The Matrice 200 will be going up against…

The DJI‘s latest aircraft Matrice 200, unveiled this weekend at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, isn’t designed for artistic pursuits. Instead it’s intended for professional environments—DJI hopes to see it utilized for structural inspections, mapping applications, search and rescue, and other applications where an unmanned aircraft can come in handy.

The Matrice 200 series’ folding body is easy to carry and easy to set up, with a weather- and water-resistant body, ideal for field operations. It offers DJI’s first upward-facing gimbal mount, opening up the undersides of bridges, towers and other structures to inspection. It is compatible with DJI’s powerful X4S and X5S cameras, as well as the high-powered Z30 zoom camera and the XT camera for thermal imaging. It has a forward-facing first-person view camera, allowing a pilot and a camera operator to monitor separate images on dual controllers. Its safety features include obstacle avoidance sensors facing forward, up and down.

The M200 series comes in three versions:

• M200: The standard Matrice 200 is equipped with one downward-facing gimbal mount.
• M210: The M210 opens up for multiple payload configurations – one single downward facing gimbal mount, two parallel downward-facing gimbal mounts or one upward-facing gimbal mount. The M210 features additional connectivity ports to support third party sensors and accessories. The M210 has the capability to support additional sensors in the future and additional payload can be mounted on top of the aircraft.
• M210 RTK: The M210 RTK is available with D-RTK modules for centimeter-precision navigation.

If you opt for the standard Matrice 200 configuration. It supports a number of removable cameras. They include the Zenmuse Z30, which features a 30x zoom lens and 1080p recording, the Zenmuse X4S, which has a 1-inch sensor and supports 4K, the Zenmuse X5S, a Micro Four Thirds shooter that also supports 4K, and the Zenmuse XT, a thermal camera developed in cooperation with Flir.

If you opt for the M210, which uses the same airframe. You can’t use an upward and downward camera simultaneously. If you do opt for the up-facing camera, you’ll need to install an external GPS receiver, as screwing a gimbal onto the top of the aircraft blocks the internal GPS.

A third configuration, the M210 RTK, is almost identical to the M210 in terms of features. It adds a system that allows for navigation with centimeter precision.

All configurations include redundant inertial measurement units (IMUs), barometers, compasses, and GPS systems. In addition to the forward-facing obstacle detection system, the aircraft also features downward obstacle avoidance and a top-mounted infrared sensor. The Matrice is rated IP43, so it can operate in light rain or misty conditions.

The Matrice 200 has sensors on its front, rear, and top that scan for obstacles and work to prevent collisions. It also has an ADS-B receiver built in. ADS-B is the system used by all manned aircraft, so the M200 will be able to detect when a passenger plane is entering its airspace well before the pilot or sensors can see the actual aircraft.

The M200 has two batteries, giving it 35 minutes of flight time. You can also hot swap the batteries, allowing you to quickly replace a depleted unit without turning the aircraft completely off.

The Matrice 200 will be going up against units like Yuneec’s Typhoon H520, SenseFly’s Albris, Freefly Alta 8, and Intel’s Falcon 8. DJI hasn’t released a price on this unit yet, but says it should be available to purchase in the second quarter of 2017.

 

The post The Matrice 200 will be going up against… appeared first on Drone Inner.

My two Yuneec Typhoon G crashed for no reason

I do not want to write negative reviews to be honest. I do understand that it do effect the way you make a decision. But this is the reason we need to write the truth here.

Every time I see the drone fly free in the sky, I dream of having my own drone and flying it proudly. I read a lot of reviews online and watched a lot of videos. The Yuneec Typhoon G came to my choice finally based on the strong recommendations from my one of friend who owned a Yuneec Typhoon H. He convinced me of purchasing the Yuneec Typhoon G as it is easy to start with and can fly with my Gopro 4.That’s great! I made the choice happily.

I unboxed the Yuneec Typhoon G carefully, checked the parts I received and I started my first flight after everything was great. I turned on the Typhoon G and remote controller. I was studying and tried to get to know more about this unit. Then I smelt something uncomfortable. I looked around but couldn’t find anything wrong. I then touched the Typhoon G accidently and was shocked. The Typhoon G was badly overheated and emitted a burning smell when I hadn’t even flown it at all. I turned it off and called the support immediately. I was recommended to send it back for test. I was not so happy about that but still looking forward to receiving it very soon with my friend’s comfort.

A week later, I heard from Yuneec support and they agreed to exchange a brand new Yuneec Typhoon G for me. I was so happy and thought that’s why my friend recommended Yuneec.

The exchanged unit worked great at first. I thought I got the hang of it and purchased a lot of accessories from Yuneec just to have my Gopro 4 fly with it. However, that was when the nightmare began.

With the live video feed, I could see that the gimbal shaking like crazy. I was afraid that it might be too loose that it just dropped off my GoPro 4. I landed it immediately and try to reinstall my GoPro. It worked better later after I reinstalled but the footage was still shaky. However, when it was about 100 meters away from me, I received a warning that the WIFI signal is weak. It lost the signal after that and the screen went to black. I landed it, checked all the connections and rebooted later. Everything worked correctly at first even the live HD video was not that clear. However, 7 minutes later, it started to float when I did nothing to it. Shouldn’t it hover there? I tried to stop it but my trials were in vain. It floated towards a tree, stroke to the tree and hanged there finally. My Gopro 4 got broken. The gimbal wasn’t able to hold it firmly and it just dropped off from the tree.

I was requested to send it to Yuneec support. However, I’m hesitating as I didn’t just want to fly it at all, I hope to do aerial photography.

The post My two Yuneec Typhoon G crashed for no reason appeared first on Drone Inner.