Jean-Louis Naudin did a cool loiter comparison test of the Cheerson CX-20 (Quanum NOVA) Phantom clone with APM running ArduCopter 3.1.2 vs the DJI Phantom. Not bad!
Needless to say, newer copters with Pixhawk and more recent ArduCopter code do even better ;-)
Comments
it looks like quantum nova HK already sells.... doesn't it?
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__55105__Quanum_Nova_FPV_GPS_W...
If the CX-20 goes mainstream, then I feel sorry for the developers here. They'll be overwhelmed with beginners questions. The kind typically found in Phantom forums.
Find another way =)
http://wltoys.en.alibaba.com/product/1492055590-212872225/WL_RC_toy...
200.000 per month
@Al Ros, re moving around in Loiter, you'll probably appreciate the "Hybrid" mode that is coming in AC3.2.
Randomly pointing the camera in different directions definitely helps, though they both looked awful. GPS IIF sucks.
The compass on that craft is not integrated with the GPS module. The compass is in that little tower, the GPS is inside next to the flight controller. I'm not sure anything would be gained by altering the GPS mounting. It isn't really sensitive like the compass is.
Also, the altitude hold is based more on barometer and accelerometer than GPS. So no, it is not "only a GPS module comparison".
Can we say this is only a GPS module comparison ???
Angelo
One thing I noticed in the video is the DJI kept slowly losing altitude and Jean even had to fix it once. DJI is not impressing me and it never did. I prefer the APM and PixHawk systems over DJI any day...
This does put the DJI on the back foot a little - an out-the-box quad that can hover/fly as well as the phantom, can carry the same loads, yet has more autonomous programs and is considerably cheaper.
Lift the compass/gps module a little, run compass mot etc, and it will improve yet further I recon.
Having said that, the test is not optimal - one has a camera onboard, the other doesn't. But its still a good demo.