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Tech

This Drone Footage of a Quarry Demolition Is Pure, Unadulterated Destruction

No predictable Sigur Ros backing track, here.

It takes some serious stones to spin up a small-fry drone in 15-knot wind gusts, over a gaggle of local TV news crews, and in the midst of a controlled demolition to boot, which is exactly what we get here. It's pretty exhilirating--what Vince Hogg, who made the video, calls the "biggest test" yet for his low-vibration quadcopter.

The idea was to "park" the copter in the correct position, Hogg notes, before zeroing in on the perfect angle. For whatever reason, his "well-tested" loiter wouldn't hold. Maybe it was the sheer stength of the wind. Maybe it was the towers at Ashburton quarry themselves, crumpling under untold amounts of explosives, that messed with his drone's internal compass. Either way, the drone was blown downwind.

He's being openly self-critical, as anyone hacking DIY drones should be. But he should take comfort in the fact that he still managed to bypass what so many hobbyist drone videos merely crutch upon--sweeping, sterilized shots of decades-old urban decay--and gets right to the point. No Sigur Ros backing track, here. No twilight-hour lens flares. Just pure, unadulterated destruction.

Tear it down now.

@thebanderson