Drone News

While I’ve logged dozens of hours on the Drone Racing League’s free FPV racing simulator over the last year, I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to put on real FPV goggles. I feel great on the sticks, and I’ve looked through my fair share of mobile and tablet screens while flying, but never in a true first-person-view experience. That was, until two companies reached out to see if we could sample their FPV racing drones. The first is a relatively new company, Force1RC, who sent us their FPV Drone Racing Kit to review. That’ll be published in a separate post The reason I’m mentioning Force1RC in this post is because I was actually using their goggles to fly, as the promo kit that the VIFLY team sent to us didn’t include goggles. Just wanted to give credit where credit is due. Meet the VIFLY Racing Drone So in this post, I’m going to review the VIFLY Racing Drone. While most professional (or at least serious?) FPV racers are building and tweaking their own systems, there’s a growing number of folks looking for easier, ready-to-fly models. FPV flying, even when done casually, is an unbelievable experience, particularly with the goggles on. The VIFLY Racing Drone comes more or less ready-to-fly. After charging the battery, I took my maiden flight without much set up. No PID tuning or anything like that. The initial goal was to see how it handled, which was quite well. It packs a powerful little punch when you throttle up. Yowzah, that’s some thrust. The instructions, at least the version of the instructions I was sent in this promo kit, were VERY basic. I was told that a variety of the questions I had around the different output power and video channel settings would be better explained in future instruction books. I also found this helpful support video gallery, which took care of most of my initial questions. Like other companies I’ve worked with, I trust that their instructions will improve over time. DJI’s certainly did from their Phantom 1 line back in 2014 And while the VIFLY kit didn’t have goggles, I used the goggles from Force1RC’s kit just fine. No instructions on VIFLY’s side about how to bind goggles, but with some button pressing and finagling I was able to figure it out. Again, this is something where I was told by the VIFLY team that their FAQs would improve over time, but I do like to be as transparent as I can in these reviews. My maiden flight went really well, but on my second flight I took a pretty hard landing. The VIFLY frame is DURABLE. I had half a mind to run it full speed into a tree just for, you know, testing purposes, but my conscience got the best of me. Overall, I enjoyed flying the VIFLY FPV racing drone. There’s a GoPro connector to make bundling with your existing GoPro quite easy, and a DVR port allows for on-board recording. Also, and this is something you don’t see too much with drone manufacturers, each new VIFLY owner gets free VIFLY Care Service, where they’ll provide a free repair and extra parts for your first serious crash. The post Putting Durability to the Test with the VIFLY Racing Drone appeared first on UAV Coach. View the full article

Zippy Indoor FPV Racer For some parts of the country, winter season is indoor season, especially for surface RC. The same can be said for aerial RC unless, of course, you don’t mind possibly getting your drone wet from landing in the snow. Thankfully, being in SoCal has it’s advantages, allowing outside fun almost year-round, … View the full article

INTRODUCTION After the introduction of the Esky 150X, probably one of the first cheap brushed flybarless microhelicopter offering a 6-axis stabilization like quadcopters, here is the Esky F150X, the airwolf declinaison. We will find the same ingredients: CC3D board for the 6-axis stabilization, flybarless system, 8mmx20mm main rotor coreless motor & 6mmx15mm tail coreless motor. BOX CONTENT + 1 x Esky F150X (with a 1S 150mAh LiPo with 1.25mm microJST connector) + 1 x Transmitter (using 4xAA batteries not included) + 1 x USB charger + 2 x Spare props + 1 x Screwdriver + 3 x Spare EM tape + 1 x Instruction manual (English/chinese) OVERVIEW In term of design, no external change with the former Esky F150: we have a full plastic based struture whithout any carbon element immitating the famous airwolf helicopter. The plastic canopy is very flexible and thin; assembled in two parts. IMHO, the structure will present some cracks in the plastic after hard crash session. The F150X seems less solid than the E150X comparatively. The F150X is also a 180mm machine, so clearly targetting indoors applications. -FRONT VIEW Through the transparent Windows, we can guess the two ports. the left one to plug a microJST PH 1.0mm for USB connexion and the right to connect the LiPo. -SIDE VIEW The flybar system with two latteral rods Two latteral screws/clips system to lock the structure and attache the front canopy part hidding the LiPo & FC. The tail motor is a 6mmx15mm coreless model. No RPM mention. -REAR VIEW -UPPER VIEW -BOTTOM VIEW As said previously, the canopy is based on two parts assembled centrally and potentially vulnarable after a crash. Fake wheels are simply glued and will pop off relatively fast after minor crashes. -WEIGHT A little bit more than 30g without probably. 35.1g with the battery installed. Motors & props The main rotor motor is 8mmx20mm model while the two servos are 4mm. LiPo A simple 1S 150mAh LiPo with 1.25microJST connector. No discharge rate mentioned but the battery is strong enough to provide 4min30-5min of flight time. Disassembling The green light blinks fast during the binding procedure and as soon as the link is solid, the blue light become solid. Mid-flight, both lights are blinking slowly. The left shows a 1.25mm microJST port where you will have to connect the battery On the right side of the CC3D board, a 4 pins port for USB connexion According to OiOi’s posts for the E150X: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=36336424&postcount=239 https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=36349425&postcount=242 we have the following pinout for the microUSB port. Plug it by disconnecting first the LiPo. Transmitter The same basic radio chassis as for the 150, 150X, F150. The left shoulder selects beginner & Advanced rates. The right yaw trims engages the binding procedure if your need to relunch the procedure or bind the F150X with a former ESKY radio. Important, you will need first to arm the machine (lower-right position for mode 2) to take off. 4xAA batteries are required. Ni-Mh are working. Good news, the Esky150 protocol in deviationTX have been recently fixed and now no problem to bind the machine. UNBOXING, ANALYSIS AND DEMO FLIGHT It’s clear thanks to the the 6 axis stabilisation fly a flybarless machine is super easy… and very smooth. Controls are precize and you can even fly in super tiny spaces. In the other hand, I am not impressed by the power lift of the machine, the ascent rate is slow .and generally the F150X is not a super fast helicopter. More the machine can handle only a moderate Wind. No miracle with a 35g machine. Flight times are good for a 150mah model, between 4min30 and 5min in practice. CONCLUSIONS The Esky F150X represents a good indoors microheli wel adapted for beginners with its stability largely improved via the 6-axis stablization. Be aware, the full plastic structure don’t represent a sign of durability and the machine can’t really flight even a moderate breeze. PROS + Super stable flybarless machine + Precize controls + Indoors flyer + 4min30 of flight time + CC3D FC + DeviationTX compatible CONS – Not wind resistant – Poor ascent rate – Fragile plastic structure This helicopter have been courtesy provided by Banggood in order to make a fair and not biased review. I would like to thank them for this attitude. You can find it actually for 52USD at http://www.banggood.com/ESKY-F150X-2_4G-4CH-MINI-6-Axis-Gyro-Flybarless-RC-Helicopter-With-CC3D-p-1122794.html Cet article TEST: Esky F150X (180mm Helicopter, CC3D, 35.5g) est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

An interesting new 100mm brushless racer from Oversky: http://www.overskyrc.com/superx100-brushless-quadcopter-2s-p-770.html. A 2s machine with 1103/6400kV motors, Scisky Naze32 (they didn’t upgrade yet to F3 board), MU-3A 2S compatible ESC and a FrSKy D8 or Futaba SHFSS receivers. Seems they not include a buitin buzzer. You will need to install your own FPV rig. With the 300mAh 2S LiPo, the total weight is super light, i.e. 626g. Probably less than 70g with an AIO 5.8G FPV camera. Features: -100mm wheelbase, 1.2mm Carbon Fiber lower deck -Already built -Scisky Naze32 X Flight controller (pre-tuned) with built-in FrSky or Futaba SFHSS receiver -Powerful 1103 brushless motors, MU-3A BLHeli arm ESCs -60mm Propellers -Bright front and rear LED at the bottom of each arm ESC -Input Voltage: 2S LiPoly Battery Specs: Wheelbase: 100mm Thickness of Upper Plate: 1.0mm Thickness of Bottom Plate: 1.25mm Flight Controller: Scisky Naze32 X Flight controller Motor: 6400KV Brushless (2S) (CW, CCW) ESC: MU-3A BLHeli (2S) with arm protector. Propeller: 60mm prop (CW, CCW) Radio Receiver: FrSky or Futaba SFHSS Frame Size: 87x87x22mm (no props) Flying Weight: 62.6g (with battery), Includes: 1 x prebuit Super-X-100 quadcopter 8 x 60mm Propellers (CW,CCW) 1 x Battery strap 1 x 300mAh 7.4V Battery 1 x Velcro Required: 1 x Battery Charger 1 x Transmitter Cet article NEWS: Oversky Super-X 100 (62.6g, Naze32, 1103/6400, 2S 300mAh) est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

Flying3D known for their X8 & X6 GPS brushless quadcopters is now introducing a compact 100mm 2S brushed “James” micro-FPV racer: http://www.flying3d.cn/goods.php?id=155. According to my understanding of the chinese website, caracteristics are: SPF3 board, 2S compatible 8520 brushed motors, buitin 2.4G FrSky D8 receiver, 25mW 32CH 5.8G AIO FPV camera, 60g (probably w/o battery). No information about the presence of a builtin buzzer too. The announced features are interesting. The FPV camera will be more or less free of props intrusion. Probably this machine will be sold soon by main chinese websellers. Wait & See. Cet article NEWS: Flying3D “James” (100mm, 2S 8520 motors, SPF3, 25mW 32CH AIO, FrSky D8) est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

A new FPV tinywhoop clone and probably much cheaper than the original model will be soon introduced: http://www.toy63.com/cp/html/?7155.html. Just basic informations are available actually. It uses a proprietary FC for sure and with a bit of luck the radio protocol is already deviated. More to come soon. Features 1. LED light enables you to fly in the dark at night. 2. With camera 5.8G FPV 3. 2.4GHz technology adopted for anti-interference. 4. 360° propeller protectors ensure your safe flight. 5. High/low speed switch, suitable for indoor and outdoor. 6. 3D-flip function and headless mode make your flight exciting and fun. 7. With one-key return function, the drone can find its way back home easily. 8. 6-Axis Gyro control system ensures stable flight and easy operation. Product size: 8.3cm*8.3m*7cm Cet article NEWS: Ni-Hui NH-010 FPV, another cheap FPV tinywhoop clone est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

