What's so complicated, or how I broke a new quadrocopter

The effect of Dunning-Kruger is a distortion, which consists in an erroneous overestimation of one's own capabilities by an unprepared individual when performing some task. Why am I doing this? Just a couple of minutes after playing with a quadrocopter DJI Phantom 2 Vision + , it looks like I became the walking incarnation of this effect.

“Well, it's so simple!” - I launched a fairly expensive free flight and received a piece of iron from DJI on parole. "And so cool!" - I squeezed the left stick, and the rover soared up to the heavens with a rocket, easily gaining a height of three dozen meters. The LEDs happily winked while I slowly unrolled the drone and studied the surroundings. After the next turn, I even saw myself from a bird's eye view right on the smartphone screen in 1080p format.
')
Of course, I wanted to quickly save this video and upload it somewhere - you know, something like “managing a drone is easier than ever, even for a beginner!”.

The copter was just swaying back and forth and trying to stabilize when I sent it to land. Suddenly the machine was blown by a gust of wind straight to the trees in the courtyard, and then I froze. Lightning struck the understanding of all his own stupidity - to launch the drone for the first time and immediately with a strong wind, and even next to the trees! And yet I tried to save the piece of metal, convulsively rejecting the right stick back. Stop, it is necessary to do the opposite forward, because the copter was just deployed when it began to demolish! And, hell, now where ...?!

For some second, stretching out for me for years, I saw a quadrocopter with a buzzing shred leaves on the branches, then the propellers freeze and the gadget cost more than 50 thousand rubles kite flies to the ground and breaks on the sidewalk. The battery is in one direction, the camera is in the other ... So we froze - I'm with the remote in hand, and the copter with the battery a couple of meters away.

Some time before the incident

Before we know what happened next, not to mention the fact that even the editor-in-chief must first read the instructions, take some time to the quadcopter itself.

DJI Phantom 2 Vision + is an updated version of the original Vision model. It's the same 4-rotor quadrocopter working with GPS, but it’s more correct to call it a drone due to the possibility of semi-automatic piloting. Although other drones of the Phantom 2 family can lead a fully automatic flight along a pre-programmed route (according to the manufacturer, our kopter will also soon receive a similar firmware update).

Some characteristics:

Type of	4-rotor quadrocopter
Weight	1180g
Diagonal length	350mm
Engines	4x 920KV BLDC
Max. horizontal speed	15m / s
Max. vertical speed	6m / s rise, 2m / s reduction
Declared flight time	25min
Frequency control	5.728 GHz － 5.8 GHz
Video Broadcast Frequencies	2412-2462MHz
Battery capacity	5200mAh
Camera	14MP 140 ° FOV (f / 2.8), on a stabilizing suspension
Price	59 990r

Of course, the main chip Vision + in the built-in camera mounted on a stabilizing three-axial suspension. During the flight, the stabilizer allows you to keep the camera still when the copter itself oscillates. Also, the "celestial eye" can be rotated and tilted from the ground when using the DJI Vision application (available for iOS and Android).

Like the predecessors of the Phantom 2 and Phantom 2 Vision, our drone uses GPS to determine position, altitude and acceleration. Each time you turn on the copter performs a self-diagnosis and snapping to satellites. As soon as he catches enough of them, flying in semi-automatic GPS mode will become available. Despite the presence of other options, it is the basic GPS-mode that will be interesting in the first place, as it allows you to simply give the command “directly”, and the drone will decide for itself how and in which direction to move. By the way, left without control, the kopter will float in a virtual “cube” with a side of 2m, compensating for gusts of wind and other weather features. For a couple of hours of flight, we only noticed a couple of times that the drone got out of its “security cube” a bit, which, apparently, was caused by the calibration problems of the built-in compass.

