DJI Mavic Mini • Hacker News Board

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#131

Post by inamberclad » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 12:21 AM UTC

post_break wrote: post #34

blhack wrote: post #23

Wow, very cool! As others have pointed out, being under the weight limit set by the FAA is basically THE selling point. Ethical question: are DJI the good guys here working within the rules set out of the FAA, or are they running afoul of the spirit but staying within the letter?

This is how all laws work though. Rifle minimum barrel is 16" so they make 16" barrels. Wifi can only put out X watts max, they put out the maximum by law. There are no ethics in following a laws minimum or maximum.

The FAA is usually better about things like this though. At least in the past, they've had the advantage of making good contact throughout the small group of people they regulate.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#132

Post by stevehawk » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 12:32 AM UTC

alistairSH wrote: post #124

mithr wrote: post #108

Looks pretty cool! Had to laugh at this bit though: > “My girlfriend and I can simply enjoy our time together making memories and leave the rest to Mavic Mini.” ... followed by a lengthy video of them either centering their entire attention on the drone taking the video, or standing to "enjoy nature" while discretely flying the drone at the same time, so that it can take a video of them serenely enjoying their perfec…

I see the same thing with selfies on vacations - at Machu Picchu, the Scottish Highlands, Iceland, Florence - people spending the entirety of their visit to some tourist spot trying to get the perfect selfie, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Yes, I also carry a camera and take a lot of photos, but I don't run off the tour bus or out of the car, in an effort to get a shot before anybody else gets there (var…

Technology has been great for this, for me. I no longer travel with a camera (aside from phone) or my drone on group vacations. Everyone already has one. So I just let them take all of their photos and after the trip ask for the iCloud or Drive share link or whatever. It's great.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#133

Post by jcims » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 12:35 AM UTC

atourgates wrote: post #61

maxcan wrote: post #39

Oh man, been waiting for this. Unfortunately, no active track :( Still conflicted on spending $1000 on the new skydio for what would mostly be a toy for me.

I currently have a Mavic Pro, and I don't plan to replace it until a Skydio, or something with equivalent AI and automation is available. My dream for my Mavic was capturing new angles of family activities. However, the truth is that the effort required to capture those activities with a Mavic ruins the enjoyment of many of them. Say I wanted to get video of my kids biking. I've got to make sure the drone is charged,…

There are some great vids of the Skydio 2 in action on YouTube. One guy on a pit bike getting scared shitless about the abandoned area he drives around is pretty good.

Theres a certain predatory element to the flying the Skydio does while operating in trees that is awesome and creepy at the same time.

Edit: video in question - https://youtu.be/2UbRP5YsjuY

Flying starts around 4:30. Definitely watch it negotiate through the trees a bit then fast forward to the riding at the end if you get bored.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#134

Post by andreapmd » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 12:45 AM UTC

DJI nailed the ideal form factor for consumer drones (and maybe for quadcopters in general) when they came up with the original Mavic Pro. Since then they've been experimenting with incrementally smaller form factors to find a price and size where the truly average Joe will decide to get a drone to bring on his holidays, but I'm not sure that decreasing size will unlock a large number of new customers.

On my personal wishlist for future drones are more sophisticated and precise physical controllers with better pressure gradients, and especially the ability to program flight routes to allow mixed human/automated controls – e.g. "Respond to flight controls normally, but when I press this button 1) increase altitude to 90m over the course of 15 seconds 2) rotate camera downwards by 30 degrees over 15 seconds 3) begin rotating aircraft left by 1 degree per second"

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#135

Post by dvcrn » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 12:47 AM UTC

atourgates wrote: post #61

maxcan wrote: post #39

Oh man, been waiting for this. Unfortunately, no active track :( Still conflicted on spending $1000 on the new skydio for what would mostly be a toy for me.

