Roswell Flight Test Crew videos from NAB 2015

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We're back in Las Vegas for NAB 2015, courtesy of our official travel sponsor: GoProfessional Cases. Last year, there were plenty of interesting multirotor systems to see, but this year, they have taken over the show. They are everywhere, and they even have their own space set aside on the convention floor: the Aerial Robotics and Drone pavilion.

First up for your viewing pleasure is the brand-new Solo quadcopter from 3D Robotics. With it, you can clearly see 3DR migrating towards DJI's consumer-friendly approach to drones with a cartridge-style battery, sophisticated autonomous flight functions and an integrated, Wi-Fi-based video streaming to a smart phone or tablet.

Techinstein came within a whisker of getting to fly the Solo for you, so that he could give you a first-hand report on its flight characteristics, but at the last minute somebody from further up the food chain stepped in and clipped our wings.

We were disappointed, of course, but that may well have been for the best... It could have been opening-day jitters, but 3DR had a lot of these things going down inside the cage. We saw one crash ourselves, and one of our friends from That Drone Show actually got clipped by a propeller while he was inside the flight cage getting some footage.

Whatever you can say about their aircraft performance, you have to hand it to 3DR in terms of having their marketing material squared away. Although the product won't be released until May, their booth was littered with retail box mock-ups and they had a great slogan, something along the lines of: “Are you ready to fly Solo?”

 

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As usual when we've got a big surge of videos coming out of an event like NAB, I'm getting them up on YouTube faster than I can link to them from our blog, our Facebook page, and other social media assets. That said, we stopped by the DJI booth on the first day of NAB to take a look at the new Phantom 3, which comes in two flavors: Advanced (HD video) and Professional (4K video).

Apart from the camera, both include several new features: an integrated Lightbridge HD video transmitter, and an optical-flow sensor package (Techinstein assures me that this is a real thing) – which basically works like an optical mouse to help the aircraft maintain its position by referencing details on the ground. Better than a roller ball, I suppose...

Anyway, in spite of persistent begging and sniveling, we got nowhere in our attempts to go hands-on with the aircraft so you, like us, we'll have to take the word of the people we interviewed about its stability in the air.

Special thanks to our friends at MediaFX Video Production for their help on this and all of our other NAB videos for their invaluable assistance in getting them all shot and turned around in a timely manner.

 

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In my estimation, Yuneec is a dark horse in the civilian drone market. They haven't made as big a name for themselves as some other manufacturers (DJI, 3DR), but they keep plugging away and turning out increasingly sophisticated aircraft with cool features.

With the Tornado H920 hexacopter, it's an advanced flight control system that is capable of detecting and compensating for the loss of a single motor, propeller, ESC, whatever. And, yes, I know all hexacopters and above have some redundant capacity build in, but I've seen them fail in real-life situations – and what Yuneec is promising hear goes well beyond that.

Add to that the V18 camera gimbal, which incorporates a Sony sensor an 18x optical zoom with auto-focus capability and you've got yourself a very robust system for tactical and industrial applications. Also, swap out the gimbal and you've got yourself a very competent aerial cinema rig.

The $8,000 price tag puts this out of the reach of most hobbyists, but that really isn't the target market for a unit like this. It's been designed with the professional user in mind, and I think it's quite a competitive entry in that field.

And hobbyists, despair not: we re-visit Yuneec in an upcoming NAB video to take a look at their consumer-oriented Typhoon H500 4K quadcopter – which is also pretty cool!

 

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I... Want... This... Thing... I've been dreaming about building a big ship like this for a couple of years now, but the Monster X is even better than anything I could come up with on my own. Given the sheer size of the aircraft, it's interesting that the smallest details really make it stand out: the screws with pass-throughs for safety wires to prevent them from being shaken loose during flight, and the high-modulus carbon fiber, ensuring that the airframe holds its shape, even under a heavy load.

One crucial fact that didn't make it into the video: George confirmed for me that they are indeed working on a folding version, which I personally believe is mandatory in an aircraft of this size – unless you're only ever going to fly it off your back deck. If it can't fit inside a normal car or checked airline baggage, any aircraft – no matter how awesome – is going to be of limited utility.

