Read more.Quote:
The quadcopter drone is stowed in the top of the phone, which otherwise looks like a regular slab.
Printable View
Read more.Quote:
The quadcopter drone is stowed in the top of the phone, which otherwise looks like a regular slab.
*awaits Saracen and Le Cat Cinq to join in on the obvious privacy flaws*
Me, the 13th duke of wimborne, here, in the field next to the local naturist beach with my new smartphone mini drone cam? Ding dong...
https://external-content.duckduckgo....jpg&f=1&nofb=1
on the upside, given the small size of the thing, most birds will be able to take it down, and finding the thing if it loses signal will be a nightmare. It's bad enough finding a regular drone (so I'm told) but this thing will be like hunting for a golf ball in the scrub. Be useful in alton towers though to see the length of the queues. Or scribble a post it and fly it over the crowd to the barman to get your order in. There are some building surveys etc where being able to see the roof might help (but those folk tend to have proper drones anyway by now). Where else could this reasonably be used? Is this a solution to a problem that isn't really there?
Great , kids could have fun firing catapaults at swarms of these little buggers buzzing about. Could see this becoming a public nuisance if it takes off ( excuse the pun. lol ).
For indoor use maybe, but outside, anything stronger than a sneeze is going to blow it all over the place..
it's a gimmick, a drone needs a certain weight to make it stable, in anything but still air it's going to be impossible to control
Thereby creating a lucrative market in spares and replacements. Now I see their thinking...Quote:
Originally Posted by cptwhite_uk
This is just a speculative patent. I doubt vivo have any plans to actual make the damn thing. It just stops someone else doing it (without having to pay at least) plus it increases the companies patent portfolio which helps valuations.
Yep, looks like patent squatting/trolling/good-business-sense depending on which side of that debate you fall down on :)Quote:
Originally Posted by cheesemp
I do like pocket drones, and have built/bought a few miniture ones...but as cptwhite_uk says they will be useless outdoors in most cases, unless it's perfectly still.
My smallest is 10x10cm with props (still bigger than the ones you'd have in a phone), and I won't fly that outside unless the conditions are perfectly still - the slightest breeze takes it away.
Even my Mavic Mini, which is 24x29cm unfolded (ish) struggles with any wind, although the flight computer does a good job of fighting it.
A tiny drone like that just won't work outside, sadly!
April 1st hasn't snuck around early, has it? No?
Okay, treating that design as serious for a sec ....
My first thoughts aren't so much the privacy issues but the fact that, at least in the UK (and most westernised countries) legislation will not allow that design, unless the user is prepared to do basic drone courses and tests (A2CofC), and even then, it will be way to heavy to fly except in very limited locations.
Take a look at the changes in current rules. The old rules regime ended at the start of the year and we're currently in transition. That ends at start of 2023 and then, anything weighing more than 250g (and what smartphone doesn't?) is going to fall outside the "fly almost anywhere" class and be very retsricted in use.
Which is why Spud's Mavic Mini and my Mini 2 are damned good buys. Even the bigger Mavic's, let alone smartphone-drones, unless the CAA issue restrospective Class certificates, are going to be damned near unusable outside of private land a good distance from people, cars (and other vehicles) and (off the top of my head) "residential, commercial, industrial or recreational" areas, and a goodly distance from any people.
Personally, these things are either:Quote:
Originally Posted by Saracen999
1)deauthing practice (makes 'em drop)
2)target practice
Which, in the UK at least, would be criminal damage if you get caught. At least. Bear in mind one of the users of such devices is the police.Quote:
Originally Posted by philehidiot
Any responsible user is considerate in use, and indeed up to a point is required to be. But also bear in mind that depending on the class of drone, a legit user can fly them anywhere, unless specifically prohibited from doing so on eiher a temporary or permanent basis, and even property owners do not have rights over airspace over their own property. That doesn't mean that one can be flown low down over your garden, or outside a window, and it doesn't mean it can be used to invade your privacy or harass, but it does mean that the CAA controls the airspace over your property and anyone with the requisite traing and CAA approval (like me) can fly over private property, just like a 747 or the police helicopters can.
