Da Jiang Innovations (DJI): Galaxy of DRONES

[Raphael]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a0cfd67a-6dda-11e5-8171-ba1968cf791a.html#axzz3omGgp7oh

Here’s an exercise for students of marketing. You are required to devise a strategy to make model aeroplanes sexy. You must also demonstrate how to build a global, multibillion-dollar business selling them. Not easy, is it? Making some other suburban pursuit fashionable — perhaps caravanning — might be less challenging.

There’s another minor obstacle to making remote-controlled aircraft rock; you have to reimagine model aeroplanes as sleek consumer products, despite their having lately been rebranded as “drones” and accordingly feared by millions of people as instruments of death.

All this renders the achievement of the Chinese drone company DJI more remarkable. Founded in 2006 by a mainland Chinese electrical engineering student, Frank Wang, in his Hong Kong university dorm room, DJI’s first fly-out-the box Phantom consumer drone appeared less than three years ago. Today, DJI is a global company with a valuation of $8bn-$10bn and more than 4,000 employees in China, the US, Japan, the Netherlands and Germany.

The DJI Phantom was a revelation, particularly to childhood constructors like me of made-in-Essex Keil Kraft balsa wood models with the uncanny knack of never flying properly, or, indeed, flying at all. When the £1,000 Phantom came out, it had been possible for a few years to buy a drone, but only for £20,000 or so, and with considerable flying skill needed.

Mr Wang’s invention, by contrast, was a breeze to fly, and practically impossible to lose or crash. The Phantom wafted around under your control, spookily stable and streaming video to your iPhone. If you messed up, it automatically returned to you safely. The stabilisation was Mr Wang’s secret sauce, turning an item for skilled geeks into a mass-market phenomenon.

The 1.2kg machine fascinated me, and not just because of the sheer, existential joy of piloting it and the astonishing footage it captured. It was the first ever desirable Chinese technology product. Not one of the first. The first. Trust me, I’d been looking in China for something truly drool-worthy and Chinese since I’d started visiting eight years earlier.

With DJI, there was no sketchy, half-baked early version, no unintentionally funny instructions. From the off everything was near perfect, from the design and manufacturing to the packaging to the website.

You could soon be flying your drone while streaming 4K video to a virtual reality headset, turning you, effectively, into a seagull
Indeed, the whole presentation was so flawless that until I had breakfast with some DJI executives in Hong Kong last month, I imagined that DJI was so slick it had to be an ABC — American Born Chinese — entity. Not so. The company and the products are wholly Chinese Chinese — a matter of pride to Xi Jinping’s tech innovation-minded government, I was told, even though Mr Wang is apparently determined not to allow its products to be used for military or state security purposes.

The impact of off-the shelf commercial drones — which is to a considerable extent down to Mr Wang — has not only been exceptionally speedy, but has proved a paradigm of human inventiveness.

Since the Phantom took off in 2013, drones have been used or proposed for: delivering goods to consumers within 30 minutes of ordering; delivering mail in the Australian outback; taking paparazzi photos; searching for missing people; getting aerial news footage; getting medicines to isolated African villages; staging political protest; planting forests in inhospitable terrain; infiltrating contraband into prisons; spraying crops; exercising dogs; acting as lookouts for criminals; dispersing chemical agents for terrorists; hunting in warehouses for bar coded packages.

This is just the start. I have heard serious voices suggesting that before long drones will live autonomously, avoiding all obstacles using ultrasonic sensors, repairing each other, reproducing, and hanging out in teams, migrating like birds to where they are most needed.

Too science fiction-ish, maybe, for a pragmatic Chinese business. But DJI is hardly standing still. The most exciting idea I heard in Hong Kong was that you could soon be flying your drone while streaming 4K video to a virtual reality headset, so the on-board camera swivels in precise accordance with your head movements — turning you, effectively, into a seagull.

Oh, and we’re talking next year, here, not next decade. As this age of continuous technological revolution keeps showing, innovation can be scarily fast — and not infrequently life-enhancing.

I, for one, can’t wait to be a seagull.

 

[cirr]

Meet Osmo, the Robotic Selfie Stick

10/8/2015 12:30PM

Drone maker DJI has come out with its first non-aerial product: Osmo, a 4K camera with a motorized arm to keep shots steady. Personal Tech columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler gives it a test shake.

Meet Osmo, the Robotic Selfie Stick

Handheld camera eliminates the shakes

By Fan Feifei (chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2015-10-14 16:00

China's largest commercial drone manufacturer DJI, announced the launch of Osmo, the world's first fully integrated and stabilized handheld 4K camera. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China's largest commercial drone manufacturer DJI, announced the launch of Osmo, the world's first fully integrated and stabilized handheld 4K camera, on Wednesday.

Using the company's signature three-axis gimbal stabilization technology, Osmo eliminates the shake of traditional handheld devices, creating stable photos and videos.

"With Osmo, we have created a camera specifically designed to capture a smooth moving image regardless of filming conditions." said Frank Wang, DJI CEO and founder.

Users can view live images of what the camera sees, adjust settings and control smart filming functions including panorama, long exposure and slow motion.