To control the gadget used quite familiar remote with two sticks. With a fresh set of batteries and without obvious obstacles to the signal, its strength is enough to control the copter within a radius of ~ 300m (at least we did). The video is broadcast on a separate channel through a special transceiver on the remote. The same transceiver is responsible for creating a separate Wi-Fi network for a smartphone, after which you can watch the video through the DJI application. It may look crooked, but in practice everything works fine - you can even control the drone with the camera if you lose it from view. In addition to the video, data on the distance, speed and altitude of the gadget will be available. The camera can be tilted with buttons in the application, or use the smartphone accelerometer; but for its reversal will have to turn the entire copter.

By the way about the application. The iOS version clearly ignored platform design standards and used the awkward DJI proprietary interface instead. Not that he strongly interfered with controlling the unit, but it was made explicitly by engineers without understanding how the interface really should look.

However, the application is quite workable and allows you to take pictures, shoot video and change the basic parameters of the image, such as exposure and white balance. For storing the video stream, a 4 GB SD card is provided in the copter, but no one bothers to deliver a more capacious one. The camera shoots in 1080p resolution (photo and video); quality photos are comparable to the average smartphone, but the video is a little worse. Of course, the video will not turn out like a GoPro, but to fly around the neighborhood and look around is more than enough.

But the charm of the new copter in comparison with the previous Vision is not so much in the camera itself as in the three-axial built-in stabilizer. And here there is already a difference: the camera is stationary throughout the entire flight, and the video is obtained at the output just smooth and smooth. In principle, you can try to improve the picture if you connect the chassis from the Phantom 2 with a GoPro camera and a separate stabilizer. The video will be better, but you will not get the same level of integration with copter software: for example, Vision + transmits live video and telemetry data “over the air”, and with self-assembly design, all this will have to be implemented somehow.

The new Vision + is quite possible to consider as a full-fledged alternative to self-assembling quadrocopters. I once attended a meeting of fans of such drones, and most of the participants had hand-assembled copters of varying degrees of difficulty. Several people demonstrated quite complex units on the Arduino, with video transmission and other things, but no such option would offer you an “unpacked-turned-on-work” ideology like Vision +. Naturally, for simplicity and readiness for work, one has to pay something: a self-assembled kopter can cost up to 10t.r, while the DJI brainchild costs 59,990r. But it’s also a convenience to have to pay for it.

Flying without consequences

So what ended the incident with the breaking of the copter? The good news is that Phantom 2 Vision + can be called a flying tank in terms of strength. Well, at least most of it. The accident completely destroyed the camera and the stabilizer, but I just took them out and that evening the kopter was carefully lifted into the air again. Much harder was the letter to Mike Perry from DJI, where I told him that I had broken an expensive piece of metal. Fortunately, the DJI team transferred the news completely calmly and they just sent me a new copter.

Of course, with the new instance I was much more careful. As a result, it turned out that managing a drone is really not difficult - only some practice and more open space is needed.

Take a look at management. The left stick on the console is responsible for climbing and yawing: accelerating \ slowing down by tilting it forward or backward, turning when the stick is deflected to the left or right. Right controls the movement back and forth and tilt left-right. The symmetry of the copter in the first hours made me think a lot about what exactly I want to do and how, because it’s not always clear where he really looks. Slow use of only one of the axes on the sticks helped, and confidence increased a little later and more complex maneuvers began to turn out, such as turning in motion.

But the first 10 sessions all the same passed on nerves. Every time the drone turned around, it took 5 seconds to think about what gestures on the console you need to make in order to send it in the right direction. But I really liked to explore the surroundings in motion, especially since the declared horizontal speed can reach 15m / s. Of course, I did not measure acceleration, but I can definitely say that it flies much faster than I run. Again, the first time I tried not to let go of the piece of iron further than a couple of meters - the fear of damaging the second copy will make anyone very careful.

After some time I got accustomed to the control and began to release the kopter in a free flight. And although caution still did not disappear anywhere, it was absolutely impossible to keep from flying at maximum speed in an open field, passing on a low-level flight, or hovering a couple of hundred meters above the ground with a breathtaking video! The copter is very nimble and smart, it responds to the console just instantly - an experienced pilot would certainly be able to demonstrate some cool tricks with him.