After the Zerotech dobby, the Wingsland S6, the yuneec breeze, here is a new competitor entering in the market with the Feima Robotics J.me. Announced to weight 550g and be 169mm×169mm×70mm, it’s not a super compact machine like the dobby and will require some registration according to your contry. The technical parameter are interesting: flight time announced to be around 23min so far superior to the dobby for example. The machine includes a 4K camera with 76 deg of FOV. The CMOS sensor is a Sony IMX258. Supported video resolutions are 3840×2160à20fps (useless), 1080p@30fps, 720p@30fps (no 60fps). Here no EIS but a real 2-axis mini-gimbal !!!! That’s great. The FPV link is done via a WiFi connexion up to 100m in 720p resolution. The battery is a 3000mAh Li-ion model. The processor, the MTK Helios X20 is strong enough to perform some computer vision task for follow me/target tracking. Other advanced flight mode are available: orbit, altitude hold and even a mission planner !!! Good news, I should review this machine Specification: – Aircraft Weight (Battery included ) 550g Body size (Propellers excluded ) 169mm×169mm×70mm Maximum altitude 3500m Lifetime 23 mins Working environment temrepature -10?~+40? Max acceptable wind level 4 level (5.5m/s~8.3m/s) Outdoor positioning system GPS/GLONASS/Beidou 3-mode satellite positioning Indoor positioning system Optical flow +Ultrasonic Controlled distance/Image transmission 200m/100m(Open and no interference) Maximum ascend speed 1m/s Maximum descent speed 1m/s Maximum horizontal flight speed 8m/s – GPS hover accuracy Horizontal position accuracy ±1m Vertical position accuracy ±0.5m – Optical flow ultrasonic hover accuracy Horizontal position accuracy ±0.3m Vertical position accuracy ±0.1m – Gimbal Pitch -15°~90°(Downward) Roll ±25° – Front view obstacle perception system Obstacle perception range 0.06~2m Operation environment Indoor – Visual positioning system Speed measure range Flight speed <4m/s(Height 2m,Plenty light >15 Lux) Height measure range 0.35~3m Accurate hover range 0.35~3m Operation environment Rich texture on the surface ,adequate light(>15lux,indoor normal exposure environment in fluorescent light ) – Camera Image sensor 1/3.06 inch CMOS;effective pixel :13 MP Lens FOV 76°;28mm(35mm Format equivalent),Focus is endless;f/2.0 ISO Range 100?200?400?800?1600?3200?6400,Exposure mode is valid for manual exposure,default :100 Electronic shutter speed 1s~1/8000s Pic max resolution 4096*3072 Picture shooting mode Single shoot:support capture when taking video,default : single Continuous shooting:3?5?7,Default :5 Timed shooting :5s?10s?15s?20s,default :10s Delay shoot :5s?10s?15s?20s,default :10s Video resolution 4K:3840×2160, 20fps 1080p:1920×1080, 30fps,Default :1080p 30fps 720p:1280×720, 30fps Delay :5s?10s?15s?20s,default :10s Picture format JPG Video format MP4,3GP Memery card 32GB Working temperature -10?~40? – Charger Voltage 16.8V Power 57W – Battery (FM3000) Rated capacity 3000mAh Rated power 43.2Wh Standard voltage 14.4V Battery type Li Ion 4S Working environment temperature -10?~40? Limited voltage of charging 16.8V – APP Name of App J.ME Fly Real-time transmission 1280×720@30fps Delay 150 ms(Depend on real shooting environment and mobile device) Version for mobile device Android 4.3 and above ,iOS 9.0 and above Includes: 1 * Quadcopter (with Camera and Gambal) 1 * Battery for Quadcopter 1 * Charger 1 * Cable 1 * Manual Cet article NEWS: Feima Robotics J.me selfie drone est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

Kespry is well known in the drone industry for its end-to-end commercial solutions, and is already a huge player when it comes to enterprise applications for drones in surveying, mapping, construction, and other industrial areas. With the recent release of the Kespry 2, and a new CEO, Kespry continues to solidify its position in the industry. We asked Kespry’s new CEO George Mathew for a few minutes of his time to pick his brain about the future of the industry, recent Kespry news, and what he loves about drones (among other topics). About Kespry Based in Menlo Park, CA, Kespry is one of the leading aerial intelligence platform providers, working to transform how business insights are captured, analyzed, and shared in various types of organizations. Kespry provides an end-to-end solution, developing drone hardware, software, and cloud services that support industry needs from field to finish. Kespry supports customers in North America, Europe, and Australia. In North America, three of the top five construction materials firms and the top five aggregate firms currently use the Kespry system. About CEO George Mathew Before joining Kespry in January, 2017, George Mathew was the president and chief operating officer of Alteryx, a self-service analytics software provider. While at Alteryx he led the company through exponential growth in the self-service analytics market by focusing on product innovation and customer success. With 20 years of experience at growth-oriented technology startups as well as category leading software providers such as salesforce.com and SAP, Mathew has held a wide range of senior leadership positions, from driving company strategy to leading product management, development, sales and marketing teams. This is his first position in the drone industry. George Mathew, CEO of Kespry “This market is a creation event that is underway that will result in over $100B new market opportunity this coming decade.” — Begin Interview: UAV Coach: Describe what Kespry does in one short sentence. George Mathew: Kespry is the leading aerial intelligence platform for delivering a complete, end-to-end, app-driven experience to the Industrial market. UAV Coach: We know you have a strong background in data analytics from your work at Alteryx, and of course Kespry Cloud collects and analyzes aerial data. What direction would you like to see Kespry go in terms of collecting, analyzing, and making data usable for commercial customers? That is, what is your overall vision for Kespry Cloud? George Mathew: Kespry is focused on unlocking the potential on new analytical applications that can be delivered from the data our industrial drones are generating. This capability of providing an end-to-end platform is quite unique in the industry as it starts with fully autonomous capture through ­to a complete application experience delivered in Kespry Cloud. The natural expansion of Kespry Cloud will be to deploy and scale applications to our Industrial customers. UAV Coach: What is unique about the Kespry Drone 2? Are there new applications it will enable, and/or how does it improve work on existing applications? George Mathew: The Kespry Drone 2.0 is a lighter-weight version of the previous model that flies twice as long, covers twice the ground area and has twice the wind resilience. This is possible because of a new airframe, battery, and flight system improvements. UAV Coach: Are there new markets and applications you want to push into in 2017? George Mathew: The primary industry expansion focus is on Insurance and the AEC sectors to complement Kespry’s strength in the aggregates market. [Want to learn more about drone insurance? Check out our free, in-depth guide.] UAV Coach: Kespry does many different things in the drone industry, which means some people may not fully be aware of all your impressive work. Is there anything Kespry does that you feel like some people may not know, but you want to make sure they do? George Mathew: Kespry differentiates itself in delivering Autonomy, AI, and Applications for the Industrial use-cases that we serve. In delivering a turn-key solution, we will continue to deliver a world-class experience that automates current drone-based data collection, cutting workflows from days to minutes. UAV Coach: What separates you from other companies in your space? George Mathew: Besides revenue? Focus and completeness of solution. UAV Coach: What do you love about drones? George Mathew: Drones are incredible machines that not only improve human productivity but open up entirely new uses that were previous far too cost prohibitive and/or too much of a safety risk. UAV Coach: What in the drone industry is just a fad and won’t last? George Mathew: I may be biased being a more recent CEO in the drone industry, but this market is a creation event that is underway that will result in over $100B new market opportunity this coming decade. UAV Coach: What drone(s) do you fly? George Mathew: Kespry 2s, but of course! The Kespry 2.0 UAV Coach: What are your predictions for the drone industry? Please feel free to answer at length (what you see way down the road, what you see for next year, where you see regulations headed in the U.S. and abroad, new applications, etc.). George Mathew: The biggest thing is the expansion/differentiation in the Commercial drone market where the market opportunity can and will be bigger than the consumer drone market. The Kespry system has been autonomous and a complete end-to-end solution that makes it easy to capture, process and use field information since it first launched in 2013. We’re only seeing appetite for this kind of business-results focused solution increase. We know it’s a very realistic growth path because we’re already delivering it in a number of industries with great results for our customers. The current landscape is filled with broken toys that put the responsibility of getting all the pieces you need working together on the user. Truly great technology is almost invisible, as it makes achieving your goal feel simple. The Kespry team cares deeply about removing as much friction as possible from capturing, using, and getting value from your data. As the industry matures and expectations rise, we believe more professionals will be drawn by end-to-end solutions such as Kespry that remove distractions and allow them to focus on creating fresh value for their business. Most of the industry growth to date has been driven by optical sensors which, from an application development perspective, is still in its infancy. Many new sensor types are already coming to market but we believe the main focus will remain on optical sensors in 2017, and how they can be used with AI applications and machine learning to accelerate corporate performance. Beyond that, we see further growth of the UAV industry into the mainstream that will fuel some of the transformational changes we’re seeing in how we think about work and deliver value (classic blue collar roles as well as white collar). — Below are some images from Kespry’s mapping and analytics platform showing various models created for mining sites based on information gathered via drone. The post UAV Coach Interviews George Mathew, CEO of Kespry appeared first on UAV Coach. View the full article

Many major players in the consumer drone industry have taken a beating in the last several months, and you can thank DJI for much of the upheaval. We’ve lost 3DRobotics when it comes to producing consumer RTF drones; Alphabet shut down their Titan Project last month for delivering internet via drones to remote locations; Parrot recently laid off a third of its personnel; Autel let almost all of its sales and marketing staff go this month; GoPro suffered a recall, and a sluggish relaunch, of its Karma drone; and Lily Robotics shuttered and declared bankruptcy under allegations of fraud. Sitting at the top, and indirectly (and often directly) responsible for the woes of these and other industry players, is DJI. 3DR’s Solo had trouble competing with DJI’s Phantom 3 (among others); Parrot’s Bebop similarly has had trouble against DJI’s Phantom 3; and Autel has been hit hard in a head-to-head between their X Star and DJI’s Mavic and Phantom drones. GoPro’s rereleased Karma will face an uphill climb for ground against the DJI camera drones just mentioned, and even Lily, a company that was trying to position itself somewhat outside of the consumer battle with a selfie drone that would follow and shoot automatically, would have faced trouble from DJI and their Zenmuse camera line. Even the Titan Project may have faced internal pressure against creating their own hardware when companies like DJI are releasing drones for almost any application imaginable at lightning speed and reduced costs. So why does DJI dominate? There isn’t one single reason. Rather, a powerful combination of pricing strategy, marketing power, extensive distribution channels, and strong internal manufacturing and R&D have allowed them to be there first for many new needs and applications in the industry. And when they aren’t there first, they simply drop prices to beat out established competitors. As Sally French of The Drone Girl wrote recently, “One of the biggest challenges, drone manufacturers say, is keeping up with DJI’s rapid development pace and pricing approach.” In December DJI released a new camera created just for cell tower inspections, the Zenmuse 30. This week, just a few months later, they rolled out the Matrice 200, which has been designed to dominate drone enterprise applications. The Matrice 200 The Matrice 200 was launched this week at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It’s a tough, rugged drone made for flight in rain and other inhospitable conditions. Capable of carrying twin high-grade cameras in addition to the built-in FPV camera, and rugged as all get out, with the release of the Matrice 200 it’s clear DJI has its sights set squarely on enterprise-level industrial applications, such as inspections, mapping, and surveying. The Matrice 200 is also well-equipped for public/government sector applications, such as search & rescue in rain or other harsh weather, or firefighting scenarios in extreme conditions. Image source As an industrial tool, the Matrice 200 is rated IP (Ingress Protection) 43, which means that it’s waterproof and can fly in the rain just fine. It can also fly in sub-zero temperatures, with a heating system that kicks in to keep the batteries and sensors warm when under freezing conditions(say what?!?). The M200 has a closed-shell body, which allows for added portability and ease-of-use, and also means that it can be knocked around without breaking. Like we said—tough. A suite of 20 sensor units in the Matrice 200 includes dual inertial measurement units (IMUs) for redundancy, plus an ADS-B receiver, which keeps the drone and its pilots informed about any manned aircraft activity in the area. And, with just the inbuilt FPV camera attached, its total flight time is an impressive 38 minutes. When a payload is attached that time dips down, but is still pretty great at 35 minutes. The Matrice Line and the M200 Series The M200 series has three individual models. The baseline M200 offers a single downward-facing gimbal mount; the M210 features a pair of downward-facing gimbal mounts as well as a top mount for filming objects overhead; and the top-of-the-line M210 RTK offers the same mounts as the 210 but also incorporates two RTK (Real Time Kinematics) modules for “millimeter-precision navigation” (according to DJI). There are also several other drones in the Matrice line. The main difference between the M200 Series and the rest of the Matrice line of drones is its closed-shell body, which brings added portability, ease-of-use, and ruggedness; in addition, the M210 models can easily accommodate multiple payload configurations, something not previously seen on any drone. DJI’s Strategy: Diversify and Conquer As we noted in the intro, DJI has a knack for seeing industry opportunities and going after them aggressively. We wrote back December about DJI’s strategy around giving a separate name to their camera line, the Zenmuse. Unlike all other drone manufacturers, DJI decided to give a separate name to the cameras that come on its drone, thus diversifying the branding for their drones and their cameras, and allowing both for cross-promotion and for the perceived value of their cameras to grow separately from the perceived value of their drones. Pretty smart. Another reason DJI is winning, of course, is that they’re willing (and able) to cut prices to a point that almost no competitor can, and they don’t mind if they’re releasing new drones too fast for even their own good. As DJI spokesperson Adam Lisberg has said, now somewhat famously, about their aggressive price reductions and lightning fast release cycles: “If that pricing cannibalizes our own products, that’s OK.” More Pictures of the Matrice 200 Want to see more pictures of this bad boy? Here you go. Note: All of these images are from the DJI website. The post DJI’s Matrice 200, and How DJI Is Winning the Drone Industry appeared first on UAV Coach. View the full article