"Traditional handheld cameras are either shaky or require bulky stabilizers that are difficult to set up," said Paul Pan, DJI's senior product manager. "The Osmo moves the experience of handheld filmmaking from capturing what happened, to sharing expressive, smooth video that shows what an experience was like".

Shenzhen-based DJI's global operation spans North America, Europe and Asia and its products have been chosen by customers in more than 100 countries and applied in film, advertising, construction, firefighting, farming and many other industries.

The Osmo is available for pre-order online priced 3,999 yuan on the Chinese mainland and will begin shipping October 15.

Handheld camera eliminates the shakes - Business - Chinadaily.com.cn

Is Osmo the new GoPro? DJI invents a new way of filming | TechRadar

 

[cirr]

Introducing the DJI OSMO（narratives in English）

大疆OSMO手持云台相机 - 影像再进化—在线播放—优酷网，视频高清在线观看

大疆OSMO手持云台相机 产品介绍—在线播放—优酷网，视频高清在线观看

Is Osmo the new GoPro? DJI invents a new way of filming

By Ali Jennings Cameras

Action cams, grips and gimbal heads aren't new, but the magic happens when they're made to work together

The DJI Osmo is a world first, a compact stabilised 4K camera system that has the potential to revolutionise the way we capture video. The combined camera and brushless motorised gimbal enable the capture of smooth, shake-free footage with minimal equipment, meaning that now anyone with imagination can capture cinematic video like the pros.

The Osmo's handheld approach means that complex filming techniques such as motion panning are now possible with a one man crew and no specialist equipment such as trolleys or jibs are needed.

The Osmo is by no means the first motorised gimbal of this size as there are already accessories for action cameras that have been around for some time – but nothing comes close to the complete control that a fully integrated grip, gimbal, camera and smartphone app offer.

Check out the video below to get an idea of what the DJI Osmo can do.

Smart design

The Osmo looks to have been designed direct from the pages of a spy novel, with the eyeball-shaped camera fixed to the harness of a motorised gimbal, which is then connected to the control handle. The whole system is modular, so if you own a X5 or X5R gimbal camera already then those are also compatible and can be interchanged. A price for the handle on its own has yet to be confirmed.

The control handle is well engineered, and although made of plastic it's nicely finished with an ergonomically shaped and textured grip. Around the top are a series of buttons and a jog wheel that enables you to adjust the rotation and tilt of the camera – you even have an option to lock the orientation, which can be useful if you're doing a panning shot.

The Osmo can carry on tracking your subject even while you're moving.

Not only does it enable the same smooth footage that you'd expect from a stabilised rig such as a Steadicam, because it's motorised it also features a series of impressive pre configured gimbal modes. These include a selfie mode which enables you to record yourself, something that will appeal to bloggers and reporters. Using this mode the camera automatically locks onto the presenter and captures smooth steady footage without the need for a cameraman, although the usual selfie pose is required. Other modes include follow mode, fixed, inverted and torchlight.

Choice of camera

Whilst the motorised gimbals designed for action cameras work incredibly well, they remain pretty basic, with limited user control and functionality. The greatest limitation can often be the camera itself even when that camera is the excellent GoPro Hero4 Black.

The Hero4 Black is designed to capture fast paced action rather than more sedate handheld footage, and as such it has visual properties to suit its design, including a wide-angle distorted lens optimised for subjects and scenery at a distance rather than close-up.

This difference in use of camera has been a major consideration for DJI.

The majority of cameras used on DJI's drone ranges use fixed lenses with focus optimised between 3.5m and infinity. This is great for aerial shots, but not so great if you're filming at closer quarters. In the Osmo, DJI is using its X3 camera, which already features on the Inspire 1, but here it has been adapted for ground level use, with a focus optimised between 1m and infinity. This change makes a huge difference to the image style and ultimately the quality of the footage and how it can be used.

The small camera features 4K as well as HD ability, with a 94 degree field of view lens (20mm equivalent) and a 1/2.3-inch sensor – this is the same size you'd expect in a regular compact digital camera.

Footage or stills, depending on your selected mode, are all captured on a micro SD card. If you want to record audio then there's a standard 3.5mm audio jack on the front of the handgrip. At the moment this only enables automatic gain control, which will annoy even the mildest audiophile. You'll also find a standard 1/4-inch tripod mounting hole on the side, so accessories or tripods can be attached.

The DJI Osmo kit includes the grip, gimbal, camera and device holder for your smartphone (there is a companion app).

The Osmo in use

Clicking the mode button for the camera quickly shifts through the different smart filming functions including Panorama, Long exposure and Slow Motion. The slow motion ability is impressive with the capture of full 1080p footage at 120fps, enough to slow real time down one quarter speed. There are other modes for stills as well as video, such as Panoramic and Long exposure, which enable you to pan or capture a long exposure without the need for a tripod as the gimbal keeps the camera steady.

The supplied X3 camera can shoot 4K video at 30fps and full HD at 120fps.

Mounting options

DJI recognizes the crossover with action cameras and alongside the launch of the Osmo there will also be a series of mounting options both for the camera and its accessories. Amongst the most interesting of these will be the bike and suction pad car mounts, all of which meet the same design and quality as DJI's other products. For accessories there ars options for tripod mounting, extension rods, universal mounts, bike mounts and extension arms so that a smartphone can be fitted.

