What more do you need from a recreation drone?

[Bad Santa]

The thing that kept me from buying a high end drone, for so long, was the fear of crashing, the fear of flying off, fear of wind and the fear of not bringing it back to land due to directional confusion.

So, with my Mini 4 Pro, it seems to have overcome those fears.
• Obstacle avoidance
• RTH on lost signal (plus amazing signal distance)
• Strong enough to handle 20mph winds
• RTH at a push of a button

Adding in benefits of a remarkably stable camera
Stop on joystick release
GPS hover
Auto landing
Great battery life, all things considered
And so much more

The question is, what more can you add to a drone to make it better?
Improvements can be made via software.
Eventually there might be a better battery technology to extend flight time
But I don't see much room for improvement.

I could see a possible build program for flight planning (might already exist) where someone could program an entire flight, like they do with drone light shows, that is easy to use but that's not necessarily a drone improvement.

What more do we need?

 

[GFields]

Exactly!

 

[MARK (LI)]

You have waypoints in the mini4pro

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It is a lot easier to do than it looks like in the video and results in smooth cinematic video... here is one I did in my neighborhood

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[Bad Santa]

You have waypoints in the mini4pro

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Accept third party cookies

It is a lot easier to do than it looks like in the video and results in smooth cinematic video... here is one I did in my neighborhood

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Yes, and that's nice but they're just waypoints.
Imagine a 3d map where you could program a flight line and bend the line to all different directions and altitudes. And then have rotation points you could add for camera angles. Even possibilities of zoom, speed of flight, etc.

There's a lot of room for an improvement in automatic controls (with operator override, of course) that could be made.

 

[MARK (LI)]

I think the only feature missing from your list is the 3d map

 

[Erk1024]

What more do we need?

You might give the Avata-2 a try. It's a lot more FUN to fly. Camera drones are great for taking photos and video, but with the Avata2 it's like you're flying an x-wing fighter. And it's more durable, so you can take a few more risks with it. And this style of drone can take a different style of video. You can get that "diving down waterfalls" thrilling footage. It's a different and complementary experience. All I'm saying is that if you're looking to get maximal enjoyment out of drones, it's worth trying the Avata2 and/or FPV drones.

That being said, if I want to take a photo of something, the Avata2 is quite bad at that.

These guys are having a blast (skip to 9:46 in the video)

 

[mavic3usa]

Looking forward to full integration with the 6G mobile network and all the benefits that will come with that.

 

[Bad Santa]

Looking forward to full integration with the 6G mobile network and all the benefits that will come with that.

OT
I heard 6G causes windmill cancer

 

[Cafguy]

What more do we need?

Only one thing really. A module that would allow me to use any controller I want.

 

[kentdavidge]

The two fundamental things I need in a drone are

- long flight time
- strong signal

Back when getting my private pilot license, I was trained to fly/land an aircraft relying only on visual sight (no computers). Of course a drone is a different bird but I don't need RTH and obstacle avoidance... specially because I rarely fly to a site that I have not previously "inspected" (as we do with aircraft), so no surprises along the way.

 

[Bad Santa]

The two fundamental things I need in a drone are

- long flight time
- strong signal

Back when getting my private pilot license, I was trained to fly/land an aircraft relying only on visual sight (no computers). Of course a drone is a different bird but I don't need RTH and obstacle avoidance... specially because I rarely fly to a site that I have not previously "inspected" (as we do with aircraft), so no surprises along the way

I have only flown visual in an actual plane but I've flown instrument only simulators.
Both have merits.

I would have been far more into remote control toys if it weren't for the visual swapping on the controls. You know, when it's coming at you, you have to switch your mind. I can't do it. So, Obstacle avoidance is big for me. So is RTH as it bypasses my unswitchable brain when needed.

If flying a plane to a new airport, most people won't drive there first to do a visual inspection.

 

[mavic3usa]

The two fundamental things I need in a drone are

- long flight time
- strong signal

Back when getting my private pilot license, I was trained to fly/land an aircraft relying only on visual sight (no computers). Of course a drone is a different bird but I don't need RTH and obstacle avoidance... specially because I rarely fly to a site that I have not previously "inspected" (as we do with aircraft), so no surprises along the way.

For a drone, I would argue the current RTH isn't good enough. It needs to be better and there are more improvements on the way. You are already starting to see them whether it's a drone that can retrace it's path for some or all of it's return flight path or a drone that known when to pick an alternate landing site should the situation evolve. I know where I am flying as well but when happens when there is a malfunction and you "permanent" lose the signal connection to your drone? What if you drop your remote into a lake? Are we sure our drone will come home? I like the settings Hover, Land, or Home but we need AI RTH where the drone is smart enough to figure what is the best way to get the drone home. And it will be based on a combination of things from weather/wind to terrain to battery life to current signal strength and others plus a bunch of new AI-related factors like emergency situation or homepoint-in-motion. "Real AI" will fundamentally change the recreational drone hobby.

 

[msinger]

What more do we need?

Just when you think nothing else could be added, DJI goes and adds LiDAR to the Air 3S. I'm sure they'll continue to innovate and implement new features we didn't think we needed.

