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Anything new coming?
- Thread starter UCLABruins
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Chris Andersons response here: Is 3DR ever going to sell the Solo platform separate from the carriage?
I take the "even more power" and "aimed primarily at prosumer and enterprise" to mean a "heavy lift quad" and I'm sure the pricetag would match.
He corrected himself a few posts after that one and meant 2016 instead of 2015 (this post was from late December 2015).
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Update 2.1 just released. Adjust your GoPro video EV settings. Boom.
The prosumer market will get even more competitive this year. DJI will lose market share if they can't continue to innovate and add new product or features that continue to give them a significant advantage. With that said, it is even more difficult for 3DR. You can say 3DR has better flight model but for how long? Based on CES 2016, other less known competitors are able to offer Follow, Orbit, and Waypoint. A couple have already offer over a mile (~1.2 -1.5) video transmission range. Yuneec was the first to introduce Follow without needing the controller. This year they offer 6 rotors and retractable landing gear and obstacle avoidance. It will be interesting what DJI will introduce next week.
This is going to be a very tough year for a few companies. Will 3DR have enough money for R&D to compete? Yuneec has Intel's help. Intel also just acquired Ascending Technologies. It looks like Intel wants to build component for drones.
I think GoPro will fail. Too much competition?
these are just my random thoughts....
This is going to be a very tough year for a few companies. Will 3DR have enough money for R&D to compete? Yuneec has Intel's help. Intel also just acquired Ascending Technologies. It looks like Intel wants to build component for drones.
I think GoPro will fail. Too much competition?
these are just my random thoughts....
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I'm with you on everything but this one statement. All of 3DRs drones (iris, x8, etc) will follow without needing the controller. Only the Solo requires the controller to be on hand.
But I hope DJI, 3DR, and Yuneec succeed and be competitive. The industry needs at least three players. It keeps them honest.
UCLABruins, Range isn't a factor anymore, unless one doesn't care about the new rules.
Back in July, I almost bought a P3P, cause of it's range, I'm glad i didn't on many levels.
3DR must have had a insider, to foresee the future "LOS"
wouldn't be surprised, if FCC tells all MTG to Limit range to LOS.
Back in July, I almost bought a P3P, cause of it's range, I'm glad i didn't on many levels.
3DR must have had a insider, to foresee the future "LOS"
wouldn't be surprised, if FCC tells all MTG to Limit range to LOS.
SteveReno - The LOS rule only applies if you are not a member of a "community based club", like the AMA. If you are an AMA member, you get to fly under their rules, not the FAA's. You can use goggles if you're an AMA member.
The prosumer market will get even more competitive this year. DJI will lose market share if they can't continue to innovate and add new product or features that continue to give them a significant advantage. With that said, it is even more difficult for 3DR. You can say 3DR has better flight model but for how long? Based on CES 2016, other less known competitors are able to offer Follow, Orbit, and Waypoint. A couple have already offer over a mile (~1.2 -1.5) video transmission range. Yuneec was the first to introduce Follow without needing the controller. This year they offer 6 rotors and retractable landing gear and obstacle avoidance. It will be interesting what DJI will introduce next week.
This is going to be a very tough year for a few companies. Will 3DR have enough money for R&D to compete? Yuneec has Intel's help. Intel also just acquired Ascending Technologies. It looks like Intel wants to build component for drones.
I think GoPro will fail. Too much competition?
these are just my random thoughts....
I consider Solo to be a bridge between consumer and prosumer market, it has all the technological features of the latter (or even better) and the platform allows it to grow even further, the only setback dragging it down to consumer product level is the toy camera with 1/2.3 sensor and the distortion lens but I hope this is only temporary as new compatible camera/gimbal solutions may be introduced.
As far as SW development I believe 3DR is the leader in this industry and Solo platform allows us to take full advantage of that. I also hope 3DR stays innovative enough in terms of new features such as smart shots, yes the others will keep on copying but as long as this is the trend, I'm happy.
Current follow-me mode is just a hardware restriction but eventually we are going to get a wearable tracker on the wrist.
Over time I would rather see Solo as a best priced prosumer drone rather than the most expensive consumer drone. I'm not concerned about competing prosumer drones (Inspire, Tornado) that can carry better than mini-sensor cameras, it's a completely different price category.
I'm not sure what partnership there is between 3DR and GoPro but seeing that GoPro has done nothing at all to please drone hobbyists so far, I would put pressure on them to make a "GoPro Hero 5 Air" version (and compatible with current gimbal). Reportedly Hero 5 is going to have 1/1.7" double stack Sony sensor and the camera is expected to be smaller than Hero 4 which would rule out current gimbal. If GoPro wants to make us happy they should really make one "Air" version for drone enthusiasts, same size as Hero 4 and with a flat lens (5mm in combination with 1/1.7" sensor would be perfect, thank you very much).
I also see them to fail, they are not used to competition and their pricing has always reflected this fact. The only thing that could set them apart from other consumer drones would be new AIR camera that I described above and they would have to make such camera exclusive to work just with their Karma drone, but I don't see this happening, from the Karma promotion video it's obvious it will be just another fisheye lens.
I was at a 3DR demo a few weeks ago. They talked a bit about the big update we just got while it was 'coming soon' and cited this as an example of how the solo would update.
