wing drones is n’t easy — which iswhy I recommend a garish one to start . It stimulate even hard if you ’re trying to control a camera at the same time you ’re fly around . But drone innovator 3-D Robotics trust it has a fix : the new3DR Solo . You just show it what kind of shot you want … and it ’ll do the flying for you .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP3Dgr9S4pM
I ’m not kidding . I could n’t trust it either . So last workweek , I drive to the company ’s offices in Berkeley , California so I could see this sucker in military action . I could n’t try everything , but I fare away impressed anyhow .
For 3D Robotics , the Solo represent a lot of commencement . It ’s the first 3DR monotone that should be totally ready to vanish out of the box . It ’s the first 3DR drone with a wily , consumer - confront design — from Astro Studios , no less — which should definitely set it apart from the DJI Phantom and its endless parade of drone knockoff . It ’s the first 3DR drone to have a bespoke controller , which come with a nifty pause button for scare tone-beginning : one tap , and the drone just stops in its tracks .
Oh , and it ’s got a top - mount bombardment bay that could one day hold larger shelling packs … a bottom expansion port for appurtenance as wild an an optical flow sensing element ( for indoor constancy ) and a ballistic parachute … and treble ARM Cortex A9 processors inwardly . Swappable motor pods , too .
But the genuine discovery could be what 3D Robotics is call “ Smart Shots”—the power to record three - dimensional camera maneuvers in midair .
The first two Smart Shots are bare enough . There ’s “ Orbit , ” which can have the monotone tailspin around an object while look it for a 360 - degree action shot ; and “ Selfie , ” where you press a push button to have the drone back up , up and away .
But the real showstopper is “ Cable Cam , ” where you may literally countersink waypoints in 3D space — then push a clit on a connected telephone set or tablet to mechanically fly between them , enter all the while .
You have intercourse what else helps with that ? The 3DR Solo is also the first drone to have full control over a GoPro photographic camera . Thanks to an single partnership with GoPro , the Solo can radiate down a live feed to a connected smartphone — and from there , to the swarm — while controlling all the GoPro ’s configurations on the fly from an app . There ’s even a micro - HDMI out on the restrainer to hook up to a monitor or first - person view chalk .
Of course , to get the most out of your GoPro , you ’ll also want 3DR ’s mechanise gimbal for stableness — an additional $ 400 leverage .
3DR ’s restrainer was clear designed with the gimbal in mind . It ’s dumbfound a extra rocker switch on the left to adjust the tv camera ’s angle , two preset button on the right to quickly transition between camera modes , and a jog dial that controls how apace those transition occur . There ’s even an desegregate presentation with readouts for the gimbal ’s current position — in addition to this handy phone / pill holder so you may take in unrecorded footage .
Sounds great , right ? Well , book on to your notecase — this patsy ’s die to be expensive . When it ships on May 29th , the Solo will be $ 1,000 for the drone and controller alone . No camera , no gimbal , even though the $ 1,000 DJI Phantom 3 come with both .
3DR is swear on upgradability to trade the Solo , and it ’s not a spoiled disputation . It ’s not heavy to imagine developers build all kind of amazing hardware modules and software apps on top of 3D Robotics ’ opened source platform , and I ’m in person salivate over the notion that there might be a drone app store someday . But for that to happen , 3DR will need to sell a whole bunch of drones first . Unless buyers already have GoPro cameras pose around , or those Smart Shots deepen the public like I hope , the DJI Phantom 3 may look like the way better flock .
[ 3DR Solo ]
connect with the author at[email protect ] .
Drones
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