George also let me know he's going to make the limbs a couple of inches shorter. Even with larger props attached, they'll still clear the main body of the aircraft with ease. Keep an eye on Sky High Media's website after AUVSI for updates about the folding Monster X. Once it becomes available, if you've been struggling to come up with a birthday gift you think I might like... Well, anyway, enough said.

 

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Unless this is your very first visit to our blog, you know that I don't shy away from hefty aircraft. While I appreciate the reasoning behind designing aircraft to be as light as possible, I personally prefer a robust but powerful aircraft, strong enough to be agile in spite of its mass.

However, after cradling the 3.5 kilogram – 7.7 pound! – Voyager 3 hexacopter in my arms for the ten minutes it took to complete this interview, even I was thinking to myself: “Wow! Couldn't they have used a little more carbon fiber in this build!?”

That said, it would be hard to overstate how sturdy this thing felt. There was nothing delicate or flimsy at all about this aircraft, based on the time I spent with it. In the way-back time, Techinstein built an aircraft that I dubbed “The Flying Anvil” for its heft – but this thing could definitely claim that title for its own.

While it does bear what I'm sure is a purely coincidental resemblance to a drone recently released by another manufacturer (*cough* Inspire One *cough*), it would be a mistake to dismiss it as a simple knock-off, as it includes a number of stand-out features. These include an integrated FPV screen with a video out (so you can leave your iPad at home), and a series of indicator lights that are much easier to understand and accurately interpret than the blinking lights that DJI uses to keep the pilot informed about aircraft status.

 

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It can't be said enough, I think: while it's the sexy applications (aerial cinematography, tactical operations) that get all the press, the largest market in the world for drones is in agriculture. So, I think it was smart for our friends and neighbors at Aerial Technology International to build a bird to fill this niche.

ATI has got a lot more cool stuff in the works, and we'll be sure to keep you posted (so long as we can find the time to actually spending 20 minutes driving over to their shop!) By the way, poor Stephen, who you met in this video, was felled the following day by food poisoning. Apparently, he was totally out of action during the final day of NAB.

I, for one, could certainly empathize with him. While we were driving up to the Winthrop Balloon Round Up a few years back, I got a bad salad in Grand Coulee and spent the next few days doing my best Linda Blair impression from the original Exorcist film.

 

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In my write-up about the H920 Tornado a few days ago, I already offered ample plaudits to Yuneec as a potential dark horse in the multirotor market. I don't want to belabor the point, but the enthusiast-prosumer oriented Q500 Typhoon provides several additional examples of why I'm a believer in the company.

One thing which was true at NAB was that a lot of aircraft are coming out with cartridge-style batteries: one more product feature where the DJI Phantom has led the way. I've noticed while reading the comments in response to these videos that every time an aircraft includes a cartridge-style battery, at least one person leaves a comment grousing about the price, the compatibility with their existing charger, and so forth – and I'm personally sympathetic to those concerns.

Well, enter Yuneec, which gives you two batteries with the aircraft, instead of the usual one. It's not the same as letting you use your existing stockpile of Li-Pos, but at least they're demonstrating some respect for the fact that you're not likely to head out to the field and only fly it once.

Similarly, including the hand-held gimbal adapter was a classy move. Absolutely nobody would have complained if they didn't include it, but it does add a lot of additional functionality to the system – and they're including it as part of the base package. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come out with next, and hopefully trying out the 4K Typhoon for ourselves!

 

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You know that you've truly arrived in a field like video production and broadcasting when specialized companies in that field start making hardware to support you. That's what we saw when we stopped by the Blackmagic Design booth at NAB and saw their new Micro Cinema Camera.

To be sure, it could be used in a lot of different applications – from handheld gimbals to race cars – but, to me, the giveaway that Blackmagic is trying to establish a foothold in the drone world is the fact that this camera's expansion port will accept native RC control inputs, either by PWM or Futaba S.Bus. Add to that it outputs analog video for your FPV system, just like the original GoPro, and you know that this thing was made to fly.