I currently have a Mavic Pro, and I don't plan to replace it until a Skydio, or something with equivalent AI and automation is available. My dream for my Mavic was capturing new angles of family activities. However, the truth is that the effort required to capture those activities with a Mavic ruins the enjoyment of many of them. Say I wanted to get video of my kids biking. I've got to make sure the drone is charged,…

I own a mavic pro 2 and I almost always use it in the AI modes like circling, following, point of interest and what not. I often let it follow friends and really enjoy having it with me. Just wish it was a bit smaller but I really like the camera so probably won’t switch anytime soon

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#136

Post by 205guy » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 1:03 AM UTC

leetcrew wrote: post #105

vannevar wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I upvoted you, not because I agree, but because you raised a reasonable point that clearly generated some intelligent debate. I think the problem is that modern technology has resulted in cheaply available "tools" (to use your term) that have the capacity to cause great and irreparable harm to large numbers of other people (see the comments regarding drones and airplanes, for instance), and consequently must be proac…

I strongly disagree. as a matter of principle, I don't accept that a device I own should do anything more or less that what I tell it to do. I don't expect HN to agree with me on this principle, so I will also present a practical argument. these kinds of controls that protect users from wrongdoing tend to be implemented incredibly crudely. my house is close enough to a major airport that it triggers DJI's flight rest…

This is a fascinating discussion that I think gets to the heart of the matter, but is still missing the key point: can you ever own something with software?

I up voted the sibling comment (diminoten) even though it was a bit aggressive. Leetcrew say s/he doesn't trust the controls programmed "crudely" by others. But the sibling logically points out that leetcrew's actions could be just as crude from the others' point of view.

I think leetcrew's principles are misdirected here. With software, you can't really own the device. Look at the librem5 debacle: you can't control the radios because the FCC doesn't license unlocked radios. If you had a ham license you could buy and operate any radio the way you want (within the rules). What's really missing is disclosure. DJI should be clearly documenting their software controls and all geographic restrictions so you know exactly what capabilities you are paying for.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#137

Post by dgzl » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 1:05 AM UTC

alistairSH wrote: post #124

mithr wrote: post #108

Looks pretty cool! Had to laugh at this bit though: > “My girlfriend and I can simply enjoy our time together making memories and leave the rest to Mavic Mini.” ... followed by a lengthy video of them either centering their entire attention on the drone taking the video, or standing to "enjoy nature" while discretely flying the drone at the same time, so that it can take a video of them serenely enjoying their perfec…

I see the same thing with selfies on vacations - at Machu Picchu, the Scottish Highlands, Iceland, Florence - people spending the entirety of their visit to some tourist spot trying to get the perfect selfie, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Yes, I also carry a camera and take a lot of photos, but I don't run off the tour bus or out of the car, in an effort to get a shot before anybody else gets there (var…

A few weeks ago I went to see Haystack Rock off the Oregon coast and I just stood there in the tide looking at this giant rock sticking out the water, absorbing the salt water, brisk air and sounds of crashing waves. It was magical. Everyone else around me was only looking at their camera, I'm not sure what they absorbed.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#138

Post by choonway » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 1:13 AM UTC

DJI and iRobot may be the only companies to date who managed to produce pro/consumer robotic products sustainably.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#139

Post by ulfw » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 1:40 AM UTC

the weight reduction is great. More battery runtime is great.

The rest though? DJI had years to improve the Spark and instead they made it worse for photographers. No more panorama? Really?

That was the only way to get a bit more resolution of of that tiny 12MP sensor. Frankly without it there is no point for me to own it.

No DNG support. Of course. Yea so difficult to do. No 24fps for video folks. Sure...

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#140

Post by sepbot » Thu, Oct 31, 2019, 1:44 AM UTC

greenknight wrote: post #113

pc86 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because you're likely the only one on the road going so slow :)

unless you live in a country where speeding isnt common place ;) in Aus, atleast where i am, most people stick absolutely on the speedlimit.

Just to clarify, by Aus are you referring to Austria and not Australia? In Australia the road culture is so bad that they make dramatic TV shows about it and relative Youtube channels sharing dash cam footage of bad drivers are actually source of entertainment to many.