The mini kite kit is an effort to curate a cheap, easy, and very portable kit for kite photography for under $50. It's similar to the [mini balloon kit](/wiki/mini-balloon-kit), but is based around a large “octopus” kite that’s a beautiful and stable flyer in medium winds, and packs down into a small nylon bag for easy travel. It won’t fly in as light wind conditions, or carry as much as larger kites might, but you can throw it in your backpack or in a tote, and honestly the octopus is just a lot of fun to fly. Just like the [Mini Balloon Kit](/wiki/mini-balloon-kit), this is a #prototyping-kit and you'll be collaboratively working on improving it with us at PublicLab.org: ### Materials We have a prototyping kit available here: https://store.publiclab.org/products/mini-kite-mapping-kit But to get the parts yourself: * 1 [~$11 squid kite](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B014NMGEQO/) * 1000 feet of 50-pound kite string * carabiners, zip-ties, other clips and such to attach it all together * a camera that [weighs less than 60 grams](/q/14219) ### Lightweight We’ve [collected a list range of cameras](/q/14219) -- like the Mobius camera we already sell -- light enough to work with 2-3 of these. With a lighter option, that means you'll have a spare balloon. But there are remaining questions and refinements to make on this kit -- that’s why we’re calling it a Prototyping Kit -- and, just like the original Balloon Mapping Kit, we’re going to collaboratively work on these issues by sharing knowledge on the Public Lab website. ## Questions [questions:mini-kite-kit] **** ## Activities [activities:mini-kite-kit] ...
Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
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soniakakkad122 | "Such a wonderful article this is. This article is significant and important for us. Much obliged to you for offering this sort of instructive artic..." | Read more » | about 4 years ago | |||
dusjagr | "We are getting amazingly good results using the miSphere 360 camera. due to the gyroscope and other sensor, post-processing using their standard so..." | Read more » | about 6 years ago | |||
rd786 | "http://uspsholdmail.info/ http://april2018calendar.info/ " | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
daisywatson | "Thanks Warren :) " | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
warren | "There are some options here! #fisheye Hope that helps! " | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
daisywatson | "I love GoPro, and I am following up to the question as I do want to know for some alternatives to it for aerial mapping. I have already been readin..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
warren | "Just noting that @csik has had trouble with some of these types of cameras recently: I chocked it up to not being familiar with the cameras but fo..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
haneetsinghp | "I Liked recently launched Eken H6S 4K Action camera, on YTECHB " | Read more » | about 7 years ago | |||
warren | "Hi Chris - yeah i would be surprised if it's actually different, these almost all seem like the same hardware in different cases. I have found some..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
cfastie | "Here is a strange development. This action camera has a 1MP sensor. It is a 1/4" sensor which has an area of 10 square mm. The native image size is..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
cfastie | "Here is an easy camera rig you can build yourself. A parts list and complete instructions for making one are in this research note: https://publ..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
cfastie | "When someone reports about a mapping session, I am always interested to know about: Which kite? Which camera? How did you control the camera? Wha..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
zengirl2 | "I was just looking at this design by two girls doing the high altitude ballooning. I like their triangular base and was thinking of a popsicle stic..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
cfastie | "The prices at Aliexpress seemed to be the about the same as at Amazon. Some of the product descriptions at Aliexpress named the sensor. For exampl..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
hank | "I suggest you try aliexpress.com instead of Amazon -- why pay double or more money for stuff when you can buy it direct from China? They are an um..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
cfastie | "A good starting point for evaluating these sub $60 action cameras is the sensor. Many if not all of these cameras use sensors that do not have as m..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
warren | "These or similar cameras are as low as $40 now! https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DG9UMS6/ Via @azaelb at https://publiclab.org/notes/azaelb/12-04..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
warren | "Just noting this post by @SeanKMcGinnis on using #raspberry-pi-cameras -- https://publiclab.org/notes/SeanKMcGinnis/03-12-2014/raspberry-pi-camera..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
warren | "Of course, it'd be great to see an even cheaper #raspberry-pi -based alternative too! " | Read more » | over 7 years ago |