I would love to be able to plug a SIM card directly into my drone.

Here's why...

- Can tell my Phantom where to go from any device.

- Can find my Phantom very easily, if lost.

- Can complete a full mission with charging in between waypoints , i.e. go to waypoint A, B, C, and D where waypoint B is a charging station.  Once the Drone recharges it will be told hey you still need to go to Waypoints C and D.

- Send my live flight telemetry to any website or app.

My carrier would love for me to use more data by using my SIM card on my drone as it generates more revenue for them!

I wonder if this is coming to the Phantom 3 -- that would be nice:-)

Check out http://www.skydrone.aero for cellular FPV.  
If only they can come up with cellular transmitter via Bluetooth connection from transmitter to phone.  Phone then sends signals via cell service.  

scott_barton@ho Posted at 2014-10-14 08:21
Check out http://www.skydrone.aero for cellular FPV.  
If only they can come up with cellular transm ...

Does that mean users need to set the phone on the drone? Otherwise, the range is still limited by the Bluetooth...

The ultimate goal as aseidman stated is to utilize the existing 4G network to establish the communication between to the crafts and the controller. so as long as battery allows, we can go much further.

However, there are some issues we need to solve before implementing that:
1. gain cellular network ID for each craft, this is doable, but could add cost
2. make sure the 4G coverage from carrier is good for those remote areas, if we fly in a desert or mountain area, probably the cellular coverage would not be great, then we could still lose the crafts, also, bad coverage can cause huge latency, and that leads to crashes...
3. 4G network security need to make sure drones won't be taken over by other people...
There could be more.

This is not end of the world though, as cellular network technology is getting improving, we sure can seek a chance to utilize it.

Marco Polo can work up to 2 miles and doesn't require a cellular plan
http://multirotorpilotmag.com/marco-polo-pet-multirotor-tracking-system/



Havent tried it yet but the reviews look good and a lot of pilots use it.

DJI-JS Posted at 2014-10-14 11:43
The ultimate goal as aseidman stated is to utilize the existing 4G network to establish the communic ...

I don't think the issue of limited coverage is as critical as one would think.

The drone needs to know where to go next location  and a return to home location.  As long as it maintains/stores both of those data points it will be fine even without cell coverage.  Once it regains a connection it can send and get the latest updates e.g. go to this next location.

aseidman@gmail. Posted at 2014-10-15 05:10
I don't think the issue of limited coverage is as critical as one would think.

The drone needs to ...

Agree, as long as the way point got coverage, it should be fine. However, from the ground station, we can't tell if the way point is covered by good cellular signal.

Or the other way to do this is that each way point for battery charging/changing has its own 4G ID as well, it communicates through 4G network as well as the ground station, so as long as the way point shows up on the groud station, we know that way point is safe.

DJI-JS Posted at 2014-10-15 08:26
Agree, as long as the way point got coverage, it should be fine. However, from the ground station, ...

This is a really good point.

Each waypoint for battery charging/changing or "hive" as I like to call it:-) (http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... =695&page=1#pid4748)  will have it's own 4G ID!  

Now all we need is for DJI to...

a) Add 4G network connection and port for a SIM card to the aircraft.
b) Open up the Ground Station app so that 3rd party data can be used when mapping a flight path / mission.  For example, I would want to see all nearby "hives" when mapping my flight path so I can tell it to land at these two "hives"

we sure can look into it, but can't tell how soon we will come up a solution.

DJI-JS Posted at 2014-10-14 11:43
The ultimate goal as aseidman stated is to utilize the existing 4G network to establish the communic ...

I hope you do decide to offer this feature, particularly for the Spreading Wings units. With their payload capacity, it would open up great opportunities for using your drones in search & rescue, courier services, and of course long-range photo and video applications.

Please do it!