As with DJI's drone products, the Osmo is also fully integrated with iOS and Android devices and the app enables you to interact with the camera to adjust further settings adjustments as well as control over the operation of the camera and gimbal.

The Osmo is a fascinating device and the possibilities it offers anyone wanting to capture video are immense. The design and concept are new but this does look like it could change the way many of us think about and use video. The Osmo will go on sale for £549/US$649. We'll bring you a full review and opinion once we have a full production model.

Is Osmo the new GoPro? DJI invents a new way of filming | TechRadar

 

[cirr]

China's drone sector concentrated in Shenzhen

Staff Reporter 2015-10-25 09:33 (GMT+8)

A drone assists with farming in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region. (Photo/Xinhua)

The fall edition of Global Sources Electronics in Hong Kong, the world's largest sourcing show, saw a surge in exhibitors of drones and related products from China, indicating the popularity of the sector, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily.

The electronics show, held Oct. 18-21, saw the number of companies in the drone business double from its spring edition in April, said the organizer of the event, Global Resources.

Global Resources CEO Spencer Au said drones and robots are new areas in the world of electronics, with drone sales forecast to grow to US$7.8 billion by 2018, when the global electronics market will have reached US$723 billion.

The fact that 60% of the drone exhibitors come from Shenzhen showed how factories have combined the ability to create, research, develop and manufacture products in the Chinese city.

Maurizio Curioni, a purchasing manager at Italian firm AbsoluteJoy, said there is no country or region in the world like China, which has developed a comprehensive drone production chain building products that are priced reasonably and meet the required standards.

According to Curioni, whose company sells drones for the consumer market in Spain, Italy and Germany, almost all the camera drones in the world are produced in China, especially those for the consumer market.

The newspaper also pointed out that 95% of the drones produced in Shenzhen are made by DJI, while the rest are largely made by AEE Technology. The Chinese city accounts for 99.9% of the country's output.

Shenzhen-based laptop maker Sowosi, which unveiled its first drone product earlier this year, said consumers are curious about drones, but it is not an easy business to get into because the core technology is controlled by just a few big companies.

Meanwhile, 80% of the orders Chinese drone makers receive are placed by foreign buyers, since drone prices are still too high for China's domestic market, the newspaper said.

One Shenzhen-based drone maker added that 90% of Chinese companies' products sold overseas are under contract manufacturing deals, and only 10% are under Chinese brands.

Camera drones produced by Flypro, which entered the market late last year, are priced at 10,000 yuan (US$1,575), while drone controller maker SimToo's drone products come with a price tag of 3,000 yuan (US$470), said the report.

Chen Jianhua, an engineer at Hope Microelectronics, which supplies sensors for drones, said more Chinese consumers will accept drones if prices drop from the current level of 7,000-8,000 yuan (US$1,100-1,260) to 2,000-3,000 yuan (US$315-470).

 

[Tom99]

It is great to see Chinese companies like DJI and Xiaomi are popping up in China that makes great engineered and value-added products.

 

[TaiShang]

DJI Phantom 3 Standard is the drone you're looking for

We face the very real possibility that drone flying as a hobby may be coming to an end or at least an extended pause due to new regulations. That knowledge weighed heavily on me as a DJI Phantom 3 Standard drone hovered more than 325 feet overhead.

While its four rotors buzzed loudly, I could barely hear them on the ground as the drone awaited my next command. I gently touched the right joystick control and inched it forward in the sky.

It’s such a great flyer.

DJI makes a strong line of amateur and professional drones. The $699 Phantom 3 Standard is the newest of them and, perhaps, the most consumer-friendly drone DJI has ever produced. I’ve flown more than a few drones in the past (no idea how many I will legally fly in the future) and I’d say the Phantom 3 Standard is in some ways comparable to Parrot’s Bebop Drone, but in others, levels above it (literally and figuratively).

Getting started
I’ll be honest, I was a little intimidated when I first opened the DJI Phantom 3 Standard, not because there were a lot of pieces, but because of the Phantom series reputation. It’s always been for more serious flyers. The reality of the Phantom 3 Standard, though, is nothing of the sort. The only required assembly is putting on the four rotors. Two you spin on clockwise and two you spin on counter-clockwise. It’s kind of idiot-proof.




You also have to insert the large battery. After that, the majority of setup is on the software and connectivity side, but first you’ll want to charge up the battery, which you do while it’s outside the drone and using the proprietary charger, and the book-sized remote control, which charges with a standard micro-USB charger.

Before I finished setting up the connection between the Drone and the RC and my phone, which I planned to use as drone’s viewfinder and control panel, I considered the drone itself.

Where Parrot’s Bebop is a colorful combination of tough foam, plastic and mid-sized, exposed rotors, DJI’s drones offer a hard, sleek, plastic body atop a pair of spindly-looking, yet rigid legs. The rotors are striking for their size. More impressive, though, is the camera hanging off the DJI Phantom 3 Standard’s belly. Bebop’s impressive HD camera is inside the nose of the drone. Phantom’s is a GoPro-ish-looking, aluminum-framed and comparatively big-lensed HD camera on a physical gimbal.

