Parrot launch event 30/06/21 - Robotics takes flight

Parrot | European leader in professional drones

:man_shrugging:t2:

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They’re pretty big in European commercial drones and we’re pretty good with some of their consumer stuff.

I’d be interested to see what they have up their sleeves

As they’ve been awarded defence contracts with both the UK and USA I have a feeling it will be some kind of enterprise product utilising the similar, but slimmed down, tech they’ve developed for government use. I’d be surprised if it’s another consumer camera drone as they failed to garner the success they hoped to with their previous efforts. And I’m saying that as a Disco and Anafi fan.

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I never took the plunge with the a anafi, but liked the disco and bebop.

Would love them to be a serious competitor to DJI.
I always found the ux on parrots apps to be good too

I still believe the Anafi has a lot to offer even against DJI’s recent releases. The Disco, if bought when Curry’s were clearing their stock, was great value for money (£250), the original price was ridiculous (£1100) for a foam wing.

Where Parrot are winning over DJI is in the US enterprise market. DJI recently end of life’d all but one of their enterprise products. They also cancelled all third party dealer contracts and instead are only offering enterprise products via their own website.

It’s a crazy time for drone manufacturers. 3DR dropped out of the consumer drone market shortly after releasing the Solo. They concentrated on the commercial market by outfitting Yuneec products for specialist use. But earlier this month it was announced that Kitty Hawk, the air taxi company backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, is buying what’s left of one-time DJI competitor 3D Robotics.

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That’s inteeesting to hear. I’d never given much of a look at the anafi as I’d already decided DJI were the way to go at that point.

The disco was a steal and fun to fly.
I’ve watched a few take £3/400 on eBay even now.

The market has gone crazy.
It would be good to see someone challenge DJI from a consumer perspective - competition has to be healthy.

Good to see Larry get involved. No doubt Elon will throw his hat in the ring before long too! That would be interesting!

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We enthusiasts of forums just like this one are the converted. I don’t think the market is big enough to support DJI anymore, never mind another manufacturer. I think you can blame the recent legislation debacle for that. When I used to fly more frequently, prior to all the changes, my non-flying friends would be quite excited seeing the drone and the results, but now those same folk have lost interest due to the bureaucracy required just to spin some propellers. I’ve seen a similar reaction amongst traditional model flyers as a few in my club decided to sell up once their membership came up for renewal. Some have even taken up model boating instead :scream:.

To sell product manufacturers will either need to concentrate their efforts on the commercial/enterprise market or look to releasing products that require the absolute minimum effort from the purchaser to fly, while maximising opportunities, if they want to survive.

With the above being said I’ll add a second possibility of what Parrot’s new release might be, and that is a sub-250g variant of the Anafi. The Anafi isn’t that far off at 320g so it be quite possible to make some changes to bring it below 250g.

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Aye, those prop mounts look rather dinky, perhaps it is sub 250 gms. I hope they’ve improved the radio penetration, the Anafi isn’t/wasn’t quite as good as I hoped it would be for the original price and it felt a tad flimsy. I had three Anafis. First one came down inverted on its first flight, the second had a faulty fan and overheated. Although tech support was very helpful this time I’d lost a bit of confidence in it. The camera/gimbal rotation is great, I’m surprised there isn’t a DJI offering. Loved my Bebop.

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That’s a shame. I thought despite the regulations that drone sales were on the increase.

That’s the biggest shame. I still see a few traditional model pilots at the field where I often fly - sadly their numbers do seem to be dropping too - hopefully not to do boating!

That would be interesting and may be worth a closer look

Me too - had both and the first one wasn’t great until you added the sky controller.

I also had the bebop 2 fpv kit. The goggles were crap but really enjoyed the range and speed you could get. It just needed a more capable camera to be a real contender.

Interesting new model, they have changed the radio, 4G …

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makes sense as a secure signal would be advantageous for both commercial and military organisations.

HDR 10 camera too

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Where do I sign up?

This overrules all existing UK legislation … right?

And a bit of the most beautiful Positano thrown in to seduce me further! :+1:

(Note to self - need to go back there!)

These, I assume, are sensors … they move like guns … like on some sinister Transformer from another world! :smiling_imp:

image

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It’s a funny-looking thing but certainly seems to deliver in the video they showed.

The way it maps out the terrain looked pretty special too

As, probably, will be the price. :stuck_out_tongue:

4G between the controller and drone could mean endless flight distance :scream:

I wonder what the lag is like over 4G though?

Not as relevant with servos though I guess.

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Probably not that bad. You can check it by doing a speed test, within the results will be an average ping time in milliseconds.