That thinkg is ugly... I wish DJI would spend their time improving the I1 and providinging up with additional cameras or sensors to attrach to the "hotshoe"
I am starting to think we are out of luck..

I Agree.
The Matrice 100 use E800(DJI 3510) motor which as same as the inspire 1 motor.
They should create a smaller Guidance system attachment for inspire 1

it looks like instead of doing what we asked to be don to the i1 they through together pieces of the inspire in a different way new batteries of cores heaven forbid they make one battery that fits all platforms and now expect us to go for it

The M-100 is a platform for a different use.  I doubt that many will end up in private hands.  Most will be used by municipalities, surveyors, SDK developers and academia.  Why would many of us have use for a $3300 with no camera and no avoidance system.  The Inspire is better as a camera platform.  However, the M-100 more options.  Here is a brief review.

https://medium.com/@DroneDeploy/ ... -drone-3fa5cd444d62

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-9 08:14
The M-100 is a platform for a different use.  I doubt that many will end up in private hands.  Most  ...

Nice Ed, thanks for sharing this with us

Rich

I'll certainly be looking at the M-100 platform very closely.

There is potential there to build a versatile and agile flight platform for inspecting assets via multiple means concurrently which could be a big benefit to my profession.
Completely different use case than the Inspire, but a good complement. I can see us using both as well as a P3 or two.

I wish this machine would have been a 7-8 rotor machine something like the S series.
I wonder is DJI will start selling their new N1 controller to replace the A2.

Looks to be very very over priced for what you are getting.  Get my Inspire to work great first, then move on with many more behind you.

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-9 08:14
The M-100 is a platform for a different use.  I doubt that many will end up in private hands.  Most  ...

Dear Ed,
Thanks for sharing the so-called review of the M100. It was really interesting to see an animated gif of the M100 being repelled by an object in its proximity. Your post here is more honest than that "review" (at least you have mentioned some of the cons in purchasing this product).
I hope you don't mind asking you a few questions. Would be appreciated if you share them with others in DJI.
1. Why the M100 was made available before the Handheld for the I1's gimbal which was presented a long time ago? Most I1's owners are willing to purchase one. Moreover, some of us considered this item a benefit in purchasing the I1.
2. Why the P3's and M100 have SDK and the I1 is still lacking one?
3. The legs of the I1 could have been removable allowing a much easier and safer transportation. Is the M100 also lacking such an important feature? From the looks of it, the M100 is not even having a raising propellers feature, which is what gives the I1 a considerable extra stability (lower mass center).
4. Real-time processing of stereoscopic imagery isn't something simple to achieve (congrats!) . What is the delay expected of the M100 platform in detecting a potential collision? Is there any technical information regarding this? Knowing the interval between the moment an object appears in its path and the stereo-pair being captured and processed, the response time of the flight controller and the time needed for the speed to be (safely) adjusted to avoid collision, one could determine what is the maximum speed from which the system can avoid collision when no other external interference (ex. wind) occurs.
5. Is DJI doing more research into improving the stereoscopic processing? The number of cameras can be reduced, for example, for horizontal 360º coverage only 6 cameras may be used instead of 8. The trick to achieve this is to compute the X-parallax on a cylindrical space and not a plane one. Multiple benefits would be reducing the power consumption, size and weight of the system.
My questions would probably never end, but I will refrain from making this post undesirably long. Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Bogdan

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-9 08:14
The M-100 is a platform for a different use.  I doubt that many will end up in private hands.  Most  ...

Yes - spot on.
The Inspire 1 is a nearly perfect camera platform and I really love my Inspire. I have 170 flights with it - rock solid.
So hopefully the Inspire will not be forgotten by DJI - a lot of us would like a new camera - a 1080P ProRes camera would be nice. And the handheld device for the camera/gimbal is still not for sale.

Tahoe_Ed can you give us some hope for the future of the Inspire ?

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-9 08:14
The M-100 is a platform for a different use.  I doubt that many will end up in private hands.  Most  ...

Ah-ha, ok, I'm learning more about its application.  Thanks mate.

vonbaron1 Posted at 2015-6-9 12:30
Looks to be very very over priced for what you are getting.  Get my Inspire to work great first, the ...

Kip, lots of similar sentiment out there.  Great tech, but we're all asking for focus on the I1

bornish@gmail.c Posted at 2015-6-9 12:37
Dear Ed,
Thanks for sharing the so-called review of the M100. It was really interesting to see an  ...

Lot of points you raising.  Not sure about some of them, but, have to agree with one of your points around resource focus.  One does wonder why DJI won't focus more resources in getting the I1 up to scratch, rather than splitting resource focus on yet another platform.

nilsblix@gmail. Posted at 2015-6-9 15:29
Yes - spot on.
The Inspire 1 is a nearly perfect camera platform and I really love my Inspire. I h ...

Good points.  Look at the recent thread on "camera upgrades".  We're definitely hoping on some dedicated focus on the I1 platform.

bornish@gmail.c Posted at 2015-6-9 12:37
Dear Ed,
Thanks for sharing the so-called review of the M100. It was really interesting to see an  ...

Hey mate, sounds like you have some serious knowledge in stereoscopic processing! Etc.?

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-9 08:14
The M-100 is a platform for a different use.  I doubt that many will end up in private hands.  Most  ...