Parrot’s solution to keeping the video steady on a camera that sits inside the body of the drone was to use digital video cropping — it keeps the visible frame steady while cutting away the movement (along with some of the image) on the outer edges. Phantom 3 Standard’s gimbal, which is attached to a physical shock-absorber system, keeps the video rock-steady. Both drones make you point the drone in the direction of the video you want to shoot, but Phantom 3 Standard lets you independently control the vertical tilt of the camera via a small dial on the remote control.

Connect and control
The Phantom 3 Standard comes pre-paired with the included remote control, so as soon as you power up, you’re connected to the drone. It has all the physical controls you need to fly, including a physical “Home” switch. However, you won’t really have all the control you probably want until you pair it with a smartphone, which you can attach to the remote control with an included clamp that holds your device tight.

The DJI Phantom 3 Standard app is full of information, but not nearly as confusing as it appears.

IMAGE: DJI

I downloaded the free DJI app and then followed the instructions to start connecting it to my iPhone. Like many other prosumer drones, the Phantom 3 Standard is a Wi-Fi hotspot. It showed up in my Wi-Fi list, I connected and then…I had to do a firmware update. Aside from one disconcerting dialogue box that was all in Chinese, it was pretty straight-forward, if a little time-consuming.

With the upgrade done, I turned to the Camera View in the app. I will admit, the interface was more than a little intimidating. In contrast to Parrot Free Flight 2.0 Software, which tends to be fairly clean of detail, DJI’s interface looks like something a real pilot might appreciate. Eventually, however, I came to appreciate it, as well.

DJI Phantom 3 Standard's built-in gimbal keeps your photos and videos rock-steady.

It is, frankly, difficult to find anywhere where I can safely, and without fear of prosecution, fly this or any prosumer-level drone. I tried taking it to a local aerodrome where locals were flying yard-long RC airplanes and was told my kind, drone flyers, were not welcome there.

In any case, I took it to a local ball field, set it on the ground and used the app to get started. The app fills the screen with the camera view and then overlays a ton of controls and drone status details on top of it. Off to the left are some of the most important controls. There’s lift-off, land Return Home (wherever the drone started – it’s equipped with GPS so it always knows where it is) a button to set a Home point and a map. Along the top edge are an array of connectivity indicators, including Wi-Fi- RC and GPS. Below it is details on the camera settings. It’s pre-set at auto, but you can go in and manually change the camera setting. On the right side of the screen is record, camera or video and video playback. The bottom edge of the screen displays the drone’s altitude and speed (horizontal and vertical).

To take off, I tapped the takeoff button and then slid a secondary control to the right (landing is the same, tap and then slide). The four rotors spun up and the drone quickly lifted off the ground and, like most good drones of its class, hovered a few meters off the ground until I took control.

The all-plastic remote control features one antenna and offers about 350 feet of connectivity with the Phantom 3 Standard. Parrot Bebop Drone has about 800 feet of connectivity and with the optional Sky Controller (the combined package costs about $700), you can go up to 2 miles – if you can find a place where flying a drone beyond line-of-sight isn’t illegal. The Phantom 3 Standard drone, by the way, can actually fly to an altitude of 19,000 feet, but is auto-limited to roughly 350 feet before it will fly back home.

Fly high
I used the RC’s responsive controls to send the drone straight up roughly 325 feet. The vertical control also served as the yaw control. The right hand joystick let me accelerate in any horizontal direction at up to 35 mph. On paper, these specs roughly match what you'll get with Parrot's Bebop, but I have to say that the Phantom 3 Standard is even more responsive. I was especially impressed with how I could zoom forward at 35 mph and then toggle back to have the drone almost stop on a dime. Plus, maneuverability was about as precise as I could wish for.

A view from below the DJI Phantom 3 Standard, which includes bright, flashing lights for safety.

IMAGE: MASHABLE, LANCE ULANOFF

On my phone down below, the video looked great. The downlink can manage up to 720 P at 30 FPS if the connectivity is strong enough, speaking of which, if I went beyond RC connectivity (the app tells me when it’s happening), the Phantom 3 Standard drone takes over and will return to home and land. It will also do the same if the battery gets below a certain level (10%). In the former case, if connectivity is reestablished, you can take over and start flying again.

An unedited screen grab from the DJI Phantom 3 Standard's HD video.

IMAGE: MASHABLE, LANCE ULANOFF

During flight, I only lost sight of the drone a couple of times — when it was so high it became a spec against the clouds. In that case, I would look at the app view to see where it was on the map and what the camera was pointed at.

The drone stores recorded video on the camera’s included 8GB micro SD card. When I offloaded and watched the video later, I was astounded by the quality — it’s 2.7K 30 FPS and looks good even when shooting into direct sunlight.

And I got a lot of video. After an hour of charging, I enjoyed over 20 minutes of flight.

Good for now
I had a great time flying the DJI Phantom 3 Standard. It’s bigger and heavier than the Parrot Bebop, but the remote control is a lot lighter and the drone is more stable in flight and easier to control. Sure, I can’t fly it indoors like I can the Bebop, but outside, it’s the kind of drone that spoils you for all others.

