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Need help flying inside bowling alley!!! Scared to crash drone at charity event

Should I fly it at this event?

  • Yes

    Votes: 6 8.7%
  • No

    Votes: 63 91.3%

  • Total voters
    69

aaronfos

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I have a Mavic Pro. I recently was offered a paying job to fly my drone for a charity event at a bowling alley. They want me to fly over the lanes to see all the participants bowling and having fun.

I have flown indoor before without issue, but today I tried to practice at my new apartment and the drone drifted up and to the right. It was not responding to anything I was doing and it hit the ceiling. I have extremely high ceilings so it went about 15-20 ft in the air without reacting.

Should I take this job?

Here are pictures of the lanes. I am not sure how it will react to the surface or the light. I would hate to scratch the wood surface of a bowling alley by crashing.

FullSizeRender-3.jpg FullSizeRender-4.jpg
 
This is a bad idea if you are not a super good drone pilot in Atti mode. Since you had the issue at home, I dont think the skills are there. Not a cut at you, I couldnt do it either I am sure! :D You will not have GPS to help you out, and run the risk of hitting a participant. Hang a go pro on a long pole an try it that way. Try a super long telescopic crappie fishing pole.
 
With people around, and reflective surfaces, it seems a bit risky. Last thing you want is something to go wrong and someone got hurt.
 
I have flown in atti mode before, but this was different. It was completely unresponsive to the controller. I probably need to look at the what happened in the system, but it was bizarre. I lifted off and had no time to look at the controller because the drone immediately kept rising not matter what I did. When it crashed and the dust settled (literally) I found that my phone said something about unable to update. Is it possible it tried to update mid flight?

A little bit of drifting I can handle. Would having a Mavic indoors, in dim light, or having a reflective surface cause a potential issue where the drone becomes unresponsive or tries to maneuver by itself drastically?
 
I have flown in atti mode before, but this was different. It was completely unresponsive to the controller. I probably need to look at the what happened in the system, but it was bizarre. I lifted off and had no time to look at the controller because the drone immediately kept rising not matter what I did. When it crashed and the dust settled (literally) I found that my phone said something about unable to update. Is it possible it tried to update mid flight?

A little bit of drifting I can handle. Would having a Mavic indoors, in dim light, or having a reflective surface cause a potential issue where the drone becomes unresponsive or tries to maneuver by itself drastically?

YES, this is a REAL possibility. Just like it did at home at random, it can happen anywhere.
Your still looking for approval it seems, so stand by someone will be along to give it to you soon I am sure, but you are going to get 10 fold more no's than yes's on your poll. Good luck with your flight in the bowling alley!
 
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YES, this is a REAL possibility. Just like it did at home at random, it can happen anywhere.
Your still looking for approval it seems, so stand by someone will be along to give it to you soon I am sure, but you are going to get 10 fold more no's than yes's on your poll. Good luck with your flight in the bowling alley!


yeah I am about to email them saying it isn't safe. If I could turn the drone in to atti mode myself then I would feel more comfortable. I am more worried about the drone switching from GPS to atti and then back. I am not sure why the drone was not responding, but it is not worth doing damage to the alley.

I am bummed because they were going to pay me a pretty high amount.
 
I'd go there before the event and try and fly it just before they close. See how the drone acts in that environment.
 
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What are you going to do if it loses control and hits a person? Can you afford that hit to your reputation and your financial situation? If the answer is no, you probably shouldn't do it.
 
If you are going to record the people from behind playing, you could do it without a drone but with a motorized hand gimbal camera stabilizer. They sell it for around $100 and you can use a real camera or smartphone.
 
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It's totally possible with the right combo of aircraft, settings and pilot skills, but this does not seem to be what you currently have at your disposal.
 
As ac0j suggests, the best way to do this would be a gopro on a telescopic fishing pole (or a proper camera jib would be even better). You can get remote control gimbals for exactly this type of job with a gopro. Standing behind the bowlers or to the side you could get a lot of the same type of shots but with no risk. There are too many things could go wrong using a drone for this.
 
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get a polarpro katana and a rod from the hardware store, difficult to get steady footage without proper optical lock, you can use multi colored tape on a piece of cardboard on the floor to create a pattern, and only fly over the cardboard, has worked for me in the past
 
I would not take this job and fly it simply because of the risk. It's not worth the risk to property damage, damage to your MP, and more importantly injury to person(s).

The OSMO is another option. If you use a portable system, DO NOT walk on the lanes, they are oiled and extremely dangerous to walk on. You might look at one of the remote sliders where the camera sits on a small portable dolly controlled by your phone.

However as a side note, when flying indoors, you want to turn off your sensors and fly in Tripod mode which slows everything down. The sensors could have been what forced you NP into the ceiling, or there could have been a strong WiFi signal from either your house or a neighbor. Make Sure the local WiFi is turned off as it can interfere with your signal and control.

Good Luck with your project. Please let us know what you decide on, and share your results.
 
If you want to do a test run by your self you put it into tripod mode and use tinfoil taped on the top of the pro to put it into atti . Make sure all sensors are off and use prop guards . Do a test with nobody around and then decide . When the drone go in and out of gps mode would not be good . The home built tinfoil hat will keep it in atti
 
If you do it, make sure you have insurance. I would ask if they will let you in before opening time to practice. After practicing you can decide if you are confident enough to try and the pay is worth the risk. @Canuk had good advise (you only need the foil to cover the top-rear of the MP). Keep in mind that in Atti mode you will be pushed around by the breezes (including your own prop wash) and keep away from the ceiling; the props can suck your MP right to it if you get too close.

And, you should be 107 certified to be making money by flying your MP.
 
opti mode is what you want, do not put tinfoil on your drone, atti is not a filming mode, its more for flying out in the open.

opti mode is designed for this. understand how it works, and your mp will be as stable indoors if you understand what it is looking for. multicolored gaffers tape works well, and create random pattens on the floor.
 
Also keep in mind that a bowling alley will likely have a high level of RF interference from pin setters, WiFi, and other electrical gear. Even with sensors off and ATTI enabled, you could still have signal loss.
 
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