New Autel Robotics Controller is coming: Now is official :D

[Eagle928]

Yep, you could install apps, but not control other drones unless they share the same RC protocol, and big fat chance DJI would ever, EVER allow that, unless someone cracks occusync, and I don't think it has been done. What I would hope for is to be able to control more than one Autel drone model, in other words a switch so that you can bind more than one bird to it. I bet that won't happen either, so you would need to bind everytime you change birds, which isn't that big a deal.

Good points!

 

[herein2021]

This thing is going to cost a LOT. No doubt in my mind. I still want it. But....have to see the final price. If you use the Evo II for business, its a no brainer to get one, no matter the price. You can re-coup the cost on one or two jobs easily I figure, but I don't do commercial work...so......dunno at this point.

Autel stop making good stuff and taking all my money.

Haha....nope, I fly professionally nearly daily and I wouldn't get this for one simple reason.....with my iPad mini I can fly any drone I want and it has survived every drone generation since the P2. Remotes like these tie you to that drone's ecosystem even more than if you had just bought the batteries, drone, and case. If the drone gets outdated or you choose to switch manufacturers that expense goes down the drain.

I've been able to complete every commercial drone job I've been hired to do since 2014 with no problem, so from a business stance for me this doesn't make sense. If I had bought the DJI version of this it would be gathering dust right now while I fly the EVO II.

Thinking outside the box, This Smart Controller can transmit 13km (8 plus miles). Anyone else feel an Evo 3 is around the corner?

Even if our Evo 2 models could safely travel 8 miles out, it’ll never make it back. Maybe Autel has an Evo 3 coming soon, that will benefit from the new Smart Controllers strong signal strength.

Anyone else feel an Evo 3 coming soon with longer flight capacity?

First off, I would take that number with a lot of grains of salt.....it can transmit 8 miles just like the EVO II 6K can fly for 40min even though it says 33min before you even take off. Secondly, I can tell you that the EVO II 6K can fly right around 5miles out and back (when there is no interference and no wind) and have about 4% battery life remaining while landing so at least for the EVO II...8 miles is unrealistic unless its a one way trip.

Now what they might have done is made it work better when there is interference, this is what I care about more so than distance. My biggest challenge is when I'm hired to shoot huge events.....they bring in extra generator powered cell towers and WiFi towers and the airwaves are saturated. I once shot an event that had so much extra WiFi that my drone's range went from 5 miles to barely 300' (this was with the DJI P4). So if they improved the range with no interference, that usually means they improved the range for saturated locations as well.

 

[Brock Inspector]

Tell me the last time a processor upgrade made any significant difference in the last 5+ years? Intel and AMD haven't had a massive upgrade of more then maybe 5% real world difference in forever. Qualcomm has probably been a bit better but in order to do it they've had to give up a bit of their power savings and crank up CPU speed which eats battery power. Memory makes more difference then CPU by a wide margin. 128GB SSD is way fast enough. Go look at any Surface tablet and tell me apps don't load fast from the disk. The DJI smartcontroller used a chip that was basically 4yrs old at launch and ppl have raved about that thing to this day. Memory and disk handicap way, way more then CPU and has for years. My wife runs Revit(Autocad) on an 8yr old laptop. Know why it still runs it well? I put the max everything in that machine when I got it. 32gb of memory and SSD drive. Given what's in this thing it will run fine for several years. It will be another 4 yrs before the chips will even make much of a difference over this one they are putting in.

