Drones to the Rescue: how unmanned aerial vehicles can help indigenous people protect their land – Slate My latest on Future Tense, documenting how inexpensive UAVs can help indigenous people (and other people without much access to resources) document where they live and what they own. From an interview with Irendra Radjawali, a fascinating Indonesian […]
Category: drones
3D Mapping with a Drone in Wildest Vermont
If you know me at all, you’re probably aware that I write about and research the humanitarian uses of drones for a living. One aspect of today’s drone technology I find particularly interesting is how aerial imagery can be used to make 3D modeling, even with inexpensive consumer technology. I’ve been wanting to try it […]
Nepal Disaster Response, and Please Don’t Just Go There With a Drone
About a week ago, I wrote an article for Slate about how drone pilots were assisting with the devastating earthquake in Nepal. Here’s the article, which is a general overview of the planned response – at the time of writing, not much had actually happened yet with disaster response UAV flights. Patrick Meier, organizer […]
Faine Made a Drone Video: Travel in Cambodia and Thailand
I dragged my Phantom 2 around Southeast Asia last summer. I wondered at the time if this was really a good idea, but the Phantom survived, I survived, and I got to fly it over some pretty cool things in the process. Some observations about travel with the companionship of a drone that fits in […]
Flying the Drone at Wat Umong in Chiang Mai
Wat Umong is definitely my favorite temple in Chiang Mai. Set a bit outside of the center of town in a lush forest, the 700-year-old Buddhist temple attracts relatively few tourists and has a delightfully jewel-like, slightly eccentric character – commemorative stupas overgrown with greenery, a curious worship area dug into an underground tunnel, and […]
Flying a Drone at Olympic Stadium – Cambodia
Phnom Penh’s Olympic stadium is saddled with a bit of a misnomer. Begun in 1963, the earthworks-heavy structure was crafted by revered Khmer architect Vann Molyvann, and was originally intended to host the 1963 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games. Politics got in the way, but the stadium and its 50,000 person capacity persist to this day. […]
In Which I Evaluate Some Humanitarian UAVs
As those who have interacted with me at any time in the recent past are aware, I’m really fond of UAVs, which some of you might know better as “drones.” I’m incredibly excited by the possibility of using flying robots with cameras on them in both journalism and in humanitarian aid. They will provide us […]
MakerFaire Day Two: Game of Drones, Flaming Octopi
I spent most of this day at MakerFaire hanging out at the Game of Drones encampment, but got the chance to wander around the main show area again. I left early in the morning, arriving from my place in Palo Alto around 8:15 AM, and quickly learned one useful MakerFaire trick: the Franklin Templeton Investments […]