Besides which, you're not likely to find me flying low down over your property. I do take off and land over mine, but not before talking to the neighbours, telling them what I'm doing and getting their approval .... not that I actually need it, but it's simple neighbourly good manners and a touch of consideration beforehand usually avoids arguments or problems afterwards.
I remember visiting a neighbour about 25 years ago and asking if they were experiencing any issues from my new radio gear. "Well, yes, " they said, and on prompting explained "We didn't like to say, but we're getting this interference pattern pretty regularly". When I asked what it looked like, they pointed at the TV and told me it's doing it now.
"Ummmm", I said, and pointed out the obvious .... as I was sitting on their sofa, and they were welcome to come next door with me and check that my radios were turned off, it probably wasn't my radios causing their problem. :D
On checking their antenna lead, they found dodgy shielding and a partially broken connector, changed the cable for about £2, and guess what? Yup, no more problem.
I doubt they'll try to market it as a solution to anything. Many products these days - particularly those at the forefront of innovation / gimmickry - try to create their own market, or anticipate a market.Quote:
Originally Posted by ik9000
It's the drone weight - not the weight of the drone + phone and that drone will be way under 250gQuote:
Originally Posted by Saracen999
/me let out a 80 db sigh.
Hmmm... Phoney Drones sound cool for about 2 seconds and you think through the consequences of every chav wanting one (as I recall the stupid laser-pointer incident during England's penalty in last night's Euro match).
Not what my training said. It's the flying "mass" of the unit, i.e. MTOM, Maximum Take-Off Mass. Or to be specific, that's the basic criteria but depending on Class, there can also be velocity (19m/s) and kinetic energy (80J) limits they, and especially the latter, relate to havier drones.Quote:
Originally Posted by 3dcandy
If I add even prop guards or a little plastic set of landing rails, by "under 250g" drone which is actually about 241g, goes over the 250g limit and nolonger qualifies for that class, so can't be used.
Note - it isn't the design mass, or mass at retail time, but a limit on the maximum mass as it takes off. The Mini 2 I have is pretty small, but I only have about 8g to play with before the MTOM would go over (or to be more accurate, not be less than) 250, which might include an ultr bright LED, or the prop gurds, skids I already mentioned. I can add any of those I like, but if it hits 250g or more as a result, it moves the drone out of subcategory A1 - Under 250g and into A1 Transitional. Until end of next year, these are treated as A1 aircraft, but in the >=250 and <500g section and even in transition, you mustn't fly over people intentionally, After transition ends, they will be treated as A3, unlike the sub-250g drones for which their current A1 provisions are permanent.
Anything of 500g or more, even during transition, is treated as A2 and mustn't be flown within 50m (horizontal distance) of (uninvolved) people. Over (or at) 500g and <2kg MTOM and they're classed as A3.
Argh. This is horrible to try to cover.
Let me try again.
After 1/1/23, all drones will either ber officially classified with a C rating (C0 to C4) depending on primarily, MTOM, but also maxspeed and kinetic energy.
They fall variously into the A1, A2 or A3 subcategory of the "Open" category.
All the old rules ceased to apply at the start of this year so, right now, unless a drone has a C lass (and unless it's lauched very recently, nothing does, anywhere), they'll be treated as "legacy" aircraft, and in various A1 to A3 subcategories until end of next year whentransition ends.
At that point, anything under 250g remains unaffected, but any legacy drones of 250g or more go into A3, which is substantially restricted.
Right now, weight classes go from sub 250g, 250-sub-500g, 500g to sub 2Kg and up. After transition, it changes a bit with another cutoff between 250 and 2kg at 900g, but we'll also by then either be flying drones with a C rating, or "legacy" but other than sub 250g, the "legacy" drones get treated much more harshly than in transition.
What you need in transition in terms of CAA approval also varies. Under 250g and you need an operator ID if it has a camera, and have read the drone manual. Over 250g and you need that, and a Flyer ID (which requires completing a basic online test called DMARES) and an A2 Cof C test.
