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Comment by MrGilbert | Hacker News Reader

That’s one of these programs where I'm thinking: "Why didn’t I build it?". Well, obviously because I don’t have a drone. Kudos, nice tool!

I wonder if there are more such opportunities…

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I'm curious -- what about this strikes you as a novel "opportunity?" To me, reading your post is a bit like seeing someone say "wow, a chair! Why didn't I build that? I wonder if there are more opportunities?" Like, yeah, build a table... or a different chair...?

I built an online flight log analyzer about 10 years ago ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XBCBC2oJ70 , https://github.com/foobarbecue/afterflight ) . When DJI hit the scene I used some a DJI log decoder someone else wrote to get my Phantom logs into the system, but never integrated the converter with the website.

Good ideas are a dime a dozen. It's the execution and the follow-through that matters.

I think you are right.

Somehow, in my mind, I'd like to find a niche where I can start building something (software-related). Something that is of use, and which solves a problem people are willing to pay for. Not a "get rich in two months"-scheme, but something sustainable. I have no problem with commitments, but it’s the problem to solve that I'm currently lacking.

Apparently, this tool does it. I think there are not many tools like that on the market (I might be wrong).

As is often heard, necessity is the mother of invention. Most of these niche ideas come from people that are active in whatever space the nice product serves and yet has no product. It takes the timing of someone with the need && the know-how of how to make the product. Just having the need for a product part of the equation. Having someone recognize what the solution would be, the time available to create that solution, and an overall understanding if the effort would be worth it all aligning.

Well, I have a DJI gathering dust here because of drone flight rules that seeds me to drive a couple hours before I can fly it.

Last time I recorded video with the drone I am suprised there is a SRT file bundled. Turns out that is the telemetry data in plain text recorded at 10 Hz. It should be trivial to write a script that transform it into KML or some GIS-friendly format.

And I am sure I do not need any shareware for this...

This program should be part of the main DJI software suite or something that you could download from the drone manufacturer. I, as a drone owner, should have full access to all the telemetry data for my own analysis and archiving purposes.

That data is available as part of the API. I use other flight control software like Litchi that gives me a lot of control. Even allows me to create and import a flight plan for semi-autonomous flight.

this seems illegal

This is completely legal in the US on both recreational and commercial licenses, so long as you have visual line of sight to the drone and the ability to regain direct command of the drone via RC (and are following all other flight rules). It is commonly used for video work, such as programmed aerial timelapses.

Absolutely not. It’s illegal for the common person in America, but there are plenty of locations where it wouldn’t be, especially with a drone license.

It's only illegal to leave LOS. Whether the computer is in control, or the sticks are in control the PIC is still the PIC.

I'm 100% with you, but if that's what you want, don't buy DJI.

DJI is pretty great with telemetry, logs are stored locally and on the cloud with many ways to access your data. Not so great with privacy due to governments having a tight watch on drone flight, making it very likely your flight data is monitored.

It's not just that, all their stuff is locked down hard, you can't mod anything and you can't fix the bugs they refuse tom

It's also at risk of some teenager with a drone making an open source competitor because they are annoyed that there's no Linux version.

Ahah I actually once looked for such tool AND even started writing one. Raising two kids got the better of me!

Maybe one of your kids will keep the torch when he or she's a teenager, closing the open source cycle

An open source competitor to what? You mean like Ardupilot or QGroundControl?

I believe it's from 2016 and by far predating the Mavic series which made drones common among regular people. So if you're looking for similar opportunities, you probably need to jump on the next trend before it goes popular.

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