RetArmy, it's more about what hardware security and malware exploits get patched, or wireless protocol implementation with new designs, after which modern OS updates incorporating them leave older chips orphaned, than it is about simply processor, bus, or RAM speed. Any new smart controller will be replacing a smartphone, it will have to interface with the interwebs in a current OS. 4 year old chips aren't known for running newest software well, if at all. Until it actually ships, leaked hardware specs are just blowing smoke

 

[Brock Inspector]

RetArmy, it's more about what hardware security and malware exploits get patched, or wireless protocol implementation with new designs, after which modern OS updates incorporating them leave older chips orphaned, than it is about simply processor, bus, or RAM speed. Any new smart controller will be replacing a smartphone, it will have to interface with the interwebs in a current OS. 4 year old chips aren't known for running newest software well, if at all. Until it actually ships, leaked hardware specs are just blowing smoke

DJI got blacklisted for use by all US gov't entities because of backdoors, so their earlier use of a 4 year old chip isn't exactly proof of concept More like a good example of bad business practice

 

[lukappaseidue]

Don't see this Smart RC being able to run in an "open" ecosystem outside of Autel systems. I would think that it could be compatible with the EVO I, obviously EVO II, and then similar to what DJI did with their SC, make it an option/compatible with future systems in the Autel ecosystem.

I think the same: older, actual and future AR drones

 

[phantomrain.org]

The Latency on the DJI Smart Controller was really slow, This could be really nice with the extra power.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Evo 2 in the Rain .

 

[danmhubb86]

Im not going to believe anything until it actually is advertised, to many apple, android ads over the years that looked real and wasn't. it list a EVO 2 Enterprise as one of the models supported????

 

[Eagle928]

Im not going to believe anything until it actually is advertised, to many apple, android ads over the years that looked real and wasn't. it list a EVO 2 Enterprise as one of the models supported????

Perhaps there will be an Evo 2 Enterprise version coming soon as well. The big money comes from government and corporate sales.

 

[Ematthews]

nice

Sadly, this controller is too Smart to work for the previous EVO1 versions. I’d also heard an unsubstantiated rumor that the EVO line may be discontinued in favor of an upcoming Autel drone product - and this smart controller will be Smart enough to work with it.
It’s unconfirmed and unsubstantiated, but we all know that within every rumor there is a grain of truth.
For What it’s worth.

 

[Eagle928]

Sadly, this controller is too Smart to work for the previous EVO1 versions. I’d also heard an unsubstantiated rumor that the EVO line may be discontinued in favor of an upcoming Autel drone product - and this smart controller will be Smart enough to work with it.
It’s unconfirmed and unsubstantiated, but we all know that within every rumor there is a grain of truth.
For What it’s worth.

I think it's a mistake to abandon the Evo 1 line. It has been a solid performer and in a price range that fits most amateur photography buffs. Especially after the SW/FW issues were resolved (from what I understand).

Perhaps Autel should consider a different fork in the road by having a mid-range consumer drone like the Evo 1. Improve on that platform and keep the hardware and price more moderate. Not everyone wants to or can spend $2K on a drone and 3 batteries.

Did you happen to catch what kind of drone product they are abandoning the Evo 1 for (in this rumor)?

 

[herein2021]

Tell me the last time a processor upgrade made any significant difference in the last 5+ years? Intel and AMD haven't had a massive upgrade of more then maybe 5% real world difference in forever. Qualcomm has probably been a bit better but in order to do it they've had to give up a bit of their power savings and crank up CPU speed which eats battery power. Memory makes more difference then CPU by a wide margin. 128GB SSD is way fast enough. Go look at any Surface tablet and tell me apps don't load fast from the disk. The DJI smartcontroller used a chip that was basically 4yrs old at launch and ppl have raved about that thing to this day. Memory and disk handicap way, way more then CPU and has for years. My wife runs Revit(Autocad) on an 8yr old laptop. Know why it still runs it well? I put the max everything in that machine when I got it. 32gb of memory and SSD drive. Given what's in this thing it will run fine for several years. It will be another 4 yrs before the chips will even make much of a difference over this one they are putting in.

I agree with you, you can make almost any slightly outdated HW run like new simply by upgrading to an SSD drive and increasing the memory. For now, we have reached the point of greatly diminishing returns on HW. I do still have to upgrade my video editing workstation every few years but only because video codecs keep getting more complex and the cameras that I use keep increasing in resolution. Fortunately my NLE makes extensive use of GPU offloading so I mainly just upgrade my video card. Hopefully my next upgrade will last for a long time once NVIDIA video cards finally support H.265 4:2:2 encoding.