This all changes around a bit after transition ends, but then it's down to sub-250g being effectively unchanged, "legacy" over 250g treated as A3, and everything else by the C0 to C4 class, which is restricted by MTOM, max speed and for some, kinetic energy.
In any event, since the start of this year at least, it's the MTOM that matters which, if a smartphone is on the drone, i.e. used as the camra system on the drone, will include the phone.
If, on the other hand, the phone is part of the controller unit and held by the operator, then it isn't part of MTOM because it stays firmly on the ground. But in that case, it's exactly how many existing drones (including my Mini 2) work right now .... unless you spend several hundred pounds on the uprated DJI controller which, last time I looked, didn't work with the Mini 2. So my phone is needed to operate my drone (clipped in and cabled up) but not in/on the drone.
You may well know all that, but I've tried (very badly) to cover it for anyone else that doesn't.
In relation to this thread, either the phone is flying with the drone, it wghich case it'' go way over the 250g MTOM and even in transition, you need an A2CofC, or it isn't in the drone in which case, it's the way most cheaper drones already work (except the toys, with just a cheap radio).
Phew. Sorry about the mess that post is but I can't be bothered to completely redo it. :D
There's already no control over who buys or flies one. Just who does it legally. You already need to register the drone and probably take a simple test and get a flyer ID. That tightens up a lot more in about 17 months when most drones, except sub-250g ones, will require doing the A2CofC as well, and for some drones, other (like GVC) too.Quote:
Originally Posted by KultiVator
It's getting regulated far more but still, idiots will be able to buy and fly drones without all that, but will be breaking the law if they do. Whether they stand to get caught .... that's another story. But they already can. I could go buy a racing type drone, weighing best part of a couple of pounds (nearly 1kg) and capable of something like 80mph, today. But 900g doing 80mph will probably kill someone if you manage to hit them in the head with it. I hope nobody is stupid enough to do that without knowing how to fly the damn thing. At those speeds, it isn't easy at all, any more than your normal driving licence means you can control an F1 car.
Of course - I understand but simply put the drone won't be over 250g because they will say the phone is the controller as you quite rightly pointed out. And they will ensure it is so to comply with that if this POC ever takes off (I am truly sorry about that but it had to be done)Quote:
Originally Posted by Saracen999
Oh and last firmware update enabled the smart controller to work with the Mini 2 just for your info!
Phone companies: The 3.5mm Headphone jack takes up too much space
Also phone companies: Here's a freaking drone inside your smartphone
you mean Phone Companies: How can we sell people overpriced headphones that disconnect when you least need them to, and/or continually pick up too much background conversation in the office?Quote:
Originally Posted by FRISH
It doesn't matter what they say the phone is if it's in the bit that flies. It's MTOM, remember? If, like mine, it is physically attached to my controller that's in my hands, it won't be taking off unless it's in my pocket next time I get on a plane. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by 3dcandy
I was expecting that sooner or later, TBH, as it makes sense to do it. But I hadn't checked.Quote:
Originally Posted by 3dcandy
/Note to self - upgrade firmware. Not that I intend to buy the smart controller. But still, upgrade firmware.
Probably a bit more practical than current folding screens
https://hexus.net/media/uploaded/202...5fde4660c5.gifQuote:
Originally Posted by Saracen999
Drone is separate to phone, so under 250g (I bet by over an octave)
This may be down to the browser I was using not showing a bit of animation, which made it look, in the absence of dimensions (as this appears to be concept) that the phone was in the drone, in which case, MTOM applies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xlucine
If what they're really saying is the drone is tiny and is just housed inside the phone when not in use then mass isn't a problem but wind will be. There's a direct relationship between the overall mass of a drone, the motors required to get it airborne and controllable, and the battery size and weight needed to do it. And, of course, anticipated flight time. If this is a micro-drone stored inside a phone, then I don't envy the pilot's chances of controlling it in anything other than dead calm air. if a gnat farts, in Belgium, it'll blow this of-course, in the UK.
Either way, it looks impractical.
Animations / renders of this Vivo smartphone drone in use have been shared online.
https://twitter.com/alvinfoo/status/1433406943784161286
There is no way that would have the lift