helipcopter before the Drone, and I NEVER got the hang of it…

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Yes thats one of the reasons here

I cannot imagine how to program hundreds of drones in 3d in the air position then colour complex language. Then air time distance. Not with joystick with so many.

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