Hope this helps anyone looking for Dobby samples

The compact Dobby‘s low price makes it hard to ignore, even if it is a light-duty device.

I have had this toy for a few days, I took it recently for a trip to Guatemala, what a joy it is, so small, in fits in my small camera bag, If a lens fits there, then the Dobby drone fits there also. It works quite good with my cell phone, although the range is not that good because it only uses WIFI , but so far I have really enjoyed it, easy to fly, decent quality photo, ok video.

One asked me some questions about the Dobby after I posted my images on the forums.

“Do the Android or OS WiFi apps work on a tablet as well as a phone?

Judging by the smooth waters, the sky above Atitlan must have been windless on the morning you shot the sample pictures. How would it fare in a breeze or >10mph wind?

How easy to navigate back to the dock? Had you selected “go home” would it return safely or possibly plunk into the water right next to the point of departure?  If you tell it to track you, would it follow you back to shore without getting lost?

Is the video mode impaired by motor vibrations as well as by tiny sensor?

What sort of battery life? 5 minutes?

Would you dare (or be allowed) to fly it above Tikal, Chichicastenango on market day, or Antigua? I imagine the local police, cacique, or archaeological custodian expects a fee or propina for usage.

When you try to check-in at an airport, is there any hesitation that the inspectors might seize it because it has an Li-ion battery?  This risk might also apply to high-end drones, in which case the low cost of the Dobby gives some relief, so long as one does not also lose the memory card with images too.”

Below are my answers.

“For photography is good, for video it is not.

it only works on WIFI, it does not come with a controller. I have tested with phone and tablet (both android) – works fine. However, WIFI has its limitations of distance and I do not push it… no risks for me.

It fairs okay in wind, however batteries last less. It is a very noisy drone. For photos, remember I said that for video it is no good – jello galore.

Zerotech has not perfected software, it needs 8 satellites minimum to start up, and if it looses GPS and you are high up, you are doomed.

Battery life is 5-8 minutes, depending on :

a) wind  b)If stabilizer for camera is on  c) temperature.

Would I use it in Tikal ? in a heartbeat if allowed.

Would I use it in market day ? no, for several reasons: a) put people in risk  b) I do not want to get clinched  c) I do not want my drone stolen etc etc.

In the airport they don’t even acknowledge my Dobby, it fits in my camera bag, batteries look good/small – no wires hanging.

I do not use return to home, follow me or stuff like that, I fly up take the pictures and land, its a flying camera for me.”

Hope this helps anyone looking for a Dobby or Dobby sample pictures.

 

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Hover Camera or Dobby? Read this before you choose

A pocket drone capture amazing high-quality video, and are so well-constructed for the price that they keep everyone from simple hobbyists to those who are looking for a full-fledged movie director’s tool interested. So which one should you choose? Hover Camera or Dobby?

Design

The Dobby has a folding design and is finished in white.The Dobby pocket drone that absolutely feels like something from visionary shows such as “Futurama” or “Blade Runner”, and its propellers fold up very nicely into its tiny pill-like shape. The entire drone weighs just under half a pound, and is controlled by a smartphone app like many others out there on the market.

 

While, the Hover Camera by Zero Zero Robotics has a body made with carbon fiber that makes it lightweight and strong. This Hover Camera has a compact, small and light body is a combination of a camera and a drone. It also has four motors and propellers that are attached to the body. This is due to the design of the body that could be easy on the wallet.

Size&Wight

Hover Camera: 182 x 132 x 33mm, 238g, about the size of an iPad mini
Dobby:135mm x 67mm x 36.8mm, 199g, about the size of an iPhone 6

Obviously, the Dobby drone is smaller and more portable.

Price

At the current time the Zerotech Dobby can be found on sale for $349, which includes the drone, its battery, a charger and 4 blades; there are no prop guards or any other accessories.

The Hover Camera Passport will, on the other hand cost $599 and the package includes the drone, protective case, case strap, easy-carry bag, two rechargeable LiPo batteries, charger, an USB 3.0 cable and 4 spare propellers.

Controls

There’s no dedicated remote control. Instead you fly using your smartphone. The free Do.fun app, available for Android and iOS, is required to control the quadcopter.

The Dobby is pretty easy to fly. It automatically takes off from flat ground—don’t try from a stony driveway or a grassy lawn, however, as the rotors are too low to the ground to spin up on anything but a flat surface. Takeoff and landing are automatic, but you may have to calibrate the aircraft compass and the phone compass before your first flight. The app walks you through that process, which involves spinning the Dobby and waving your phone in a figure-eight pattern.