DVR installation Here is the step by step procedure to install a Eachine proDVR to your Goggles Two FPV Goggles (source RCgroups). 1)Diagram 1: solder the black wire to ÿGNDÿ, and the red wire to ÿVCCÿ. This is to supply power to the DVR. 2)Diagram 2: Splice the first wire from the right, and connect this to the ÿAudio Inÿ cable on the DVR. 3)Diagram 3: The second wire from the right is the ÿvideo outÿ wire. Split this cable, and connect it to the ÿvideo inÿ and ÿvideo outÿ wires on the DVR as shown below. 4)After completing Steps 1 ÿ 3, properly insulate the wires. Pass the connector through the ventilation holes on top of the goggles. Connect the connector to the DVR and secure the DVR 5)DVR On Screen Display (OSD) Menu 6)This concludes the installation of the DVR to the goggles two FPV Goggles. Be aware with such wiring, the signal pass through the DVR and will introduce extra latency. One possibility is to use an extra 2-position switch to enable/disable DVR AVout feedback. Cet article DIY: Eachine Goggles 2 DVR installation est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

Want a tiny 80mm brushless 3S conpatible ? a kind of Eachine Chaser 88 with builtin propguards and Under steroids?. Here is the XJB-80: http://www.banggood.com/XJB-80-80mm-5_8G-40CH-Mini-FPV-Racing-Drone-wF3-OSD-25A-Blheli-ESC-600TVL-14-Cmos-p-1129495.html. Strong 4-in-1 25A BLheli_S ESC (4S supported !!!!!), 1104/7500KV 3S motors, F3 evo board, builtin buzzer and a switchable power AIO FPV camera !!!. Camera can be tilted up to 30 degrees. Sounds just great … just miss the builtin betaflightOSD :). 73g standalone so with a 3S 300-400mah battery should turn around 100g. They propsed to fly with a 550mah model (should scale around 110g IMHO). Come in ARF of BNF version: FrSky D8 (w/ telemetry) or FlySky (probably AFHDS-2A). Specificaton: Item name: XJB-80 Mini FPV Racing Drone BNF Wheelbase: 80mm Size: 120mm*120mm*75mm Weight: 72g( battery not include) Motor: FLAME 1104 7500KV brushless motor(2S pull 120g,3S pull 200g) ESC: XR396-25A BLHELI 2-4S 4 in 1 ESC Propeller: 50mm 5 blade Propeller Camera: 600TVL HD CMOS 1/4 inch VTX: 5.8g 0/25/50/200MW 40CH NTSC/PAL video transmitter Flight controller: HGLRC PBF3-EVO Betaflight F3 Firmware of flight controller: Betaflight 3.01 Flight time : 5minutes Rear LED Ready (LED_Strip function) Buzzer Ready Battery: HGLRC 11.1V 550mah 35C lipo battery HGLRC PBF3-EVO Betaflight F3: Size: 23mm*23mm Mount hole: 20mm*20mm 2OZ*4 Layer Board Processor: STM32 F303 MCU Sensor: SPI Sensor MPU6000 Firmware version: Betaflight 3.01 Target: PIKOBLXF3 Receive:SBUS/DSMX/PPM ETC Telemetry Support Transponder Support HGLRC XR396 25A BLHELI 4 in 1 ESC: Size: 27mm*27mm Mount hole: 20mm*20mm 2OZ*6 Layer Board F396 Chip Lipo Battery: 2-4S Con. Current: 25A Peak Current: 35A (20S) Programming: YES Betaflight passtrough ready Support oneshot42 oneshot125 Multishot Damped light on Features: -Extremely light and more powerful -STM32 F303MCU(MPU-6000SPI) + 4in1BLHELI ESC make your Operating feel more stabilly and silky -30′ Angle of camera -Jaw-dropping flight performance -Cleanflight/Betaflight support -Acro mode / Air mode /Angle mode support -Radio Stick to control PID Tunes -BLHELI pass-through ready -Telemetry RSSI Output ready -Weight Only 110g(include battery) -XR396 4IN1 ESC Supermin Size 27*27,Max Current 140A, Conjunction with PBF3 EVO Use 160-250MM drone -High precision 3D protect frame Notice: 1. BNF receiver option: Compatible Frsky SBUS receiver Compatible Flysky 8CH AFHDS2A receiver 2. Compatible: 1). Frsky Receiver compatible with FRSKY ACCST, X9D(Plus)DJT/DFT/DHT 2). Flysky Receiver compatible with FS-i4, FS-i6, FS-i6S, FS-i6X, FS-i10, FS-GT2E, FS-GT2G, FS-GT2F Package included: 1 x XJB-80 Frame kit 1 x PBF3-EVO Betaflight F3 1 x Frsky/Flysky AFHDS2A (optional) (ARF version not include) 4 x FLAME 1104 7500KV brushless motor 1 x XR396 25A BLHELI 4 in 1 ESC 4 x 50mm 5 blade Propeller 1 x 600TVL HD CMOS 1/4 inch camera 1 x 5.8g 0/25/50/200MW 40CH NTSC/PAL video transmitter 1 x 1.1V 550mah 35C lipo battery Cet article NEWS: XJB-80 (80mm, 73g, 3S, 1104/7500, F3 Evo, 200mW AIO) est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

Isn’t it so easy these days? You have a digital camera, with amazing resolution that takes high quality images for a relatively affordable price. It records to memory cards or hard drives in individual digital files per shot. You stick it in the computer, and you can instantly watch back exactly what you want to and offload it for editing. No messing with tapes, no waiting in real-time for the tapes to transfer to the computer, and no need to touch up the footage. And, the cameras fly now! On drones, that is (but let me know if you find a camera that can fly by itself without a drone J ). The shot already looks amazing right off the drone!! Doesn’t it? But what if you could make it look even better? [Want to go straight to the five tips? Just click here.] Yes, that amazing, one-of-a-kind, perfectly timed, sunset shot over the mountains of Iceland can in fact look even better than when it comes straight off the drone. Color correction is the secret, and this is one of the points I always emphasize to my students in the Aerial Post-Production course I teach in partnership with UAV Coach: The secret ingredient for separating yourself from the competition is all about knowing how to do color correction. (But shh, don’t tell anyone!) At my company, Cinematic Aerospace, we color correct almost all the drone footage we shoot before sending it to clients for review, especially those beautiful skyline shots of New York City. New York City aerial cinematography always looks nice, but throw a quick color pass on the footage, and you have something truly magical! The term “color correction” is generally used to refer to two different processes. There is actual color correction, and then there is color grading. I usually refer to both together as just color correction, or “coloring.” Color Correction Color Correction is the process of adjusting the clips you shot to get good exposure in the image. You do this by balancing the light in the shot. Color correction and grading are art forms in and of themselves. Just like it takes an editor many years and much experience to master their craft, the same holds true for a colorist. For major productions (and even many smaller ones these days) the colorist is a separate job from the editor. They sometimes don’t even talk to each other much because once the edit is done, the colorist takes over and colors that final cut. It doesn’t require much collaboration with the editing department other than to get the files. For most drone pilots though, they end up with an all-in-one job: pilot, camera op, editor, and colorist, amongst the other tasks involved in actually running their business. It is important to note that color correction refers to work done in post-production, that is, working on the clip after it is already shot. There are methods you can use to adjust the color and create proper exposure while you are shooting, but color correction as we are going to talk about it is doing these things with a computer, with the finished shot. Color correction actually doesn’t have much to do with color at all here. It is more about adjusting exposure and light levels to achieve a balanced shot, with pretty natural colors. You can use Waveforms and Vectorscopes to help with achieving a “proper” color correction, but we are going to focus on doing it by look alone, since our goal is to easily make quick color passes on your shots, just to touch them up for your client’s eyes. There really is a whole science to color correction, and as much as I love to talk all day long about chromatics and things like color spaces, frequencies, wavelengths, and spectrum analyses, something tells me you aren’t here to recall lessons from your high school physics class. Color Grading Color Grading is the process of making creative choices to enhance your footage to better tell a story, or convey a certain feeling or emotion to your audience. Color grading can involve color correction, by adjusting the light levels, but it also commonly involves adjusting the actual color of a shot, too. The most common color grading might consist of boosting a certain color in the shot, or even adding a color that isn’t very prominent in the raw footage. There aren’t really any right or wrong ways to do color grading. It all depends on the feel you want the footage and the cut to have. WARNING: Color correction (and color grading) are NOT meant to replace the process of properly planning your shots and shooting them with a good exposure in the first place. You should always shoot your clips with proper exposure to begin with, or at least as close to proper exposure as you can. Even though it may look like magic, color correction is not a method that lets you say “Ehh, I don’t want to setup my camera correctly right now, so I’ll just fix all the issues in post-production”. While post-production tools are getting increasingly better at letting you fix mistakes in shooting, more often than not, if you mess something up while shooting, it is hard to completely fix it in post. For example, if you shoot something very overexposed and then try to decrease the exposure in post, it isn’t going to work because the overexposed parts of the shot probably “clipped” in the sensor (reached a level that the sensor just cannot process and record). So, if the data for that part of the image didn’t even get recorded, what do you think will happen when you decrease the exposure in post? It won’t be pretty… So, color correction and color grading are tools that help you enhance a shot that already looks at least somewhat good, because it was filmed properly from the beginning. It isn’t a magic wand that replaces good planning from the beginning. 5 Pro Tips on Color Correction Below are five “pro tips” to help the do-it-all drone pilot through coloring their individual clips right after filming or a cut of their reel. 1. Start thinking about your color correction process before even shooting your footage Part of setting yourself up for proper color correction in post is making sure your camera is configured correctly. Besides exposing your image correctly, you want to shoot with a “flat” color profile. This produces an image with the smallest amount of in-camera “color” as possible, meaning it gives you more latitude to work with the image in post. It may look nicer right off the bat or easier just to record using a normal or default color profile, but avoid it as much as you can. There are certain situations where I truly do want to take the footage off the camera and have it look semi-nice to begin with, but 99% of the time I record with a flat image profile. In DJI drones/cameras the profile is called “D-LOG”, in other cameras it varies, but a lot of time it is some variation of “log” or “neutral”. If you have a camera that records RAW footage, like the X5R, X5S, RED Epic, or ARRI Alexa, the RAW footage should already be in a flat color profile, as this is the nature of shooting raw in the first place. You are capturing the frames with as little processing from the camera as possible. Normal profile Flat profile 2. Start adjusting the blacks (also called lift or shadows) first A term you might hear people use when referring to basic color correction is “crushing the blacks”. Shadows refer to the darkest areas of the image, while whites (or highlights) refer to the brightest parts. Midtones (mids) refer to the light levels in between the black and whites. While the answer isn’t always to “crush” them (i.e., move them down), most images shot during the day could benefit from decreasing the shadows, effectively giving you some immediate contrast. This especially applies when working with footage shot with a flat profile, because it won’t have much contrast to begin with. Once you get these blacks “crushed” or decreased in value you have the baseline with which to begin the rest of the color correction process. Blacks crushed 3. Adjust the highlights and midtones next to achieve good exposure With the blacks adjusted properly for your exposure, move on to the highlights next. Increasing the highlights gives you more of that contrast that helps most shots look great. It’s important to make sure not to adjust the highlights too much where the absolute brightest parts become overexposed. In basic color correction, you may have to settle for a balance within any one of the light levels you are adjusting. In advanced color correction, you can do things like create power windows and masks that allow you to isolate certain parts of the image and place separate sets of adjustments on them, i.e. allowing you to adjust all the highlights in the image EXCEPT that area that is already overexposed because the camera wasn’t set correctly. The last step in adjusting the light levels for exposure is the midtones. Once you have the contrast you want from shadows and highlights, use the midtones to balance out the image overall and achieve the final exposure of your shot. When adjusting all of these light levels, it’s best to park your play head on a frame that is most representative of the whole clip, because unless you are cutting up your clip or using advanced color correction features, the adjustments you make will be made on the whole clip in the timeline. If you make the adjustments while looking at a frame right in the beginning, but that frame is underexposed because you adjusted the aperture mid-recording 30 seconds after the start, then your entire color grade will be off, since it is based on that beginning frame’s exposure. Take the time now to playback or scrub through your shot with the finished adjustments. See how it looks. Disable the adjustments in your NLE or coloring software temporarily to compare the now corrected shot with the original shot. Go back and make further adjustments as you see fit. Get the exposure set for what your vision of the shot is. Highlights and midtones adjusted 4. Boost your saturation to achieve vibrant images (if applicable) The last thing I want to do is get anyone in the mindset that there is a sure fire way to color footage and make it look great. So much depends on your footage, your creative style and the software you are using. BUT, for a quick and dirty color pass like we are doing here, for most daytime, bright, aerial footage a boost in saturation can really go a long way. You want that footage to pop! Make sure to do this in moderation though. Too much saturation is unnatural of course and could make the image too “surreal”. Play with it and see what looks best for your color look goal. Usually only a small adjustment of the slider(s) is needed. Boost in saturation 5. Don’t be afraid to experiment when necessary, but don’t overdo it either Use these tips as a baseline to get a basic color pass on your clips or cut to make them stand out when sending them to clients or uploading to the Internet. But more importantly than anything else, don’t be afraid to experiment with your color correction and grading process. Just like with most other artistic processes, practicing coloring regularly will really help build up your confidence. And confidence really is key here, because every person is different in their approach to coloring. It is your work and your call (unless the client wants something specific). Even if a client wants a specific look, every colorist has their way of looking at and approaching the shot. Don’t be afraid to get crazy with coloring some shots and to try out unique looks. You might be surprised with the result. It’s all part of the creative process. But just make sure to HAVE FUN doing it though, because that is what really matters! An entire lesson, featuring a screencast video, in Aerial Post-Production 101 is dedicated to the basic color correction process in Apple’s Final Cut Pro X. Check out the course homepage to learn more about the course and what else it offers. Original flat shot Final grade Here’s another example of the entire process: Flat original shot Black crushed Highlights and midtones adjusted Saturation boost and final grade (i.e., final picture) The post 5 Pro Tips on Color Correction—A Necessary Part of Every (Yes, Every) Clip You Send to a Client appeared first on UAV Coach. View the full article

