You want closeups of an erupting volcano? Don’t go yourself, send a drone. These are some amazing shots from Iceland.
This is a short “making of” video, in which we learn that the camera did not survive its final flight over the pool of lava.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
If only Empedocles had one of these…
That reminds me of the mildly deranged penguin cooking breakfast (oatmeal), including the aerial surveillance to see if it needs turning over. Don’t recall the camera ever melting, albeit the kitchen usually did.
What is this letter: ð And how does one form it?
Daz @3: It’s basically a voiceless ‘th’, IIRC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_dental_fricative
Thanks Rob
As to forming it, BabelMap to the rescue: ð
Daz, wiki ‘eth’. It has a capital that isn’t used in the title of the first video. The second video doesn’t run on my fucking Samsung tablet.
And thanks chigau, too.
If the guy had put an IR filter/shield in front of the camera, that wouldn’t have happened.
How to pronounce “Bárðarbunga”
chigau @5: I sit corrected.
Isn’t that Mordor?
Blimey I didn’t mean to start a whole derail. Thanks all, and sorry ’bout that.
The sacrifice of a dozen drones is a minuscule price to pay for live pictures from above an active, freakin’ volcano! Dress another one up in a drone-size version of the protective coats scientists wear when standing next to molten lava and sent it out there. I need another fix.
According to the great wiki in the sky ð is actually a voiced alveolar non-sibilant fricative for what it’s worth.
Well, science showed you can get drone to photograph an erupting volcano. Now, to wait until the engineering can get one to survive the heat and get back to base totally intact, without needed a huge amount of fuel due to the weight.
This seems like an opportune moment to plug a friend’s research! Using (home-built) quadcopters to fly research equipment over Mount Erebus in Antarctica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA1cMbcm6bc
Unfortunately the USAP has just banned the use of all UAVs by their personnel in Antarctica, with not much time to try to get permissions before the start of this year’s fieldwork season. http://www.usap.gov/News/contentHandler.cfm?id=4071
He’s hoping the permissions will come through in time for this year’s fieldwork season but he’s not that optimistic it will happen.
@Nerd,
Based on the “making of”, it seems that the drone survived, but just the camera that melted. They probably just need to add some temperature monitoring to the thing, and start alerting or trigger the failsafe return to base function if the air temperatures get too high. It doesn’t look like any of it is anything other than consumer electronics, so finding out the highest temps it can tolerate might be tricky, though.
Science is proving it can be done, which happened, and engineering is showing it can be done safely, which needs some work. So, where have I gone wrong?
I’m not sure a drone photographing an erupting volcano is a triumph of science rather than engineering, but regardless, if weight is ever a problem, can’t they just use one of those Little Bird UAVs?
Okay… I know this is off-topic and I’m so sorry, but… I just tried posting twice in Thunderdome 54. and neither of my posts is showing up… are they showing up for anybody else?
@ Larry #14
Virgin drones! Or our Chthonic oBerlawds shan’t be appeased.
Virgin drones! Or bankers…
birgerjohansson @22.
I was under the impression that Bankers were immortal as even Satan has standards…
NateHevens. He who hates straight, white, cis-gendered, able-bodied men (not really) @ 21 – both are showing up for me.
Would such a device help in the search for the missing people on Mount Ontake? I’ve been following that eruption since a few hours after it happened (in the middle of the night for me). I feel so sorry for the people who died, and their families.
If rescuers can’t breath at the summit, can drone engines?
Depends on why rescuers can’t breath. If it is lack of oxygen, that could effect an engine. Toxic gases like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide at low concentrations wouldn’t effect an engine; several percent concentrations is a different story.
A bigger problem for an engine inhaling air around a volcano is ash. That will either plug the air filter, or if it gets into moving parts, abrade them.
A lot of UAV engines are electric, so they aren’t burning anything — they’d fly perfectly fine.