DJI Phantom 3 Standard drone's camera can be pointed in any direction, including straight down.

IMAGE: MASHABLE, LANCE ULANOFF

Of course, we are probably days, if not hours, away from far stricter amateur drone rules that could make it far more difficult for regular people like me to fly their drones anywhere without registration and, for every flight, flight plans.

For all I know, we may have just experienced the golden age of amateur drones. Too bad, the DJI Phantom 3 reminded me just how awesome piloting a high-flying drone can be.

DJI Phantom 3 Standard

The Good
Easy setup • Fantastic flyer • Amazing camera

The Bad
Can’t fly indoors

The Bottom Line
A reasonably-priced consumer drone that has all the earmarks and performance of a pro-unit.

 

[cirr]

Qualcomm, Inc. Snapdragon Flight Under Pressure From New DJI Supercomputer

DJI has announced a tiny embedded chip for its next range of consumer and commercial drones to leave rivals playing catch up

Nov 2, 2015 at 1:18 pm Est

Qualcomm, Inc. Snapdragon Flight Under Pressure From New DJI Supercomputer

By: Larry Darrell

Published: Nov 2, 2015 at 1:18 pm Est

China-based drone maker DJI and Canonical, the corporation behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution, today revealed the launch of Manifold, a miniscule, embedded CPU that is optimized for creating new applications for drones. DJI expects the CPU to enable “new artificial intelligence applications such as computer vision and deep learning. “ The powerful, embedded computer will therefore help DJI drones execute more challenging tasks, including complex mapping, data analytics and image recognition capabilities.

The Chinese start-up released a consumer-friendly drone two years ago, codenamed “Phantom”, which was cheap enough for consumers to buy and powerful enough for professionals. However, the Manifold is only compatible on DJI’s Matrice 100 platform and won’t be available on the company’s consumer-facing drones. The Matrice 100 is like a developer platform for DJI flight, which controls hardware and utilizes the customizable sensors packaged into an unmanned vehicle.

The Manifold sports a quad-core ARM Cortex A-15 processor and an NVIDIA Kepler-based GPU. The graphics unit is not designed to render graphics but instead to make use of its image processing and parallel computing capabilities. It has USB, Ethernet, Mini-PCIe, HDMI, UART and SPI ports, which enables a consortium of add-ons and extensions to be connected.

With the production of its own system for advanced drone applications, DJI is set to rival US chip makers Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) in deploying drones for commercial purposes. Both companies are currently working on products that are expected to become a benchmark for complex computation in aerial vehicles.

Several tech giants have been trying to grab a slice of the burgeoning industry, with companies such as GoPro and Amazon also trying to push the market for different reasons. However, the chip industry is expected to power these unmanned robots similar to the way they power smartphones, despite a stark contrast in ubiquity. Qualcomm for instance, recently announced that it would produce a modified version of its processor roadmap for drones, codenamed Snapdragon Flight. The drone market is especially lucrative for semiconductor companies because they don’t have to invest billions in new production facilities and can simply modify their existing chipset for drones.

At this years’ Consumer Electronics Show, iconic chip maker Intel showcased its RealSense technology, which is a system of camera hardware and software created to let people control their computer without touching peripherals or physical devices. The technology, with adequate development, has genuine applications for the drone industry.

However, DJI does enjoy a solid position in the drone market, with 71% of commercial drones approved by the FAA, involving DJI drones. The consumer drone market is projected to grow exponentially in the coming years, with the $105 million industry expected to reach $1 billion by 2018. Currently, most drone applications extend to aerial photography, delivery systems and agricultural applications.

Manifold itself will go on sale today at $499 and will ship November 15. However, in order to purchase the full array of flying equipment required to give the computer flight, consumers will have to fork out another $3,300.

Qualcomm, Inc. Snapdragon Flight Under Pressure From New DJI Supercomputer

 

[TaiShang]

Qualcomm, Inc. Snapdragon Flight Under Pressure From New DJI Supercomputer

DJI has announced a tiny embedded chip for its next range of consumer and commercial drones to leave rivals playing catch up

Nov 2, 2015 at 1:18 pm Est

Qualcomm, Inc. Snapdragon Flight Under Pressure From New DJI Supercomputer

By: Larry Darrell

Published: Nov 2, 2015 at 1:18 pm Est

China-based drone maker DJI and Canonical, the corporation behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution, today revealed the launch of Manifold, a miniscule, embedded CPU that is optimized for creating new applications for drones. DJI expects the CPU to enable “new artificial intelligence applications such as computer vision and deep learning. “ The powerful, embedded computer will therefore help DJI drones execute more challenging tasks, including complex mapping, data analytics and image recognition capabilities.

The Chinese start-up released a consumer-friendly drone two years ago, codenamed “Phantom”, which was cheap enough for consumers to buy and powerful enough for professionals. However, the Manifold is only compatible on DJI’s Matrice 100 platform and won’t be available on the company’s consumer-facing drones. The Matrice 100 is like a developer platform for DJI flight, which controls hardware and utilizes the customizable sensors packaged into an unmanned vehicle.