INTRODUCTION The Eachine Flyingfrog Q90 is a compact and lightweight brushed microquadcopter including a F3 board, a 1000 TVL FPV cam and a 40CH 5.8G 200mW VTX. Cherry on the cake, the machine is boosted with 8520 motors 2S compatible. As most of recent Eachine products, three choices of receiver are available: FrSky (in D8 mode), FlySky (AFHDS) and Spektrum (DSM2/DSMX). It’s not the first 2S brushed machine, the Q90 comes after the Fatbee FB90. Let’s check this new bundle. BOX CONTENT + 1 x Eachine Flyingfrog Q90 (with a 2S 350mAh LiPo with microLOSI connector) + 1 x USB charging cable + 4 x Spare props (2 CW, 2 CCW) + 4 x Props guard + 1 x Spare white canopy + 1 x Wrench prop remover + 3 x receiver cables + 3 x Spare rubber band + 1 x Instruction manual (English) The set of accesories. Three spare rubber bands are given OVERVIEW The Flyingfrog Q90 employs a classic hubsan X4 like design, a 98mm machine full plastic based. The lower main plastic structure, welcoming arms and motors pods, has 2.25mm of thickness. I am not sure the plastic will be strong enough to support crash at full speed on hard surgaces. Inside the canopy, we find a SPF3 board with betaflash 3.0.1 installed, a 1000 TVL NTSC 1/4″ FPV camera, a 200mW 40CH 5.8G FPV transmitter and a FrSKy D8 receiver. -FRONT VIEW Two small eyes and green color… we have a frog !!!! with the battery attached. The LiPo don’t touch the ground so no problem to perfectly calibrate gyros for example. -SIDE VIEW The left side welcomes the microUSB plug for Betaflight connexion -REAR VIEW The 5.8G antenna is installed vertically to optimize horizontal FPV transmission so long distance flight. We have to do the same for the 2.4G antenna to increase the control range as well. -UPPER VIEW On top, we have the small eyes of the frog two columns of small holes. They can be used to insert/install the 2.4G through. -BOTTOM VIEW The main plastic structure is not inspiring me ultra positive feelings for the durability of the machine even if I crashed many times without damages. I am afraid with a crash at full speed on arms, they won’t resist. With the battery attached with the thin but robust transparent rubber band -WEIGHT A little bit more than 44.8g standalone to reach 62g Motors 8.5mmx20mm 2S compatible should in theory offer great performances. In practice, these motors whistlewith a high treeble sound. Classic 55mm “hubsan” props with 1mm of shaft/hole section. We can maybe regret the unique color for all of them. Bicolor choice would have been a better choice for LOS flights LiPo A very small 2S 350mAh with microLosi connector and balancer plug. 30C for discharge rate. This battery is advertized to offer up to 8min of flight time Camera module A 1000TVL mode. 1/4″ sensor size. The camera broadcast the signal only in NTSC format. No possibility to turn it into PAL. No possibility to apply a positive angle for the lens orientation Raw video sample I really like this compact camera handling pretty well light transitions. The sound seems to be recorded. Disassembling To access to the interior part, you will have to remove four super tiny screws found at each arm’s extremity. Use a magnetic screwdriver for this precize job. The 200mW VTX is taped on the top canopy underneath side. A unique button to select the current Vfreq in short pressed and one of the five Vband is long pressed. Two lights indicates the current Vfreq and Vband respectively. The main SPF3 board with the FrSky D8 compatible receiver. This one is connected via a serial SBUS link. We can notice the absence of a builtin buzzer but semi-good news, there is enough room to attach one on the free buzzer port completly on the left. It’s pretty easy to bind the receiver. turn on the quad copter (tx off) and wait 6 seconds that the light blink fast then just run the bind procedure on your radio and voilà !!!. Cherry on the cake, telemetry send both the RSSI and the Vbat on your radio. UNBOXING, CONFIGURATION, BINDING AND DEMO FLIGHT If we have immediatly some positive confirmations about the FPV camera, we also observe unfortunatly ton of woobles in the FPV signal… very Dizzy…. It’s not unflyable but it’s not pleasant with the proposed defaut settings…. Second point, despite being 2S powered, the punchouts are not so impressive. It’s for sure more powerfull than most of 1S equivalent models but not billion times stronger. In comparaison, my “lightbee” FB90 is much more powerfull. After the wooble session, no choice we have to find better tunings. Here are my current settings: With these ones…. the Q90 flies completly different !!!!! So smooth and stable …. really fun to fly with. Both the FPV and radio control range are great… Beaware with such microsize… it’s super fast to loose it into tall grass. It’s strongly adviced to install a buzzer. Flight times are also pretty good, around 5-6min with the “simple” 350mah model. We can expect more with a 450mah for example. CONCLUSIONS First thing to do with the Eachine Flyingfrog Q90 is to apply new PIDs settings because out of the box ones are far to be optimized and bring a lot of woobles & bounces.I really like the FPV rig strong, powerfull with clean and sharp image. Depite being light and with 2s compatible 8520 motors, the Q90 is of course perfectly acro compatible but not yet equivalent to a brushless model. In term of “must to do”, the buzzer integration is probably the first one. We can dream a future revision integrating this buzzer and a FC with betaflight OSD. PROS + Compact FPV microflyer + Relatively powerfull 2S system + F3 board + Good 1000 TVL NTSC camera + Good FPV range (>150m) + 6-7min of flight time + FrSky D8 with RSSI & Vbat telemetry CONS – No builtin buzzer – Bad default PIDs settings – Need to open the machine to set the Vfreq – No possibility to apply positive angle for the FPV camera This quadcopter have been courtesy provided by Banggood in order to make a fair and not biased review. I would like to thank them for this attitude. You can find it actually for 71USD at http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-Flyingfrog-Q90-Micro-FPV-Racing-Quadcopter-BNF-with-F3-5_8G-200mW-VTX-1000TVL-Camera-p-1124456.html Cet article TEST: Eachine Flyingfrog Q90 (62g, 2S 8520 motors, SPF3, 1000TVL FPV cam, 200mW 5.8G 40CH VTX) est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

A new compact HD 1080p camera broadcasting the FPV signal in VGA format is announced here: http://www.banggood.com/WST-1080P-HD-Mini-DV-CAM-Mini-FPV-Camera-Support-SD-for-FPV-Racer-p-1128903.html. We have only 1080p@30fps or 720p@60fps… No information about the FOV of the associated lens, neither for the light sensivity value of the sensor and the latency associated with. Close to be twice cheaper than a mobius mini but is only 2g less…. At least you can select your lens orentation and recording can be triggered via PWM connexion. Should work from 1S setup and a Vreg is required from 2S and more setup. Description: Operating Voltage: 3.7-5V Current Consumption: 280mA Recording Resolution: 1080P(30FPS)/720P(60FPS) Recording Format: MOV Support TF Card: max 32GB Video Output: VGA640*480 NTSC/PAL/1Vp-p Dimensions: 71*40*16mm Weight: 25g Package Included: 1 x 1080P HD Camera Cet article NEWS: WST 1080p mini (1080p@30fps + VGA FPV) est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

