DJI competitor?

[Manty]

https://www.skydio.com/

Looks interesting!!!!

 

[THE CYBORG]

I think the claim “The most advanced AI flying on the planet” could be a slight exaggeration.

 

[Manty]

lol!

 

[Starz]

A possibility.
And they certainly went all out on the promotion.
They statement “tracks you,even when it can’t see you” would need more investigating.

 

[WithTheBirds]

A possibility.
And they certainly went all out on the promotion.
They statement “tracks you,even when it can’t see you” would need more investigating.

The answer is in the link- sky beacon. Would seem to be similar to the functionality of enrolling a phone or other device as the target in autopilot (now hangar) airspace or litchi magic leash. Presumably the drone is tracking the GPS position of the sky beacon device. It may even incorporate a barometer to slow for altitude tracking also.

 

[Starz]

The looks remind me of the GoPro debacle.

 

[DoomMeister]

A possibility.
And they certainly went all out on the promotion.
They statement “tracks you,even when it can’t see you” would need more investigating.

I would suspect they are using GPS tracking along the lines that Yuneec uses. GPS on both aircraft and ground station.

 

[RTKD]

I think the claim “The most advanced AI flying on the planet” could be a slight exaggeration.

It sure is, but if they had said " the most advanced on the market" they'd have been able to argue that. The R1 was pretty amazing:

I applaud anyone that dares to wade into the drone market, DJI's massive market share isn't going anywhere. I'd have a hard time getting used to trusting the sensors, I never even use RTH.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

I think the claim “The most advanced AI flying on the planet” could be a slight exaggeration.

There's another topic on this forum covering the same thing. They absolutely can claim that; their 1st product release was the R1 a year ago and they blew everyone out of the water in terms of autonomous flying. They make flying selfie cameras that auto follow someone, that's all this UAS does; but they do it way better than anyone. It does not have the range, optics, or versatility of a DJI Mavic/Phantom and IMO it's not in the same category.

Point being, the claims they're putting on their website are very likely accurate based on the past products they've released to the public.

 

[Mossiback]

When the time comes to replace my 2+ year old MP, I will definitely consider them. It looks like they have DJI beat in the OA catagory. It would be nice if they did not use WiFi but perhaps by then that will also improve.

 

[paulatkin73]

really, depends upon how sturdy their gimbal mount is and how it will survive crashes.
not if i EVER got close to crashing any of my mavics - dunno, so far i like em a lot - but, the gimbal arms construction on mavics is horrible.
as of buying skydio - dunno, i do not feel they offer anything at all that i do not already have with M2Z and M2P. and as of their claims about object avoidance superiority - i would wait for tests to show that, how well it will see and avoid power wires and small branches.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

We will have to wait and see what sales of this product tells us. Math is always the compelling factor in determining the true worth and public acceptance. It's never price (maybe marketing plays into it a bit). Skydio R1 didn't out sale MP and the MP is/was more expensive. Sales will tell us everything. Like I mentioned on the other post:

"Micro 2/3 chip set and I didn't see any night shots . . . won't work for me. I just don't see any manufacture (in the near future) developing anything close to OcuSync 2.0 . . . EDIT: I would like to see DJI develop something like the Skydio Beacon. A hand held remote will add another dimension to their arsenal and creativity to the content creator. . ."

Skydio 2 - pre-orders open at $999 US Only so far

Skydio launched their "pre-orders" - $999 for drone - $149 for "Beacon controller" $149 for long range controller. https://www.skydio.com/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/01/skydios-second-gen-self-flying-drone-is-faster-smaller-and-half-the-price/ Well I put in an pre-order as I had just...

mavicpilots.com

DJI Spark has a market and a following . . . so will Skydio R2.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

really, depends upon how sturdy their gimbal mount is and how it will survive crashes.
not if i EVER got close to crashing any of my mavics - dunno, so far i like em a lot - but, the gimbal arms construction on mavics is horrible.

I agree with you paulatkin73. The MP Series is hard to crash . . . but it happens. I wouldn't buy a drone (solely) on its ability to survive a crash . . . However, I would use this logic when buying a car for my daughter . . .

I'd prefer to avoid the crash in the first place (which is just one reason we are all on this site, we have and fly Mavics).

A brilliant statement by RayOZ on the other post is worth sharing:

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

It depends what you want a drone for in todays (tomorrows) market.
If you want cinematic video, the Skidio products probably aren't for you (yet).
If you want an awesome adventure drone that really has (what look like) incredible tracking features, then it is probably worth looking at deeper.

There will be other cinematic drone makers coming up to meet DJI current superiority, but marketing a product well, you will get a following and once a DJI buyer has entered under their product(s).
It's hard to change to another brand once you know one well, so both will have a following, until one falters a little and rips away market share.

Interesting times ahead, we'll also see what new and future drone legislation worldwide might do to sales, and market size.

 

[RayOZ]

Don’t think DJI would be too worried. This is for a specific subset of users. Just like the different models of DJI drones are for different target users.
This one is more of a selfie drone, for people who
1. Like to watch videos of themselves or show others videos of themselves
2. Have no friends (with drones) or have friends with drones (but not good with fine tune controls and don’t want to crash their expensive drone) or friends with drone but who would rather take photos and videos of other things in a safe way.

 

[old man mavic]

A possibility.
And they certainly went all out on the promotion.
They statement “tracks you,even when it can’t see you” would need more investigating.

if it cant see you could it be fined for letting you get beyond VLOS