I guess what I was implying was why doesn't 3DR bring a new consumer drone to market. I'm sure they learned a lot. Maybe there are some crazy venture capitalists out there still willing to throw money at 3DR so they could buy back some of the Solo devs and even recruit some DJI ones and come out with a super consumer drone. I still think there's plenty of opportunity. Did they tarnish the 3DR name? Perhaps but I feel the name is still worth something.
Another wave of x 3dr folks support arducopter
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I guess what I was implying was why doesn't 3DR bring a new consumer drone to market. I'm sure they learned a lot. Maybe there are some crazy venture capitalists out there still willing to throw money at 3DR so they could buy back some of the Solo devs and even recruit some DJI ones and come out with a super consumer drone. I still think there's plenty of opportunity. Did they tarnish the 3DR name? Perhaps but I feel the name is still worth something.
Personally, I think 3DR Jumped too soon with their choice of direction "SiteScan"
3DR suffers from "Premature Ejection" DJI didn't have a fire sale to force 3DR to drop there price that much?
Why drop %500 in profit? Did/does 3DR consider DJI superior? Everyone i asked that owns DJI P* & a 3DR Solo considers The Solo as their "Go to" for aerial Shooting.
3Dr could have under cut the P4 buy $250 & still make good profit for it self & distributors.
I think they think that SiteScan, is going to make up everything...
don't know the conscience on how many Solo's units sold? 10K 15 25K? but that a good base to increase.
What ever, enjoy it while you can....
I'm guessing they no longer have the necessary funds to handle the development and manufacturing costs, and at this point, drones are no longer the apple of every investor's eye. And what could they really offer that the Solo doesn't already? DJI has jumped on the "yearly upgrade" bandwagon that most consumers have bought into, so it's not like 3DR could simply make a Solo 2, they'd have to be willing to make a new Solo every year, and the drone market is going to reach saturation quickly, if it hasn't already. Like DIY parts, the market is basically one of commodity products at this point.
On the other hand, I too wonder why the rush to exit the consumer market. The Solo is still unparalleled in most ways, the development costs done save for some firmware updates. I guess consumers are too blinded by snazzy new features like DJI's active avoidance which, from everything I've read, is rudimentary at best. I think it's basically a race to the bottom - more features at the lowest price, which just doesn't support the development of a quality product which, recent firmware/app not withstanding, 3DR seemed to be focused on.
i'm for the most part grateful for my Solo
I want to say rushing to the market with high price tag killed them. If you can't get a gimbal to the market on time and not communicate to those we pre-ordered/on the fence and charge the same price as a Phantom 3 Pro without a camera = bad reviews = poor sales. You can't move products simply because you can get more cinematic shots and good customer service (which has gone downhill since a year ago). The average user will buy whatever has better value in terms of spec sheet, ease of use (which Solo is not on the hardware side...tons of tweaking required).
even with fire sale i doubt they're moving units much. I feel it's mostly existing owners purchasing a second Solo, and mostly for parts because its days are numbered.
Oh, the suggestion to raise funds for development is cute. Those who have sunken lots into this near EoL products will likely shy away from dumping more money into it. Don't most custom community development happen out of pure hobby and is funded by donations? I'm not saying it's wrong to charge $30 for a mobile app, but I'm sure that's a barrier as most of us probably not used to paying more than $5 for a phone app. If it's a tenner, Kelly would probably have more than half of Solo owners jumping over given how buggy 3DR's official software has been.
i'm curious how many went the custom optical flow route and how many have purchased Solex?
I want to say rushing to the market with high price tag killed them. If you can't get a gimbal to the market on time and not communicate to those we pre-ordered/on the fence and charge the same price as a Phantom 3 Pro without a camera = bad reviews = poor sales. You can't move products simply because you can get more cinematic shots and good customer service (which has gone downhill since a year ago). The average user will buy whatever has better value in terms of spec sheet, ease of use (which Solo is not on the hardware side...tons of tweaking required).
even with fire sale i doubt they're moving units much. I feel it's mostly existing owners purchasing a second Solo, and mostly for parts because its days are numbered.