The Manifold sports a quad-core ARM Cortex A-15 processor and an NVIDIA Kepler-based GPU. The graphics unit is not designed to render graphics but instead to make use of its image processing and parallel computing capabilities. It has USB, Ethernet, Mini-PCIe, HDMI, UART and SPI ports, which enables a consortium of add-ons and extensions to be connected.

With the production of its own system for advanced drone applications, DJI is set to rival US chip makers Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) in deploying drones for commercial purposes. Both companies are currently working on products that are expected to become a benchmark for complex computation in aerial vehicles.

Several tech giants have been trying to grab a slice of the burgeoning industry, with companies such as GoPro and Amazon also trying to push the market for different reasons. However, the chip industry is expected to power these unmanned robots similar to the way they power smartphones, despite a stark contrast in ubiquity. Qualcomm for instance, recently announced that it would produce a modified version of its processor roadmap for drones, codenamed Snapdragon Flight. The drone market is especially lucrative for semiconductor companies because they don’t have to invest billions in new production facilities and can simply modify their existing chipset for drones.

At this years’ Consumer Electronics Show, iconic chip maker Intel showcased its RealSense technology, which is a system of camera hardware and software created to let people control their computer without touching peripherals or physical devices. The technology, with adequate development, has genuine applications for the drone industry.

However, DJI does enjoy a solid position in the drone market, with 71% of commercial drones approved by the FAA, involving DJI drones. The consumer drone market is projected to grow exponentially in the coming years, with the $105 million industry expected to reach $1 billion by 2018. Currently, most drone applications extend to aerial photography, delivery systems and agricultural applications.

Manifold itself will go on sale today at $499 and will ship November 15. However, in order to purchase the full array of flying equipment required to give the computer flight, consumers will have to fork out another $3,300.

Qualcomm, Inc. Snapdragon Flight Under Pressure From New DJI Supercomputer

DJI is becoming a truly global giant.

Review: DJI's Osmo and the democratization of the steadicam

• NOVEMBER 2, 2015

Clicking the trigger on the front three times swivels the Osmo around into "selfie mode" facing the operator (Credit: Loz Blain/Gizmag)

With action camera juggernaut GoPro making moves to muscle in on DJI’s multicopter dominance, DJI is fighting back with a portable action camera of its own, and one that can do things no GoPro can do yet.

• 

The Osmo is a hand-held 4K action camera on a stick. It’s got a choice of different camera attachments, and each comes with a Zenmuse three-axis stabilizing gimbal. Effectively, it’s a miniature steadicam capable of smoothing out shakes and wobbles that can easily ruin action cam footage.

This is a new and unique filmmaking tool that puts steadicam-style footage in the reach of the average user. Professional steadicam rigs are enormous and expensive, evenDJI’s own Ronin system for larger cameras is a big old chunk of kit to carry about, and a serious risk of back injury if you’ve got to shoot for any length of time. Unpowered alternatives like the Flycam Nano and its ilk are extremely fiddly and take quite a bit of experience to set up and take good footage with. The Osmo might just sit in the sweet spot of portability, usability, quality and ease of use.

We had the chance to test drive one over the weekend, so while this is far from a comprehensive review, we did get a chance to form some opinions.


Our test unit came with the X3 camera, basically the original camera from the Inspire One drone, but with a few differences to make it a better hand held camera. The main thing you’ll notice is the locking system. The camera head and tilt arm can be twisted into a locking position, and the rotating arm has a switch that allows it to lock into place for safe storage and transport.

The Osmo can also be used with the X5 and X5R cameras off the new Inspire Pro drone, giving you a larger micro four thirds sensor, interchangeable lenses and in the X5R’s case, the ability to record high bitrate RAW video footage for professional use, making the Osmo a pretty formidable piece of gear. To use either of these bigger cameras with the Osmo, you’ll need an adapter.

If you’ve flown a Phantom 3 Professional or Inspire One, you’ll know the smaller X3 is a capable action camera that takes good quality stills and handles video well. Compared directly with a GoPro 4 it’d come in a close second, but its low-distortion, slightly narrower lens also offers its own advantages.


Setting the Osmo up out of its travel case is a bit fiddly. You’ve got to unlock three parts of the gimbal arm (but not the fourth, which detaches the camera altogether), then power it up. From there, you’re good to go if you don’t mind shooting blind.

If you want to see what you’re doing – and you really do, if you want anything decent – you’ll need to attach your phone. This is done by folding out corner tabs on a nifty spring-loaded clamp and snapping your phone into place. Then you’ve got to log in to the Osmo’s Wi-Fi network and start up your DJI Go app, clear a couple of screens and finally get to the camera view. As I say, a bit fiddly. But not much more annoying than using the Wi-Fi view on a GoPro.

While there’s a thumbswitch that lets you pan and tilt the camera on the fly, I got my best results letting the Osmo do the thinking for me. Using the thumbswitch, it’s hard to control the speed of a pan or tilt movement and you tend to get jerky transitions, but if you just move the Osmo around it does a pretty good job of working out when you’re wanting it to pan or tilt, and smoothing those motions out. It doesn’t keep up as well if your subject is close and fast moving, but at least the movements are smooth. Here's some very random sample footage I shot:


The trigger on the front is fun. Holding it down locks and stabilizes your current shot as best it can, and then releasing it allows the Osmo to start its auto-follow function again. Clicking it twice re-centers the camera facing forward, and three times swivels the Osmo back around into "selfie mode" facing the operator. This is gonna be a great way for a one-man reporting team to catch footage of themselves as well as the location they’re in.