RetArmy, it's more about what hardware security and malware exploits get patched, or wireless protocol implementation with new designs, after which modern OS updates incorporating them leave older chips orphaned, than it is about simply processor, bus, or RAM speed. Any new smart controller will be replacing a smartphone, it will have to interface with the interwebs in a current OS. 4 year old chips aren't known for running newest software well, if at all. Until it actually ships, leaked hardware specs are just blowing smoke

While partly true its also mostly false. Yes newer chips may be more secure than older ones, but most malware exploits are done through the OS, not the HW. Sure there have been a few major ones that made the headlines like Spectre and Meltdown but there's no way a drone vendor is going to go with the latest chip just for security reasons. The main three reasons that drive the chip version that ultimately ends up in something like this is: cost, battery life, and availability. Security doesn't even make the list. Neither DJI or Autel will make the screen, CPU, memory etc. it will come as a HW package with all of that selected already and from there they will integrate it into their drone remote control HW and wireless transmission system which is why it uses a customized version of Android to recognize the additional control and communication inputs.

DJI got blacklisted for use by all US gov't entities because of backdoors, so their earlier use of a 4 year old chip isn't exactly proof of concept More like a good example of bad business practice

False again, DJI's addition to the blacklist had nothing to do with security, although I personally do believe they were spying on every single DJI drone pilot. They were added due to the trade war, humanitarian reasons, and potentially for spying. Nowhere in the list was because of the chip version they used in their HW, malware, or security exploits. For the most part their addition was due to theatrics in an attempt to apply additional pressure on China due to their currency manipulation.

With DJI Blacklisted by the U.S. Government, What Does It Mean for the Drone Industry?

The United States and China are in a trade war, and one of the newest casualties of that war is DJI. There has been a perpetual back and forth over DJI for a while now, with things heating up in 2019

www.commercialuavnews.com

 

[advexure]

Perhaps there will be an Evo 2 Enterprise version coming soon as well. The big money comes from government and corporate sales.

Well, we know there is an "Enterprise" version out there as Autel displayed it at a show in China last fall. Lots of pics of the EVO II Enterprise craft on this thread with the attachment modules.

Sadly, this controller is too Smart to work for the previous EVO1 versions. I’d also heard an unsubstantiated rumor that the EVO line may be discontinued in favor of an upcoming Autel drone product - and this smart controller will be Smart enough to work with it.
It’s unconfirmed and unsubstantiated, but we all know that within every rumor there is a grain of truth.
For What it’s worth.

I wouldn't say it's too smart for the EVO I. Both the EVO I and EVO II are using the same remote controller (just different firmware on them). Hardware and transmission protocol wise, it theoretically should be compatible, however, from a business point of view and looking at it from Autel's perspective, would it make sense to invest in the programming/development to make the new Smart RC backwards compatible with a legacy system, probably not, also worth noting that the EVO I has never been officially EOL (end of life). It is still a product line that is active on the market. Many manufacturers like to follow a "good, better, best" approach to pricing and aligning product lines/segments. EVO I is a great, low-cost starting platform for many recreational users, companies just getting into UAS, and agencies/departments who do not yet have the budget and want to start a UAS program somewhere.

Autel should make the new Smart Controller compatible with the EVO I and it should be justified in that folks may invest in a Smart Controller knowing that when they upgrade and expand their program and fleet, they can use their Smart Controllers with other and future Autel craft.

 

[The Autelian]

Ragazzi preparatevi
In arrivo una mega bomba
Stile Smart Controller

Be ready,
it is coming
Smart Controller styleView attachment 10171View attachment 10172View attachment 10173View attachment 10174View attachment 10175

Vapour ware unfortunately!
Autel told me they have no plans for a smart controller for the Evo series. They are concentrating the controller tech on the Dragonfish!

 

[Tomaso]

Hey Autel, if true, a welcomed addition. But now what about a Sub 250G drone or another model???

