Mini Kite Kit
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, 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, 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
- 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
Lightweight
We’ve collected a list range of cameras -- 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
Title | Author | Updated | Likes | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
What should we be recording in balloon/kite mapping logbooks? | @warren | over 7 years ago | 1 | 1 |
What's the best way to attach a camera to a balloon? | @warren | over 7 years ago | 1 | 2 |
Challenges, questions and problem-solving together: choosing cameras for Mini Balloon and Kite Kits | @warren | over 7 years ago | 0 | 1 |
Cheap, lightweight GoPro alternatives for aerial mapping? | @warren | over 7 years ago | 3 | 14 |
Activities
Purpose | Category | Status | Author | Time | Difficulty | Replications |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Remove lens distortion from photos with FisheyeGL | - | - | @warren | - | - | 0 replications: Try it » |
KAP Rig for Mobius Action Cam | - | - | @ajawitz | - | - | 0 replications: Try it » |
Set up a Mobius Action Cam for timelapse | - | - | @warren | - | - | 0 replications: Try it » |
Fly a small camera on a very portable (squid-shaped) sled kite | - | - | @warren | - | - | 0 replications: Try it » |
Activities should include a materials list, costs and a step-by-step guide to construction with photos. Learn what makes a good activity here.