Thoughts on vertical facing camera to inspect undersides of bridges

Joined
Oct 4, 2015
Messages
65
Reaction score
7
Age
44
Need some thoughts on mounting a Gopro on the top of a P3P facing upwards vertically to inspect the underside of bridges. Any off the shelf vibration stablized gimbals or mounts?
 
Might be a case for a custom build
Try flying in this environment before you put a lot of effort into it.
Apart from gimbal or mounting difficulty some potential issues to consider:
Losing GPS under bridge decks
Possible magnetic interference if you are close to a lot of steel.
 
How about a 250 frame like a Walkera 250 frame with a different flight controller. IIRC it has a gopro mount on top that could possibly be angled vertical.
 
Mounting the Gopro on top is likely to give all sorts of problems- to start it will blinker the GPS antenna.

How about mounting the camera as normal- then fix a mirror at (say) 45 degrees to reflect the view in an upward direction.

I'm stabbing in the dark!- but reckon with a bit of thought the mirror could be positioned to get a view clear of the props.
 
I need a tight quarters inspection drone and the walkera fits the bill if it doesn't flip itself. I can replace the FC with APM.
 
You'll also most likely want to factor in auxiliary illumination as well. The more light the better your product and results will be.
 
  • Like
Reactions: John1960
Have you tried the gimbal adjustment that lets you point the camera 30° above its normal horizontal position? I realize that it's nowhere near the upward viewpoint that you're looking for, though. And one of the drawbacks is that the props sometimes get in the picture.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mako79 and BigAl07
Sounds like a gig for custom frame and GPS antennae mount?

Any Phantom would be a chore to mount camera on top with the obvious GPS antennae hurdle. But also attachment to the shell could compromise things.
 
Here is a $9000 solution:
With a top-mounted camera, the Alta can get shots that other drones only dream of

Ran into a friend yesterday who was telling me how his aerial inspection business was really taking off (no pun intended). He is using a drone with a camera mounted on the very front so it can tilt up as well as down - unfortunately I can't remember the drone maker. He did tell me they were buying a Lockheed Martin Indago quadcopter with a 50 minute flight time. Not sure if it has a front mounted camera though.
 
So how about low tech? a mirror or prism, or some fashion of periscope on the existing camera unit may work. KISS.

It could snap on. be under $50.00 and do the job, could it work? Who wants to shoot up?

So now my camera can shoot up, but can I still fly without GPS, some can, some cannot.
 
Sounds like a job for a long selfie stick.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dparkins
Be aware that you lose satellite under the bridge. Also if very close the rebar does throw off the compass.
The winds seem to funnel under some bridges as well.
You can try tilting the P3P camera up slightly and fly backwards. Use the bottom 2/3 of the frame for report photos.
 
You would be better to build an F450 type quad where you can move the GPS antenna out of the way. Also learn to fly in Atti mode.
 
Have you ever tried to fly under bridge as is? Call a rescue team before filming - you will need em..
 
Do modifications like the ones that are suggested here effect insurance coverage?
 
Albris, a quadcopter from SenseFly, has a camera (visual and thermal) with the ability to turn from 90 degrees up to 90 down. It Includes collision sensors all around and the ability to program and set their trigger distances. It aims at professional flights, but including Pix4D software bundle, 13 thousand Euro (in Spain) seem not crazy
 

Recent Posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,352
Members
104,933
Latest member
mactechnic