 

[advexure]

Vapour ware unfortunately!
Autel told me they have no plans for a smart controller for the Evo series. They are concentrating the controller tech on the Dragonfish!

Time will tell but they most definitely have had plans for it!

 

[herein2021]

Hey Autel, if true, a welcomed addition. But now what about a Sub 250G drone or another model???

Autel is tiny....revenues are only between $1M -$10M. DJI by comparison makes 2.83 BILLION. So you really can't expect much from them each year those sound like razor thin margins to me; people have no idea how much R&D, patents, advertising, and product development cost. I feel lucky every day just to have an alternative to DJI.

I actually will be surprised if this smart controller ever sees the light of day. DJI's userbase is huge, they can afford to taken an expensive risk like this and bring a smart controller to the market; Autel on the other hand....maybe not so much. TBH with you, I would be surprised if they have even broken even yet. Even GoPro with their billions couldn't compete with DJI.

 

[The Autelian]

Autel is tiny....revenues are only between $1M -$10M. DJI by comparison makes 2.83 BILLION. So you really can't expect much from them each year those sound like razor thin margins to me; people have no idea how much R&D, patents, advertising, and product development cost. I feel lucky every day just to have an alternative to DJI.

I actually will be surprised if this smart controller ever sees the light of day. DJI's userbase is huge, they can afford to taken an expensive risk like this and bring a smart controller to the market; Autel on the other hand....maybe not so much. TBH with you, I would be surprised if they have even broken even yet. Even GoPro with their billions couldn't compete with DJI.

You are mistaken. Autel is huge! their drone department is tiny, yes, but the parent company is bigger than DJI. They make auto testing equipment mostly. I think they have the resources to make a smart controller.

 

[advexure]

Autel is tiny....revenues are only between $1M -$10M. DJI by comparison makes 2.83 BILLION. So you really can't expect much from them each year those sound like razor thin margins to me; people have no idea how much R&D, patents, advertising, and product development cost. I feel lucky every day just to have an alternative to DJI.

I actually will be surprised if this smart controller ever sees the light of day. DJI's userbase is huge, they can afford to taken an expensive risk like this and bring a smart controller to the market; Autel on the other hand....maybe not so much. TBH with you, I would be surprised if they have even broken even yet. Even GoPro with their billions couldn't compete with DJI.

All good points, however you have to keep in mind that Autel Robotics is part of "larger Autel" which is sizable in the automotive industry. Autel has gained great traction in the UAS market with the EVO II series and particularly the EVO II Dual into the commercial/enterprise sector along with public safety. Those market sectors have long been calling for Autel to bring out a "Smart" or professional/advanced GCS/RC for the EVO II series. They are going to have to remain focused on enhancing their solution for those sectors that have the most growth and scalability. Yes a small, more consumer oriented drone gets new users into the market and eventually many those users move into commercial use, but the "low-hanging fruit" in our opinion is to enhance their offering for the commercial sector where their traction is strongest right now.

 

[advexure]

@herein2021 A little over 5k members here on the AutelPilots forum, 132k+ members on the MavicPilots forum and 102k+ on PhantomPilots. That helps depict the user base size comparison.

 

[Eagle928]

Hopefully my next upgrade will last for a long time once NVIDIA video cards finally support H.265 4:2:2 encoding.

While I would not recommend the Nvidia 1050 it does handle H265. Once I render it in Shotcut using a Proxy it flows smoothly even after export it as an H265 file at 4K 60fps then open it with a number of video viewers than can handle the H265 encoding. SMplayer, VLC, etc. Are you sure it's Nvidia that doesn't handle the H265 video encoding or is the viewer you use?

I like H265 mainly because the files are so much smaller compared to H264. Sending a 44 GB file using something like wetransfer.com is easier than uploading to Youtube and saving it as unlisted. On the other hand it stays on Youtube but is gone in 7 days on wetransfer which is a good thing when sending to a client perhaps.