Roofs have been collapsing in Buffalo NY under 6' of wet snow load. I'm aware of at least 5 collapses, how many more roofs are damaged or compromised? I'm a builder who lives near Buffalo, I'll say that in 42 years we've never put up trusses or rafters rated for 5' of snow, typically they are rated for a 2' snow load. Five feet of snow, that's a LOT of weight, make that a wet snow, that's crazy heavy, add to that the fact that some older roofs may have as many as 3 layers of roofing, (some may have more, but that goes against code). None of these roofs were designed to handle that kind of load.
Now imagine being able to put a drone in the attic and fly through while filming, and having that flashlight be camera mounted so that wherever the camera points there is bright light on that spot. Instead of trying to crawl through the attic in person, risking a ceiling break through and disturbing, (compressing), the insulation, a drone could be used for a visual inspection of the rafters or trusses, looking for any signs of damage, cracks, breaks, things that may not be visible on the exterior, but would surely lead to problems after the NEXT heavy snowfall. And honestly, the smaller the drone, the better. Something smaller than the original mini would be more suited for this kind of work. Less prop wash, more maneuverable.Those are just my thoughts on the matter. Any comments?

imagine being able to put a drone in the attic and fly through while filming
You are likely to have problems getting GPS in the roof space and there's no chance if there's snow on top of the roof.
The surface below is unlikely to be suitable for VPS or the lighting good enough.
So you'd be flying in atti mode and trying to thread a path between trusses in atti with poor lighting sounds like a recipe for a quick crash.

Back to the drawing board ??

Labroides Posted at 11-23 02:56
imagine being able to put a drone in the attic and fly through while filming
You are likely to have problems getting GPS in the roof space and there's no chance if there's snow on top of the roof.
The surface below is unlikely to be suitable for VPS or the lighting good enough.

If we're going to put a light on the camera, then we can put a down facing light as well. There's my addendum. These guys at dji are a lot smarter than me, with all the electronic wizardry they pack into a drone, I'm sure they can come up with a simple solution.

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I wonder what the downdraught from an air 2s would do to the fibres or particles of insulation and, if space is so tight that crawling around is difficult, how close are you going to be to forced landing/rises height?

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 11-23 04:38
I wonder what the downdraught from an air 2s would do to the fibres or particles of insulation and, if space is so tight that crawling around is difficult, how close are you going to be to forced landing/rises height?

I'm in attics more often than I'd like to be, and they range. In some I have to be pretty crouched, while in others I can stand with head room to spare. It depends on the roof pitch. Though honestly, the shallower the pitch, the more likely the damage because it's flatter, it carries the load different. Still, if you go through, you're disturbing or compressing the insulation, either way. You can't not....

Dark Horse Posted at 11-23 04:49
I'm in attics more often than I'd like to be, and they range. In some I have to be pretty crouched, while in others I can stand with head room to spare. It depends on the roof pitch. Though honestly, the shallower the pitch, the more likely the damage because it's flatter, it carries the load different. Still, if you go through, you're disturbing or compressing the insulation, either way. You can't not....

Fair enough but I'd still have concerns and the draught blowing strands or particles about, which might be a health hazard to you and the drone.

You would be better off with a tracked RC vehicle. One that would not sink in the insulation.

Mobilehomer Posted at 11-23 08:33
You would be better off with a tracked RC vehicle. One that would not sink in the insulation.

HELLO, DJI......  It needs to have a good camera and a flashlight.
Make it so #1.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 11-23 08:03
Fair enough but I'd still have concerns and the draught blowing strands or particles about, which might be a health hazard to you and the drone.

Good point, I can wear a mask, but the drone motors are wide open. I did mention about it needing to be asap, (as small as possible), less weight, less lift, less prop wash. And it would need to be able to fly about 6"above insulation not 36".

This is getting more complicated the longer we talk about it..

Dark Horse Posted at 11-23 09:09
This is getting more complicated the longer we talk about it..

It was more complicated than you realised when you brought it up.
The drone you want has been available for some time.
But because it's so complicated, it costs a lot more than you would want to pay.
For a bit more than US$40K you can have one of these:
https://www.flyability.com/elios-2

Labroides Posted at 11-23 14:18
It was more complicated than you realised when you brought it up.
The drone you want has been available for some time.
But because it's so complicated, it costs a lot more than you would want to pay.

I love the roll cage, still, seems like it doesn't need to cost that much, but you know what they say, "if you don't want to pay that much, cool. Go build your own."

I would never use a drone for this myself, instead get a spy camera.

Montfrooij Posted at 11-24 00:27
I would never use a drone for this myself, instead get a spy camera.

How would you maneuver that camera when you're 40' away or around a corner from it?

Dark Horse Posted at 11-24 07:09
How would you maneuver that camera when you're 40' away or around a corner from it?

I have used spy cameras for all kinds of situations.
Usually you can find a hole or crack where you can fit one through and asses the situation.
All I'm saying is that I would never use a drone in a confined place where I can't get to myself (ICE)