But the review you posted clearly shows that it has a camera attached?  You said that it does not?

nilsblix@gmail. Posted at 2015-6-9 15:29
Yes - spot on.
The Inspire 1 is a nearly perfect camera platform and I really love my Inspire. I h ...

But, both have identical cameras...  

Farnk666 Posted at 2015-6-9 09:38
I'll certainly be looking at the M-100 platform very closely.

There is potential there to build a v ...

Interesting reply...I agree, but conflicted.  Care to explain the need for all three?  What I can see is that the M100 and I1 both have the same camera, so, same use case there.  The M100 has the stereoscopic sensing, so, I guess one can use the M1 as an I1 in at least 50% of applications?  The only disadvantage I can see is that TV M100 does not have retractable props.

I'm struggling with the whole thing here...just a but...

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-9 08:14
The M-100 is a platform for a different use.  I doubt that many will end up in private hands.  Most  ...

Actually, the more I read your response, and the more I research the info about this platform, compared to the I1, the less I understand or agree with your response.

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-9 08:14
The M-100 is a platform for a different use.  I doubt that many will end up in private hands.  Most  ...

Unreal that 3 out of the 4 "top" features of the M100 are not impressive at all, or, are already part of the I1 which is 6 months old.  Only the 4th feature speaks to the anew tech in the M100, which is about the stereoscopic avoidance system.

GrahamJ Posted at 2015-6-9 22:10
But, both have identical cameras...

Well Grahamj - the Matrice does not actually have a camera - but for sure you can buy the X3 and put it on. Without retractable landing gear it is not interesting as a video platform for me

GrahamJ Posted at 2015-6-9 22:16
Interesting reply...I agree, but conflicted.  Care to explain the need for all three?  What I can  ...

Yea, no worries Graham.

For my purposes, I would like to see the Matrice setup with both a video / still camera and a thermal camera at the same time for assessing large mechanical and high voltage assets.

The I1 used as a general inspection UAV - using the current camera for video, stills and photogrammetry.

The P3 I'd like to see used by our field crews for quick 'ad -hoc' inspection works. Our aviation authority is looking to de-regulate the use of sub 2Kg UAV for commercial work next year. A cheap and agile way to do elevated inspection work without a need to scaffold or bring in elevated work platforms.

Having one pilot app for all three is a big attraction as that is a big reduction in training requirements.

Farnk666 Posted at 2015-6-9 22:38
Yea, no worries Graham.

For my purposes, I would like to see the Matrice setup with both a video / ...

Ok, I absolutely understand your position, and application requirement now.  Thanks mate...

nilsblix@gmail. Posted at 2015-6-9 22:30
Well Grahamj - the Matrice does not actually have a camera - but for sure you can buy the X3 and p ...

Sorry mate, I'm sure I saw the same cam as the I1 in the URL provided above?  (I stand to be corrected

Tahoe_Ed Posted at 2015-6-9 08:14
The M-100 is a platform for a different use.  I doubt that many will end up in private hands.  Most  ...

Ed, I'm wondering if the Guidance system is possible to mount on the Inspire 1. Is there any plan to make it possible for the Inspire too?? It would make it even better.

Once you release the autopilot functions + guidance(if possible) than the Inspire 1 = best Pro-Sumer drone for a long time

I don't think so.  The retracts would get in the way.

I would suggest getting your priorities in check with what you want with a drone - the P3, I1 and M100 are 3 different machines with 3 different functions - stop whining

Skywolf007 Posted at 2015-6-10 06:19
Ed, I'm wondering if the Guidance system is possible to mount on the Inspire 1. Is there any plan  ...

As great as it sounds, I would be extremely skeptic on the effectiveness of the collision avoidance system of the M100. We should welcome such research from manufacturers and applaud their efforts because even small steps in the right direction are useful steps and better than no steps. My main concern remains though regarding its current implementation. Personally I would not spend $999+ something that does not come with any technical specs, but the price is not the issue. Please allow me to explain:
When designing such a safety feature for a system (UAV, car, ...) we need to primarily focus on:
- delay due to real-time complex operations which would limit the effectiveness of the feature
- health-check required to ensure that the feature is correctly calibrated and functional
- manual-override implemented, as no automatic system should be allowed to fully control a system
Basically, a collision avoidance feature should deal more with preventive flight control instead of reactive flight control. What I've seen in the animated gif was that the M100 was "repelled" by someone pushing a wooden-plate in its proximity. That could simply be achieved by a sonar reading with almost no computational requirement. It really looked to me like a wrong approach though. I would be more than happy to have a system which does not get "repelled" by objects flying into it, but instead to limit my flight decisions to prevent my system to collide into fixed objects around it. Think about it like this:
- assume the environment isn't moving and the only moving object is your UAV
- design and implement the safety feature to limit your UAV's movements based on the detected environment
- limit speed based on the proximity of detected objects, taking into consideration the measurements precision and any processing delay
- parametrize the formulas used in processing and extensively test with different configuration values (proximity allowed, max wind speed,...)
Once such a system has been successful (acceptable error margin) research focus can be shifted to the next level where more advance algorithms would try to anticipate and predict environment changes (ex. child running towards your spinning blades).
Thanks for reading.
Regards,
Bogdan

I'm just glad DJI finally released a product that I don't feel compelled to immediately throw my money at :-)

flydronefly Posted at 2015-6-10 10:41
I would suggest getting your priorities in check with what you want with a drone - the P3, I1 and M1 ...

Please elaborate since you seem to have your in place.