DJI FPV

There has been a huge divide in the drone world between high performance first person view (FPV) drones capable of acrobatics and the &quot;tripod in the sky&quot; type drones that companies like DJI have popularized. The former has been very DIY and the latter have attracted companies to build integrated solutions.<p>This new drone from DJI brings an truly staggering amount of innovation and integration to the FPV space:<p>- Low res analog video -&gt; high res digital video<p>- Modest transmission range -&gt; long range<p>- Integrated simulation to learn to fly<p>- &quot;Bail out&quot; button that almost instantly nulls drone movement and puts it in a stationary hover<p>- ~5 minutes fly time -&gt; ~20 minutes fly time<p>- Adjustable camera tilt on the fly to maintain level horizon at a variety of drone speeds (drone tilts more with speed)<p>Extremely impressive first offering in this category.

The motion controller reminds me of a project I made many years ago, where head tilting of an oculus rift would control the cameras on your drone: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=7654141" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=7654141</a><p>Also cool that they have been embracing virtual practicing it seems. The original DJI controllers were impossible to pair with simulators, so I had to hack it: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;Matsemann&#x2F;mDjiController&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;Matsemann&#x2F;mDjiController&#x2F;</a><p>I sold (or basically gave away) all my home-made drone setup a year or so ago, after it being in a box for 3+ years. It was a hassle to set up, and very hard to fly and get good pictures and actually be in control (original DJI Phantom included). Cool tech and fun to hack on, but not very good UX heh. However I would still very much like to fly and film more, but then with some out-of-the-box-ready solutions. Modern ones seem to have obstacle avoidance, better hovering, tracking or point-to-point etc, so I can actually focus on the (for me, now) fun parts of filming the sports action.<p>What are some good drones for that use-case? DJI alone has a big lineup now, hard to know which one is more fitting. And are there other contenders selling ready to use stuff? Thought GoPro had one but seems like they&#x27;ve stopped.

The first-person view seems like it would be a total blast to try out-- basically every kid&#x27;s dream toy. I would have given anything for something like that when I was 12 years old. But from a pragmatic standpoint of using the drone to capture video footage, I feel like having robust &quot;self driving&quot; capabilities (in particular, obstacle avoidance and smart target tracking) is more interesting. I was blown away recently watching footage of this new drone from a US based drone company, Skydio:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;skydio.com&#x2F;skydio-2" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;skydio.com&#x2F;skydio-2</a><p>I also like that there finally seems to be a decent alternative to DJI in the market-- it was a bit worrisome how much better DJI has been than everyone else.

DJI is such an impressive company. I know comparing anyone to Apple has been done to death, but I&#x27;d really be hard pressed to think of another company that comes closer. It also seems like they are following a similar playbook of blending hardware and software to deliver a fantastic, simplified experience - and they always deliver. It&#x27;s not a wonder why they really don&#x27;t have a legitimate competitor.

Holy sh*t that is amazing. I can&#x27;t justify spending 1300EUR on it, unfortunately... :(<p>I really like DJI and how innovative they have been in making awesome consumer products that just work and are super easy to use. I have owned a few.

This looks like too much fun. Basically the X-Wing fights in Star Wars video games but in real life.<p>Not looking forward to random people flying these around me at 60-90mph ... but I really want one!

Wait, why does the goggles look like VR goggles, but the drone only has 1 camera? Wouldn&#x27;t this FPV system be way more awesome with binocular vision and head tracking?<p>Imagine flying the drone, and moving your head would move the camera gimbals, and you&#x27;d experience it like you were in VR in the drone?

Why is the flight time at 40km&#x2F;h roughly 1.4 times hovering time? One would expect drag reduces the efficiency...

