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3D Robotics

3DR Launches IRIS+

Posted by Roger Sollenberger on September 9, 2014 at 7:00am
3689615365?profile=originalWe’re thrilled to announce the official release of IRIS+, which will ship next week. The news debuted yesterday on Gizmodo; you can read their great writeup here (or here for a DIYD blog that also covered it).
Improvements include:
  • 16-22 minute flight times, thanks to improved motors, props and batteries
  • Spin-on props
  • Built-in telemetry display in the RC transmitter
  • Lighter legs, body
  • New autonomous features, such as one-button 3D structure scanning, FollowMe (with Pebble smartwatch support), one-button "dronies" and more
  • LEDs on arms
  • Easier assembly

The official 3DR IRIS+ page is here.

We’ll be offering upgrade kits for existing IRIS users starting October 1. More information coming soon on those!

Most importantly, a huge thanks goes out to the collaborative efforts of all the brilliant people in this community who have supported our projects in so many different ways. We’re looking forward to when we're shipping next week!

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Comments

  • Phil Gordon September 9, 2014 at 9:02pm

    Very interesting,I`d like to have these features on my quad.

    Looks like it`s time to do what Richard Branson has done,jump on board 3DR train.

  • mP1 September 9, 2014 at 8:45pm

    @Aaron Curtis

    DJI has had spin-on props for a long time. There are probably others now as well. Its definitely not a new thing.

  • Developer
    Randy September 9, 2014 at 8:42pm

    A couple of us on the dev team have flown prototypes and it's not revolutionary but it's got a bunch of good incremental improvements over the original IRIS.  I appreciate the LED on the back instead of the bottom, the lighter weight arms and legs and the battery door that closes securely.

    I have not tested the flight time but I wonder if 22min is achievable.

    I fly the IRIS a lot for testing, perhaps it's best unspoken feature is that it's extremely durable.  I've flown it into a tree, had it drop 10m and only had to replace 2 props.

    The first thing I do with my IRIS though is upgrade it to a 4S battery.  It is an absolute rocket ship with a 4S battery and the additonal power covers any potential issues caused by the non-symmetrical shape.

  • Aaron Curtis September 9, 2014 at 8:23pm

    Spin-on props and telemetry transmitter make this really competitive!

    I'd like to see 3DR put together a wifi fpv a la P2V+. Then I think they'd win over a lot more potential DJI buyers.

  • Gary McCray September 9, 2014 at 7:43pm

    Wow, things happen fast,

    Earlier today the 3DR site said 850 KV motors and 10" props, now it says 920 KV motors and 9.5" props, a strange direction to go in.

    Personally I would have thought longer arms and 12" props with a slightly lower KV motor would have been the way to go.

    Which is what I had thought they were doing.

    I've now got a Hoverthings Flip FPV Pro with extended arms, KDE 2814 515 KV motors, 14" props and a 66000mah 10C Multistar 4 cell battery and a Pixhawk.

    Not the cheapest way to go but think I'll stick with it for a while.

    Best,

    Gary

  • hotelzululima September 9, 2014 at 7:27pm

     970kv motors means its not a do it yourself upgrade kit.. you ship in your IRIS and get back an IRIS+ there wont be a "developer upgrade kit" for 20.00 us this time or 170.00 if they do it.. it will be 200.00 for the upgrade fees and get a brand new IRIS+ . I suspect if  IRIS+ is  staying with 3S that the ESC has been upgraded also to 30A.

    While Christian and I have achieved some promising results with 4S and 9" props independently of each other,for flight time and efficiency  9" and higher KV motors as well as profound weight loss  if staying with 3S is the way to go for max efficiency in this airframe(hope it still fits my IM2720 case(canted off center already..)

         hzl

    hmm at this rate I paid 200.00 US  to rent an IRIS-1 and keep it grounded after 10 short test hops to verify it should not be flown due to design and software deficiencies(I am a private pilot who has hand built a gyrocopter in the 80's)

    Not to sure how happy I am about this experience...

  • Gary McCray September 9, 2014 at 7:03pm

    I personally think the Iris + solves the primary deficits of the original Iris, inadequate power and inadequate flight time.

    And I am really happy to see that they have released it.

    I do think it might be a really nice idea for 3DR to offer upgrade kits to the original Iris buyers who really were your Beta testers for it at the lowest possible (read no profit) price as a way of saying thank you to all of those who suffered through the Iris's not inconsiderable teething period.

    I should stress I have almost never had any luck at all telling Companies what they ought to do.

    It seems like there is greater spacing of the propellers (longer frame arms?) and I would like to know if the Iris can now support 11" or even 12" propellers, with 850KV motors and a 3S battery that ought to be a natural?

    Best Regards,

    Gary

  • Gary McCray September 9, 2014 at 6:36pm

    Hi Damouav,

    RTF probably makes sense because:

    The Pixhawk requires PPM-SUM input and only a small fraction of RC systems provide this.

    It could easily become a headache for people wanting BNF or PNP.

    The Flysky TH9X unit that they provide is actually a relatively inexpensive but proven and reliable Chinese unit that has the required PPM-Sum capability.

    Deleting it would probably not save 3DR $60.00 on the cost of the unit.

    Lists at $110.00 they can probably get it for roughly half that.

    http://www.amazon.com/FlySky-FS-TH9X-Channel-Transmitter-Receiver/d...

    At least this way, 3DR more or less guarantees you can have a satisfactory out of the box experience with a known compatible and pre-configured transmitter and receiver, whereas adapting your own could be a serious tech help problem for them (or us).

    If you are so inclined, after you get it flying with the supplied RC unit you can always convert to something more exotic like a Taranis or Futaba or or even a Spektrum DX7 or Hitec Aurora 9 like I am using.

    But you will have to get into some depth to make it work properly and you will have to use PPM-Sum compatible receivers that work with your transmitter and you will have to set up your transmitter (and RC module) to work properly with them.

    Since the cost of the supplied FlySky unit with the Iris is so small both to 3DR and to you, it is cheap insurance you can get it to work for both you and 3DR.

    And it is actually a very nice, capable 9 channel unit which can let you exploit extrachannels for gimbal and setup controls.

    Best Regards,

    Gary

  • mP1 September 9, 2014 at 6:11pm

    Seems a bit weak on new features. Nearly a year and all thats new are legs, a couple of leds and thats it ? Everything else can be purchased / downloaded separately.

    Come on 3DR all those engineers and thats all ? Wheres the innovation ?

  • Johann van de Venter September 9, 2014 at 3:30pm

    It looks awesome ... but .....as always there's a BUT ... 

    There is ALWAYS a "but"...

    I'm just still waiting for someone posting a video or some photos of themselves after being chopped to pieces with the machine in "follow mode". People keep saying don't fly a UAV around people and yet they design a follow mode for just that purpose ... 

    I know you are supposed to set the distance  etc ... BUT things go wrong ... do i want a flying meat grinder following me ... no thanks ... i'll pass 

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