Video footage comes out looking great, and for situations where the auto exposure doesn’t do the job, you’ve got manual control over the camera as well. The sound? Unusable. I’m going to assume the Osmo’s built-in mic struggles because of the motion of the gimbal motors, but either way it’s rubbish. Luckily there’s a 3.5mm jack you can use to attach an external mic, which again will be very handy for solo reporters.

Battery life will be a problem. Running a camera, a Wi-Wi connection and a mechanical gimbal takes its toll. The battery lasts about 60 minutes.

I didn’t have time to play with the Osmo’s auto-panorama mode, or long-exposure low light stills, or remote control. I didn’t get a chance to hang it out of a moving vehicle or see what it’ll do attached to a motorcycle. But what I did find was a simple and user-friendly solution to the common problem of shaky action cam footage, a device that could democratize the steadicam in the way that DJI’s camera drones are democratizing aerial footage.

The Osmo is intuitive, compact, light, reasonably sturdy and very capable. At AU$1,099 (or US$649) it’s not a cheap piece of kit, but you can pick one up for less than half that price if you already own a DJI Inspire One or Inspire Pro and wish to use the camera from either.

I can see this being an important product for DJI, and I can see the GoPro team scrambling to get a competing stabilized camera out there as quickly as they can. I’m looking forward to taking the Osmo for a longer test drive.

 

[qwerrty]

Police to trial drone technology in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset
0663.15 DJI Inspire in the air 3.JPG
Police embark on six-month trial

Police are to embark on a six-month trial of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), more commonly known as drones, in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset to aid officers in a number of policing matters including missing people searches and crime scene photography.

Starting on the 2nd of November, police in Devon and Cornwall will be able to call upon the services of two DJI Inspire 1 Drones which are equipped with high definition (HD) cameras which can capture both video and still images.

Dorset are currently undertaking final preparations and will be trialling in their area from 26th November.

Inspector Andy Hamilton who is heading up the trial said: “Drones offer many benefits that complement the National Police Air Service (NPAS) Helicopter. This technology offers a highly cost effective approach to missing person searches, crime scene photography, and responding to major road traffic collisions.

“Using a drone to capture footage on difficult terrain and hard to reach areas such as cliffs, woodland or the moors to find a missing person, combat wildlife crime or even a firearm incident, will allow officers to gain vital information, quickly, safely, and allow us to respond effectively at the scene.”

Civil Aviation (CAA) regulations state that drone operators must pass a national CAA accredited qualification. Currently the Force has three trained operators in place for the trial, including Inspector Hamilton, and there are plans to train further officers should the trial prove to be a success.

Insp Hamilton added: “This technology still has its limitations; the models we are trialling are currently unable to fly at night or in adverse weather, but having the option to put a drone in the air in a few minutes’ notice could help save lives.

“Both drones have a HD downlink which means officers on the ground can see live footage captured by the drone in the air. It can stay in the air for up to 18 minutes at a time before returning to the operator to change batteries. Each drone has several batteries and therefore can be kept operational for a prolonged period of time if required.”

A new twitter account has been created @DC_PoliceDrones which will keep the public informed about where and when the drone is in operational use within Devon and Cornwall, as well as sharing operational footage and images of the drone in action.

From the 2nd November one drone will be based in Exeter and the other in Plymouth.

Details surrounding Dorset’s drone will be confirmed later in November.

https://www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/News/newsarticle.aspx?id=9105fda9-aff3-43f4-8194-179afb7aca34

---

DJI takes on Intel and Qualcomm with its own supercomputer for drones

The Chinese startup wants to move beyond just consumer-facing drones and own the enterprise market as well

By Ben Popper on November 2, 2015 10:26 am

For the last two years our favorite drone here at The Verge has been the DJI Phantom. The Chinese startup has succeeded in large part because it built a unit cheap and easy enough for consumers, but powerful enough for professionals. Now that the FAA is granting commercial exemptions and US companies are finally taking flight, the majority of them are choosing to use DJI's consumer-facing drones for their business. Today, DJI announced the launch of the Manifold, a powerful computer that could allow DJI drones to perform far more complex mapping, data analysis, and image recognition, all in real time.

In making its own computer for advanced drone applications, DJI is taking on companies like Qualcomm and Intel, both of which have products in the works they hope will be the foundation underlying advanced computation for aerial robots. We saw Intel's RealSense powering cutting edge sense-and-avoid technology. More recently, Qualcomm announced SnapDragon Flight, a chipset optimized for use in drones. The Manifold runs an Ubuntu operating system and has a Quad-core ARM Cortex A-15 Processor and NVIDIA Kepler-based GPU. It also comes with USB, Ethernet, and HDMI ports.

