Selecting an appropriate unmanned aerial system (UAS) should always come down to the mission.  Photography and video is already a technically involved field without placing the camera equipment onto a gimbal and attaching that to a UAS.  My selection for a UAS needed to perform photography and video is the Yuneec Tornado H920 Plus.  This is a hexacopter capable of 24 minutes of flight time up to 400 feet above ground level (AGL) (Yuneec, 2017).  My selection for this vehicle is twofold.  First of all, to take a good picture or video the platform must be stable and allow the sensor to be employed without any impedance.  The H920 uses five separate rotors to give the stability while supporting a full 360 degree gimbal below the main chassis which has a CG04 camera attached capable of 3x optical zoom, 16 megapixel photos, and 4K resolution video (Yuneec, 2017).  To better increase the effectiveness of the sensor, it is mounted between the landing gear which retract outside the field-of-view (FOV).  In the flight configuration the Tornado is able to place the sensor FOV in those positions most important to the operator.  The second reason I selected the Tornado command, control, and communication (C3) architecture which is built into the system.  It comes with a ground control station (GCS) which is very user friendly for manual control, but on top of that, the Tornado has built in autonomous modes which allow the operator to focus on using the sensor payload and not flying the aircraft (Yuneec, 2017).  Features like orbit me, point of interest, journey, curve cable cam, and follow/watch me allow for the operator to program the Tornado to follow a predetermined flight path while the sensor is operated towards the target.  The system is not the cheapest on the market, but at $4,000 it is actually very reasonable for a commercial aerial photography system (B & H Photo Video Pro Audio, 2017). 

            The next UAS selection has to do with two things; speed and maneuverability.  In order to compete in the emerging drone racing leagues a UAS must be able to sustain a very high speed while still maintaining the ability to maneuver around the course.  Like anything that seems to become popular overnight, there is a multitude of options available to someone trying to get into drone racing.  My first choice would have been the RacerX design which has recently set the speed record, however, a 3D printer is required along with some special tooling in order to even make this vehicle.  Instead, I went with something which previously held the record and only requires basic machining in order to assemble it.  The VXR-190 is capable of 166 mph while producing 7400 grams of thrust for a vehicle only weighing 479 grams (FPV Drone Reviews, 2017).  Its propeller configuration makes it unique when compared to other FPV vehicles.  It has a long, cylindrical body with two props high on the aft and two low on the front.  The sensor (camera) is mounted in the nose, but not in the center as most people would expect.  The camera is angled so it provides the best FOV while the aircraft is in flight. Its construction is relatively simple and it only requires off the shelf components to include parts of an Easter egg. 

 

 References

B & H Photo Video Pro Audio. (2017, October 31). Yuneec H920 Plus RTF In Aluminum Case with ST16, Batteries and A10 Charger . Retrieved from B & H Photo Video Pro Audio: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1317958-REG/yuneec_yunh920p202us_h920_plus_rtf_in.html

FPV Drone Reviews. (2017, August 13). Fastest FPV Racing Drones 2017. Retrieved from FPV Drone Reviews: http://fpvdronereviews.com/guides/fastest-racing-drones/

Yuneec. (2017, October 31). Yuneec Tornado H920 Plus. Retrieved from Yuneec: http://commercial.yuneec.com/comm-en-h920-plus-specifications