I haven’t used this specifically, but I’ve been really impressed with the DJI brand overall. I got a Mavic Air 2 and a gimbal for photography from them this year, and have been very happy with the quality of both. (The gimbal, being more of a professional tool, was a bit annoying to setup.)<p>They have bitten a lot of Apple’s packaging, presentation, and UX — which isn’t really a bad thing. (Imitation and flattery, and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, etc.)<p>I’m intrigued by FPV, but I have no burning need for it right now — I’m mainly interested in cinematography and building maps of my property for farming, gardening, and architecture.<p>One thing I would say: having a big property to learn on has been handy. It does concern me how flippant some are in this thread about barriers to entry and the risks. Until you get yourself into a hairy situation, you may not fully appreciate the risks.

Is this the first commercially available robotic projection device?<p>I’ve been waiting patiently for VR+robotic applications - this project but controlling some Boston Dynamics is a terrifying military, or an amazing football team depending on how you look at it. Exciting!

I’d love for someone to build an overIP bridge for this, so I can sit on the couch at home and fly through the Grand Canyon.<p>I’d happily pay a reasonable sum for it. I wonder if it could be done using a Stadia controller and chrome cast?

Beyond all the technical specification, this is just a cool looking drone. I remember as a kid thinking how cool it would be if I had a camera on an RC car. Now, we&#x27;re flying first person through the sky. So cool.

It isn&#x27;t the first offering. Teal drones gave it a shot some time back and has a pretty solid product with excellent performance. They didn&#x27;t get many sales with the sport models and pivoted to military and industrial applications though. I worked for them for a moment... weird company and founder, but good engineering team.<p>Also, does anyone have a solid guess as to what sort of restrictions this thing has on it? I like DJI for their mechanical engineering but their drones are way too locked down. Are we going to have to reverse engineer this one too for fun mode to be playable?

&quot;Citizen, get back in your pod. Citizen, get back in your pod. Your face has been recorded in the Problematic Citizens Database. You have one point left on your license.&quot;

Very cool! I wonder how DJI justifies the R&amp;D costs of this drone when it (and their existing lineup) could possibly be banned overnight by the looming UAS regulations?<p>Where does this drone sit with regard to the current set of regulations? It will certainly at least need operator ID markings, yes?

Holy cats - 0-60 in 2seconds! This will be fun - and probably dangerous... sigh.<p>How soon can I scratch together $1300?

For those of you without $1300 to spend on an FPV drone, you can pick up a pretty decent package for about $250ish: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;betafpv.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;betafpv.com</a><p>As a new Mavic Mini owner, the one feature I&#x27;m craving for is FPV.

Do these things come with instructions for how <i>not</i> to use them? I got pretty sick of the jerk who kept buzzing people&#x27;s heads with an FPV drone last time I was at the beach.

At $1299 this is a lot more affordable than I imagined it would be.

This is great. The biggest draw back seems to be the small image sensor on the camera. Not sure if its good enough to compete with gopro typically used in FPV in image quality.

Amusing. Any time someone says some cool thing from a big company is &quot;limiting for the experienced&quot; I know it&#x27;s probably a great product for me, the amateur.

Is the distortion correction applied in the feed to the operator, or is it applied in post?<p>With such fast movements in close quarters, I would love to see a global shutter.

This is great... finally dji going-in for the specs that makes us vow! Pricing surely could have been better though. At $1200+, it definitely is not cheap.

Awesome. I look forward to these being obnoxious whenever I&#x27;m outside, trying to enjoy nature or any sort of attractive site.

That’s impressive. I’m not sure I understand how you can still communicate and see the video feed even when the drone is far away.

Awesome controls, although a little disappointed in the image quality. Hoping for a v2 of this

Lets be honest, that &quot;N&quot; mode is just &quot;noob mode&quot; but less aggressive.

too bad you can&#x27;t fly drones in germany with all the regulations. For FPV drones you have to have a second person &quot;spotting&quot; the drone and keeping line of sight. Complete bureaucratic nonsense.

Imagine if FPV augmented reality gaming became a thing...

Doesn&#x27;t it make you nauseous like VR?

Waiting for the stereoscopic version.

50Mbit, 28ms latency wireless link at 12km distance, and on a battery budget, eh? I&#x27;d love to hear more, I love science fiction.

Anyone&#x27;s got it yet?

Flying in VR is not good for motion sickness.