When I first saw Dji Inspire, i was really impressed, I'm sure, just like the rest of you guys. It's really something new, with cool and smart design, really inspiring. The Dji's design is a separate subject, it's something worth analysing.
But today i wanted to turn your attention to something less technical. Im thinking about the name of the drone - "Inspire".
After the exciting hours of first impressions of Inspire, trying to catch the details of the design, features, parameters, i realised that the name "Inspire" will in fact inspire a lot of companies to copy the design. The name is almost like an invitation to coping it.
So we didn't have to wait long to see inspired designs. Walkera is showing their APM-powered H6 at CES 2015, which looks a lot like Dji newest drone.
www.youtube.com/embed/DPufN3Pk3Dc
As we know, Dji patented moving arms, so they could also be used as landing gear. So Walkera made unmovable arms, and retractable landing gear fixed to the centre plate. But the rest is very similar.
The rest is unknown, but if the price is right, i mean more reasonable than Dji Inspire, and APM is controlling the drone it may be some alternative.
So it appears that people want cool looking drones. Will we see a burst of original designs? Is 3DR building their own "Inspired" drone? Hopefully! :)
Comments
this could also behave better in a side wind.
Guy,
i am aware. Still i would try to pull them together as close as possible, to obtain good flying parameters, and nice user experience.
@Guy
cg - just wrote about it comment higher.
hand launch - i agree its not the safest way, but some time you have a choice hand launch or go home :) example - the beach, balcony, boat. So while not perfect for hand launching, this shape is better for it, in my opinion.
You know what i'd think of testing? i would put the props closest possible to each other , and close it in a really smart prop guard...
Johnathan,
1. you can have 10 sensors on each side if you want easily(sonar/lider/optflow), because there is vertical space. I dare you to try it on regular frame ;)
2. the cg should be in the centre, i know. But in practice, if the cg is a little bit below the centre, you know that when something fails, engine, esc, controller, even for a second you know your going down, up side up, not the other way arround. I had few very long seconds while flying, where my quad was going down up side down, and if it was the right way up, i would have to repair it :). So if you ask me cg in the centre for perfect flying, or cg little bit lower for this safety feature i would probably choose the second option.
3. I don't claim Inspire or H6 has cg positioned lower, they may not... :)
I don't see how this design gives more space for sensors.
Further, the cg should not matter on a multirotor with a controller that is properly tuned. Example being an inverted pendulem.
I actually think the best cg would be with the center of mass in line with the axes of rotation.
All i am seeing with the inspire is added complexity for the sake of being different.
the design feels better than standard quad. What is better? For sure its easier to hand launch/land, because the props are moved away and the body is handy. There is space for additional sensors like rangefinders, on the body, or under the props. Have you ever flown a quad that has centre of mass on top? I have, and its the most shitty experience ever, so taking that mass low should make it easy to fly experience... We will see some reviews on YT soon :)
Not fake? H series of walkera product designated as HEXA conf - X quad products use X conf =)
But i guess it does look cool :)
Given the timing, I very much doubt one was inspired by the other. It takes a lot longer than that to build and release a new product.
I haven't flown the Walkera copters, but I do like the design ideas