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CES Autel questions

Joe Thompson

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OK, guys! I'm at CES for the keynote tonight. I plan for the next couple of days to visit the Autel guys. I hope to have an extended conversation with them. What do you want to ask? I'll field as many as I can.

Hit this tonight.
 
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OK, guys! I'm at CES for the keynote tonight. I plan for the next couple of days to visit the Autel guys. I hope to have an extended conversation with them. What do you want to ask? I'll field as many as I can.

Hit this tonight.

Joe Enjoy the Show Thanks!

Ask: Will the current X-Star Premium continue to be supported with:
1. new hardware upgrades
2. software revisions and added features
 
I'd like to know if they have any plans to design a smaller, more portable drone to compete with competitors. I love my XSP but admit the small form-factor of an unnamed competitor's drone is appealing. I'd just prefer to have one from Autel.
 
OK, guys, CES was over yesterday and I waited until now to post so I could get all info I could.

Last question first.

There are no plans to produce or pursue a foldable machine similar to several I saw at this show. There is a new platform in the works that they had as non-working prototypes on display. No release date is scheduled yet but they wanted to give a look at the direction their plans go. It is truly a sleek looking machine. There is a new "attachment" point that looks similar to an DSLR lens mount in place of the open gimbal we now have. Could there be a gimbal stick in the future? The new mount will certainly lend itself to that! I would not be surprised if that was out there somewhere!

First and second question: Hardware first. Yes, the current X-Star will continue to be supported with no "phase out" planned. They realize the numbers out here presently and will support it indefinitely. Two new camera devices were intro'd at this CES. One a new cam with a 1 inch sensor for greatly improved resolution and the second was a dual sensored FLIR camera that gives both the thermal image and the optical image. It works on the display screen much like the current camera view and map with one in the corner and one large image filling the rest of the screen. These will be swappable just like present map/image tap to swap.

One of my favorites is the new controller. Internal screen that folds up above the controls much like the present setup but is roughly the size of my iPad mini but is approximately 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick. The sticks fold to clear the screen for transport. It's the best controller format I've seen and I've flown the Yuneec Typhoon H Pro with its huge ST-16+ controller. This is worth the wait!

A multi-battery charging hub is coming! Use your present charger to charge up to four batteries at a time. It's just downright cute! I did NOT get a release date for it.

Ok, Software/firmware. It's scheduled to be released a bit later during the 1st quarter. They flew it at the show and it's great. I asked to see the slowest yaw and it is smooth and really slow! Exactly what has been asked for. The optical sensors are greatly improved to the point that at 15 to 18 feet inside with NO chance of GPS signal and total hands off the controller, it sat there without dancing an inch in any direction! Phenomenal! I watched several other large drone manufacturers reps Troy to do this same hover and they were without fail, doing a serious finger dance on the sticks to even come close to this stability! This was worth the somewhat frustrating wait! You will like it. It has taken a while for this to be released because it is an almost total rewrite/revision is the entire package.

I spent quite a bit of time kibitzing with the Autel staff and am totally impressed with their dedication and desire to support their users. I did NOT see this dedication to service from the other drone manufacturers. What a great bunch of guys and gals there. You can have confidence in support from them.

If I've left anything out or you have more questions, fire'em back and I'll try to answer if I have the info.
 
Joe,
Many thanks for your report!
Barry
OK, guys, CES was over yesterday and I waited until now to post so I could get all info I could.

Last question first.

There are no plans to produce or pursue a foldable machine similar to several I saw at this show. There is a new platform in the works that they had as non-working prototypes on display. No release date is scheduled yet but they wanted to give a look at the direction their plans go. It is truly a sleek looking machine. There is a new "attachment" point that looks similar to an DSLR lens mount in place of the open gimbal we now have. Could there be a gimbal stick in the future? The new mount will certainly lend itself to that! I would not be surprised if that was out there somewhere!

First and second question: Hardware first. Yes, the current X-Star will continue to be supported with no "phase out" planned. They realize the numbers out here presently and will support it indefinitely. Two new camera devices were intro'd at this CES. One a new cam with a 1 inch sensor for greatly improved resolution and the second was a dual sensored FLIR camera that gives both the thermal image and the optical image. It works on the display screen much like the current camera view and map with one in the corner and one large image filling the rest of the screen. These will be swappable just like present map/image tap to swap.