 

[Bad Santa]

For a drone, I would argue the current RTH isn't good enough. It needs to be better and there are more improvements on the way. You are already starting to see them whether it's a drone that can retrace it's path for some or all of it's return flight path or a drone that known when to pick an alternate landing site should the situation evolve. I know where I am flying as well but when happens when there is a malfunction and you "permanent" lose the signal connection to your drone? What if you drop your remote into a lake? Are we sure our drone will come home? I like the settings Hover, Land, or Home but we need AI RTH where the drone is smart enough to figure what is the best way to get the drone home. And it will be based on a combination of things from weather/wind to terrain to battery life to current signal strength and others plus a bunch of new AI-related factors like emergency situation or homepoint-in-motion. "Real AI" will fundamentally change the recreational drone hobby.

The RTH is independent of the remote. If you drop it in a lake or the battery dies, the drone will RTH if you set things right before the flight.
Better RTH is a software update. The hardware is already there. Same with retracing the route.
I like the idea of "repeat flight" where you can, for instance, take a flight in the spring, repeat it in the fall, and again in the winter to do an overlap of the seasons. It might even exist already and I just haven't explored that far.

 

[Bad Santa]

Just when you think nothing else could be added, DJI goes and adds LiDAR to the Air 3S. I'm sure they'll continue to innovate and implement new features we didn't think we needed.

LiDar is cool but where would a recreational flyer need it? I'm not being rude, I'm actually curious if there's a reason?

 

[msinger]

LiDar is cool but where would a recreational flyer need it? I'm not being rude, I'm actually curious if there's a reason?

Is there really much difference between a recreational flyer and a commercial flyer? Both humans flying a drone. Both probably want to avoid obstacles.

I guess one could argue the Mini 4 Pro has too many features now too. Does any flyer really need any sensors on the drone? Why not just manually avoid?

 

[mavic3usa]

The RTH is independent of the remote. If you drop it in a lake or the battery dies, the drone will RTH if you set things right before the flight.
Better RTH is a software update. The hardware is already there. Same with retracing the route.
I like the idea of "repeat flight" where you can, for instance, take a flight in the spring, repeat it in the fall, and again in the winter to do an overlap of the seasons. It might even exist already and I just haven't explored that far.

RTH is far for being good. Neither the hardware nor the software is even close to being good. We will improve it by leaps and bounds. Plenty of people launch their drone and they never see it again. We're going to fix that. Have already started by not requiring a good GPS lock at home.....

What about if you move? Is that independent of the remote? Even though it 2024, I guess we can pretend it's 2014 and you can go into the menu and press "Update home point" or we can get creative and find a solution.....

As battery life goes to 1 hr and 2 hrs and 3 hrs and VLOS is legal and common....we're going to need this because outdated RTH solutions of today will be inadequate.

 

[Wreckhunter]

The thing that kept me from buying a high end drone, for so long, was the fear of crashing, the fear of flying off, fear of wind and the fear of not bringing it back to land due to directional confusion.

So, with my Mini 4 Pro, it seems to have overcome those fears.
• Obstacle avoidance
• RTH on lost signal (plus amazing signal distance)
• Strong enough to handle 20mph winds
• RTH at a push of a button

Adding in benefits of a remarkably stable camera
Stop on joystick release
GPS hover
Auto landing
Great battery life, all things considered
And so much more

The question is, what more can you add to a drone to make it better?
Improvements can be made via software.
Eventually there might be a better battery technology to extend flight time
But I don't see much room for improvement.

I could see a possible build program for flight planning (might already exist) where someone could program an entire flight, like they do with drone light shows, that is easy to use but that's not necessarily a drone improvement.

What more do we need?

The Mavic 4 pro

 

[old man mavic]

no matter what attributes our drones have ,we in the drone world, live in an if only culture, where when any new drone is released, we go if only it had such and such ,and its this that keeps drone producers, adding ever more and more features ,and then when we have all these wonderful features, we dont use most of them ,because we either dont need them,or we dont like them,or we forget how to use them ,when we are out flying

 

[Bad Santa]

I don't understand the dislike for the RTH.
The RTH, as I understand it, relies on GPS. The drone would head to a certain height (variable in the remote menu, that programs into the drone) and then heads to GPS coordinates, then proceeds to do a vertical landing. So as long as the area directly above the home set point, the drone can land safely.

LiDar, as I understand it, is able to see THROUGH obstacles. I don't know how that would help someone land or even navigate while flying. I'd like to hear how it would help.

There also seems to be some dislike for the obstacle avoidance. I think it's good. I've crashed into trees but, that was in a drone that wouldn't stop in one spot when the controls were released. Yeah. it was a cheap drone. I have a handful of them.

I got lucky with a RC plane. As I've mentioned, I get the directions mixed up when flying towards me. Once I was in a forest clearing and took off. When I was bringing the plane back I swapped the sticks and took the plane right into the trees. The people in the picnic area said I was zooming all around the trees (trying to gauge where it was by the sound) and missed every tree. I made a dozen turns in that forest and have no idea how I didn't crash it but that's why "I" need obstacle avoidance.

For reference, the pic below is where I was flying that plane.