Chris wrote in after seeing this Coptool post, where Jay discusses the potential for a Metabo worklight drone.
The technology is definitely out there. We’ve even heard about “follow me” video camera drones that fly around in a circular path with the camera always focused on a target.
Advertisement
Is it possible to build an LED worklight drone? Yes. What’s shown above isn’t such a product, it’s a promo gift that Metabo is currently offering bundled with certain cordless tool kits over in Europe. Buy a particular tool kit, get a free toy quadcopter.
Smartphone-controlled Bluetooth LED worklights where you could change beam spread and illumination intensity without having to get up and go anywhere near the worklight controls? Definitely a possibility, if you ask me.
But will there be drones flying around for lighting purposes, even in an outdoors work environment? No. Light intensity decreases proportionally with distance. In other words, a drone worklight is going to have to be very powerful or fly very close to whatever you want brightened up. Powerful, large, heavy, and expensive.
Worklight payloads don’t have to be very heavy, especially when you consider popular 12V Max-class products. But from a distance, you’re going to be talking bigger and beefier worklights, which would mean bigger battery packs, bigger heatsinks, and thus bigger drones to carry it all.
On the upside, an LED lighting drone would probably tap into a cordless power tool battery pack to feed flight systems. Oh, it would probably feed the motored gimbal system too.
A gimbal system would be necessary in order to accurately aim the lighting to where you need it. The alternative would be a floodlight beam pattern with wide illumination angle, but that would mean low intensity all around. Sure, you could create a high intensity flood light system, but that would substantially increase the size of the drone compared. Equipping the drone with a single aimable spotlight would be costly, but effective.
Advertisement
I just don’t see it happening. It’s interesting to consider, and there are a lot of practical applications for an LED worklight that can fly around and aim some light exactly where you need it. Imagine how much more productive you might be if you never had to adjust the angle or placement of your worklight.
There are enough jobsite hazards. A flying LED worklight drone, small or large, has the potential for more harm than good.
But let’s say that OSHA and job managers somehow greenlighted the use of LED drones. The cost for a single unit would be exorbitant, and it might all be lost with a single crash.
We’re bound to see more quadcopters and drones used in construction, and definitely for inspections of outdoors areas. But an LED lighting drone? Maybe on a TV or movie set, but probably not at worksites.
I saw the promo image for Metabo’s vision of a cordless construction site, where they show 2 LED worklight drones operating indoors near workers. Those are computer renderings with either improbable thrust vectoring or impossible flight mechanics.
What do you think? Would such a device be a welcome innovation, or never gonna happen?
Drew M
I’d rather not have to worry about being murdered by my worklight while I’m trying to work. Anyone with some time around these quadcopters will know that they simply are not reliable never mind the fact that it will take more power for it to fly than to power the silly light.
Robert
I know that batteries have come a long way in recent years. I also know that LED’S have opened the doors for a lot more light with a lot less power. That said, I still can’t imagine a balance between the power required to fly a drone, with enough residual to turn a light source into anything but an insignificant twinkle. Any battery with enough oomph would surely include a weight issue that would likely ground any attempts to fly it.
That’s to say nothing of enough light to be significant for a jobsite application of any kind.
Tyler
The concept seems to be a bit far fetched. I must say that a floodlight might be a bit much considering the distance vs. power you mentioned. It’s probably as far fetched, but I’d be interested in seeing how a semi-focused beam would work when you have the light beam laser or RF guided. Hold a laser beam or RF puck with a button where you want the light and the Drone lines the light up to that spot. It’s reminiscent to my childhood days where we had to hold the flashlight in the exact right spot and keep it there for Dad.
Nathan
if someone was going out of their way to make one and make it seem like you have to have it. Metabo is exactly the company name I’d have attached to it. well them or Fein.
it’s a neat idea and the potential is obviously there. it is however, not something any person with half a brain should think needed let alone valuable for cost.
now on the other hand – if you’re the contractor/company that needs to insure your people are safe, want to have liability coverage and etc in this day of the sue everyone. then not only do these make some sense but you’d be asking – where then is the cameras. so now your work like provided by your company is also your video monitor. That, I could see being useful. using packaged tool battery packs, not quite so much (not optimized exactly for this function and etc)
Nathan
forgot to say – give me a tripod with a motorized head unit – and I can do most of the same job for less. trade the tripod base out for something magnetic/suction mounted and you’d get your overhead light control too.
Jim Felt
We here will all be complaining at some point in the future about FAA rules governing “our” darn flashlights. And the good old days before they were “everywhere”. And only smart enough to barely hover and couldn’t even give voice prompts on our work.