This is the second product DJI has released that is aimed principally at the developer community. Back in June of this year it debuted the Matrice, the first DJI drone with robust sense-and-avoid technology. That unit also had a modular payload, meaning it will probably be easy for developers using the Matrice to side-load the Manifold. The average consumer is unlikely to ever use either of these devices. But the innovation they enable in terms of new hardware and software will no doubt trickle down quickly to improve DJI's more accessible drones.

https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/2/9657942/dji-manifold-computer-drone-developer-intel-qualcomm

 

[qwerrty]

DJI buys stake in the company behind the Apollo Moon camera
drones 05 November 15 by Emily Reynolds

Aerial photography has met cutting edge drone technology, as DJI has announced it will take a minority stake in the Hasselblad Group.

DJI is a Chinese aerial technology company, responsible for a number of innovations in drone technology. It recently unveiled the Manifold, an embedded supercomputer for drones, and has also released plans for a future concept drone that would allow users to 'sky paint' at will.

Hasselblad produces high-quality professional cameras and has a history of aerial photography -- some of it extreme; Hasselblad technology has been used on several NASA missions, including the first landing on the moon and several Apollo missions. Twelve Hasselblad cameras remain on the surface of the Moon.

Hasselblad and DJI hope that their partnership will "allow opportunities and new ways of combining the technical knowledge and inventive spirit" of the two companies.

"We are honoured to be partnering with DJI, the clear technology and market leader in its segment," said Perry Oosting, Hasselblad’s CEO. "DJI and Hasselblad are equally enthusiastic about creativity and excellence, and we are looking forward to sharing technical expertise and paving the way for future innovations."

In recent years, Hasselblad has made meaningful investments into aerial photography. Their partnership with DJI means this investment is likely to increase: the two companies will continue to create and manufacture separately, but are expected to work together strategically on decisions affecting their partnership.

"Hasselblad and DJI share a passion to provide creative people with cutting-edge, inventive technology to help them take visual storytelling to the next level," said Frank Wang, DJI’s Founder and CEO.

"With this partnership, we combine our strengths to further push the borders of what’s possible in imaging technology."

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-11/05/dji-acquires-hasselblad

DJI Zenmuse X5 Series

Hasselblad HV

 

[qwerrty]

The largest consumer drone maker in the world has a wild vision for its future
Cadie Thompson
16h 3,048

The largest consumer drone maker in the world has a wild vision for the future of drones.
The Chinese drone company DJI released a video on Tuesday that showcases its Phantom X Concept drone, a flying robot that is loaded with all kinds of impressive innovations.

The Phantom X Concept is still very much a concept, but the video shows the company’s vision for where it plans to take drone technology in the future.

"This video is a good answer to both and a look at how we think: We are always looking into the future to find new and creative ways to use technology," Adam Najberg, DJI's global director of communications, told Tech Insider.

Here’s a look at some of the most impressive features DJI shows off with its Phantom X Concept and where it sees drone technology going in the future.

DJI - Phantom X Concept

 

[cirr]

DJI buys stake in high-end camera firm Hasselblad

by Steve Dent

3 hours ago



Drone maker DJI has purchased a stake in Hasselblad, the company best known for medium-format still cameras and pimped out, overpriced Sony rebadges. The move is a bit of a head-scratcher, because we don't see a lot of synergy there -- Hasselblad's H-series cameras are far too heavy for drones and most models don't even shoot video. Furthermore, DJI recently unveiled its own drone-ready Micro-Four-Thirds camera. Nevertheless, DJI can certainly afford the minority share it purchased in Hasselblad, and now sits on the company's board of directors.

The companies will continue to operate normally for now, with Hasselblad building cameras in Sweden and DJI operating in Shenzhen, China. As for the future, Hasselblad just said "we are looking forward to sharing technical expertise and paving the way for future innovations," while DJI CEO Frank Wang added, "we (will) combine our strengths to further push the borders of what's possible in image technology." Lately, DJI has dabbled in cinema products (like handheld gimbals) not related to drones, so the tie-up could lead to either improved drone imaging or new photography products. Hopefully, it won't result in titanium, walnut and leather-clad DJI drones marked up by five times the original price.

DJI buys stake in high-end camera firm Hasselblad

 

[TaiShang]

DJI is unstoppable as long as they continue innovate and employ aggressive/predatory market strategies.

They are a true embodiment of the New Normal.

 

[Emperor Modi]

DJI is unstoppable as long as they continue innovate and employ aggressive/predatory market strategies.

They are a true embodiment of the New Normal.

Check tata's new drone, best seller in Indian market!

 

[Dungeness]

The largest consumer drone maker in the world has a wild vision for its future
Cadie Thompson
16h 3,048

The largest consumer drone maker in the world has a wild vision for the future of drones.
The Chinese drone company DJI released a video on Tuesday that showcases its Phantom X Concept drone, a flying robot that is loaded with all kinds of impressive innovations.

The Phantom X Concept is still very much a concept, but the video shows the company’s vision for where it plans to take drone technology in the future.

"This video is a good answer to both and a look at how we think: We are always looking into the future to find new and creative ways to use technology," Adam Najberg, DJI's global director of communications, told Tech Insider.

Here’s a look at some of the most impressive features DJI shows off with its Phantom X Concept and where it sees drone technology going in the future.

DJI - Phantom X Concept

Amazing! If hundreds of DJI can fly in formation, and controlled by a larger drone like CH-5........ Yo know what I am getting to.