Date: 24 Feb 1993 18:39:43 GMT From: jrehm@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (jason rehm) Message-ID: <1mgfdfINNefr@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu> Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX Subject: kites for remote sensing This is my first post, so please excuse any errors. Wow! I've been building kites for about 5 or six years and had no idea that a worldwide kite communications network existed! Pretty nifty! Anyway, here's what's up. I just got selected to work on a project that will use kites for aerial photography to teach high school kids about remote sensing and its uses. I'm expected to design and build a prototype that will be used in developing a "kit" that will be destributed to schools. The photographs would be scanned and edited with various software packages to do topographical maps or whatever we decide to use. Ultimately there may end up being a statewide contest amoung high schools. Sounds pretty neat, huh? Anyway, I would like some feedback from you guys on my ideas and any related experiences you may have with using kites for photography. Here's some of my idea's: Use a 'floater' that would carry the camera up the line until it hit a stopper at the top. This would trigger the camera and fold the sail on the floater so that the whole thing would come sliding back down the line. I've seen versions of this idea to carry payload up to the kite and drop it and it could be easily modified to snap a picture instead of release payload. Has anybody else heard of this before? I don't exactly remember how the sail folded once it hit the stopper. Any ideas? Another idea was to mount the camera on the kite and use a timer, but this seems kind of boring, not to mention that you would have to reel in the kite every time you wanted to take another picture. If anybody has any comments, ideas, or suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks in advance! Jason Rehm University of Texas Aerospace Engineering = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Thu, 25 Feb 93 09:14:20 GMT From: salanne@convex.csc.FI (Simo Salanne) Message-ID: <1993Feb25.091420.14225@nic.funet.fi> Organization: Finnish Academic and Research Network Project - FUNET Subject: Re: kites for remote sensing In <1mgfdfINNefr@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu> jrehm@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (jason rehm) writes: > Here's some of my idea's: Use a 'floater' that would carry the camera >up the line until it hit a stopper at the top. This would trigger the camera >and fold the sail on the floater so that the whole thing would come sliding >back down the line. I've seen versions of this idea to carry payload up to the >kite and drop it and it could be easily modified to snap a picture instead >of release payload. Has anybody else heard of this before? I don't exactly >remember how the sail folded once it hit the stopper. Any ideas? Moulton & Lloyd: Kites - A Practical Handbook for ... has a whole chapter on dropping parachuting teddy bears. It also has a detailed plan of such an elevator. I believe your camera must be pretty light < 500 gr/ 1lb to be lifted this way. Another potential problem is to catch your camera in one piece when it slides down... it will come damn FAST!!! > Another idea was to mount the camera on the kite and use a timer, but >this seems kind of boring, not to mention that you would have to reel in the >kite every time you wanted to take another picture. You can "walk down" the kite or part of the line, using a pulley. See the same book. > > If anybody has any comments, ideas, or suggestions, I'd love to hear >them. Thanks in advance! I have been thinking (just thinking!) to buy a cheap RC toy (car) and convert it to do camera positioning and triggering. The control range is limited, but few tens of meters should work and be enough. Please let us know about your solution! Smooth Winds Simo Salanne = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: 9 Mar 93 23:23:00 GMT From: david.town@darkside.gwinnett.com (David Town) Message-ID: <161.433.uupcb@darkside.gwinnett.com> Organization: The Dark Side BBS - Ocean City, NJ - 609-391-0987 Subject: Re: kites for remote sensing Message-ID: <1993Feb25.091420.14225@nic.funet.fi> Date: Thu, 25 Feb 93 09:14:20 GMT In <1mgfdfINNefr@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu> jrehm@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (jason rehm) writes: I have used radio control for triggering and aiming my camera since 1983.I use a Canon AE-1 with a motor winder, and can shoot the whole roll in 30 seconds, or over the course of an afternoon. You might be interested to know that there is an organization for areial kite photographers... KAPWA- the Kite Aerial Photography Worldwide Asociation. It'a based in Belgium. You can contact them by writing to Mr. Michel Dusariez 14 Avenue Capitaine Piret 1150 Brussels BELGIUM The organization prints a quarterly newsletter, usually about 40-60 pages. It's a bit expensive here in the U.S. since the newsletter is air mailed from Belgium, but it's well worth the price of 1000 Belgian Francs. You will need to check with your bank for the current exchange rate. If you have any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them for you. Chin up - Dave Town ---- +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Dark Side BBS -- 1(609)391-0987 16.8 USR Dual Standard | | Ocean City, New Jersey 08226 -- huge adult and pd files | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =