How the GoPro Karma flight modes work

Many pilots are interested in hearing the details of how the GoPro Karma flight modes work. Above is a video that demonstrates each of these options.

The GoPro Karma has four automatic shooting modes, which enables the drone to do all the hard work when it comes to getting the perfect cinematic shot and/or positioning. Note that these modes are commonplace on drones these days, so none of what we see here is out of the norm. In fact, by all objective measures, GoPro has the least number of autonomous shooting modes. And they lack autonomous follow-me modes.

Here’s a run-through of the four modes.

Orbit:  In this mode, the drone will orbit around a set point. To set it up you’ll start by flying directly above the point you want to orbit around. Then on the controller you’ll tap to set that point.  Next, you’ll fly to the radius around that point.  In other words, just back up 10-15 meters. Then mark that point. Then simply hit start. At this point Karma will fly around the object forever.

You can adjust the speed along a slider, as well as then adjust the height and radius distance using the controls. This means that you can keep the drone circling around that tree, while increasing or decreasing elevation. The drone will automatically keep pointing both the camera and gimbal angle at that tree. Further, you can then increase the distance to the tree by using the other stick, allowing you to create a spiral effect.

Dronie: This mode allows you to take a selfie where the drone zooms out and away from you. So the picture starts up close, and then the drone flies upwards and outwards away from you, keeping you in the picture. You can control the speed during it. Afterwards, it’ll reverse course along the same path back to the starting position.

The challenge I’ve found on numerous occasions with this is that it’s hyper-sensitive to movement of the controller. While the unit will give you a 3-second countdown, if you try and place that controller out of view during that 3-second countdown I’ve seen cases where it’ll change orientation of the drone camera – thus defeating the purpose of the dronie.

Reveal: In the reveal, GoPro Karma will fly towards a point and slowly rotate the camera gimbal up to the horizon. You’ve likely seen this shot countless times at the start of a movie where the camera is pointed down towards the ocean, and then pans up to show the skyline of a city ahead of it, as the craft continues to fly towards it.

It’s a great opening shot in a video, and it’s also handy to use in snippets of videos as well.

Cable Cam: This flight modes allows you to set two points in the sky and then have the drone fly back and forth between those points over and over again. You’ll start by flying to Point A, and then setting it. After which, you’ll fly to Point B and set that. You cannot do any more points beyond two points.  After which, you’ll press start.

GoPro Karma will then go back and forth along this imaginary highway. By default it’ll also remember any elevation changes you’ve set between the two points. Thus you can get smooth elevation increases this way. While the drone is going back and forth, you can then control the camera angle. Not just the gimbal, but the orientation of the camera. The drone takes care of flying, while you just focus on the camera. You can also adjust speed as well as height at any time.

Note when you close the clamshell, it immediately ceases any auto-shot modes. The drone will instantly stop and hover. This really sucks, because that’s kinda-sorta the point of the clamshell remote – to be able to close it up and not have it dork with the controls. So I had wanted to get in the shot and take the control with me on the bike, but alas, I can’t do that.

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What Xiaomi Mi drone impressed me most?

Xiaomi Mi drone from Xiaomi company comes with a 27 minutes flight time on a singe charge like the Mavic Pro.It’s impressing, however, some features such as automated take off and landing will consume more battery power similar to the way a cellphone’s battery charge goes down fast when certain software’s are opened like Bluetooth and camera.

The battery on this Xiaomi Mi drone takes about three and a half hours to charge to full capacity – anyone looking for uninterrupted fun with this model, we suggest purchasing at least two or three backup batteries.

This model positions itself using GPS and GLONASS. It offer stable flights over terrain at low attitudes as it has a visual positioning system located on the bottom.

Xiaomi Mi Drone has some similarities to the Phantom 4 because it allows for autonomous flying. Autonomous flying means that you can control the flight with just a tap of your finger and tell it what to film from your phone as well.

The model is equipped with a built-in 4K camera that is capable of recording 38 x 2160p/30fps and snapping 1080P still pictures. It delivers crystal clear images every single time.

Xiaomi Mi Drone has another awesome feature of surrounded flight – here, you can command your aircraft to make a circular flight around a selected object from your phone and it will continuously follow a 360 degree rotation path focusing its camera on a specific object.

With the Xiaomi Mi drone, you can preset your flight line. This maneuvering will allow for some pretty fantastic photographs. Another incredible feature is its ability to automatically takeoff and land – if your Mi gets out of its 3m range, it will fly back on its own. You can also opt to recall it anytime with a single press of a button.

The quadcopter connects to a 2.4 GHz transmitter that comes with a built-in phone clamp and a left-handed throttle feature. When you configure the craft in Mode 2, your drone will easily reach heights of 800 m plus and can travel about 3000m from you.

Sure the drone is priced at $460 USD for the 4K version and $380 for the 1080P version. This may be a result of most drone manufacturers already making thin margins on most products to date.

When comparing the Xiaomi Mi drone against offerings by DJI. The lowest end Xiaomi Mi drone that will sell for $380 is comparable in many ways to the DJI Phantom 3 Standard that currently retails for $499.

Pros
– Very modular design. Easily foldable & stowable.
– 3 Axis easy snap-in gimbal with tilt control
– Camera 1080p 60fps or 4K
– Long range (1K/2K) 2.4 Ghz control and FPV achieved via printed circuit board (PCB) antennas.
– Extra precise GPS + GLONASS + Visual Positioning
– Automatic return to home/landing on loss of signal or low battery, or manual return to landing at push of a switch.
– Automatic takeoff and landing
– Orientation Lighting
– Large Battery 17.4V 5100mah. Gives up to 27 minutes flight time

“Mi UAV” App Features
– Compass and controller calibration
– Satellite and quadcopter status monitoring
– 720p FPV
– Three automatic flight modes: Fly to Point, Waypoint Route, Circle Point
– Real time position tracking

Cons
– Excessive flight restrictions. Can not fly further than 50m altitude or 100m horizontal range until the quadcopter has achieved 5 hours (300 minutes) of cumulative flight time. Additionally, the quadcopter will not proceed beyond hover if flown in restricted areas.
– Official Xiaomi “Mi UAV” app is in Chinese. It’s somewhat impossible to use unless you know Chinese. There is a non official translated version in English, however it is an older version of the app.
– The English translated…

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Hover Camera Passport battery life

The Hover Camera Passport from a Chinese startup Zero Zero Robotics retailes at $599. It comes in the unique form of a foldable cage while packing cool features like body tracking, face tracking and orbiting.

One thing that sets the Hover Camera Passport apart from the other high-end foldable drones like DJI’s Mavic Pro and GoPro’s Karma is its size,weight and caged propellers.At just 242 grams, or 0.53 pounds. The Passport is unlikely to hurt anyone should something go wrong, as its propellers are shielded by a carbon fiber enclosure. When folded, it’s just 33mm (1.3 inches) thick, and even in its 45mm-thick protective case (which stores the drone and two batteries), it fits in my backpack with plenty of room to spare.

Unlike most other drones, the Hover Camera Passport can only be launched from one’s hand: Hold up the powered-on unit with its wings open, tap the power button to rev up the propellers for about one second, and then release the unit to let it hover. Similarly, you can retrieve the hovering Passport with your hand without ever having to worry about the blades: Grab it and tap the power button to kill the propellers, or you can first tilt the unit downward to slow the propellers down before tapping the power button. When the battery level is critically low, the drone can slowly land itself using the sonar sensor under its belly; you can also use the One-Touch Landing button to toggle automatic landing at any time.

It’s safe to say that the Hover Camera Passport is one of the very few — if not the only — drones that can be launched and retrieved so safely. This is guaranteed to impress your family, friends and strangers alike.

While the Hover Camera Passport is impressed me and is ahead of similar drones like Dobby, the pocket-friendly drone category still faces some limitations. The worst problem is the battery life which is fairly shot. Expect about 10 minutes of air time from Hover Camera. Though with a charge time of about 40 minutes, it won’t be long until you’re back in the air again.

The Yuneec Breeze, another selfie drone, offers about 12 minutes of flight time.While,you can fly the DJI Mavic Pro for over twice as long, a reported 27 minutes of battery life, giving you much more time to the shot you want. And according to Xiaomi Mi drone, you can expect to get 27 minutes of flight time on a single charge.

This might not seem like a big deal if this is your first drone and you’re just getting used to flying in the first place, but having to change the batteries just to get less than a half hour of flight time is going to get really old, really fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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