Pro Bono Flight for Architectural Design

Over the 2017 Labor Day weekend TATTS performed a pro-bono flight and imagery collect for Arc Studio 3D in support of a conceptual redesign of a vacation home outside of Wisconsin Dells in south central Wisconsin.

The flight was completed with our last remaining Phantom 2 using a GoPro Hero 3 Silver edition with an after market 5.5mm lens that eliminates the significant "fish bowl" distortion common with GoPros.

Architects at Arc Studio 3D will take these images to inform and support their design.  We were glad to help out - and we got to swim afterward on a beautiful day!

Reach out to us should you have the need for an imagery collect.  The TATTS team will do what they can to help!

ICYMI: Some other fun footage

We have so much footage of TATTS team members practicing on the simulator, flying, and video editing its hard to post it all.  Here are a few video and stills from the archive.

TATTS Founder wins Jefferson Award for Volunteerism

TATTS is excited to announce that its founder - Paul Braun - has been awarded the Jefferson Award for volunteerism.  Congratulations to Paul and to all who have helped make TATTS possible!

"I'm honored to receive this award and to be recognized by the Jefferson Awards Foundation especially when there are so many people giving of their time and talents." said Braun. "The journey we have been on with TATTS has been filled with wonderful moments including the incredible generosity of our crowdsourced financial sponsors back in 2012, our awesome volunteers that make it all happen, and the diverse TATTS participants and their families that make it all worth while."

Jennifer Kliese and Amber Noggle from the south central Wisconsin ABC affiliate (WKOW) put a wonderful story together about the work that Paul and TATTS have been doing over the last 5 years.  Click the image below to see the story.

The Jefferson Awards for Public Service and the Jefferson Awards Foundation were founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Senator Robert Taft Jr, and Sam Beard to establish a Nobel Prize for public and community service.  Recipients come from local nominations all over the country.  Wisconsin's monthly winners will all gather next spring where one nominee will be chosen to represent Wisconsin at the national awards banquet in June.  Paul will be among them.

TATTS gives its participants an opportunity to work with cool technology and do something truly unique.  This award offered one of it's participants - Mitchell Braun - an opportunity to get on TV.

Paul and Mitchell being interviewed by TV anchor Amber Noggle

Mitchell demonstrating his flying skills

WKOW's Jennifer Kliese in the Middleton Good Neighbor Festival parade

Back in the fall of 2014 Jennifer Kliese interviewed TATTS and put together a short story about us.  Thanks WKOW for helping spread the word about our organization!

Mario Drops In

An oldie but a goodie...  Paratrooper Mario caught a ride on one drone with a garbage bag parachute.  The kids were enamored waiting for him to be released and guessing where he'd land.

Movie Making - A Key Employment Skill

Making movies from all of our footage is a key component to TATTS.  We  work hard and enjoy gathering footage but it's also fun to review and compile it to personalized videos.  

Members love to see themselves and their teammates out flying as well as enjoying the views from the drone.  This is also a key way in which TATTS members get to develop employment skills.  Video editing is a highly marketable skill these days.

Finished videos are on our YouTube channel here.

Contemplating the best shot 

Getting moving making advice from a volunteer - or maybe giving it

Watching each other's videos - parents, siblings and service animals too.

TATTS Submits Entry to Governor's 2017 Business Plan Contest

A quick post to let all of our supporters know that we submitted an entry to the Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest.  The mission of the contest is:

"to encourage entrepreneurs in the startup state of tech-based businesses in Wisconsin.  The context links up-and-coming entrepreneurs with a statewide network of community resources, expert advice, high-quality education, management talent and possible sources of capital."  

Phase 1 submittals are very limited in scope and word count.  We are sharing our submittal below in the spirit of openness and to solicit feedback from our supports. Wish us luck!

 

Product/Service Description

Drones provide stunning imagery & video. TATTS, Inc offers drone services with a unique twist; employing young adults on the autism spectrum. Unemployment among this group is estimated to be >70% . TATTS employs them to fly drones as a service & process the results into quality video & 3D data products. TATTS began in 2012 as a volunteer organization funded through crowdsourcing and has served nearly 50 young adults. TATTS has proven that those on the spectrum can maintain & pilot drones as well as process the data into quality end products.

Customer Definition

TATTS will initially focus on the business-to-consumer (B2C) market in southern Wisconsin with a particular emphasis on personal services (weddings and parties).  Secondary customers would be in the agriculture, construction, and insurance markets.  Drone enthusiasts have purchased consumer-grade drones only to realize that flying is difficult and requires safety procedures.  In addition, the data is large and difficult to manipulate.  With formal documented procedures and quality tools, TATTS resolves these issues.

Market Description, Size and Sales Strategy

The FAA released commercial use drone regulations in 2015 and they have been a catalyst to the market. Industry advocate AUVSI estimates the economic impact of the market to be $13B in the United States between 2015-2017 and an additional $82B through 2025. TATTS will sell direct to consumers via the web and wedding conferences and through a partner channel including DJs, public relations firms, social service agencies, engineering firms and insurance agents. Sales will emphasize our unique story, team skills, and product quality. 

Competition

Several commercial drone operators exist in Wisconsin but they tend to be highly specialized.  National providers exist as well but our core market focus typically can’t bear the cost to fly crews and equipment in.  Drone enthusiasts are also competitors but the market is already turning as they realize the full lifecycle is not easy. 

See our blog (here) for more information on TATTS, Inc.

Outdoor Flying Sessions

The 2016 TATTS outdoor flying season is in the books. TATTS team members took to the airfield and practiced their flying skills with the organization's DJI Phantom and GoPro camera. 

The initial outdoor flying venue was a private residence outside of New Glarus, WI.  We implemented our own version of Pokemon Aerial as we hunted for Pokemon hiding in the long grass and trees. 

 

The final outdoor flying day was held at Heartland Farm Sanctuary, just west of Madison. The Heartland Farm Sanctuary is about “People helping animals. Animals helping people.” Their mission is “to provide care for farm animals in need, nurture people through the human-animal bond, and foster respect and kindness toward animals and each other.”  The TATTS team got a tour of the Heartland Farm facilities where they met some interesting barn yard critters and learned a lot about what goes into caring for an eclectic group of animals.  We even got some good footage of the farm that we will provide to Heartland.

 

 

Unfortunately, we were thrown a curve ball via mother nature when torrential rains it. That couldn’t shake the group’s spirit though, as they were able to make the best of the situation on the final flying day of the 2016 TATTS season. 

 

The team has transitioned into film production mode. Go to our YouTube Channel here to see last year’s videos.