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Portable Selfie Drones: Madrobots ZeroTech Dobby Review



Just a few years ago, the word "selfie" was obscure, it just began to appear in the vocabulary of those who like to take a photo or video of themselves, their beloved. Moreover, no one has heard of any selfie drones. But life is changing very quickly, and now the drones of various types have become her life, an integral part.

Copters for selfie, despite the specifics of their use, are becoming increasingly popular. We in Madrobots like this type of drones, so we try to talk about them. Hover Camera Passport was recently published, and now we are publishing a review of this drone’s competitor called Dobby.

ZeroTech Dobby: Design and Build


The device looks good, it works even better. Moreover, it has several advantages over conventional copters. So, it is a folding drone, and it is going to a “marching state” without problems. Its size in the folded state is approximately equal to the size of two iPhones. Assembling a kopter is not as easy as Hover Camera Passport, but in any case, this process takes a couple of tens of seconds.
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When folded, the blades of the drone's propellers are hidden in a safe haven and it is difficult to damage them during transportation (although, skilfully enough). Copter in this form fits easily, for example, in a jacket pocket.

ZeroTech Dobby: features and capabilities




Since Dobby is a selfie dron, the focus was on the camera. Camera can shoot in 4K. However, if you want to add the image stabilization function when shooting - then you need to select 1080p mode, in 4K there is no stabilization due to the hardware limitations of the device.

As in the case of Camera Passport, there is a special software for tracking a person’s face.

Thanks to the built-in WiFi module, the drone is controlled using a smartphone (there is no special controller) with the installed proprietary application (Android and iOS) and the special application Do.Fun. Setup takes place in a few minutes, or even less. You can work with the copter with the help of gestures or voice.

The maximum speed of the device is 40 km / h. The distance from the operator is 100 meters, which is five times longer than that of the Camera Passport.

Video and photo


Everything is not bad here. The video can not be called too stable or very high quality, but, in general, ok. The only thing - as mentioned above, there is no stabilization when shooting as 4K. When working with 1080p video, there is digital stabilization.

The 13 MP camera allows you to get good shots - about the same quality as in most smartphones with a similar camera. Since this is a drone for selfies, it will not work to lift it to a great height for a general snapshot of the terrain - for this you should use other copters with different characteristics and capabilities. Although he has more opportunities than the Hover Camera Passport, since the device can be removed from the operator up to 100 meters away.



All footage recorded in the internal memory of the device with a capacity of 16 GB. After you finish working with the drone, you can upload photos and videos to your PC using a standard USB cable.

ZeroTech Dobby: flight characteristics


The drone can fly both on the street and indoors. The average flight duration, as in the previous case, is only 9 minutes. On condition of quiet use of the drone without any special movements, the battery lasts for a longer time.

As for flying in a room, everything is a bit more complicated here. The fact is that Dobby does not know how to avoid obstacles, which can lead to a collision with elements of the interior or even with people. This should not be allowed, since Dobby can collide at speed with a cabinet or TV and damage blades. The copter has an ultrasonic sensor that allows it to determine where the floor is, but that's all. If the user has good reflexes, you can run Dobby indoors. For all other cases, plastic protective bumpers are provided to protect the device from accidental collisions (well, or from cat attacks).

Dobby is equipped with an excellent control system, including gestures. This allows you to quickly control the movement of the drone, successfully avoiding collisions. But in any case, nobody is insured against accidents, plus you need not to forget that the rotor blades are not protected by anything. This is the most vulnerable part of the device.

Despite the fact that Dobby is a selfie drone, it can also be used for “air entertainment”. No, it’s impossible to arrange a race with Dobby, this is not a racing drone. But he can start from the palm of his hand, he can be ordered to carry out a number of commands with his voice and then follow their implementation with a smart gadget.



As for selfies, Dobby is at a height here: he knows how to follow an object, recognizes faces, is able to shoot video during the flyby of a person, animal or any other object that the owner pointed to. There is also a “Return-to-home” mode, which allows the machine to return to the take-off point automatically.

Takeoff and landing occur automatically. Before using the drone for the first time, you need to configure it; an application that guides the user through the entire preparation procedure helps.



ZeroTech Dobby: Battery and Charging


The battery connects to the bottom of the drone. Replacing a discharged battery with a new one, with a full charge, is a matter of a few seconds. Included - one battery with charging station and adapter. Charging takes about half an hour.

In the air, the drone can hold without replacing the batteries for about 9 minutes.

ZeroTech Dobby: features



Camera



In the dry residue


The final article on selfie and portable drones will certainly indicate a personal opinion about the strengths and weaknesses of the very concept of drones-babies. But now I would also like to say a few words about this. The fact is that it is not so easy to manage drone (specifically Dobby), as the manufacturers say. So far, the “run and use” scenario does not work, although in the near future, developers will most likely solve this problem.

The lens of the camera changes the viewing angles in a sufficiently high quality - the object to which the user points, almost always remains in the center of the map. That is, such a drone can replace an action camera with a certain assumption. He can take beautiful pictures against a landscape, there are no problems here either.

The speed of 40 km / h for such a baby may seem unnecessary. Stress tests show that this is very good, plus Chinese developers are a little naughty with positioning.

In general, ZeroTech Dobby is an excellent portable drone that does a good job for which it was created. It would be possible to ask the developers to increase the autonomous flight time, speed or other characteristics, but do not forget that this is still a portable drone, with all the consequences. Its price averages $ 350 (in Russia it will be higher), and it is much less, for example, the cost of the direct competitor Dobby - Hover Camera Passport (~ $ 600). Any addition will affect the final price, and the developers wanted to make their device affordable.

Pre-order drone can already be done in our store, although it is not yet available.


Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/370109/

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