By the way, the built-in GPS is a real newbie friend. If you suddenly panic - just let go of the sticks and the automation itself stops the drone, aligns it and leaves it floating motionless in the air. If you do not try to drive the copter into the building, to power lines or a tree, then in GPS mode it is not so easy to kill.

ATTI, course locks, and self-return to base

At a low altitude, you can easily manage the drone yourself, the main thing is to follow the direction indicators. But the good speed of the copter along with the length of the “radio leash” contribute to experiments with range and height, which means that at some point you can easily lose sight of the piece of iron. And then the choice is small: either rely on the image from the camera, which is overgrown with interference from the distance, or give up and call the copter back.

Directly out of the box, the drone is tuned to the so-called "phantom mode", which hides its enhanced flight capabilities. And if you are new to quad piloting, but you want to fly and look around right now - this is exactly what you need. Turned on and flew, and if something goes wrong and you lose sight of the copter, simply turn off the remote and the drone returns. It will rise to a height of about 18m and slowly return to GPS to the point where it was turned on, after which it will land smoothly.

If you want more drive, you can enable NAZA mode using the PC \ Mac application and USB cable, which uses additional switches on the top of the console.

The first switch S1 thus becomes a choice between GPS \ ATTI modes. And just ATTI adds a drone drive, increasing maneuverability and disabling some airbags. The lower position of the switch allows you to select the automatic return mode (then you will not need to turn off the remote) or fully manual control.

Usually, the manual mode option is of increased pilot interest, but try not to use it until you have gained enough experience. In this embodiment, the drone has no GPS-stops, no auto height adjustment, or anything else clever and automatic. The unit is able to get up unimaginable zigzags under the fingers of an experienced pilot, or turn the propellers down and jerk the kite to the ground ... For now, it’s better to restrict yourself to the automatic return option.

Switch S2 on the left also receives new features. In the up position, the drone flies in the usual way, and if both switches are turned up, the behavior of the copter will be indistinguishable from the factory phantom mode. Putting S2 in the middle position activates the heading lock.

Locking the course changes the forward, backward, left and right directions of the drone from relative to absolute. For example, pressing the left stick forward will send the drone not in the direction of its current orientation, but where it was sent during the initial GPS calibration.

Since the camera can be rotated only by turning the entire drone, the course lock mode can be useful if you need to shoot at speed with the camera turning. For example, so you can get a video of a moving car as in the news from a police helicopter.

The bottom position of S2 will probably be the most useful - this is a home lock. The mode is in many ways similar to a course lock, but the binding is already going to the point of the primary GPS binding. That is, wherever the copter is, the “back” for it will always be towards the house.

This mode is very useful if the kopter is still lost, but for some reason you don’t want to return it fully automatically. Then we transfer S2 to the lowest position, press the left stick to itself and after some time a joyfully drone will appear at the first power-on point.

And again a couple of words about software. We have already seen the mobile application, but what about the desktop? Software for Mac is expected to repeat the fate of a mobile colleague, being a designer nightmare and a jumble of incomprehensibly scattered menu items. That is, the application externally tries to fit into the OS X ecosystem, but it does not do it in the best way. In addition, many items in the English menu are full of errors. Since DJI was originally from China, the localization of the interface was most likely assigned to an employee with a poor knowledge of the language. Yes, and the general organization of items is far from ideal, and in search of the desired option, it is often necessary to click almost all bookmarks.

Fortunately, you will not need to communicate with this software often, and the unsuccessful interface of the program does not affect the ability to fly and control the gadget.

Sad ode to the battery

The only thing that disappointed the Phantom 2 Vision + is its battery. Despite the fact that the copter is equipped with a 5200 mAh battery, this reserve is not enough for a long time. The manufacturer claimed the flight time of 25 minutes, but our experience shows that after 10-15 minutes the battery is discharged to 30% and low battery warnings appear in the application. The drone itself while flashing indicator Low voltage.

