It is GoPro Karma again?！

GoPro Karma drone has had a bit of a troubled recent history since it was first introduced last year. After being delayed throughout most of 2016, it finally went on sale in October, only to be recalled in November due to what the camera company later said was a faulty battery latch, which could cause the batteries to lose power mid-flight.

Three months off the market, the GoPro Karma went up for sale again at the beginning of February. However, it reportedly crashed into a New York City apartment window according to the New York Post at the end of February.

A GoPro Karma drone smashed though the window of a 66-year-old lady living on the 27th floor of 20 Waterside Plaza in Manhattan, New York. The woman was working on a computer when the drone smashed right though her window and fell within 4 feet of her. Currently, the Police and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the accident. They are planning to use the drone’s serial number to locate the drone owner in the FAA’s database.

Scan some comments to discover reviews like “This sounds hoax. 27th floor windows won’t break that easily, and no point in throwing shit on a brand for “being unreliable”… all drones are unreliable to a degree.”

However, the news is absolutely real. New York Post has reported this issue. The building is about 30 years old with smaller windows, not floor to ceiling commercial windows. Some pilots added, “If I was choosing a drone to fly around Manhattan illegally or not, I wouldn’t choose one prone to drift without avoidance technologies available at the same price. The GoPro Karma is a clumsy drone, whether a gust of wind took it or not, it had too many things going against it in the first place, before it took off. Now we all suffer as a result of poor drawing board choices.”

All drones are unreliable? I think it depends on two factors. One is what kind of drones do you choose. As the GoPro Karma lacks features such as obstacle avoidance and “Follow Me” mode, so you should find a deserted wide open field with no obstacles. If you want to fly around Manhattan, then some drones like the Phantom 4/4 Pro and Mavic Pro which have obstacle avoidance may be a better choice. The other thing is that the drone operators make safe flying their priority. Although drone manufacturers are doing everything technically possible to ensure flight safety, drone enthusiasts must also do their part.

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Drone’s Save Lives – The PR Boost Drones Need

When drone first started to become stable and reliable, industries across the spectrum brainstormed as to how to incorporate this new technology and reap its benefits. From the shipping industry, to the filmmaking industry, to the agricultural industry, drones are slowly becoming major workhorses in a number of industries. It’s exciting to finally see the exponentially increasing use of drone in the public safety sector. The faster drones are put into use; the more lives are potentially saved.With every positive use case reported on by news outlets, public safety departments get more leverage to acquire these technologies.

What accounts for this increase in drone use for public safety is the ability of drones to fly with an array of different types of cameras including infrared, multispectral, and telephoto capable. Platforms like the DJI Inspire or Matrice 100 allow pilots to swap out cameras in seconds. With custom made apps used to control the drones autonomously, user oversight is mitigated. With autonomous flight paths, one of these aircrafts can fly in a grid to cover every inch of land so no hiker is lost to the wilderness.

One such example of drones being put to the test is in Western Canada where seven skiers and snowboarders were rescued after getting stranded. Hummingbird, a drone company specializing in SAR (search and rescue) drones, teamed up with Kamloops Search and Rescue to deploy a DJI Matrice 100 fitted with a thermal camera. After only a few hours the glowing hikers were spotted on the thermal camera. “The Matrices are our favorite and the most effective for what we do because they provide a platform for us to develop on and build out functionality beyond the primary basic use case,” said Robert Atwood, CEO of Hummingbird.

(screenshot of Kamloops SAR’s XT video)

Because of the public’s skeptical position about drone use, public institutions are hesitant to incorporate drones into their arsenal of safety tools. To speed up deliberation, companies like Drone Pilot Inc. have developed programs to provide the tools and training necessary to ease safety, budget, and logistical concerns. They focus on crime scenes and SAR training and use a wide number of multirotors of all shapes and sizes the large and powerful DJI S1000 to the portable and quick-to-deploy DJI Mavic.

As more use cases develop and more success stories are published, public safety institutions will incorporate drones more rapidly and more lives will be saved. Public opinion in favor of drone use by public or federal institutions has been slow to come, but the general perception of drone use may soon be overwhelmingly positive.

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