Latest Apple Park drone footage demonstrates scope of massive landscaping project

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  • Reply 21 of 29
    "Hey Siri, send me the location of all iPhones running drone control apps near me."
    OK, here are the iPhones controlling drones near Apple Park. Like me to lock them for Genius-Bar-only recovery?
    "Yes."
    OK, done.
    <drones begin crashing out of sky into trees and embankments>
     :D 
    They haven't installed the antiaircraft guns yet.  

    We've seen drones go by close enough to see inside the buildings so I would assume there will have to be some kind of control over them at some point.

    some kind of net-shooting gun might be both legal and creative...

    ireland
  • Reply 22 of 29
    jbdragon said:
    I'm just wondering, isn't their laws against flying over private property with a drone?

    Some of the other rules like Drone pilots are prohibited from flying drones over people or where property may be endangered. Drones must stay in visual line of sight (no use of VR goggles as primary means to “See and Avoid”)

    Watching the video, it's going over people, or at least close enough to people. Also some of the shots look to be out of line of sight. I'm just saying,....
    Those rules apply to drones of a certain size; I believe at least one of these drone pilots is using a big commercial drone (one of the Phantoms) so he would be under the commercial drone rules.

    In any case this stuff is in flux anyway so the rules are changing.

  • Reply 23 of 29

    macxpress said:
    JinTech said:
    An observation and a curious question...

    1. Besides the roads to the parking garage and the garage itself, it appears there will be no pavement/gravel at this campus. 

    2. Does anyone know what the shack (compared to the campus) is next to the gym? As pictured below.

    The old "shack" is a barn that was original to the property. They took it apart board by board and reassembled it at that location. I'll look for a link to it. 
    Hmmm interesting! I wonder what Apple will do with this? Amazing it hasn't been torn down by someone else before Apple got a hold of this property. 
    According to the Mercury News article linked it will be used for landscaping and sports equipment; it will once again be a working building.

    I'm wondering if they will put solar panels on its roof; that would be very interesting.


    JinTech
  • Reply 24 of 29

    macxpress said:
    JinTech said:
    An observation and a curious question...

    1. Besides the roads to the parking garage and the garage itself, it appears there will be no pavement/gravel at this campus. 

    2. Does anyone know what the shack (compared to the campus) is next to the gym? As pictured below.

    The old "shack" is a barn that was original to the property. They took it apart board by board and reassembled it at that location. I'll look for a link to it. 
    Hmmm interesting! I wonder what Apple will do with this? Amazing it hasn't been torn down by someone else before Apple got a hold of this property. 
    According to the Mercury News article linked it will be used for landscaping and sports equipment; it will once again be a working building.

    I'm wondering if they will put solar panels on its roof; that would be very interesting.


  • Reply 25 of 29
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    I'd think landscaping would go pretty quickly if they used grass sod and lots of workers. I figure a couple of weeks could do the job with enough people laying it down.
    That seems a bit ambitious of a time table. The grass is going to be wild grass. I don't know what type or if they are using sod or seed. Anyway they can't finish the landscaping until all the construction with the trucks and earth moving equipment is done. The project also includes transplanting 1,000 trees from the original campus to the Apple Park campus as well as planting another 5,000 new tress. In total there will be 9,000 trees on the property. The grass will probably be the last phase, which is going to be a 15 acre open area. It is going to take awhile.

    In the video you can see they are sheet rocking the interior with all the wall board leaning up against the glass. That would mean that the mechanicals are done or mostly done.  That much sheet rock is a huge project but conceivably people could start moving in even before the landscaping is done.
  • Reply 26 of 29
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    JinTech said:

    An observation and a curious question...

    1. Besides the roads to the parking garage and the garage itself, it appears there will be no pavement/gravel at this campus. 
    This we cannot say for sure yet. Gravel may not make sense at this point with all the heavy machinery around and landscaping only half finished. Perhaps it makes more sense to do the landscaping and ready all the pathways before bringing in the gravel or similar to finish the pats—and in the meantime, instruct any newly moved in employees to stay off the paths until they are finish gravelled later in the year.
    edited May 2017 JinTech
  • Reply 27 of 29
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    jbdragon said:
    I'm just wondering, isn't their laws against flying over private property with a drone?

    Some of the other rules like Drone pilots are prohibited from flying drones over people or where property may be endangered. Drones must stay in visual line of sight (no use of VR goggles as primary means to “See and Avoid”)

    Watching the video, it's going over people, or at least close enough to people. Also some of the shots look to be out of line of sight. I'm just saying,....
    I dont know why this is constantly asked. Obviously if there were a problem, these videos would have stopped a long time ago. They've been going on for at least a couple of years now. If anything, they have permits to fly these. 
    edited May 2017
  • Reply 28 of 29
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,024member
    flaneur said:
    paxman said:
    launfall said:
    Great footage but, oh my God, the worst music imaginable.  Man...do something about your soundtrack!
    Great footage and every time I watch a video of this project I am awestruck. The scale is mind blowing. And the speed that the whole thing is taking shape is incredible. I wonder how closely it is to the original budget.

    The video editing however, leaves a lot to be desired. About as bad as it gets, imo. Not that it matters  :o
    Terrible brain-wrenching transitions. What's wrong with the nervous system of someone who edits video like that?  
    I agree. Especially about the transitions. Very unnerving.
  • Reply 29 of 29
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,898member
    volcan said:
    I'd think landscaping would go pretty quickly if they used grass sod and lots of workers. I figure a couple of weeks could do the job with enough people laying it down.
    That seems a bit ambitious of a time table. The grass is going to be wild grass. I don't know what type or if they are using sod or seed. Anyway they can't finish the landscaping until all the construction with the trucks and earth moving equipment is done. The project also includes transplanting 1,000 trees from the original campus to the Apple Park campus as well as planting another 5,000 new tress. In total there will be 9,000 trees on the property. The grass will probably be the last phase, which is going to be a 15 acre open area. It is going to take awhile.

    In the video you can see they are sheet rocking the interior with all the wall board leaning up against the glass. That would mean that the mechanicals are done or mostly done.  That much sheet rock is a huge project but conceivably people could start moving in even before the landscaping is done.
    Native grasses are a correct choice for a natural landscape.  Most of them are typically a clumping growth habit and not suitable for turf - i.e. walking on.  There are a small number hybridized varieties of native grasses that have been created for turf use, but they are not as robust as the modern non-native turf hybrids.  I would guess that the landscape designers will use a modern hybrid grass for heavily trafficked areas around popular features.  You need a grass that can handle thousands of feet stomping on it day after day.  Native turf like grasses could be used in lower traffic areas.  The bigger clumping natives will be used in beds and for accents.  Many native grasses have really beautiful blooms/seedheads that can add color and texture to the landscape year 'round.

    The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center created a turf blend called Habiturf that is a pretty strong performer for lawns. It's not suitable for the Cal climate though: http://www.wildflower.org/project/habiturf
    I'm betting there could be a similar blend suited to the Cupertino climate.

    Update:  Yup here are some California natives that can provide a turf-like look for lawns: http://www.latimes.com/home/la-hm-drought-grass-html-20150723-htmlstory.html
    edited May 2017
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