Naturally, the stronger the wind and steeper turns - the faster the charge ends. The longest flight in 21min turned out to be on a windless day, when the drone was mostly motionlessly hanging in the air. With active maneuvering at high speeds, the copter lasted only 10 minutes.

I have never allowed the device to discharge below 25%, as the prospect of a rapid uncontrolled flight to the ground was somewhat frightening. You could certainly squeeze a few more minutes with a low charge, but this is too expensive a toy to do so.

If you want to spend a couple of hours flying, you will have to stock up on additional batteries. Each battery costs about 6000r, although you can save a little and buy a kit from a drone and an extra battery.

Where eagles fly and don't fly

Being larger than the average bird and with a flight height of three hundred meters, the Phantom 2 Vision + is a real threat to aircraft of all sizes. Understanding this, DJI introduced some limitations to the copter firmware.

If the cockpit detects that it has approached the registered flight zone by 8 km, it will begin a gradual descent. And the closer to the airport, the lower the drone will fly, and for a couple of kilometers it will refuse to take off at all.

These restrictions are programmable, but you will need to remove the drone from the phantom mode. With the same factory settings, he will refuse to work near any air terminal. We certainly didn’t go to Houston airport for inspections, but the forums are full of discussions on this topic. So the restrictions really work.

Last takeoff and impressions

Partly, this review has been preparing for so long because it’s really great to manage the drone - I could delay the moment when the gadget returned. Indeed, despite the short battery life, the sensations from launching a copter to a height of one and a half hundred meters are incredible. Such a flight with a stunningly smooth video gives a feeling of your own jetpack, and I practically do not exaggerate.

In fact, the flight itself is only half the fun. The other half is to come home after a 15-minute session, eagerly extract video from an SD card and devote another 15 minutes to thoughtful contemplation of a small journey.

Almost everywhere, where I took Phantom 2 Vision + with me, people didn’t pay attention to it. At the same time, no one was particularly worried and attacked me, which pleases (as in the case of an American on the beach). Anyone who came closer was clearly fascinated by the drone and especially by the live video broadcast of the flight. From children up to 12 years old, the most popular reaction was “Baaaaa-y! You can also try?!". Heh, of course I didn’t give anyone hands on the remote, but at the same time I easily uncoupled the smartphone from it and allowed the curious to watch the video and twist the camera.

Despite the relatively high cost, the hero of this review did not even get close to the price of top DJI production drone. The company, for example, sells 6- and 8-rotor copters with the ability to install different types of suspension like professional stabilizers and cameras for Hollywood-quality filming. And next to these behemoths, a small Vision + looks like a sheer toy.

Nevertheless, for a newcomer, Vision + will be more than enough: he is very energetic, quite functional, and at the same time piloting can be mastered in a couple of hours of practice. If it were still worth two times less, then I would almost certainly make an impulsive purchase, especially considering the possibilities. In the meantime, more than 50t.r. Surely will keep the drone at a distance from many who wish.

In the meantime, it's time for me to report on this month’s expense report. I just can’t imagine how I managed to spend fifty rubles on ... um ... office and office stuff.

Pros:

Quite functional drone quadrocopter with full GPS support;
The secure GPS mode makes it quite easy to get used to the controls;
The camera on the stabilizer shoots very smooth video;
Having all the options right out of the box allows you to stream video without buying additional options;
If we consider the features and functionality, the price tag is not so high.

Minuses:

The camera is not as good as we would like - the picture quality is definitely worse than that of the GoPro;
A desktop application is just a mess of graphics and nightmare usability;
Not yet able to fly autonomously in conjunction with the DJI groundstation application;
Despite the good value for money, 59990r at the time of publication of the review - this is noticeably more than many people are willing to spend on a toy;
10-15 minutes of flight - it's damn little and quite far from the values declared by the manufacturer.