There are two control schemes available. Selfie mode adjusts the directions in relation to your position. It can also be set to a landscape videography mode, which flies the drone in relation to the position of its nose.

A control pad on the left side of the app adjusts altitude and spins the Dobby about its axis. To move it forward, backward, left, or right in space you hold your thumb down on the right half of the screen and tilt your phone in the direction you want it to fly.

There are a few automated flight modes. You can set it to orbit around a point in space, keeping its camera pointed at the center. It also has Target and Face Tracking, perfect for the selfie crowd—target yourself and the Dobby will follow you around. Finally there’s Return-to-Home, which brings the quadcopter back to its launch point.

As for the Hover camera, the Passport has an accompanying app that gives you a fair number of controller layout options. You can fly with two virtual joysticks if you’re familiar with traditional controls; use the simplified layout if you just need to get the camera in position; or even turn on tilt mode and steer the drone around by tilting your phone in any direction. As with most smartphone-based controls, the Passport’s manual modes do feel a bit loose and imprecise.

It does Orbit mode, in which the drone will fly in a circle around you regardless of where you move; as well as 360 Panorama mode, in which the drone will execute a 360-degree spin and then stitch together a single panoramic image.

The most impressive modes are the two that make use of the Passport’s image recognition software: Face Track and Body Track — both of which are self explanatory. To use them, you simply tap on the face or body that you’d like to follow, and the Hover Camera will do whatever it takes to keep the subject in frame. The software isn’t quite as robust or intuitive as DJI’s Active Track technology (which can track any object you select), but it’s pretty effective, and definitely one of the Passport’s best features.

Performance and Video Quality

Video is recorded at 1080p quality. It’s silent, which is fine as propeller noise is all a microphone would pick up. Stabilization is digital, and the result is wobbly, jittery video. Colors look good, but I’ve seen better detail from 1080p video before.

Stills are captured in JPG format at 13MP resolution. Image quality is on par with what you get from a midrange smartphone. But if you’re used to Snapchatting with your phone’s front camera you’ll be happy with the Dobby‘s imaging capabilities. Just don’t expect anything more.

(via Dobby)

On the other hand, the Hover Camera Passport is touted as a selfie camera, the camera itself is admittedly rather lackluster compared to what’s available on some other drones like Mavic Pro. It can shoot in 4K, 1080p, or 720p — but is limited to 30 frames per second regardless of the resolution. It also doesn’t have a gimbal, and relies on a combination of digital stabilization and a single-axis swivel to stabilize images. Effectively, this means you’ll need to shoot in 1080p if you want smooth video, since 4K video is only stabilized along one axis and will likely be shaky.

(via Hover Camera)

In terms of the image quality and stabilization, Dobby is ahead of the Hover Camera. And it comes with 100m operating range range compared to 20m of Hover Camera.

Flight time

Hover Camera: 10mins
Dobby: 9mins

Both of them are good for social media sharing, easy to carry around and shot battery time, the choice may come down to camera and price.

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Dobby: an selfie-drone of pocket

While there have been numerous announcements of self-drones in recent months, few have finally come to fruition. Dobby drone is an exception to the rule.

Whether you like it or not, drones and selfies are there to last. The latter are permanently installed in our digital society while the former are just beginning to do so. If they do not replace conventional cameras, drones become valuable photographic aids. They allow, for example, the production of still or animated images from points of view inaccessible to amateurs and semi-professionals.

Designed by Chinese ZeroTech, Dobby drone falls into the category of pocket drones intended to immortalize the exploits of its owner. Made of a sturdy plastic, the thing is barely bigger than a smartphone and can fit in the back pocket of jeans, with the four arms supporting the propellers folding underneath the device. The camera is equipped with a 1 / 3.06 ” effective 13 megapixel sensor and a 28 mm f / 2.3 lens (35 mm equivalent).

With such characteristics, there is a risk of medium high sensitivity. This is not very serious, this kind of product being designed to be used outdoors in daylight. This did not prevent the manufacturer from limiting the sensitivity to 3200 Iso. The video capture in 4K at 30 fps is provided without stabilization, making it difficult to use outside in windy conditions. To benefit from electronic stabilization, we will have to be satisfied with the Full HD 30 im / s that we consider suitable for this type of use. The images are stored in the 16 GB of internal memory (non-extensible).

The Dobby drone is using an application available in iPhone and Android versions. It essentially offers automatic modes such as object / person tracking, orbital recording (the drone rotates around an object) or facial recognition. The device is equipped with a GPS and a slew of environmental sensors. Note that the battery has a range of 9 minutes maximum in flight.

Dobby is available for $478 in specialty shops.

 

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