[redpoint5]

For some reason I have recently been obsessed with the idea of aerial video and photography, and it got me thinking about what would be the ideal setup for me. Helicopters seem the logical choice since they are way more power efficient, having fewer motors and a larger lifting disc. For some reason they don't seem to be very popular, and I don't see the same gyro stabilization that is utilized on quads. It's beyond me why they wouldn't have similar gyros and automatic systems. If they did, I assume they would be the best platform since adjusting a swash plate is much faster than adjusting rotor speed, and the flight time would be much higher.

It seems the next best thing would be a tricopter since it has 1 fewer rotor for efficiency, and can turn with more agility. I'm tempted to build one myself, but then I see great deals on the DJI Phantom. I like the built in features of the Phantom such as follow me, return to home, position hold, etc, but I don't like that it isn't very modular. I'd like to swap cameras as tech improves along with batteries and such. I also don't appreciate the Apple-like restrictions they place on customers, such as altitude ceilings and such. Let me decide what is acceptable use of the product.

Can a Tricopter be built with some of the same features as the Phantom? I'm handy with electronics, but don't really know what is possible to build. I'd want return to home and position hold at minimum.

I finally got the guts to start flying a Blade CP Pro that a roommate gave to me. Yesterday I hovered for the first time, but lost a tail skid in the process. Lots of fun, I just wish there was more automation available for the platform.