One of my favorites is the new controller. Internal screen that folds up above the controls much like the present setup but is roughly the size of my iPad mini but is approximately 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick. The sticks fold to clear the screen for transport. It's the best controller format I've seen and I've flown the Yuneec Typhoon H Pro with its huge ST-16+ controller. This is worth the wait!

A multi-battery charging hub is coming! Use your present charger to charge up to four batteries at a time. It's just downright cute! I did NOT get a release date for it.

Ok, Software/firmware. It's scheduled to be released a bit later during the 1st quarter. They flew it at the show and it's great. I asked to see the slowest yaw and it is smooth and really slow! Exactly what has been asked for. The optical sensors are greatly improved to the point that at 15 to 18 feet inside with NO chance of GPS signal and total hands off the controller, it sat there without dancing an inch in any direction! Phenomenal! I watched several other large drone manufacturers reps Troy to do this same hover and they were without fail, doing a serious finger dance on the sticks to even come close to this stability! This was worth the somewhat frustrating wait! You will like it. It has taken a while for this to be released because it is an almost total rewrite/revision is the entire package.

I spent quite a bit of time kibitzing with the Autel staff and am totally impressed with their dedication and desire to support their users. I did NOT see this dedication to service from the other drone manufacturers. What a great bunch of guys and gals there. You can have confidence in support from them.

If I've left anything out or you have more questions, fire'em back and I'll try to answer if I have the info.
 
Increased stability in ATTI mode? I'm all for it. And the yaw issue is what initially made me hold off buying the X-Star...but I knew it had to be a firmware issue and eventually some updated firmware would be released to fix it.

I assume the new controller will be compatible with the current XSP. Any idea on the release date for that?
 
OK, guys! I'm at CES for the keynote tonight. I plan for the next couple of days to visit the Autel guys. I hope to have an extended conversation with them. What do you want to ask? I'll field as many as I can.

Hit this tonight.

Wish I had seen this thread sooner. What I am most curious about is the collision avoidance feature they are working on. Was there any mention of how they are going to accomplish this (for example licensing Intel's RealSense technology that is available in the Typhoon H)? I've been half tempted to pre-order the Intel Real Sense developer kit or their RTF drone kit (Intel® Aero Platform Developer Kits).
 
ahhh "this sounds fantastic. Thanks heaps Joe. Well done mate.
This yaw fix will make this bird perfect.
I will hold off on the new camera though. I believe its the same as the p4p camera and from what i am hearing in the dji forums, its not as sharp as expected. So I hope it gets sorted or at least looked at and noted. So glad I took the risk and went with Autel. Not an easy thing to do living in Australia, esp if it had to be shipped back for repairs.
 
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Wish I had seen this thread sooner. What I am most curious about is the collision avoidance feature they are working on. Was there any mention of how they are going to accomplish this (for example licensing Intel's RealSense technology that is available in the Typhoon H)? I've been half tempted to pre-order the Intel Real Sense developer kit or their RTF drone kit (Intel® Aero Platform Developer Kits).

One item I failed to mention due to brain phartage is that Autel has released the Software Development Kit (SDK) for the new FW. This will open the door for third-party developers to give much more capability than included in he new release.
 
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One item I failed to mention due to brain phartage is that Autel has released the Software Development Kit (SDK) for the new FW. This will open the door for third-party developers to give much more capability than included in he new release.

Yeah, I had noticed in their video promo. I'm looking ahead to what drone to get to replace my solos (I love em and have modded them extensively), but know that parts etc. are going to get scarce over time. Typhoon H or Phantom 4 Pro had been my top considerations, but with Autel looking less likely to screw over consumers (like 3DR did), the Autel SDK release, and the announcement of obstacle avoidance in their next Autel drone, they will definitely be worth consideration....plus their drones are orange, which is cool. I dig the pumpkin look.
 
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Stupid question, but is the camera yaw issue?

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