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Skydio: $1k Skydio 2 drone launch takes aim at DJI

skydio.com

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Re: Skydio: $1k Skydio 2 drone launch takes aim at DJI

#21

Post by jpm_sd »

Justin_K wrote: post #3

Looks really cool, but I'm skeptical of all the demo videos and whether or not a person or software flew the drone. Would like to see some independent reviews of their following capability.

These guys are really sharp, I met a few of them when they worked on Google's Project Wing in the early days.

Re: Skydio: $1k Skydio 2 drone launch takes aim at DJI

#22

Post by timerol »

1024core wrote: post #17

I've been keeping a casual eye on drones for a few years, and find it surprising that the flight time always stays between 20 and 30 minutes. Despite all the advances in every other department, the flight time has not changed. Why is that? I would have expected drones capable of flying for over an hour by now.

Energy density improvements in lithium batteries (the biggest factor in flight time) have been fairly gradual. There are drones that can fly longer, but they don't use batteries. There are a few drones that use the frame as a hydrogen tank, and can fly for about 4 hours. (https://edgy.app/hydrogen-powered-drone-hycopter-flight-4-ho...)

Re: Skydio: $1k Skydio 2 drone launch takes aim at DJI

#23

Post by deckar01 »

anfractuosity wrote: post #20

"Utilizing 45 megapixels of visual sensing from six 200 degree color cameras, Skydio 2 can see everything in every direction with unprecedented resolution and clarity." - Just to clarify, that means the Jetson TX2 can capture and process data from all 6 cameras, simultaneously, at 4k each? At what framerate is that too out of interest?

The "Navigation Camera System" section lists these details: 30fps from each of the 6 4k navigation cameras.

Re: Skydio: $1k Skydio 2 drone launch takes aim at DJI

#26

Post by HALtheWise »

anfractuosity wrote: post #20

"Utilizing 45 megapixels of visual sensing from six 200 degree color cameras, Skydio 2 can see everything in every direction with unprecedented resolution and clarity." - Just to clarify, that means the Jetson TX2 can capture and process data from all 6 cameras, simultaneously, at 4k each? At what framerate is that too out of interest?

It's a little bit complicated to answer this, because (as with all engineering) everything is tradeoffs. While I'm pretty sure the Tegra could in theory collect and process all of that data, doing so would load the processor and memory bandwidth enough that we couldn't run any the other algorithms we need to fly safely. In practice, that means that the framerates we process depend on exactly what the vehicle is trying to do and how it is moving.

Re: Skydio: $1k Skydio 2 drone launch takes aim at DJI

#27

Post by HALtheWise »

bluegene wrote: post #25
HALtheWise wrote: post #24

I'm an autonomy engineer at Skydio, and while there are limits to what I can reveal publicly, I'm happy to answer any questions people have.

I've never flown a drone before. How easy would it be for me to learn?

Take a look at the warranty. If the drone crashes, it's our fault not yours. In that sense, flying Skydio 2 should require about the same minimum skill as using a smartphone camera (i.e. none). We say a three year old can operate it, but that's not a hard minimum ;)

That said, there is always a skill ladder to climb if you want jaw-dropping professional footage, where understanding lighting, composition, editing, etc. benefit the quality of what you can make. The drone is pretty good at autonomously picking good shots, but there's also a lot of manual control possible, especially with the controller.

Re: Skydio: $1k Skydio 2 drone launch takes aim at DJI

#28

Post by skavi »

bluegene wrote: post #25
HALtheWise wrote: post #24

I'm an autonomy engineer at Skydio, and while there are limits to what I can reveal publicly, I'm happy to answer any questions people have.

I've never flown a drone before. How easy would it be for me to learn?

It looks like the point of this product is that it flys itself.

Re: Skydio: $1k Skydio 2 drone launch takes aim at DJI

#29

Post by HALtheWise »

jpm_sd wrote: post #21
Justin_K wrote: post #3

Looks really cool, but I'm skeptical of all the demo videos and whether or not a person or software flew the drone. Would like to see some independent reviews of their following capability.

These guys are really sharp, I met a few of them when they worked on Google's Project Wing in the early days.

Thanks!

Re: Skydio: $1k Skydio 2 drone launch takes aim at DJI

#30

Post by HALtheWise »

lkschubert8 wrote: post #6
Justin_K wrote: post #3

Looks really cool, but I'm skeptical of all the demo videos and whether or not a person or software flew the drone. Would like to see some independent reviews of their following capability.

I think it may just be the case that they heavily culled the shots they had. Some of the "automated" movement does end up looking too cinematic.

Yes, we pick the cool looking stuff for publishing, but the bigger factor is that we really do program the AI to fly in cinematic ways. Because it has a full 3D model of the world, we can actually model in software a lot of what cinematography traditionally does manually.
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