Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Bebop with Skycontroller Review

I was patiently waiting for this little tech stuffed drone to come out. I bought the AR.Drone 1 back than and loved the new concept. Skipped AR Drone 2 because I didn't see much difference (and had enough other quads) but this one was on my wishlist!

It's a wifi controlled flying cam rather than a drone.
It looks like a camcorder with arms and props ;-)

Video quality:
At the time of this filming I didn't have a day with good sunlight (were the cam performs best) - so you see rather poor performance but a decent stabilisation (it was cold and gusty this day, didn't wanna leave my car). This session was fun - maybe I'll post the whole video from my first flights.
As soon as we have some nice weather I will show you that the cam here can work really nice.

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minor Problems I found:
Apps: make sure you always use the most current (my iPad app was 1 week old and had an issue with GPS status which I didn't have on my android).

Map-Mode:
You should be able to see your drone on a google maps style view but you have to preload this data. Because if I'm connected to drone I have no internet (even if I turn mobile data on my android stays just wifi and has no internet).

HDMI / Video:
I wanted to try my Fatshark Dominator HD, got a HDMI to MICRO HDMI cable and connected it to the skycontroller. Only got a few seconds of image on the goggles - flicker than black.
If I connect HDMI monitor to the skycontroller it works - so it must be on Fatshark side - or it's an incompatibility...
Hope I find I way for this.
But anyhow - the iPad view works really well. It's sharp image - but with some lag and occasionally stuttering video (control data is prioritized over video).
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Tech spces:
- weight: 393gr (without bumpers)
- flying time (11mins?  I estimate 8-10mins with std. 1200mah 3cell battery)
- fully stabilized 1080pcam (records fisheye 14mp and computes software stabilized video)
- tilt-able video (with two fingers on phone for example)
- video and control over 2.4 or 5ghz wifi
- can be controlled with only phone or dedicated skycontroller
- range varies (with wifi noise, used controller, channel,...) from only 100m to 2km (with skycontroller) under optimal conditions
- ios and android app (with lots of cool features)
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2 different sets:
Bebop alone (500€)
Drone
2 batteries
wall plug charger
4 spare props + propmount tool
bumpers (for indoor)

Bebop + Skycontroller (900€)
all of above +
1 more battery (used for skycontroller)
skycontroller ("real joysticks", strong wifi repeater, directional antenna, Smartphone/Tablet mounting)
sunshade (2 Parts)
7" Tablet adapter
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I has the same Problem with the Fatshark together with the Skycontroler. I ve solved it with an Aktive HDMi Repeater. I have Bought the Repeater in conrad electrónics, it is a little box, just for 8 Euros. It needs a 5 Votls sucre to Get working. So you Kann get the power from the usb conector on your Skycontroler

Unknown said...

Hallo, ich benutze die Dom HD vom ersten Tag an mit dem SC und hatte noch nie Probleme mit dem Bild.

Vielleicht könntest du es noch mal auf deutsch versuchen zu erklären was du meinst.

RCSchim said...

Martin: mittlerweile bin ich recht sicher dass es einfach ein Wackler auf der HDMI Buchse der DomHD ist. Denn auch am Inspire1 hab ich die Bildaussetzer. Wahrscheinlich einfach ein Qualitätsmakel auf dieser teuren Brille...

Unknown said...

Ok das erklärt es.
Du sagst das du keine Randunschärfe in der DomHD hast! Ich beneide dich darum... Ist es noch immer so oder kannst du auch hier noch was zu schreiben?