THE CHANNEL
|
ISSUE 2 2014
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39
In these tense situations, are
demonstrators not suspicious of
your drone?
It actually happened a couple of
times that demonstrators thought
the police were spying on them and
taking pictures. But we showed
them our press cards and explained
that we were journalists. I think at
the moment this doesn’t pose a
problem because up to now the
technology is not widely used by
security forces or police. But I think
this will be a problem in the future.
Maybe we will have to put big
stickers on the copters to let people
know we’re not from the police.
Why do you use quadrocopters?
There are different kinds of copters:
hexacopters, octocopters, just
depending on the number of
propellers. We are using
quadrocopters, which are the
smallest copters available. They
can’t carry much weight – only up
to 300g – and they can’t stay in the
air for long. The battery power lasts
for 15 to 20 minutes depending on
the wind.
We chose quadrocopters because
they are easier to transport and
they can be operated by a single
person. Hexacopters, which are
used for movies or documentaries,
have better cameras, but it can take
two to three people to operate
them. The bigger the device, the
more weight it can carry – which
means it can carry better cameras.
On the other hand, you have more
difficulties in transporting it, you
need more people operating it, and
everything takes more time. So we
decided to stay on the smaller side:
we are not shooting world class
movies or high grade documentaries,
but we do shoot in HD with Sony
or GoPro action cams on our
drones.
How does the weather affect the
drones?
Our copters can operate in rain,
snow and strong winds, but
generally we don’t use them in
these conditions. Having said that,
we have used them in winter in
Ukraine and it was very windy
there. Our copters have very good
assistance functions. They are very
stable in the air: even if you let go
of the controls, the device just stays
where it is, it doesn’t drift away.
We tried it in 40km/h wind speeds
and it was very stable. It is really
easy to control; it almost flies itself.
Can you fly these copters
anywhere?
We naturally investigated where
we are allowed to fly. In Western
European countries and the US
they have started to set up
regulations for the commercial use
of copters, and it is quite difficult to
get permission to fly in these
countries.
The process takes too long: news
is not news any more, if you get the
permission one week after the
event. In the rest of the world,
governments haven’t started
working on regulations yet.
What’s your view on selling
copters to private people?
The demand for copters is rising.
On the internet you can buy a basic
model from $200; a top model
which can carry a professional
camera may cost thousands of
dollars. The one thing I am rather
concerned with is safety. There is
the question of people spying on
each other, but first of all I am
concerned about physical safety.
These devices are well assisted
but they can give you a false sense
of security. And when something
goes wrong electronically, like the
automatic GPS system, you may
not be able to keep the copter under
control. You have to be able to fly
them manually too.
Our journalists have to practise
in all kinds of different
environments; they have to
perform certain flights and pass
tests. Only then are they allowed to
use the copter in the field in a live
situation. So I could foresee a
situation where governments are
going to require mandatory
training for the operation of copters
and even the licensing of the
devices themselves.
Thank you, Ahmet Cakan.
RUPTLY’s
Ahmet Cakan
[left] tracks the
flying of a
quadrocopter
Copters
give you
compara-
tive securi-
ty where
violent
protests
are going
on
“
”
TECHNOLOGY
|
THE CHANNEL
