I've been asked to put on a demo of drones and quadcopters for a local village summer fete.

Crowd size will be less than 100 and not very dense. We've got a field next to the site where we'll be flying phantoms, inspires and mavics and streaming the footage back to screens on the site. Clear 50m (at least) for those, and locked into beginner modes to prevent them getting anywhere near.

But we also want a phantom and mavic hovering around where people can see it, and maybe even try the controls. I've seen DJI events where they have a netting system to prevent the drone escaping.

Does anyone have any experience of this, what's the netting made of, should we enclose completley including the top, is it enough the netting just tangles the drone but maybe rips or should it really stop it with no ripping ?

We've got a fenced tennis court as well, but that will be for FPV and Tiny Whoop races.

Of course if DJI want to volunteer to send an events team down that would be great, and maybe loan us some kit ;-)

Is there not an app for this sort of thing.

"should we enclose completley including the top, "

Safety always comes first as you are in the UK, eliminate all the risks you can think of and you should be OK, document the fact that you have considered and dealt with them just in case something goes wrong and there is an enquiry.

I think that to stay within the rules, you will either need it totally enclosed, or keep people 50M+ away from it.   You are allowed people within your control closer but I think you would have insurance problems doing that at an event without good control of access.  A totally enclosed net is probably a much bigger construction than you are expecting.

Maybe you could get away without a roof if you tethered the drone, since it then would not be a safety risk, you could probably get away with just a single side fenced or netted then as long as people couldn't walk behind it and the tether was short enough not to be able to reach the spectators.  

If you want to let people have a go then take them out into the field with individual supervision, plenty of space and beginner mode, follow and instruct them on the Drone Code.

May be a good idea to give out some copies of the CAA Drone Code to anyone interested.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-3-9 07:08
Is there not an app for this sort of thing.

Do you mean a geo fencing type app, that's worth looking into.

Or I could just load up a simulator and tell them it is real

Nigel_ Posted at 2017-3-9 07:59
"should we enclose completley including the top, "

Safety always comes first as you are in the UK, eliminate all the risks you can think of and you should be OK, document the fact that you have considered and dealt with them just in case something goes wrong and there is an enquiry.

Tethering and a single side fence is a good idea. They can't get around the back easily. But I probably do need to keep people away from the fencing as well, most people seem to obey barrier tape, except the little kid running under it.

Plenty of volunteers who love wearing hi viz jackets so hopefully they can stand there all day.

I've looked at the layout and the stand next to my area is taken by the local Police and across from that will be the fast response paramedic vehicle.

When we get on to the risk assessment I'll share the documents on here, could be useful for people.

After all that, it could well rain or be too windy , why do I get myself into these things - lol

Matt-and-Riley Posted at 2017-3-9 09:14
Do you mean a geo fencing type app, that's worth looking into.

Or I could just load up a simulator and tell them it is real

Yes I seen an app but can't remember could be DroneDeploy where you can set a boundary , that the AC won't go outside, it will just hover, also height limit, sorry can't remember the name of it, but it's worth checking out.
I seen it operating on a football/Rugby field.

Matt-and-Riley Posted at 2017-3-9 09:25
Tethering and a single side fence is a good idea. They can't get around the back easily. But I probably do need to keep people away from the fencing as well, most people seem to obey barrier tape, except the little kid running under it.

Plenty of volunteers who love wearing hi viz jackets so hopefully they can stand there all day.

Also if you have someone with a Mavic they can now use a second controller a bit like learning to drive where they can pilot but you have control over what they do.

Just a taught..

Matt-and-Riley Posted at 2017-3-9 09:25
Tethering and a single side fence is a good idea. They can't get around the back easily. But I probably do need to keep people away from the fencing as well, most people seem to obey barrier tape, except the little kid running under it.

Plenty of volunteers who love wearing hi viz jackets so hopefully they can stand there all day.

"Plenty of volunteers who love wearing hi viz jackets so hopefully they can stand there all day."

A hi-viz jacket isn't sufficient to guarantee a 3 year old wont get under a barrier tape, even worse two hi-viz jackets chatting to each other!  Given the potential consequences you need a fence capable of stopping young children from running under, the hi-viz jackets can stop them climbing over.

You will also want some danger signs, some people don't recognise danger when they see it and need to be told.

Just a thought, if you have any falconers taking part, maybe you could get safety advice from them on tethering their birds and keeping people from getting too close.  They have basically the same problem when it comes to safety.  They normally perch their birds out of reach of children, maybe you can get a table to fly from big enough for the tether to hold it on.

Thanks guys, lots of good ideas and things to think about. Found this

https://www.networld-sports.co.u ... ntainment-cage.html

But sooooo expensive, maybe it could be my new summer job doing village fetes, but then I need a PuffCo thingy

And you still only just have enough room to fly a Mavic!

Also, I wouldn't want to have to put it up on a showground, that would need a safety assessment of it's own, plus machinery - a step ladder isn't going to work or be safe enough.

Matt-and-Riley Posted at 2017-3-9 11:43
Thanks guys, lots of good ideas and things to think about. Found this

https://www.networld-sports.co.uk/industrial-equipment/drone-uav-netting/trapezoid-drone-containment-cage.html

Quite a good discount, maybe best to put all the punters in the cage then you have all the room you need to demonstrate.

It's called thinking outside the box (cage)

Nigel_ Posted at 2017-3-9 12:07
And you still only just have enough room to fly a Mavic!

Also, I wouldn't want to have to put it up on a showground, that would need a safety assessment of it's own, plus machinery - a step ladder isn't going to work or be safe enough.

Haha, it would probably fall over on someone

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-3-9 13:39
Quite a good discount, maybe best to put all the punters in the cage then you have all the room you need to demonstrate.

It's called thinking outside the box (cage)

LOL - genius idea