One of the things we hear about the drone industry all the time is how lucrative everyone predicts it will be (not to mention how lucrative it already is). Article after article talks about projections for the future, and how VC investors are pouring money into drone startups. We also hear a lot about drones being used to kill people overseas, both by the U.S. government, and more recently by terrorist organizations. Add to this the concerns the industry has had to work through surrounding privacy and people worried about having buzzing aerial nuisances flying over their homes, and it can feel like we still have a long ways to go toward changing the public perception about drones and their daily usefulness in the world. But we all know that there’s a lot more to the drone industry. Drones do lots of good in the world, and the ways they can be used for good seem to be growing every day. (There’s even a “UA Drones for Good” competition held in Dubai every year.) Here is our list of some of the ways that drones are being used for good right now. Know of others? Reach out and let us know on Twitter. We’d love to see this list grow! 1. Finding and Safely Detonating Land Mines A 14 year old boy in India named Harshwardhan Zala made the news recently for inventing a drone that could detect and detonate land mines. The drone comes equipped with infrared, an RGB sensor, and a thermal meter along with a 21-megapixel camera with a mechanical shutter that can take high-resolution pictures. It works by detecting land mines from a distance, and then, once the area has been cleared, dropping a small bomb to destroy the land mine safely. Harshwardhan says he first thought of the idea when he was watching television and learned that “a large number of soldiers succumb to injuries sustained due to land mine blasts while defusing them manually.” His first invention to address this problem was a robot for detecting and detonating land mines, but this meant the loss of a robot for each land mine detonated. The anti-land mine drone was the next iteration in Harshwardhan’s inventive process, since it can detect land mines from a distance, without risking detonation. 2. Fighting Fires—Reconnaissance, Identifying Smoldering Hot Spots, and More Drones help firefighters with their jobs in a number of ways. Using aerial thermography, a drone can fly over the sight of a fire that is almost out to identify smoldering hot spots that might not be visible to the naked eye. Aerial thermography can also help to quickly find potential fire victims who need immediate medical attention in fires that are still smoldering. Drones also provide key information for firefighters in big, intense forest fires and other types of blazes, where the fire is so big and stretches so far that it can be hard to know exactly what steps to take using the information available on the ground. Knowing how a fire burns and where it might move next is the most important part of firefighting. – David Celino,Chief Fire Warden, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. 3. Saving Lives in Search & Rescue Missions Search & rescue scenarios are all about time. If someone is lost in the woods in harsh conditions, the chances of survival all come down to how long they’re out there before someone finds them. Drones help search & rescue teams find people quickly using aerial thermography to identify heat signatures, and they can do this much more quickly and effectively than a team of people searching on the ground. Drones can also be helpful for getting an aerial view of an area where a search & rescue mission needs to take place, in order to help guide the work being done by people on the ground. In one recent story from Canada, a search and rescue team found a group of five missing snowboarders and skiers that had been missing for two days using UAVs with infrared cameras. “In the future, every progressive SAR team will have a drone or access to a drone for a search.” – Kamloops Search and Rescue, of Kamloops, British Columbia 4. Teaching—and Exciting—Students about STEM and Coding DroneBlocks and DronePan are two programs that come with apps teachers can use to help students get involved in coding and generally interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields using drones. DroneBlocks The DroneBlocks app makes programming drone missions accessible for middle and elementary school students through a familiar, easy-to-use “block” programming interface. DroneBlocks provides everything teachers need, including a full curriculum and support, to launch a drone-based STEM program. They combine curricula materials with hands-on work with drones to help teachers create a project-based learning environment where kids can get excited about STEM learning. Best of all, the DroneBlocks app is completely free. “DroneBlocks empowers STEM leaders to educate in the context of unprecedented engagement.” – DroneBlocks website Watch this video to learn a little more about DroneBlocks. Getting started in your classroom: Check out the “What You’ll Need” page on the DroneBlocks website to get started (hint: the list is really short; it looks like they’ve made it as easy as possible for educators to step in and implement right out of the box). If you’re short on funding, DroneBlocks has a funding ideas page on their website, and they also provide 8 lesson plans for free in case you just want to dip your toes in the water. All in all, this looks like an excellent way to get kids excited about STEM. DronePan DronePan makes it easy to capture aerial panoramas with the click of a button using a variety of drones from DJI (the Phantom 3, Phantom 4, Inspire 1, Inspire 2 or Mavic Pro drone all work with DronePan). DronePan takes 20 photos at the necessary yaw and pitch to create photos that can be easily stitched together for a 360 spherical panorama. The process takes less than 2 minutes, and produces some really incredible aerial panoramas (scroll down to see links to examples). Check out these examples of panoramas created by DronePan users. Seriously, do it. They are amazing. Gross Dam Port Aransas Skatepark Ironman in Colorado Real Estate Property Getting started in your classroom: Right now DronePan runs on iOS devices and an Android version is currently in beta. You can learn more about new releases and updates by joining the DronePan Facebook group. By the way, we’d be remiss if we didn’t give a shout out here to Marisa Vickery, Facilitator of Learning & Innovation for the Dripping Springs school district in Dripping Springs, Texas. Marisa reached out to tell us to add DroneBlocks to our list of 70 Drone Companies to Watch in 2017, and she was absolutely right. Thanks Marisa! 5. Delivering Blood and Other Crucial Medical Supplies to Remote Areas Forget Flirtey and AmazonAir. Zipline isn’t just testing the use of drones for deliveries, it’s actually making them. And what’s more, it’s delivering crucial medical supplies (and not just pizzas or a Kindle Fire.) More than two billion people lack adequate access to essential medical products, often due to challenging terrain and gaps in infrastructure. Because of this, over 2.9 million children under age five die every year. And up to 150,000 pregnancy-related deaths could be avoided each year if mothers had reliable access to safe blood. – Zipline website Zipline made the news a few months back when it announced a partnership with the government of Rwanda to deliver blood and other crucial medical supplies to rural areas that are difficult to reach by land. Watch this video to learn more about Zipline’s partnership with Rwanda. 6. Making More Food with Fewer Resources Drone applications in agriculture are booming, and new ag-focused drone companies and products are being announced all the time. UAVs allow farmers to collect more actionable data about their crops than has ever before been possible. Also, new data-focused platforms like RaptorMaps are helping to analyze and use the data gathered. RaptorMaps is an MIT-founded precision agriculture company that employs crop-mapping drones to better pinpoint crop damage, offering farmers 100% data coverage of their land. “Worldwide, about a third of all crops are lost. It’s easy to blame bugs, but really, a lack of information is destroying these plants.” – Nikhil Vadhavka, CEO of RaptorMaps And it’s that lack of information that’s vital to a farmer. Crop disease, pests, weeds, and weather damage are just a few areas where timely data can help save large swaths of crops. As one might expect, monitoring acres and acres of land can be difficult and costly to farmers. Many types of crop inspections and maintenance are performed manually. More pesticides are being used than needed. Imagine lots of driving and walking and note-taking in the field. Hours and hours of work on a regular basis. Large farming operations hire scouts and agrochemical companies to tend their fields, but when you have 1,000 acres—just picture 1,000 football fields—it’s impossible to keep track simply by walking through them. By helping to analyze crop yields and providing key data on soil quality and other crucial factors, the ag sector of the drone industry holds a huge amount of promise. If we can get more food from fewer resources, everyone on the planet will benefit. 7. Keeping Our Skies Safe The proliferation of drones has also led to new technologies to control drones, like the anti-drone gun, which can stop a drone mid-flight and force it to land (with no damage being done to the drone). In addition, many drone companies are working alongside NASA and the FAA to create Unmanned Traffic Management systems (UTMs) to help coordinate flights so that the skies stay safe and regulated for everyone. New Technologies The primary goal of these new drone-control technologies is to keep our airspaces safe. Drones near airports pose a big potential risk to airplanes, and it’s crucial to have technology that can immediately clear the skies. If an unauthorized drone appears in the airspace at an airport, it could post a serious threat to the passengers aboard airplanes, both as a potential hazard for the planes in flight but also because it could be carrying a bomb. These new technologies allow for the immediate control of rogue UAVs, so that everyone is kept safe. In addition, we’ve read reports of drones being used to deliver drugs and other contraband to prisoners, and this technology is also helpful in preventing this kind of illicit behavior. Unmanned Traffic Management Systems UTMs are the way of the future when it comes to drone flights, especially in populous places. NASA defines a UTM as “a cloud-based system that will help manage traffic at low altitudes and avoid collisions of UASs being operated beyond visual line of sight.” By designing systems that will allow many drones to share the same airspace, drone companies, NASA, and the FAA are working to create a safer future for our airspaces. We need a way to organize the UAS traffic, whether that’s by crisscrossing or with a bike lane or HOV lane kind of construct. The system can make these things happen based on demand. UTM is a virtual system.” – Dr. Parimal Kopardekar, UTM Principal Investigator at the NASA Ames Research Center The post 7 Brilliant Ways Drones Help People Every Day appeared first on UAV Coach. View the full article

Los Angeles-based startup Up Sonder is the first drone company to provide crowdsourced drone rentals and commercial pilot operations. Up Sonder is ready to soar (if you’re wondering about the name, sonder is an anagram for drones). The first peer-to-peer on-demand drone marketplace, ​Up Sonder recently opened shop in a number of major cities, leveraging UberRUSH’s technology to deliver drones in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. Up Sonder is connecting those who own drones with those who want to take flight, leveraging a fact with which many of us in the drone community are quite familiar—that drones have already become a part of everyday life for many people, and their uses have grown far beyond commercial applications. Making access to drones even simpler is UberRUSH. The trusted delivery platform is working with Up Sonder to deliver drones in a way that has never been done before, with same day deliveries in as little as 30 minutes. If you needed another reason to be interested, Up Sonder celebrated a huge win at the International Drone Expo (IDE) a few months ago when they won top prize and were one of three companies chosen to receive $100,000 in funding from Singh Ventures as part of IDE Drone Pitchfest Competition 2016. We’ve also added Up Sonder to our list of 70+ Drone Companies to Watch in 2017, given their strong showing over the last several months, and the promise we see in the marketplace for making drones and drone services more readily accessible for everyone. Drone Rentals with Up Sonder Here’s an example of how drone rentals work with Up Sonders (looks pretty painless, right?): For those who want to rent drones, Up Sonder eliminates the hassle of traveling with a drone or spending large amounts to enjoy a quality drone. Travelers can take the ultimate selfie without spending too much money, vloggers can get enhanced content, sports enthusiasts can get professional coverage, real estate agents a competitive advantage, and wedding photographers can create (even more) ​​unforgettable memories. Even folks interested in commercial applications for drones, such as farming or urban planning, may not want to make an investment of several thousand dollars out of the gate. Some may prefer to rent for a while until they can confirm the return will be worth the investment required to purchase a drone, or may choose to only rent here and there, based on their needs. Hiring Certified Drone Pilots for Commercial Operations Maintaining a fleet of drones and having a pilot on payroll, plus travel expenses, doesn’t always make sense. Commercial industries are supported by Up Sonder via business accounts, and individuals with commercial needs can also use their site to connect with certified pilots for individual missions. Up Sonder’s nationwide FAA certified drone pilots are able and ready to help big companies find more options when inspecting cell towers, construction companies find more access and cost-effective solutions, or help big insurance companies handle claims when disaster strikes. Really, this service could be useful for any commercial application where the company is uncertain of how frequently they’ll need to use a drone service, but knows that it will be needed here and there. Here’s an example of how you find a pilot that suits your needs using Up Sonder: Protections and Income for Drone Owners and Pilots Up Sonder allows for providers and established drone businesses to earn even more by leveraging their operational experience, and offering it on the Up Sonder platform as a service (as shown in the image above). Drone owners who aren’t necessarily professional pilots, and pilots who have extra UAVs they don’t need to use all at once, can both supplement their income by renting out their drones, knowing their equipment is protected by Up Sonder’s $1,000,000 liability insurance policy. Providers can easily accept and manage bookings from within the platform, and can also access payments, scheduling, inventory management, customer messaging, and sales through the online portal. Drone renters can schedule and make their payment quickly through Apple Pay or other methods on the platform. “Our on-demand marketplace allows users to access drones in an affordable, safe, and informed way like never before. Giving the industry and the public this kind of access opens up new use cases. It’s the modern day kite flying and the future of dog walking.​ Everyone should give [drones] a try, and now they can.” – Derek Waleko, CEO of Up Sonder With aggressive plans to expand across the U.S. in 2017, going international shortly thereafter, Up Sonder will be working with ​AirMap​ technology to create the ultimate app to control all drones, coming in 2017. AirMap just announced a mega-impressive Series B round of funding, which raised their total funds to $43 million. We can only imagine big things to come for Up Sonder as well, with their innovative approach to making drones and professional drone services available for everyone. The post Meet Up Sonder, the First Crowdsourced Drone Rental and Commercial Pilot Marketplace appeared first on UAV Coach. View the full article