Oh, the suggestion to raise funds for development is cute. Those who have sunken lots into this near EoL products will likely shy away from dumping more money into it. Don't most custom community development happen out of pure hobby and is funded by donations? I'm not saying it's wrong to charge $30 for a mobile app, but I'm sure that's a barrier as most of us probably not used to paying more than $5 for a phone app. If it's a tenner, Kelly would probably have more than half of Solo owners jumping over given how buggy 3DR's official software has been.
i'm curious how many went the custom optical flow route and how many have purchased Solex?
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I half agree, half disagree with you. The ability to easily pull off cinematic shots without a two people, one operating the copter, another the camera, is a big differentiator. That and the customer service were the primary reasons I bought a Solo, and was willing to do so at a higher cost than a Phantom.
On the other hand, you're absolutely correct in that the Solo has required a fair amount of tinkering to get working well - between the stiff cables going to the gimbal, to the crumby GPS performance, it's not been the smoothest out-of-box experience. I haven't minded because I don't mind tinkering, but I'm certain that it doesn't go over well with most.
The way it's all turned out has been a disappointment, more so because it had so much potential than my being dissatisfied with the Solo. Every time I fly it, I'm amazed at how well it all works. It's unfortunate that the only largely future proof platform has turned out to be a commercial failure.
All that said, I don't regret my initial purchase, or my recent purchase of a 2nd.
On the other hand, you're absolutely correct in that the Solo has required a fair amount of tinkering to get working well - between the stiff cables going to the gimbal, to the crumby GPS performance, it's not been the smoothest out-of-box experience. I haven't minded because I don't mind tinkering, but I'm certain that it doesn't go over well with most.
The way it's all turned out has been a disappointment, more so because it had so much potential than my being dissatisfied with the Solo. Every time I fly it, I'm amazed at how well it all works. It's unfortunate that the only largely future proof platform has turned out to be a commercial failure.
All that said, I don't regret my initial purchase, or my recent purchase of a 2nd.
Well I purchased Solex and can tell it's worth every cent of the 30 bucks. Kelly does an outstanding job, and covers what 3DR failed to develop once Freya left the company.
I also built my own Lidar and Flow unit.
Downside is that the latest crippled firmware version no longer supports such mods and extensions.
I bought Solo due to its extendible Arducopter base. I donated since I believe in Arducopter and I hope that the community gets going. Solo is a phantastic platform, and I hope it stays for a while.
That, and a combined Pixhawk 2/Edison or Pixhawk 2/Raspberry Pi standard setup will be established to mimic much of the unique capabilities of the Solo, and expanded upon them.
Despite recent events, I think people needs to look at 3DR with a little more appreciation. Having investors makes a company beholden to people who's interest is profits over products. Good people getting laid off sucks, but it happens in every industry. 3DR found their target market change drastically, sure, they make a few mistakes too, but the Solo did take the market to a new level. They tried to do the right thing by standing behind their product 100%, but probably got burned by it with how many people, with no experience, took the Solo out of the box and immediately crashed/lost/destroyed it, only to have 3DR take the loss.
- 2013 Discussions in the community started about what the next system would look like.
- January 2014, the Cube concept was formed.
- March 2014, 3DR sponsored the first Prototypes of the board.
- June 2014, Team Aussie 3DR win the AVC competition with the 3DR Skywalker. This aircraft had prototype Pixhawk 2 GPS, and Power systems on board. (Thanks Philip Rowse, Craig Elder, Kevin Hester, Arthur Benemann
- 2014, Pixhawk 2 was selected to be the Autopilot in the 3DR Solo.
- December 2014, Pixhawk2 stand alone is delayed...
- 2015, the year of Solo.... an estimated 100,000 Pixhawk 2.0 cubes are built and sold in Solo.
sure you and i knew that, the mass majority of those looking at RTF quadcopter does not know that..they just look at cold hard specs and price.
