

Ask HN: Quadrotor-based sky advertisements - daenz

Yesterday, downtown, I saw a conventional airplane pulling an advertisement behind it.  It hit me then that a much more effective method of sky ads could be implemented with quadrotors http://i.imgur.com/3DfBn.jpg<p>4 quadrotors could hold an advert in the air statically, near heavy pedestrian areas.<p>Anyone think this idea holds any merit?
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sheraz
You need to check with the local authorities for permitting. I have some
friends who have used remote controlled helicopters in urban places for video
production, and the liability is a real hassle.

* If you fly too low this is a hazard to road traffic * You may be too close to construction sites * Radio frequency may need to be licensed for that day/time/area * General liability

Lastly -- I think it becomes a target practice for kids and people who hate
this kind of advertising in general.

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hoodwink
How long could it possibly stay up without needing more fuel or energy?

You could use a balloon maybe instead.

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mchannon
If it had an electrical cord as a tether, it could stay up indefinitely.

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PythonDeveloper
Sure it will work, for a few weeks.

Make sure you print on BOTH sides of the ad so the people in the buildings
above can see it too.

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PythonDeveloper
You'd want to run this operation from the rooftop of a building, not the
ground.

You'd also want to augment the quads so that when they reach a low battery
threshold, they return to the rooftop automatically for new batteries or a new
ad.

To ensure they don't collide, you could use simple IR transceivers on the
sides of the quads to allow them to maintain optimal distance at all times.

Finally, if you want to get REALLY creative, you could adapt gyros to the
quads to allow them to stay perfectly still, even in high winds.

Rain would now be your biggest foe.