INTRODUCTION The DM002 5.8G FPV is probably the cheapest 5.8G FPV microquadcopter in RTF version. In practice it’s a mini DIY bundle where you will have to assemble few elements on the frame: flight controller, 0720 motors, and the 600TVL 1/4″ CMOS AIO FPV camera, that’s all. For around 40 USD, the DM002 can be your first FPV machine adapted for both indoors and outdoors applications. Let’s discover this product. BOX CONTENT + 1 x Plastic frame + 1 x 1S 300mAh LiPo with microLOSI connector + 1 x Flight controller board + 4 x 7mmx20mm motors + 1 x Transmitter (using 4xAA batteries not included) + 1 x 5.8G 25mW 1/4″ CMOS AIO FPV camera (0mW, 25mW, 80mW, 200mW) + 1 x USB charging cable + 4 x Spare props (2 CW, 2 CCW) + 1 x Wrench prop remover + 1 x Instruction manual (English) OVERVIEW Motors & Props Basic 7mmx20mm coreless motors with no RPM mention. At least and it’s a good point for maintenance, 1.25mm connectors are installed. Actually the blue & red is CW motors and the blac & white a CCW. 57mm props with 1mm of shaft section Around 0.35g each. LiPo A 300mAh LiPo with microLOSI connector…. No discharge mentioned. In practice, the performances are disapointing especially for first charges. Flight time increases a bit after 4-5 charges. Probably one of the first mod to do.. Replace this battery for a stronger model. Alternative battery must be maximum 20mmx8mm for width and height. Sligtly longer model can be installed. Camera module The 600 TVL 1/4″ CMOS AIO camera with DFOV of 150degrees. IMHO, this is a judicious choice for both indoors and outdoors applications: not too narrow or too wide. The video signal is send in NTSC format only. A three leaves RHCP antenna is installed on top… be aware with multiple crashes, versus time, the antenna will be damaged. A tiny 7-segment display. By default, when you power the first time the module, a “0” is displayed, i.e. no power is emitted so no FPV signal is send. Don’t panic, thanks to unique button on the top left, you will be able to cycle between the 8 vfreq in the current band. If you long press more than 3s, you wull enter into band selection. The current band letter will blink then short press to cycle between the five bands (race band supported). Finally, if you long press more than 5s, you will enter into power settings. Short press to cycle between 0mW (“0”), 25mW (“-“), 80mW (“- -“) and 200mW (“- – -“). A M7 lens thread A raw video sample As you can see, colors are vivid and light sensitivity not so bad…. Really a relatively good camera for a price budget machine. I am positively surprized to see the switchable power option. Flight controller A proprietary flight controller “OZ-DM003ZR-DG” with a 2-in-1 PANchip (ARM core + 2.4G RFchip) and unnamed 6-axis stabilization chip. Good news for maintenance, motors connectors are here with different colors to differenciate CW motors (red) with CCW motor (white). The back side shows the AIO FPV camera connexion. 16mm between holes Frame A basic plastic frame with a motor pod/landing gear integrated system. A 95mm model With the battery inserted Transmitter A very basic radio without LCD screen. The left shoulder button selects one of three speed modes (one, two or three beep emitted). The right shoulder button allows 360 degrees automatic flips as soon as you indicate the direction of the flip with the right stick. Stick unfortunatly offer a lot of dead band, especially for yaw command…. it’s hard to fly super precize with this radio … so for tiny spaces indoors application, it’s clearly less fun than a real tinywhoop. 4xAA batteries are required to feed the radio. Ni-Mh rechargeable models are working with. For the TX side, we have a XN297L for the RF chip…. so there are hopes to see the radio protocol in deviationTX one day but actually none existing implemented protocols bind the DM002. UNBOXING, ASSEMBLING, ANALYSIS AND DEMO FLIGHTS The general assembling stage is straightforward … it takes a couple of minutes maximum and no extra tools are required. That’s a good point. The FPV signal is really nice and strong. No problem to cross several walls and you can reach easily 100m even in 25mW mode. For sure longer distances with stronger settings. The radio control link is also good. I advice to install the antenna more vertically to increase the range. If one day the protocol will be deviated, we can even expect better ranges. My main concerns are about: i) flight times, relatively poor especially for first charge of the battery we you will maximum 2min … It will increases to 3min after few charge… It’s far from the 7min advertised (probably without the camera) and ii) the yaw response with a lot of dead band where it’s hard to really yaw slow and precize from intermediate speed mode. Except that, the machine is pleasant to fly even if I regret the absence of an acro mode. No free lunch with such cheap model. Maybe, especially with the provided battery, vertical punchouts are not impressive but I found the machine quiet stable after fast U-turns. Even in sport mode, the machine could be a little bit faster but results are already not so bad. Assembled machine -FRONT VIEW -SIDE VIEW As you can see, I installed the 2.4.G antenna vertically through the camera support hole. -REAR VIEW -UPPER VIEW -BOTTOM VIEW -WEIGHT CONCLUSIONS For the price, the DM002 is a very interesting bundle with a pretty good AIO FPV camera and represents a good first FPV training plateform. Both the radio & FPV range are strong enough for most FPV applications, that’s great. The radio included in the RTF model, don’t let you to flight super precize in tiny spaces. We all hope the radio protocol be deviated one day. I strongly advise to upgrade the LiPo for a model with better discharge rate (350-400mah represents a good choice). PROS + Good control and FPV range (>100m) + Good AIO FPV camera with switchable output power + Super easy to assemble + Cheap RTF solution CONS – Poor flight time (~2min30 in average) – Severe dead bands for radio sticks (especially for ruddler command) – Not compatible with existing DM protocols – No prop guards This quadcopter have been courtesy provided by Banggood in order to make a fair and not biased review. I would like to thank them for this attitude. You can find it actually for 40USD at http://www.banggood.com/DM002-5_8G-FPV-With-600TVL-Camera-2_4G-4CH-6Axis-RC-Quadcopter-RTF-p-1114854.html Cet article TEST: DM002 DIY 5.8G FPV, the cheapest RTF 5.8G microFPV quadcopter est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

When it comes to the under $50 training and above $500 prosumer quadcopters, I have a solid grasp of what make and models I’ll be heading toward for new purchases; between those price points, there exists an interesting gray-zone of companies offering a never-ending list of quads that may or may not be worth the money. For that reason, I’m always excited when one of these new models comes my way for a test run – it’s these times that I get to really dive into the UAS and see what type of bang for your buck you really get out of it. So, when the JXD 510G with FPV monitor came my way, I immediately set some time aside to open it up and try it out. The JXD 510G ‘X-Predators’ comes in two different models where one has a FPV monitor and the other makes use of WiFI for FPV capabilities. For the purposes of this review, we’ll be looking at the FPV monitor version. Upon first opening the box, it is easy to immediately see that this drone is going to be worth every cent. Coming in at $85.99 through GearBest, this price range is low enough that I would traditionally be weary of the listed features, but I was glad to be wrong… it’s a solid unit. For it’s price, the JXD 510G’s look and feel is to be admired. First of all, a quadcopter of this size with altitude hold, HD camera, home return, and a detachable FPV monitor usually runs you a bit more than the entry point for this unit. With that in mind, I prepared myself for the worst as I began to put things together. The quadcopter itself requires very little assemble. After attaching the propeller guards and inserting the battery, it was ready to go. After that, I attached the FPV monitor to the transmitter and my building for this review was finished. It’s important to note that the FPV charges separately through a small AC port on the side, so don’t be immediately alarmed if you’ve missed this step and your monitor is not turning on. Once everything was charged and prepped, it was time for its first flight test. Transmitter One immediate thing that I love about the JXD 510G is the configuration of the transmitter. Anyone who has flown a quadcopter or two from various companies knows that the instruction manuals are not always the easiest to decipher. While the instruction manual for this sUAS wasn’t a vast improvement from others in this regard, I saw a HUGE improvement when it comes to transmitter button clarity as they’ve neatly labeled everything on the transmitter. This may seem like a small thing, but it’s huge in my book. When you find yourself in a bind mid-flight and need to issue the correct order or risk a crash, it’s nice to have the added reference. While some may argue (fairly) that this detracts from the aesthetic of the device, I favor safety in this regard. The detachable FPV monitor was a real surprise and treat. Flight As it was a windy day in Florida when I tested this quadcopter, I decided to start off inside. As this is a relatively light unit, the propulsion system goes a long way – this makes it quite powerful and quick when ascending or descending. The altitude hold feature is not uncommon on drones in this price range, but I found this to be one of the weaker parts of an otherwise really strong aircraft. Inside, the quadcopter doesn’t have many problems with its altitude hold as it effortlessly allows the pilot to maintain a certain altitude within a few feet. Unfortunately, it was a different case once the drone was placed within windy conditions. The windy conditions proved too much for the altitude control and actually mad the drone more difficult to control at times. Fortunately, I found that the unpredictable flight nature disappeared when tested in less windy conditions. On a less breezing day, the JXD 510G was able to fly for about 9 minutes between charges and it’s quick and strong propulsion allowed for relative ease when performing aerobatics. The transmitter also features a stop/start button that will turn the motors on or off; if the quadcopter is in the air, it will slowly begin to spin down the motors and descend to the ground into a landing. As a safety note for you and your drone, it is important to realize that the start/stop button does not immediately kill the engine on this drone, so it is not an appropriate response to a crash. Pressing this button upon crashing will see the propellers continue to spin into/against the object that caused the crash. To perform an immediate stop, you can kill the engines by simultaneously moving the throttle to the lower left position and the elevator to the lower right position. Besides the small issues incurred during high winds, the JXD 510G provided an extremely enjoyable experience. In terms of flight capabilities, it is a great mid-sized quadcopter for beginners looking to advance into a more capable FPV quadcopter or for more experienced pilots who want a more substantial practice drone. Camera The JXD 510G also features a 720P HD 2-megapixel camera and a micro SD card slot that can be used to record photos or video. In terms of image quality, it is as strong as can be expected for a sub-$100 quadcopter. If you’re looking to shoot aerial videography, then this isn’t the one for you, but if you’re looking for a solid quadcopter capable of displaying images without latency to a FPV monitor, then this is a great consideration for your needs. Summary For under $100, the JXD 510G offers a high degree of value as the quality, look and design all exceed its sales price. Without spending hundreds of dollars, I genuinely believe it is one of the best-looking quadcopters available on the market – it just looks great. It’s a sturdy design allows it to take a crash and while it may cause some heart palpitations until you master killing the engine correctly, you can rest assured that the quality of build won’t see it destroyed in the meantime. This a quadcopter that I will continue to use on a weekly basis for FPV training purposes. With strong propulsion and return-to-home capabilities, it’s a quadcopter I feel comfortable sending up in the air to practice FPV flying both indoors and outdoors. The combined price, look and features ensure the JXD 510G will be a popular model for some time to come. The post Review: JXD 510G X-Predators appeared first on UAV Coach. View the full article

