I run a few cattle on a property (with wifi in a cabin and 4G coverage) an hour from my house. I would love to have a drone setup that could be remotely flown from my home (via iphone or laptop). I basically need it to take off from a protected outdoor location, fly 1000 ft to a feed station/water tank, and return on a daily basis. I need live video feed during this flight. Any tips or recommendations to get me pointed in the right direction are appreciated.
Do you mean fly on it's own and recharge itself daily? If that is the case you might have to wait another decade or two before that kind of technology exist. Any drone you buy takes a lot of hands on and time to build experience of flying, maintenance and charging Lipo Batteries. Once you get above a single cell battery into a 2S (2 cell) battery and up, you have to balance charge the batteries in a fire and explosion proof bag. Once the charging is complete you have to check the battery for balance between the cells. if the balance is incorrect then you have to discharge the battery and start over again and it is not a simple process. I don't know of any drone that operates like a Roomba.
For folks using a quality charger it's a very simple process. Your process is needlessly complicated.
Will you agree that lipo batteries in 2S and up are not the same as a standard rechargable AA, 18650 or a 12 volt car battery? What happens if you charge a 2s 500mah with settings for a 2s 5000mah? What happens to a lipo that is not balanced during use? I use a SkyRC Charger and a parallel charging board and every time I charge my lipo's, I check them for balance with a Tenergy 5 in 1 battery meter for correct balance, fully charged and their voltage. You have to adjust the settings for different batteries, charging amps for the size of the battery and the type of charging. I don't see where any of this is "Simple" and especially simple enough to allow a child to use without explicit instruction and guidelines set for use. By what you are saying, there is no need for fire and explosion proof bags while charging in your home, no need to check balance, and it is ok to charge my lipos while attached to my quadcopter. For any beginners reading what you posted regarding charging Lipo batteries, there really is no caution to worry about. Myself, I will not take those chances charging Lithium Polymer batteries. They are not simple and misuse while charging or storing these batteries will result in damaging the lipo battery itself or causing a fire and explosion. Do not become complacent with handling Lithium Polymer batteries. The only simple and safe way to charge Lipo's is using a trickle charger rated for the battery used. The trickle chargers I have that came with my RTF quads are accurate and do a great job as for balancing but takes a much more longer time to complete a charge cycle. Using a programmable charger like a SkyRC charger really is not that simple and if you program it incorrectly, you run the risk of damaging the battery or setting it on fire.
