A new year, and the Flying Thing project is in good health :-)

Late last year we (Cameron & I) had a meeting with the Kenya Willdife Service and they indicated their interested in seeing our capabilities. Towards this end I will be making a presentation in early February. This demonstration will help in requirements gathering of what a suitable platform would be, what the expectations are, and to iron out any assumptions we may have made along the way. This will therefore greatly help us to build working platforms for use in conservation.

In preparation for my demonstration, I will be visiting Metanomy Inc in Denver and I will blog about my experience. I am excited to start the project and realise a dream, to build a fully operational UAS and one that will boost wildlife conservation.

Wildlife is constantly under threat, more so now than over. It is our hope that our efforts in this project will at the very least aid in the proactive measures being taken by the Kenya Wildlife Service.

Last year we realised the need for a legal presence to take care of administrative aspects of the project, form a launchpad for our other projects, engage the comminity through innovation showcases and through provision of a place for them to innovate --- more at http://www.metanomy.org/node/507. The entity is KenyaBit, and it is in its last stages of formation. 

We will maintain a website for KenyaBit, kenyabit.co.ke, and, together with metanomy.org, will form a home for the Flying Thing project and others.

This year promises to be one of actions!

Here are some tentative milestones:

• Make a demonstration to KWS for requirements gathering and general acceptability testing (concept, technology, usability)
• Establish a base of operations from where to build Flying Thing platforms.
• Establish mechanisms to react to support queries for the Flying Thing platform. This might involve some travel from one National Park to another, which is remarkable. 

We toured some of the National Parks with Cameron and I have attached some photos. We tried to fly the Bixler at Hells Gate National Park, with the results shown on the photo :-)

Also check out this video: We had the bixler stuck in a tree before we destroyed at the park, and it required some skillful tree climbing to retrieve it 

http://youtu.be/OQsy3AYmUus

Finally, take a look at the vehicle we were using..... definately NOT for future expeditions :-D

What comes after finally ( :-) ) ???

Lets all keep in mind what we are preserving. Cam & I found found some elephant bones. It was unclear what had happened, but lets remember we all want to conserve their natural habitat, but ultimately, them!!!