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DJI ate them for breakfast, turns out a single better implemented feature doesn't make a competitive product (or even a survivable niche, apparently). At ~800g
by 05 3y ago
DJI ate them for breakfast, turns out a single better implemented feature doesn't make a competitive product (or even a survivable niche, apparently).
At ~800g AUW, sub-250g requirements just put the nail in the coffin - the avoidance tech doesn't scale down - a 2kg drone need the extra same weight in sensors and compute and battery to power that extra compute as a 249g one.
- snypher 3y agoPart 107 isn't really out of reach for most people.
- lazide 3y agoPart 107 is in reach for anyone with even moderate motivation, the ability to graduate highschool, and a somewhat clean record. There isn’t even a medical requirement!
- vwoolf 3y agoThe U.S. and Europe really shouldn't allow DJI sales: DJI is in effect part of the PLA, and they're amortizing military research across worldwide sales.
- skavi 3y agoMaybe you intend this, but that argument could be applied to many other product segments.
- justsomehnguy 3y ago> Europe There is a country what happily used DJI drones to harass their own people for years, and now happily use them to kill them and not only them.
- justinclift 3y agoExamples?
- lazide 3y agoSince when is Europe a country? Even the EU is at best a loose (and obviously voluntary/ephemeral what with the UK) collection of generally aligned states.
- rasz 3y agoI would readily agree with you (part of PLA, recruiting brightest minds with RoboMasters competition to build future AI driven drone swarms), except for the fact DJI sells top quality products at bottom dollar prices. If anything DJI is flooding the market with product so good and cheap it destroys any potential margins for western suppliers, forcing companies like Skydio into expensive niches. Same thing is happening with high quality cameras, Im sure GoPro is not happy, and neither is Blackmagic.
- Racing0461 3y agothe FAA reversed engineered the 250g limit specifically to make the cutoff not include these features.
- lazide 3y agoCite? It seemed more like a ‘eh good enough’ guess based on the amount of damage someone could actually do while staying under half a pound. (If crashed into someone/ingested into an engine, ran into a car on the highway, etc.). Similar to DMV licensing cutoffs. A lot easier to get a license to drive a scooter than a school bus or hazmat tanker.