I’m continuously impressed In one sentence, what is Kespry? Kespry is the leader in commercial drone and data intelligence, enabling companies to better collect, analyze and share information to improve their business operations. What are the advantages / disadvantages of using a full-stack system? Kespry designs all the critical components from Kespry Drone to Kespry Cloud, this includes the airframe, electronics and flight control system, as well as the Kespry Cloud data processing, visualization and reporting software. By creating the full ecosystem, we’re able to solve specific problems for our customers very well. No part of the Kespry product is a black box to us, this allows us to react quickly to our customers’ needs, and help them expand the use of drones at their companies. The UAS industry has many young companies that have found varying degrees of success. Throughout the course of a few short years, Kespry has gone from a fledgling company with seed money to an industry staple with millions of dollars in subsequent funding. What is it that separates you from others who are struggling in the market? During these early days of the commercial aerial intelligence industry, it’s important to learn from industries and customers about what applications are valuable to them, while still having a broader vision for the role of drones. Kespry is well positioned to do this because of our engineering team and our business model. We are unique in that we control all critical components of our product, and while that is challenging and requires having a world-class team, it’s necessary to help bring a powerful new technology into the world. The UAS industry seems to be spreading into a new sector everyday and Kespry seems no different with applications ranging from aggregates to insurance to construction. Do you feel like your product is best suited to large scale projects in these sectors (and others) or do they scale to small business operations as well? Kespry is currently focused on the industries and applications where we can provide the most value, the fastest, as we scale globally. We’re seeing significant interest in areas like aggregates, forestry, insurance, inspection, mining and road building. There are strong use cases in those industries to use drones to save time and money. Because of that, companies are deploying drones across dozens of sites and mapping thousands of acres. Other markets that will be interesting in the future are probably agriculture, oil & gas and security. In the long run, these kinds of aerial intelligence technologies have applications throughout virtually all industries and will affect entire economies. That’s why it’s such an exciting time to be involved in this market! Given the types of operations your customers are involved in, what kind of case studies or stories are you most proud of? In the aggregates space, our customers tell us that they’re now able to manage inventory with a few clicks on an iPad, where they used to climb massive piles of rocks and put their safety at risk. Aside from the obvious economic benefits, it’s great to know that our product literally changes people’s lives. Looking to the future, Kespry has created a prototype drone in collaboration with NVIDIA, which automatically locates and classifies vehicles on industrial sites. The drone prototype knows the difference between a pickup truck and a bulldozer as it flies over them. Combining deep learning technology with aerial data foreshadows a bright future in which construction logistics will be drastically improved, saving billions of dollars, and disaster inspections can be performed immediately in order to get displaced families back on their feet much quicker. While our readers (and your customers) are worldwide, any thoughts on how FAA Part 107 will impact the industry? FAA Part 107 marks the beginning of an inflection point for commercial drones. The FAA is officially sanctioning the commercial use of drones across the country with sensible rules and less certification. We look forward to further improvements in the regulatory environment in the near future. Where do you see Kespry in a few years? What are you working toward? Kespry is growing quickly, having doubled our team in the past few months, and scaling production with our customers across the globe. Ultimately, we are indexing the physical planet to make use of the data. This requires both the Kespry Drone to autonomously collect all this valuable data and the Kespry Cloud to visualize and process it. The Kespry Drone is essentially an intelligent node on the internet that happens to move in space and time. The more we remove manual human effort from its operation, the more frequently we can capture information of larger areas with higher resolution. As we work with our customers and partners to create data processing software for the Kespry Cloud aerial intelligence platform, we are able to solve bigger and bigger business problems. The post An In-Depth Interview With Kespry CEO, Paul Doersch appeared first on UAV Coach. View the full article

Some interesting quadriblades props from Racestar: http://www.banggood.com/10-Pairs-Racerstar-1535-38mm-4-Blade-ABS-Propeller-1_5mm-Mounting-Hole-For-FPV-Racing-Frame-p-1127841.html38mm with 1.5mm of shaft section ideal for 1103 & 1103 motors (X73S for example). Should be good alternative for very compact microbrushless racers. Description: Brand: Racerstar Item name: 1535 4 Blade ABS Propeller Length: 1.5 inch, about 38mm Color: green, light blue, yellow, black, red Quantity: 10 pairs (the same color) Mounting hole: 1.5mm Weight: 0.6g Light, strong and well balanced for micro brushless FPV drones Applicable for 1102, 1103 motors Package include: 10 x 1535 propeller CW 10 x 1535 propeller CCW 40 x M2*7 screw Cet article NEWS: Racestar 1535/38mm quadriblade props (1.5mm shaft section) est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

Just 1 month later the Eachine Aurora 90, here is the Aurora 100: http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-Aurora100-100mm-Mini-Brushless-FPV-Racer-BNF-w-F3-OSD-10A-Dshot600-5_8G-25MW-48CH-VTX-p-1127606.html. No more the ducted/carbon prop guards system and its prop strike problems, but we have more a classic H structure more lighter but without prop protection. For the electronics, it’s simple, it’s exactly the same than the EA90: a eachine minicube with 4-in-1 10A ESC BLheli_S Dshot600 ready, a F3 omni board with a builtin Betaflight OSD and the classic CMOS 1/4″ 600TVL 48CH AIO 25mW FPV cam. As always, three choices of receiver: FrSky D8 (working telemetry), Spektrum DSM2/X and FlySky AFHDS-2A. I hope the rear right motor drop and drifting problems will be solved with this new revision/variation. These two former problems are really annoying for the EA90 killing all the benefit of the great associated electronics. For the Aurora100, the microUSB port of the Eachine minicube is fully available (without disassembling the duct system for the EA90) Still JST connector Description: Brand name: Eachine Item name: Aurora 100 Mini FPV Racing Brushless Drone BNF Wheelbase: 100mm Size: 120mm*120mm*65mm Weight: 61.7g( battery not include) Motor: Eachine 1104 7500KV brushless motor ESC: 10A BLHELI_S 16.5 1-2S 4 in 1 ESC Dshot600 Propeller: 50mm 4-blades propeller Receiver: Receiver: Frsky/DSMX/Flysky AFHDS2A (optional) Camera: 600TVL HD CMOS 1/4 inch VTX: 5.8g 25MW 48CH NTSC/PAL Video transmitter Flight controller: Minicube Betaflight F3 6DOF Flight controller built-in OSD OSD: Betaflight OSD Firmware of flight controller: Betaflight 3.1 Flight time: 3-4minutes Rear LED Ready( LED_Strip function) Buzzer Ready Battery: 7.4V 450mah 80C lipo battery Minicube F3 6DOF flight controller: Size: 27mm*27mm*5mm Mount hole: 20mm*20mm Processor: STM32 F303 MCU Sensor: SPI Sensor MPU6000 Built-in Betaflight OSD ( Batt voltage, RSSI , Artificial Horizon , Fly mode , -Flytime, Craft name etz.) Firmware version: Betaflight 3.1 Dshot ready Target: OmnibusF3 Minicube 10A BLHELI_S 4 in 1 ESC Dshot600: Size: 27mm*27mm*5mm Mount hole: 20mm*20mm Firmware version: BLHELI_S 16.5 BB2, 48MHZ Chip Lipo Battery: 1-2S Con. Current: 10A Peak Current: 15A (10S) BEC: 5V @0.1A Programming: YES Betaflight passtrough ready Dshot600 ready(Default) Support oneshot42 oneshot125 Multishot Dshot Damped light on Features: Extremely light and more powerful STM32 F303MCU + BLHELI_S ESC make your Operating feel more stabilly and silky Adjustable Angle of Camera Jaw-dropping flight performance Betaflight support Acro mode / Air mode /Angle mode support Built-in OSD (Using F3 MCU controls OSD over SPI bus in DMA mode) OSD Configuration has been include in BETAFLIGHT GUI Radio Stick to control PID Tunes BLEHELI_S pass-through ready Telemetry RSSI Output ready Notice: 1. BNF receiver (intergrated buzzer) option: Compatible D8 modee SBUS receiver (RSSI ready) Compatible Flysky 8CH AFHDS2A receiver Compatible Specktrum DSM2/DSMX receiver 2. Compatible: 1). Frsky Receiver compatible with FRSKY ACCST, X9D(Plus)DJT/DFT/DHT 2). Flysky Receiver compatible with FS-i4, FS-i6, FS-i6S, FS-i6X, FS-i10, FS-GT2E, FS-GT2G, FS-GT2F. 3). DSM2/DSMX Receiver compatible with Satellite receiver. Package include: 1 x Eachine Aurora 100 Frame kit 1 x Betaflight F3 6DOF flight controller build-in OSD 1 x Frsky/DSMX/Flysky AFHDS2A Receiver (optional) 4 x Eachine 1104 7500KV brushless motor 1 x Minicube 10A BLHELI_S 16.5 1-2S 4 in 1 ESC Dshot600 4 x 50mm 4-blades propeller CW 4 x 50mm 4-blades propeller CCW 1 x 600TVL HD CMOS 1/4 inch camera 1 x 5.8g 25MW 48CH NTSC/PAL VTX 1 x 7.4V 450mah 80C lipo battery (comes without charger) 1 x WS2812 LED Board Cet article NEWS: Eachine Aurora 100 est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

