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chapter 9

Airborne Video

Systems

Introduction

In this chapter I will discuss two video systems that could easily be carried aloft by an Elev-8
or other quadcopter outfitted with a similar lifting capacity. The first system can record
video and stream it back to the operator. It is often referred to as a first-person video (FPV)
because the operator can use it to view where the quadcopter is going in real time. The FPV
used in this chapter is mounted on the tiltable platform described in Chapter 7. By tilting the
camera downward, toward the ground, it is possible to observe the ground while hovering.
This capability is highly useful for security purposes as well as for activities, such as search
and rescue, damage assessment, or wildlife monitoring.
The second video system is a much less expensive one that also transmits real-time
video, although the quality of the video is much lower than that of the first system. It also
does not have any video-recording capability. However, it is well suited to providing a video
source to a post-processing software suite that will be demonstrated later in the chapter.
I will refer to this second system as the economy system when I discuss it later.

GoPro Hero 3 Camera System
I selected the GoPro Hero 3 Silver edition as the video camera to use in the first system. The
Hero 3 line of video cameras is highly popular for use in this type of application as well as
in many others, as the large number of YouTube videos produced by this camera system will
attest to. I selected the Silver edition as a compromise between cost and features. Table 9.1 is
a comparison of the features present in the three currently available versions of the Hero 3
camera.
The Black version is the most feature-packed, and judging from my review of Web blogs,
seems to be the most popular. However, the Silver edition was more than adequate for this
airborne video application, and the extra money I saved was put to use in other project areas.
The camera is shown outside of its protective case in Figure 9.1. It is a remarkably simple
camera with just a few controls. The designers realized that most users would not adjust the
camera while they were using it, unlike the users of a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) who
constantly adjust or fiddle with the camera. Figure 9.2 is a diagram of the camera front that
contains most of the controls.

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