JoeM
A better question isn’t “WILL It Happen?” so much as SHOULD it happen? SHOULD it? No. It’s silly and over-complicated. WILL it? Probably. Some idiot out there will most likely go there, just to get that under their belt somehow.
Unless you plan on having a separate person standing there, piloting the thing, then it’s just a distraction from your work. And, chances are good that if you need lighting that badly, you shouldn’t be distracted while doing it.
I can see Search and Rescue workers making use of Drones with Lights on them to search for people, but that’s as far as it goes, really. Flying thing over your shoulder with a light is just too unruly.
Stuart
Wow, I hadn’t thought of that – drones as search & rescue tools. A drone can fly into areas helicopters and ground vehicles can’t, both due to their size and flight mechanics, but also because they’re unmanned.
I think that thermal imaging sensors would be a great addition to a rescue drone.
Pete
Already done lol the thermal imaging is pretty cool in a drone. A sherriff or search and rescue could have a pelican case in their truck and able to delpoy within minutes in an event that its needed. MUCH cheaper than a helio and could be faster too not mention.
Ive been piloting a drone for photography at work for almost two years. Ive attached my Fenix PD20 to it with 200-ish lumens with a decent throw and it can carry it no problem, the only issue is my flight time is only 8 -10min. My light on high matches my flight time which is my point. You guys are thinking of a LARGE light and a LARGE battery to last hours and its not neccisary becuase the drone cant fly that long anyways.
I COULD see it happen for special instances but VERY rarely. You guys are too sensitive- “being murdered by my drone” lol
Drew M
Sorry, but I’ve been flying 700+ size helicopters for 8 years and recently saw a DJI S1000 nearly do a full flip. Any of these WILL send you to the hospital at the very least, if not kill you. In the last year, two pro pilots have been killed by their helicopters. Even your Phantom? with a PD20 mounted will still send you to the hospital.
It would require an 800 size heli to lift the kind of light these guys are expecting AND have at least an hour of endurance.
pete
I’m talking about drones in context that the article and a couple of the comments that were referencing drones being used for light in a building/confined spaces which as we know is silly but if we’re talking about lighting up huge spaces then there is quite a few specialized units built for such uses as in- construction, film/production, large general lighting that would work WAY better IE- A helium balloon light that would give better light for a MUCH longer time without any noise. See Lunar Lighting and they have the balloons and HUGH light booms that are used for temp lighting.
But we’re talking about large R/C rotary and technically all of it would be pointless as the FAA doesn’t allow them to fly for commercial use and would be ‘against the law’ without getting it approved.
SteveR
I can see wildlidfe conservation folks (NPS, USFS, etc.) and other state and Federal agencies using these for observing migration patterns, crop growth and anything else they’re studying in real time (if they aren’t already).
Jerry
I can see it as a search drone, especially if it does the hover around the operator thing like some drones do. It could follow/circle the operator, and when they come across something they want lit up, then they could pilot it over that spot. If I would follow automatically, the rescue personnel could have both hands free.
Now for a worklight, I can almost see a Jeff Foxworty skit there, about Bubba shootin’ down them krazy ailens that are following him around.
Joe
That’s a cool idea but far from practical as of now. But with a little more innovation, I could picture a drone communication via bluetooth with your tools. At a command, it would take of from it’s wireless rechargeable base and fly to the area that you asked it to shine the LED light (sensors can see in the dark) then send the drone back with a command back to it’s wireless rechargeable base. After watching and reading about drone technology, that is not to far fetched.
Jackson
Forget the lights.
This would be awesome here in Florida if it followed me around over my head and just fanned me.
Hey, maybe it could fetch an ice cold barley pop while its at it!
Jay - Coptool
First thanks for the Coptool Link always appreciated. What I liked about Metabo even putting items like that out there is to show their hand at potential items they are considering well before they are really feasible. This allows users and blog guys like us to talk about them and provide lots of feed back to Metabo and all the other tool manufacturers about what we want or don’t want. If everyone says yeah we really want that, whether it’s a LED drone or cordless router or heated pants or whatever chances are good we’ll see it sooner. We are going to see many more drones in various commercial applications over the next 5 years for sure. How and for what will probably look a little different than the first concept ideas but they’re coming. I personally don’t think OSHA is going to be the ones stopping this trend because sadly my thought is OSHA will be the first ones to actually bring these drones onto jobsites.
SteveR
Jay–I would hesitate to suggest OSHA would use these on jobsites, at least in their present iteration. Current drones are rather loud and their presence more than a bit obvious. I could see OSHA planting videocams (security cameras) in discreet areas around a jobsite to capture illegal activity or dangerous working conditions. They are silent and can be difficult to detect. No doubt investigators have done that many times over the years, including setting up cameras off-site and/or moving them periodically to prevent detection. They probably also plant undercover investigators as workers at a jobsite to obtain first-hand accounts of the suspect activity.