Last week we wrote about Ehang’s record-breaking light show in Guangzhou, China, in which 1,000 drones were used in a drone swarm. The previous record-holder was Intel, with a swarm of 500 drones—Lady Gaga’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl used 300 of Intel’s drones, popularizing the drone swarm right before Ehang’s record-breaking show. But now Ehang is making headlines for a different reason. Recently, right on the heels of breaking the Guinness world record for the Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) airborne simultaneously, Ehang announced plans to introduce their 184 single-passenger quadcopters in Dubai this summer for actual use. Rollout of the Ehang 184 in Dubai Dubai authorities have announced that they will be introducing single-passenger quadcopters to city transportation systems this July, which will ferry elite passengers around the city through automated flight routes. In a statement, Mattar al-Tayer, the head of Dubai’s Roads & Transportation Agency, described plans to have the quadcopters providing transportation at the World Government Summit. “This is not only a model. We have actually experimented with this vehicle flying in Dubai’s skies.” – Mattar al-Tayer, Head of Dubai’s Roads & Transportation Agency Since they hold only one person, are incredibly expensive (Ehang lists the 184 at $200-$300K per drone), and only have a range of 31 miles, these drones will most likely be reserved only for elite visitors traveling relatively short distances. Which means that regular ground transportation will certainly continue, but it also means that real, actual drone taxis will be in use for the first time ever. Assuming the flying taxis work out, we can only assume their use will only increase in the city, since Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has stated that he wants 25 percent of all transportation in the city to be done by driverless vehicles by 2030. Dubai, City of the Future Known as a city of futuristic technology, Dubai is not an unlikely location for the rollout of the Ehang 184. Currently, a box-shaped driverless vehicle called the EZ10, built by France’s EasyMile, cruises Dubai’s streets, helping to make the Sheikh’s goal of 25 percent driverless transportation a reality. Also, Dubai officials recently announced plans to build a hyperloop train (pictured below), which is a super-fast train first proposed by Elon Musk to “move people and things at airline speeds for the cost of a bus ticket.” The train works by “levitating pods powered by electricity and magnetism that hurtle through low-friction pipes at a top speed of 760 mph,” which sounds pretty darn futuristic to us. The hyperloop has been discussed as a means for connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, but its development in California has been mired in setbacks. Image Source Dubai is also known as the site of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, which was made world famous by a terrifying scene in the movie Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (which we included below, because it’s just too cool not to share). As if all of this isn’t enough, Dubai is home to completely manufactured islands. Seriously—they have islands shaped like palm fronds that are entirely man-made. You really have to see these islands to understand just how far out they are: About Ehang’s 184 Drone The Ehang’s 184 is an autonomous drone created specifically to transport people by air that was first unveiled at CES in 2016. The 184 is the first fully electric autonomous aerial vehicle capable of carrying one passenger up to 220 pounds over short distances, has enough room for a small suitcase, and will be controlled through 4G mobile Internet. (Yikes! Hope you have a good connection.) Details: Four arms Eight rotors Five feet tall Weighs 440 pounds Gull-wing doors for passengers, which also fold up to fit in tight spaces for parking Fits one passenger Trunk for luggage Battery takes 2-4 hours to charge, lasts 23 minutes Can reach speeds of 62 miles an hour Taxi Drones in the U.S. Although regulations have a long ways to go before allowing taxi drones to operate commercially in the U.S., the state of Nevada has already cleared Ehang to test the 184. Ehang has partnered with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (Goed) to put the 184 through testing and regulatory approval. “The State of Nevada, through NIAS, will help guide Ehang through the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) regulatory process with the ultimate goal of achieving safe flight.” – Tom Wilczek, Goed’s aerospace and defence specialist The days when taxi drones are actually transporting people through U.S. skies are a long ways away, but the rollout in Dubai this summer may lead to new data and approaches that could fast track the process. But who knows? Right now, we’re just excited to see more videos of taxi drones actually in use in Dubai. The post Drone Taxis in Dubai—This Is Actually Happening appeared first on UAV Coach. View the full article

A new 5.8G VRX with OTG connexion is available here: http://www.banggood.com/CUAV-VMR32-5_8G-32CH-OTG-FPV-Receiver-Mobile-Phone-Gound-Station-For-Android-Smartphone-iPad-PC-p-1127474.html. A 32CH (no raceband supported) 5.8G VRX outputing the video in VGA (640×480) format. Announced to work for android/PC and Ipad even if in the chinese I didn’t see anything talking about the iOS comptability. (only an android APK is available currently). Can be very usefull to transform a smartphone/tablet into a new FPV ground station for the assistance. Description: Resolution : 640*480 30fps Working Temp.: -10?-+60? Working Voltage : USB5V/9v-32v Working Current : USB 5V 250mA Color : Gold,Gray,Black Size : 43mm x 56mm x 11mm(withou antenna)/80mm(antenna height) Weight : 56g Connector : RP-SMA Features: 5.8G 32CH Frequency Auto Search Frequency Equip with LED Displayer Compatible with CUAV 5.8G Transmitter and other 5.8G Transmitter Support Anderson iPad, PC ,smartphone which have OTG and AV monitor Adopt CNC shell, sturdy construction, anti-inteference, bettery for cooling. Built in 32 bit MCU Auto save channel when it power off. Operation: Smarphone: 1. Android smartphone install the video software 2. Connect VMR32 via OTG cable(no need extra power supply) 3. When the VTX working normal, press the receiver button to search the frequency and see the live image. PC: 1. Connect PC with USB 2. Open AMCAP camera software or MP goundstation 3. When the VTX working normal, press the receiver button to search the frequency and see the live image. AV Monitor : 1. Solder the cable, customise the AV connector on monitor, power supply for receiver 3-6S 2. When the VTX working normal, press the receiver button to search the frequency and see the live image. Package Included : 1 x CMR32 Receiver 1 x Clover Antenna 1 x USB Data Cable 1 x OTG Cable Cet article NEWS: CUAV VMR32 (32CH 5.8G VRX to OTG for androids/PC and iOS ?) est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

Want to find triblades props for your TinyWhoop or compact brushless machine ? Here is a 40mm model with 1mm of shaft section: http://www.banggood.com/40mm-1_5-Inch-1_0mm-Hole-3-Blade-Bullnose-Propeller-for-1103-Brushless-Motor-2-CW-2-CCW-p-1127320.html Sound really interesting…. maybe more adapted for machine like the Eachine X73S Specification: Item Name: 40mm 1.5Inch 1.0mm Hole 3-Blade Propeller Length: about 40mm Middle Mounting Hole: 1.0mm Color: White Weight: 0.37g/pc (not including the motor cap) 0.43g/pc ( Including the motor cap) Compatible with 1103 Brushless Motor Package Included: 2x CW Propellers 2x CCW Propellers Cet article NEWS: 40mm triblades props for compact micro FPV machines (tinywhoops & 1103 brushless motors) est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article

INTRODUCTION After the popular Hubsan H501S, a great long range FPV cruizer integrating a 1080p camera, Hubsan just released a new version/revision “apps” oriented, i.e. H501A, so-called X4 Air Pro. Here bye bye the 5.8G analog FPV link and hello to a pure WiFi 2.4G solution. Via a sophisticated app, you can not only control the machine and retrieve the FPV link signal but also design a mission via the waypoints/POI editor. Other advanced features such as the RTH & Follow me are still here. Let’s dicover first elements. This thread will be construct on the fly. BOX CONTENT The X4 Air Pro box shows immediatly the App orientaiton of the new revision. + 1 x Hubsan H501A (with a 2S 2700mAh LiPo with EC2 connector) + 1 Relay/range extender + 1 x Charger + 4 x Spare props (2 CW, 2 CCW) + 1 x Prop remover wrench + 1 x USB-microUSB cable + 1 x Instruction manual (English) OVERVIEW It’s clear, no obvious difference with the H501S & C. Stil a large 250mm full plastic based with a GPS module installed on top of the upper bulb part. Same type of flexible plastic able to resist to moderate crashes thanks to its elasticity. -FRONT VIEW The main visible difference is the addition of a NDfilter taped on the former 1080p camera lens This little addon should improve a little bit the stabilization of the video. Don’t expect any miracle in wind conditions Here is a raw sample video in calm Wind conditions The 1080p video is correct, but not yet stabilized. For this H501A we can regret the absence of a builtin EIS solution… already implemented for some Selfiedrones (Zerotech dobby, Wingsland S6, Yuneeck, etc…) -SIDE VIEW -REAR VIEW The microUSB port is still on the left side of the battery tray. Now the 2.4G WiFi module can be guessed on the bottom side of bay The provided battery fills completly the bay…. No real other aftermarket alternative boosting flight time. -UPPER VIEW -BOTTOM VIEW The microSD card slot. Still no microSD card provided in the bundle. Please be sure to insert a class10 minimum Same motor pod -WEIGHT A total of 465.7g Motors & Props Same golden motors too 5mm of shaft section The same 7.3″ model optimized for flight duration versus agility LiPo The same super large 2S 2700mAh LiPo ending with the unpopular EC2 connector. No improvement for the discharge rate, still a poor 10C but since the H501A is not a racer, it’s largely enough. No real risk of major battery failure. Range extender The 2.4G range extender in theory should offer a solid 400m for both the control and FPV link. You can only install a 5.5″ device on it … so not suitable for large screen tablets. A simple microUSB to recharge the builtin battery and tiny power switch. A red light indicates the power status and 5 blue lights the current level of charge When you turn on the module, a new WiFi device will appear in your WiFi scan list. The default password is “12345678”. When connected, the module will automatically connect to the aircraft and play the role of a relay/bridge between the drone and your smartphone/Tablet. UNBOXING, ANALYSIS AND DEMO FLIGHT First of all, for android machines, you need to set your language settings to “English(US)” in order to run the App correctly (working by default in chinese). If you don’t do this change, the app will crash almost immediatly. Goggle ‘X-hubsan app” and download it (here for example: https://apkpure.com/x-hubsan/com.csk.hbsdrone ). After the app installation, two possibilities for connexion: i) direct WiFi connexion to the drone (password: “12345678”). With this solution, you can enjoy a connexion up to 150-200m with a good smarphone/tablet ii) connexion through the range extender. Announced range is about 400m. IN TERM OF SAFETY, IF THE MACHINE IS IN THE AIR IN DEFAULT FLIGHT MODE AND IF THE TRANSMISSION IS LOST, A RTH IS AUTOMATICALLY PLAYED. Generally the latency introduced with the WiFi system for close range distances is already about 500ms, so at least 400ms more than the 5.8G solution of the H501S. So if you want to use more the H501 for FPV practice in tiny spaces, go for the “S” version. It means versus distance, the latency will increase a bit while frame rate will drop too. In the following video, you can find most elements of the app and some demo flight showing RTH, Orbit flight mode and the path planning feature. In general, I found the application well done, easy to understand and manipulate. The quadcopter position and heading is symbolized by and Arrow, while your current position by a circle point. No crashed was observed during usage. The virtual sticks are good enough to offer acceptable controls of the machine. If you can’t really fly like these and prefer a real controller, H501S radio should be compatible (will be test asap). As you can see, in presence of strong Wind, no miracle with the stabilization…. super shaky despite the NDfilter. Anway, the 1080p footages are honest handling light correctly. Anyway, I observed that the frame rate is far to be super smooth despite the video are recorded at 30fps. Seems to have some frames lost in the recording (maybe depending of the microSD card quality). I really appreciated how easy is the waypoints definition for pathplanning. With the direct connexion, I was able to retrieve the FPV signal up to 150m in this demo.Paradoxally with the range extender, after a couple of minutes, I observed some short link disconnections even in close range (RTH procedure automatically lunched), but generally the signal was pretty strong for long distances. For follow-me application, it seems no heading ajustements are done to center the target. Only x-y displacements with laggy follow-me decisions. Typcally follow-me GPS only results. It’s clear this mode is more adapted to follow an object at constanst speed with the same angle. As for the H501S, the flight time durations are excellent, around 20min. CONCLUSIONS The Hubsan H501A is nothing else than a cheap and easy “pathplanner” machine carrying a good but not stabilized 1080p. So if you are looking for pure FPV applications and don’t care about pathplanning, the H501S will be more appropriated (thanks to lower latency in the 5.8G solution). In the other hands, if you main leitmotiv is too shoot videos on predefined trajectories, to perform selfy videos and don’t care about the contrability of the machine, the H501A is clearly for you. I regret the absence of a EIS feature for the camera and also the non-possibility to attach in range extender module any device larger than 5.5″. PROS + Great App + Super easy path planning, orbit flight modes + Follow-me + Great flight time + Cheap AP plateform integrating advanced flight modes CONS – Not stabilized video (still not EIS) – WiFi FPV transmission not efficient as the 5.8G version – Sporatic disconnexion with range extender – Can’t install devices larger than 5.5″ on the range extender module. RCgroups thread: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2837201-Hubsan-H501A-WiFi-based-but-smart-(in-very-early-construction) This quadcopter have been courtesy provided by Banggood in order to make a fair and not biased review. I would like to thank them for this attitude. You can find it actually for 200USD at http://www.banggood.com/Hubsan-X4-AIR-H501A-WIFI-FPV-Brushless-With-1080P-HD-Camera-GPS-Waypoint-RC-Quadcopter-RTF-p-1115483.html Cet article TEST: Hubsan H501A, the H501S WiFi based but smarter est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!. View the full article