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Even a number of 3DR's own staff agree that 3DR dropped the consumer Solo far too early, there's a lot the Solo does right, the frame design, ergonomics and strength, the ease of opening up the Solo and changing components such as motor pods, the hardware and software makes flying and getting impressive repeatable moves a simple task.
As for moving units at the current price, 3DR is having no problem whatsoever with that, I'm more worried that they've sold so many Solos and will do right into Xmas that 3DR's bigger challenge is having parts to ensure the long term support of Solos hardware.
What 3DR should have done, is to have merged the SoloLink computer and network card onto the mainboard, this would have reduced Solo's weight (so more flight time) but more importantly it would have reduced Solo's cost so 3DR could have sold it cut price whilst still making a profit, the current deals will at best see 3DR breaking even. Doing that along with having the REV B GPS and shield on all Solos would have seen 3DR with a product they could have sold that could still have stayed relevant for years to come.
As it is, what we need to hope for now is that the volunteers succeed to get Arducopter Master to work on Solo, I'm sure they will, we've to hope at the same time that 3DR ensure a long term supply of parts, they're aware they need to do that.
My concern at the moment is that the relationship between 3DR and Arducopter is at an all time low, with Chris Anderson apparently trying to get Arducopter kicked out of DroneCode this in return is causing upset and hostility and there was some public spats between Arducopter and PX4 teams this week, in effect the PX4 team looking to have supported 3DR in a coup to boot out Arducopter. Furthermore, 3DR refused to sell the plastics moulds for the Pixhawk 2, preferring to potentially destroy them instead which seems petty. Whilst there are two sides to every story, I don't think 3DR serves itself well with fallouts and conflicts.
I'm hoping there's light at the end of the tunnel and a positive outcome for Solo, especially for the sake of the owners, many of whom came from owning other 3DR products.
As for moving units at the current price, 3DR is having no problem whatsoever with that, I'm more worried that they've sold so many Solos and will do right into Xmas that 3DR's bigger challenge is having parts to ensure the long term support of Solos hardware.
What 3DR should have done, is to have merged the SoloLink computer and network card onto the mainboard, this would have reduced Solo's weight (so more flight time) but more importantly it would have reduced Solo's cost so 3DR could have sold it cut price whilst still making a profit, the current deals will at best see 3DR breaking even. Doing that along with having the REV B GPS and shield on all Solos would have seen 3DR with a product they could have sold that could still have stayed relevant for years to come.
As it is, what we need to hope for now is that the volunteers succeed to get Arducopter Master to work on Solo, I'm sure they will, we've to hope at the same time that 3DR ensure a long term supply of parts, they're aware they need to do that.
My concern at the moment is that the relationship between 3DR and Arducopter is at an all time low, with Chris Anderson apparently trying to get Arducopter kicked out of DroneCode this in return is causing upset and hostility and there was some public spats between Arducopter and PX4 teams this week, in effect the PX4 team looking to have supported 3DR in a coup to boot out Arducopter. Furthermore, 3DR refused to sell the plastics moulds for the Pixhawk 2, preferring to potentially destroy them instead which seems petty. Whilst there are two sides to every story, I don't think 3DR serves itself well with fallouts and conflicts.
I'm hoping there's light at the end of the tunnel and a positive outcome for Solo, especially for the sake of the owners, many of whom came from owning other 3DR products.
I thought the Pix2.1 that Philip was putting out has a case already? Or was he using up old 3DR stock of cases for the Pix2
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He will have had to pay for his own cube design. I believe his cube has a metal case whereas I think Solo's is plastic?
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Philip knows what he's doing so I wouldn't worry either way. The compass in the Pixhawk itself is always a secondary anyway.
If it was aluminum, it wouldn't matter, nonferrous metals don't effect compasses, and I suppose it could provide a bit of protection from interference. Plastic would probably be fine, but at the size, the difference in weight if it's aluminum is probably inconsequential.
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