If you’re proposing the drones be out in the open and obvious to all concerned, that would probably work for awhile. However, people doing something illegal (i.e., with a for-profit motive) will find a work-around that would not be easy to detect. It will slow them down, but it may not prevent the undesirable activity.
I think drones will have to be far different from how they presently look and perform. They will have to be stealthy (quiet) and sub-miniature in terms of size and optics to be effective. It will be interesting to see how much they progress in the next few years.
RX9
“I saw the promo image for Metabo’s vision of a cordless construction site, where they show 2 LED worklight drones operating indoors near workers. Those are computer renderings with either improbable thrust vectoring or impossible flight mechanics.”
Actually, that level of control is not as improbable as you think.
Below is a video (from 4 years ago) of drones dextrous enough to juggle a ping pong ball:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CR5y8qZf0Y&index=4&list=PLF6DF06BAB94531A1
The work being done by the ETH Zurich Flying Machine arena, for example, is pretty groundbreaking stuff, primarily concerned with the development of autonomous drone control algorithms:
http://flyingmachinearena.org/
There are teams all over the world developing all kinds of drone control code systems that allow for sharp and precise maneuvers, object tracking, swarm coordination, and a whole host of other capabilities.
There are even early efforts to adapt drones to simple construction tasks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnkMyfQ5YfY
Stuart
In the image, the drones are hovering at an angle to direct their fixed-mounted lights. A drone cannot hover at an angle, at least not with more sophisticated thrust vectoring. If any thrust is directed horizontally, which will be the case for a quadcopter at an angle, the drone will move horizontally unless there’s another force to resist the movement.
A quadcopter drone can hover, but in a diagonal angled orientation? Not really, at least given most small and affordable fixed-mount quadcopter designs.
RX9
Looking again at the picture, I see what you mean. Good point.
Thrust vectoring adds cost and decreases flight time, so most if not all drones don’t have that feature. On camera applications, the issue of rotating the camera lens is more effectively managed by a rotating camera mount (rather than thrust vectoring). With this in mind, Metabo’s picture did get it wrong by tilting the rotors rather than the light itself.
Moreover, I think the worklight/battery combo hanging off of the thing is way too big to be practical. I would imagine that any reasonably compact and affordable drone would require the use of a battery system considerably lighter and more compact than most 18V and 12V power tool cells. The lighting system would be stripped down to a lightweight rotating mount coupled with the lightest and most powerful LEDs. A bluetooth streaming video camera could possibly be packed into the housing without adding too much weight.
Simon
This post should read “Skynet wants to provide better productivity for its human slave workers for the 24 hour work day”
Michael
What about this guy. Seems to me it well on way and not hard at all to light an area up at will. With gps my drone will “sit and stay” for as long as I want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSym6-3yyHc
Chris
Can’t happen. The battery draw to power the motors and provide any meaningful amount of light just wouldn’t give you a worthwhile flight time. You could do this in a tethered fashion, with a wire running from the drone to a power source on the ground.
Chris R.
I’ve been building and flying drones for more than 5 years and I came here to say “don’t count this one out.” This will absolutely happen, and it is already happening, probably not in the exact form you see here today as a flying LED flashlight with exposed spinning props, however there are ways to engineer around that and I have seen designs already in prototype mode.
Ducted fan motors are completely contained and will do nothing more dangerous than blow your sawdust around. The power problem can be solved via tethering, which also solves control and flyaway problems as well, as someone above pointed out.
The drones you see on Youtube flying every which way are going to yield to more idiot-proof control mechanisms, which will eliminate the need for pilot training. Drones that are tethered or run autopilot programs to either follow an operator or fly a pattern and return home. They can be programmed to auto-takeoff and return home, and when deployed in force, you could
I worked on a project with a local county sheriff department for a drone issued as standard equipment to sit in the trunk of a patrol car that could lift either a light, a camera, a FLIR device, or all three. The drone was tethered, and flight controls were limited to altitude. Basically all it did was go up and down to about 40 feet max altitude and could stay up indefinitely because it was tethered to ground power. It could take off and land at the push of a button, and the car could be moved while it was flying.
I did another where they were going to use tethered drones to observe traffic patterns from above during sporting events at a large stadium. Cost to fly a police copter is around $1,000 per hour, so this paid for itself within days.
Incredibly useful at a remote or rural emergency scene to quickly get a light up and start surveillance with your first-on-the-scene officers and EMTs.
Programmable flight-plan technology allows the drones to
George Carter
I was thinking it would be nice to have a following drone with a light when I want to go jogging in the winter when it dark.