They said the modular design would allow incremental updates to the Solo. Specifically, they talked about working with an IR camera maker, more powerful motors, more efficient motors, higher capacity batteries, bigger props, and the expansion port.
They talked quite a bit about the capabilities of that port and that it was wide open for 3rd party developers. He said by the time Solo 2 comes out, you would be able to upgrade Solo 1 to pretty close to it in performance if you were inclined.
The processing power on the Solo is substantial. Unlike your desktop, it isn't getting eaten up with bloated software. I see it as more like an Xbox or PlayStation in that you don't need a new one every year unless something really game changing comes along.
What could DJI or Yuneec announce that isn't covered in the above? Flies faster and flies longer are the two things that come up the most. Ours already flies faster. Flies longer would probably cost some of that speed, but perhaps not.
Indoor stability? That could come from the expansion port, but I didn't get Solo to fly around the living room.
Better camera? Just drop in GoPro 5 when it launches. 3DR guy mentioned working with other camera makers like the IR cam, but gave no names.
If you want to lift something heavier like a DSLR, this isn't that platform, and I don't think you see that platform in this price point for a few years.
If you want something specific like a Death Star laser that blows up the home planet of people who don't use turn signals, you may need to develop that yourself.
They said the modular design would allow incremental updates to the Solo. Specifically, they talked about working with an IR camera maker, more powerful motors, more efficient motors, higher capacity batteries, bigger props, and the expansion port.
They talked quite a bit about the capabilities of that port and that it was wide open for 3rd party developers. He said by the time Solo 2 comes out, you would be able to upgrade Solo 1 to pretty close to it in performance if you were inclined.
The processing power on the Solo is substantial. Unlike your desktop, it isn't getting eaten up with bloated software. I see it as more like an Xbox or PlayStation in that you don't need a new one every year unless something really game changing comes along.
What could DJI or Yuneec announce that isn't covered in the above? Flies faster and flies longer are the two things that come up the most. Ours already flies faster. Flies longer would probably cost some of that speed, but perhaps not.
Indoor stability? That could come from the expansion port, but I didn't get Solo to fly around the living room.
Better camera? Just drop in GoPro 5 when it launches. 3DR guy mentioned working with other camera makers like the IR cam, but gave no names.
If you want to lift something heavier like a DSLR, this isn't that platform, and I don't think you see that platform in this price point for a few years.
If you want something specific like a Death Star laser that blows up the home planet of people who don't use turn signals, you may need to develop that yourself.
the need to lift DLSrs is closing
Smaller Cameras are coming, even the pros don't want to spend thousands lifting a camera meant to be ground based.
Look at the CGO4 a partnership with Panasonic as a first start
More will eventually follow
Smaller Cameras are coming, even the pros don't want to spend thousands lifting a camera meant to be ground based.
Look at the CGO4 a partnership with Panasonic as a first start
More will eventually follow
DSLRs are heavy to carry even on the ground
more and more professional photographers are moving away from DSLRs and adopting mirrorless systems like Fuji X Pro or X-T, the results from these ASP-C sensor based systems are already comparable to full frame DSLRs.
I wasn't seriously suggesting above to lift DSLR with Solo, it was a sarcastic reply to another post.
even CG04 + Gimbal is still way too heavy (1.6kg) for Solo, but anyway that's another category.
If some manufacturer can come up with 1" sensor (or better) Camera+Gimbal solution under 700g and it turns out that Solo can carry this weight for at least 5 minutes then I'll be getting it. I was so many times in a situation where I wished I had 5m or 20m step ladder with me to take a photo with no obstruction, or a shot from a different angle only if I could move 50m left or right while standing on a ledge.
I would be ecstatic if the only thing they announced at NAB was better motors for Solo. It's the one thing that I have been waiting for but have heard no mention of. I really like all the features in the new FW update, BUT, my video is all still shaky. As cool as all the new features are I can still get higher quality video from my $500 P3 Standard.
Updates every few months won't pay the bills. Eventually just like every electronic device, a hardware upgrade is required. And when that happens, the older model firmware updates become nonexistent. Like it or not, if you're wanting to keep up with the latest technology, you're going to have to pay.
Yeah, watch what you say here, there's a few that will block you if you ditch 3DR.Pyrate,
I just thought I'd see more and better 3rd party apps being developed for the Solo due to its open source. I also know some people are working on different accessories for the bay but haven't seen much hit the streets for the consumer.
Brand loyalty isn't a problem for me but beating on the other guys bothers me a bit. I fly different birds and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I understand this is a Solo site and therefore there will be a bias towards it.
I probably should be careful with my wording sometimes.
Jerry
Does this apply anywhere or only at an AMA airfield? I know some pilots were joining AMA because they thought that it included insurance on their bird wherever they flew. But the documentation I read says it only covers crashes while flying at an AMA airfield.
I can't find it right now on the official site since as they apparently just updated it the other day... but it mentions it here.
What Can I Do With My Small Unmanned Aircraft? – Hobby/Recreational Flying
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i got my nabshow pass so hopefully I or any other attendees can give some immediate coverage of whats to be expected.
Id still love to see a parachute system and optical flow sensor. I dont need to replace a drone but making better and safer
is always a positive.
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