DJI announces Avata 2, what's next?

[wco81]

Official: here’s the DJI Avata 2, possibly one of the best sequels in years

DJI’s mini FPV drone now gives you more for less.

www.theverge.com

More interested in advances in camera and video transmission upgrades.

Air 3S?

Mavic 4?

Which one this year?

 

[GFields]

Air 3s, doubtful. But who knows?

 

[mavic3usa]

Next up is the FPV 2. If it comes this year, it will probably be my next DJI drone purchase.

Why else would they make (and launch) the standalone accessory RC3 which is most useful for Manual mode.

I'm still learning and room to grow on Avata 1 so I'll wait on Avata 2 for now.

 

[Cafguy]

FPV 2
Air unit 4
DO I win the prediction bet .....For all you guys that thought I was crazy a few months back? lol
I did think they would have given us the Air Unit first.

 

[wco81]

How are Avata and FPV different?

 

[Cafguy]

The Avata is a CineWHoop meaning its propellers are inside a "thrust cage" and not exposed. The FPV is more of a freestyle type Drone with exposed props This gives the FPV MUCH more manuverability and is MUCH faster than the Avata The fpv is more at home flying in manual mode While the Avata is suited more for indoor use and around lots of things you are trying to avoid,

 

[DARKSeifer]

We already reached the point of diminishing returns on commercial drones, much like with DSLRs/Mirrorless, where the major improvements were made on the autofocus, but image quality wise my R6 is not any better than my 6D unless you are pixel peeping at 400%. so not a lot of hype for new releases.

Hopefully a Mavic 4 with a 7-28x optical zoom and an APS-C sensor, that gets quickly hacked to remove Aeroscope/RID.

Can a <900g drone mount a bigger sensor than a 4/3?
Can a <900g quad fly much longer than 30 real minutes with the current battery/motor tech?
Can we put more redundant lenses on small sensors that don't deliver the same quality as the main sensor?
Can the video signal go much further within the restraints of the regulation?
Can we get more tele? Yes, please

 

[GregS]

I have watched many videos of the Avata flying and most pilots are alone, and of course with goggles on.
So how do they get away with not having a visual observer?

 

[Torque]

I have watched many videos of the Avata flying and most pilots are alone, and of course with goggles on.
So how do they get away with not having a visual observer?

Shhh, we don't talk about that.

LOL, here is how a buddy and I do it: If we are flying in public or anywhere we may encounter people, vehicles, etc., we will fly one at time with the other acting as a spotter.

If we are flying the gaps in playground equipment at a schoolyard at 8 am on a Sunday morning, we will both fly at the same time. Same if we are flying in the wilderness/mountains - areas where there aren't any other people or vehicles. We fly low with the Avata, the camera drones are used for altitude flying, but the Avata is my weed wacker.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I have watched many videos of the Avata flying and most pilots are alone, and of course with goggles on.
So how do they get away with not having a visual observer?

The true answer is very simple: They don't get busted.

And this is mostly because they behave themselves and don't bother or risk others and their property. Also most LEOs are not versed on the minutiae of part 107 of the rules, so don't know lacking an observer is a violation.

The long record of safety now established over a decade of flying FPV quads shows it's an unnecessary rule, if certain conditions are met. The VO requirement is under review (@Vic Moss?), rumor is it's going to be relaxed under new requirements. What I'm hearing (pure rumor!) is no VO maintaining a low ceiling like 100ft, no people, some other stuff. I.e. out in the woods, fields, etc. where there are no people.

Change is coming. Real world experience doesn't justify the current rules. VLOS changes are on the way too.

 

[wco81]

Anyways, it would be nice to have another camera advancement, which is not what the Avata and FPV appear to be about.

Phones are pushing camera advancements, if only incremental ones, every year.

Drones of course have other important specs, such as flight time, range, video transmission speeds, incremental improvements in OAS.

But camera improvements should also be one of the key changes prompting people to upgrade.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I'd say the camera upgrade on the Avata 2 is a substantial upgrade over the Avata. Especially in lower light.

I wish they'd also copied the imaging pipeline over from the Mini 4P, but from what I can tell reading around the internet, it's not. Probably balancing power and flight time, couldn't afford the higher end chip without losing too much flight time, though pure speculation. Might have been a pricing issue too, with a more expensive image processor.

To be clear, mostly speculation above, I don't have any actual info other than specs.

 

[Vic Moss]

The true answer is very simple: They don't get busted.

And this is mostly because they behave themselves and don't bother or risk others and their property. Also most LEOs are not versed on the minutiae of part 107 of the rules, so don't know lacking an observer is a violation.

The long record of safety now established over a decade of flying FPV quads shows it's an unnecessary rule, if certain conditions are met. The VO requirement is under review (@Vic Moss?), rumor is it's going to be relaxed under new requirements. What I'm hearing (pure rumor!) is no VO maintaining a low ceiling like 100ft, no people, some other stuff. I.e. out in the woods, fields, etc. where there are no people.

Change is coming. Real world experience doesn't justify the current rules. VLOS changes are on the way too.

To my knowledge, the VO requirement isn't going anywhere. I do have a waiver to fly w/o a VO, but it's fairly restrictive.

Even my BVLOS waiver still requires a VO after a certain distance.

BVLOS Waiver Documentation - Drone Service Providers Alliance

As we promised, we are making the contents of our BVLOS waiver application public. Remember to tailor your waiver application to the needs of your operation. We strongly suggest that you watch our discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azwHvsqd2rM Documentation...

dspalliance.org

 

[wco81]

This blog is predicting Mini 5 Pro this summer.

DJI's Anticipated Drone Roadmap 2024 -

DJI, the powerhouse in consumer drone technology, is gearing up for an exciting 2024 with a rumored roadmap that promises to push the boundaries of innovation even further. With leaks…

blog.freewellgear.com

Mavic 4 and the successor to Air3 would not be until late this year or next year.


Do they iterate the Minis more frequently than the Mavic or the Air?

Seems like the next Mavic and Air should come before the next Mini, since the Mini 4 Pro was just released in September 2023.

So a Mini 5 Pro this summer would be less than a year between Mini 4 and Mini 5.

 

[mavic3usa]

This blog is predicting Mini 5 Pro this summer.

DJI's Anticipated Drone Roadmap 2024 -

DJI, the powerhouse in consumer drone technology, is gearing up for an exciting 2024 with a rumored roadmap that promises to push the boundaries of innovation even further. With leaks…

blog.freewellgear.com

Mavic 4 and the successor to Air3 would not be until late this year or next year.


Do they iterate the Minis more frequently than the Mavic or the Air?

Seems like the next Mavic and Air should come before the next Mini, since the Mini 4 Pro was just released in September 2023.

So a Mini 5 Pro this summer would be less than a year between Mini 4 and Mini 5.

A blog from Feb '24 predicting the DJI roadmap for the remainder of 2024 into 2025 and no mention of arguably DJI's better launches of recent and one of the most anticipated launches of the year, the Avata 2.....hmmmm!