It looks like a great camera, even apart from those tell-tale features... A global shutter means no Jello and 13 stops of wide dynamic range means that you can simultaneously see details in light and in shadow. The only question is whether the camera will live up to its formidable specifications. I guess we'll have to wait until July to find out...

 

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This was the second year that we were able to attend NAB, and one of the great joys of this experience has been getting to re-visit people and products we had seen the year before. As you can see, we caught up with aerial cinematographer Ziv Marom – a working professional who in his spare time (?) is developing a line of multirotors to handle everything from GoPros to Arri Alexas.

He has substantially refined his designs over the past 12 months, and I am really impressed by how compact they fold up. Now, I like big birds (and I cannot lie), as well as some of the accessories that he's working on: most especially the weatherproof housing. However, I don't see my budget including $30,000+ for the Xfold Dragon anytime soon <sigh>.

 

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Ziv is a cool guy. And the X fold rigs looks awesome. I really like the fact that he is actually DOING it and designing what he uses, not just selling it.

 

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Yep, when you start building big and lifting heavy weights the prices go up really fast. I had over $12k in components for a 1260mm heavy lift rig before getting to the landing gear and gimbals.

 

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Freefly makes some extremely serious-looking hardware – most likely because it is actually extremely serious hardware. This is gear for the professional filmmaker, which as it happens I am not, so my knowledge of their equipment is about as limited as you would expect: in other words, virtually nonexistent.

While I'd heard of the Movi gimbal before and was aware of its reputation as a top-tier product in the market, I did not realize, for example, that the company had never produced its own aircraft before the Alta, which you saw in this video. Clearly, this was no freshman effort, however: I didn't get to see it fly, but I was really impressed with how quickly and how compact it folded up for storage or transport.

Another piece of information that was news to me was that Freefly has developed their own flight control system in-house – the Synapse. Clever name, but I thought Nick Hegge was borderline evasive when I asked him what I thought was a softball question about its capabilities. Maybe they're still trying to nail down the final list of features before it ships in June.s

To me, the stand-out feature of the Alta was the first one I noticed: the gimbal can be mounted on top of the aircraft, which is unique so far as I am aware. It's a really smart idea that opens up a lot of creative possibilities. In fact, it's such as a great idea, I think I might like to steal it!

 

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DSLRPros managed to put together probably the single most eye-catching display I saw at NAB 2015: a prototype of their new Tayzu robotics quadcopter, floating in a Lexan cube full of water. Nothing says you're confident in having waterproofed your product like actually leaving it bobbing in a bucket of water on public display for four days straight.

This new aircraft won't be released for another four months, so we didn't get anywhere near seeing it fly while we were in Las Vegas, so I certainly can't speak to its performance. However, I did like the looks of it. Yes, the color scheme is white-on-white, similar to the ubiquitous Phantom, but it had some distinctive features that set it apart, including: angular geometry and a sharp-looking graphics package that gives it a retro-futuristic look.

If the HAL-9000 was embedded in a quadcopter instead of the USSC Discovery One, this would be it. The one thing it seems to lack is a name: if Donald Scott ever mentioned what we're supposed to call this thing, I missed it.

 

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Seeing as GoProfessional Cases is our official travel sponsor, and made it possible or us to attend NAB 2015, you had to know that we were going to stop by their booth for a visit during our trip to Las Vegas. We were surprised to see all of the new products that they had come up with just in the past month or two...

For those of you who haven't met him in person, Rick is a force of nature. He is relentless in coming up with new products to support people who travel and work with drones. We keep in pretty close touch with him and the rest of the GPC team, and we were completely caught off guard by the new battery cases that they've introduced – although they're a great idea, especially for people who have to travel by air with their batteries.

When you add that to all of new cases he's introduced for the 3DR Solo, FPV racing quads, the Yuneec Typhoon and the Walkera H500, it's enough to make you wonder if he ever sleeps... They did bring Jordan on board to help Rick out – I just hope he can keep up! Good luck, Jordan!