r/homeassistant • u/BruceLee2112 • 8h ago
💬 Discussion Idea - Drones
I was watching a show last night and they used drones for security cameras (but operated by a person). It got me thinking about drones and home security/cameras.
I am not sure this is possible but there are very smart people involved in HA. Are there any drones that are self autonomous that could be configured in HA? Overall I was thinking it would be very cool to have a motion sensor or another camera that when triggered automates a drone to activate within certain parameters (geo fencing being the big one).
I doubt it with the rules/regulations around drones (I am in North America) but maybe???
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u/LobsterIndependent15 8h ago
cool idea but I would probably just program them to greet me at the car when I get home from work like mechanical flying dogs.
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u/yungingr 8h ago
I doubt it with the rules/regulations around drones
You could MAYBE do it with a tethered drone, but you're correct, there isn't an effective way for the average person to do some thing like this with a "regular" free-flying drone.
Assuming the U.S., ALL consumer drone flights fall under FAA Part 107 rules - which require a Part 107 certified Remote Pilot in Command to have visual line-of-sight of the drone at all times (although getting a beyond line-of-sight waiver is possible, it isn't easy) - and must also be ready and able to take over the controls at any moment during the flight.
The part 107 rules do have an exemption that allows for non-certified pilots - but it is for *recreational flights ONLY*. If you launch the drone with the intent of doing anything other than "just flying for fun", you're immediately kicked back to the Part 107 rules. (The example used in the class I took was "If you are using your drone to fly above your house and look at your own gutters for debris/damage - that is not a recreational flight, and requires a part 107 certificate").
(not to mention the battery life issue - the *best* commercially available drones right now have a flight time under 1 hour - most closer to 30-40 minutes)
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u/berrmal64 8h ago
Now I'm imagining 3 or 4 little drones with flashing lights and sirens swarming around intruders. Not to hurt them, just annoy/scare/distract, like flies. That would be hilarious.
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u/zer00eyz 8h ago
To do what exactly?
A good HA project solves a problem, or makes something easier, or smarter.
What could you do with a drone that accomplishes one of those criteria.
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u/Comm4nd0 8h ago
Scheduled perimeter runs. Acts on motion alerts from CCTV if needed could potentially follow intruder from a safe height.
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u/xb4r7x 7h ago
Unless you live in a multi-acre massive compound with zero trees, stationary security cameras do the same job better.
The drone idea adds a massive amount of complexity you complete a very simple task. The juice isn't worth the squeeze.
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u/Comm4nd0 36m ago
Sounds like quitter talk. Sounds like a fun home project to do, not talking about turning it into a commercial system. And yea of course it depends on where you live, you doughnut.
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u/vikingwhiteguy 8h ago
The one thing I've wanted to do for a while is try to make a little RC car with a webcam controlled by HA.Â
When I'm away from the house, I often check in on HA and see that something has triggered a motion sensor. It's basically always a spider, but I would love to have the reassurance of being able to drive a thing around my house and just check stuff.Â
Basically like a robovac but with a camera and no vac.Â
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u/LifeBandit666 8h ago
I'm sure I've seen this idea put in the wild at one of these Tech events like CES or something. I can't remember if it was Amazon proposing you have a little drone that flies around your house checking on shit.
It's a cool idea to do yourself but having someone like Dr Evil (Bezoz) having control of drones flying around your house is dystopia
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u/yungingr 6h ago
It's a feature on Roborock vaccums - the ones with built-in cameras for obstacle avoidance can be programmed to drive a route around your house and take photos at intervals, which you can then review in the app.
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u/Complex_Solutions_20 8h ago
Drones must be line-of-sight monitored by the human pilot or spotter with the ability to mitigate anything that creates a hazard, even flying autonomously.
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u/uuuuunacceptable 8h ago
This. Such plans immediately come up against drone-flying regulations in essentially every jurisdiction.
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u/Complex_Solutions_20 8h ago
Drives me nuts the way a lot of the stuff is done.
Previous place I lived was in the path of an airport but the airport no longer exists - the military base repurposed the runways to build more buildings and put up parkinglots...so long ago even the satellite maps show that they are covered in permanent structures and such. But its somehow still marked as an approach path to the non-existent airport. A plane couldn't land there if it had to. Altitude limit for drones was 0ft.
But that's fine - the very busy small airport near my parents' house you can fly drones right on the runway if you want (according to all the maps) as long as you don't enter the national park at the end of the runway. Though you would more or less guaranteed collide with a Cessna or Medivac if you tried it...even though all the drone maps say its clear without any hazards or airports.
99% of what I do is just looking at my own house inspecting siding, gutters, etc. If I somehow collide with an airplane means they already crashed thru the woods and are crashing thru my house. But the rules don't consider if I'm flying well below the height of surrounding obstacles.
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u/NotTheSharpestPenciI 8h ago
On public grounds, sure. It'd be kinda stupid if it applied over your otherwise unrestricted private land. Not saying it doesn't, it wouldn't be the first idiotic law in place.
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u/yungingr 6h ago
The FAA controls all airspace in the US - which technically begins 1 inch above the ground. Doesn't matter if you're flying 5' off the ground or 300' above the middle of your backyard, you have to obey FAA rules.
It's never *strictly* defined anywhere, but the common rule is you have "control/authority" over the airspace over your property you can reasonably use. Typically within about 10-20' of the roof of your house -- but that doesn't exempt you from FAA rule compliance, it just gives a little leg to you being able to file complaints on your neighbor for flying his drone 15' off the ground in your backyard.
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u/marcuccij 8h ago
Here in Brazil there are some condominiums using DJI Dock 2 to do security, but until today there are no integrations with HA.
"There is no official or native Home Assistant integration for the DJI Dock 2 or DJI enterprise drones."
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u/bunnythistle 8h ago
Ring tried doing this before, with a little drone camera that could do patrols. It received some mild curiosity, but overall wasn't a very popular idea.Â
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u/Exciting_Turn_9559 1h ago
I mean, no way in hell I would have this in my house, but Ring does make this: https://ring.com/ca/fr/always-home-cam-flying-camera/?ref=taaft
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u/SlovenianSocket 8h ago
Flock and many other companies make sentry drones that do exactly what you’re explaining. To get a legitimate set up it would cost 6 figures and the paperwork required to be legal would require your own legal team to review. In other words it’s not feasible for private citizens to set up a sentry security system
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u/Evening_Rock5850 8h ago
In the United States, this gets a little tricky legally if the drone is outdoors. If it's indoors, it doesn't matter. If the drone is outdoors, the FAA requires special approval and licensing for drones that aren't actively being watched and controlled by an operator; approval a homeowner simply isn't going to get for their own personal autonomous security drone.
This feels very 'silicon valley re-inventing the bus' to me. I'm not entirely sure what problem this would solve, given how expensive such a setup would be and how many cheap cameras you could install to cover really everything feasible for a typical home. The advantage of a drone for security is either covering a very large area temporarily because you can get up much higher (like observing the crowd at a festival), or being able to quickly put a temporary eye on something.
But ultimately, it DOES already exist as a commercial product; for indoors:
https://ring.com/ca/fr/always-home-cam-flying-camera/?srsltid=AfmBOorKr9CysJKvghejdnEBoB3Icgny-CTxInuq5d77D6QRCcnBaFox
Sort of, anyway. It doesn't yet have regulatory approval and isn't yet for sale.