
Show HN: DroneFinder – Web application to assist in the recovery of drones - lanilogic
http://www.dronefinder.co.uk
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lanilogic
I've been a drone geek since 2011, flying model aircraft and quadcopters (or
drones as the media likes to call them).

I fly them using a live video link to a set of VR goggles so I have a first
person view from the aircraft. With that comes the ability to fly long
distance.

Because "drones" are fairly pricey items, I wanted a way to help retrieve one
should it crash and not be able to be found by the operator - by default noone
would know who the drone belonged to even if they found it, and not everyone
is confortable putting their contact details in public.

So I created DroneFinder which allows you to register and print off stickers
for your aircraft with a scannable QR code. The QR code allows a finder to
contact the owner of a lost aircraft and notify them of its whereabouts (via
email and SMS) using the GPS capabilities of their phone - thus allowing the
owner to retrieve their aircraft.

I'd welcome any feedback.

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ocdtrekkie
My first question is: What happens if you don't pay the subscription and
someone finds your drone and scans the sticker?

Nothing? A note about how the owner can't get his drone back because he didn't
pay? Do they contact the owner and offer to make the connection for a
larger/burdensome finder's fee as a penalty for not paying?

The old "service" I remember back in the day for stickers on your devices in
case they got lost was a one-time fee: When you purchased the stickers. And
then presumably as long as the company was operating, they'd help you get your
stuff back.

This is probably a better model, and the business could be sustainable on the
fact that people's new devices will generally need new stickers. (In addition
to stickers being generally non-transferrable things, you could prevent the
item description from being changed and the like.)

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lanilogic
Yea - If there is no subscription in place then the code scanning no longer
shows the aircraft as being "known" until the subscription is reactivated.

I'm open to ideas on it though - but how else would I ensure people keep
paying.

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ocdtrekkie
I was editing as you replied. Bit more thoughts on it there. But there's a
potentially big concern to knowing who owns a multithousand dollar device and
just pretending you don't know who owns it when you do.

~~~
lanilogic
Possibly - but you don't necessarily know who owns it. The owner can choose
how much information gets displayed to the finder via their settings.

The system will still act as a proxy though, sending a SMS and email to the
owner if the finder submits that they've found it.

It's relying on honesty at the end of the day - I like to think most people
are honest enough that given the opportunity to help someone get their
property back they'll do so.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
I am just thinking in your case, if someone looks up a device, you really
shouldn't suggest you don't know who owns it: If they've ever subscribed, you
do know.

But perhaps you should have a system where there's a recovery fee for a lapsed
account. If your service costs 24 a year or so, perhaps it's 150 or 200 for
you to connect up a recovery on a lapsed account. So the risk of not paying is
having to pay a lot more if you lose your drone and aren't subbed.

~~~
lanilogic
Thanks for your feedback - I think you're right about showing the aircraft is
registered even if a subscription has lapsed - it's the right thing to do.

I'll think of a way to queue the notifications to the owner so that they get
sent once a subscription has been set back up, and a warning to them that
someone has their drone in the meantime.

