Drone agriculture:Fixed Wing or Multi-Copter

How to choose a drone agriculture? Fixed Wing or Multi-Copter? Let's do some simple comparisons fist.

Fixed Wing drone:Ag Eagle

Fixed wing drones like the AgEagle RAPID, and SenseFly eBee Ag are often preferred by farmers because they can spend more time in the air than a multi-rotor platforms like the DJI's Matrice 100.That said, they are best suited for large, open-field scanning.And also Fixed wing drones often carry more payload than a multi-rotor which means more sensors and so more information can be captured in a single flight.

 But Fixed wing drones are more expensive too, usually they cost $5,000 to $25,000 or more after being fitted with sensors.(compare with multicopter)

Pros

Endurance : fly as much as 10x longer and cover more geography in a single flight
Payload capacity: can carry more weight
Applications: larger selection of sensors

Cons

Cost: usually more expensive
Ease of Use: not as easy as a multirotor
Size: requires more space for storage and transport

Multi-Copter:DJI Agras MG-1:

Multi-rotor ag drones like DJI's Matrice 100 are better-suited to precision imaging of small/constrained areas and 3D scanning of fields and objects, due to their maneuverability.
Flight times for quads and other multi-rotors are about 1/2 that of a fixed wing drone.

Payloads on many multi-rotors are less than fixed wings, so most only carry one or two sensors. As a result, covering an entire field can take twice as long as with a fixed wing.
Multi-rotor drones are generally cheaper than fixed wings, starting at around $1,500-$3,500 for a professional-grade camera drone with software for agriculture image processing.

The Best of Both Worlds

Rather than opting for one type of drone, some farmers and operators purchase less expensive versions of both.

A fixed wing drone is used for large open spaces where long, unobstructed straight-line passes are possible; and, a small inexpensive multi-rotor is used for spot-checking trouble areas more closely, for quick scouting missions and for handling area a plane cannot fly over.

Lots of farmers today start by buying a ready-to-fly quadcopter like DJI's new Phantom 4.
After testing the ROI of drone surveying, they may upgrade to more expensive and less time-consuming solutions.

Pros and Cons(Compare to fixed wing):

There are many things that multi-rotor drones can do better, for example, when get into confined spaces,like cross a pedestrian path.they can hover over a specific area, what's more, they need little space to take off and land.

Pros

Cost: Usually more cheaper.
Applications: really good at aerial photography and hi resolution video.
Easy to use.
Can hover,more agile.

Cons

Endurance: less flight time
Payload capacity: usually less weight
Customer service: little support if you are buying a consumer drone
Occasional bugs, is "fly away"

Battery is very important to drone agriculture .Here I'd also like to recommend a very popular lipo battery as below:

TATTU 16000MAH LIPO 22.2V 15/30C 6S1P BATTERY PACK

Spec.
- Product Type: cheap rc battery packs
- Capacity: 16000mAh
- Voltage: 22.2V
- Max Continuous Discharge: 15C (240A)
- Max Burst Discharge: 30C(480A)
- Weight: 1985g
- Dimensions: 190*73*62 mm
- Balance Plug: JST-XHR
- Discharge Plug: XT150+AS150
- Charge Rate: 1-3C Recommended, 5C Max
Source: http://www.genstattu.com/blog/drone-agriculturefixed-wing-or-multi-copter/

Drone Competition is Growing as a High Energy Sport

It was reported by the Wall Street Journal last year that the US billionaire, boss of the team Miami Dolphins , Stephen Ross has invested the Drone Racing League. He invested $1million through his investment company RSE Ventures. The industries of UAV have raised a question when the news came out: Is UAV contest a real sport? Nick Horbacezewski, CEO of the Drone Racing League said: "I think the game has the ability to let people resonate together because it has been not only a traditional racing game but also a game with new technology. Recently it has been reported that the drone competition is expected to become the next emerging sporting events. Unlike most racing sports such as car racing, horse racing or dog sledding there is no driver inside the drone. Drivers need to wear goggles, and they control it according to the video camera embedded in the front of the drone. Such manipulation is known as FPV (first person video). By combining FPV and UAV that participants and spectators could experience the speeds up to 90 miles / hour and give participants an immersive, high-speed flight experience of competition.

In the United States, the two-day U.S. National Drone Racing Championships held in California State Fair in 2005. It attracted 120 participants to participated in and the prize money is reaching a high of $ 25,000. It was reported that the game was expected to attract only 60 spectators, but the videos of UAVs hit on YouTube more than a million. Moreover in France, Australia and the United Kingdom the similar evevnts have been also organized.
In China in November 2015 the International Air Robot Contest (IARC) was held at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the two play-offs multi-rotor UAV "Shepherd of Action" and "remote through" were added. And the competition rules was setting based on FPV model. Both playoffs game directly push the game to a climax and the applause, screams constantly which made the entire event completely a success.

With the growing popularity of the UAVs and virtual reality goggles equipment, consumer goods of science and technology are increasingly becoming affordable. Related associations, Unions strongly promote and integrate into the modern new technology with God's perspective of the world, the industry of UAV is bond to boil up and FPV drone competition will be growing as a high-energy movement.

Competition of UAVs is on the rise and development. it is a new industry and event planning and preparation will require a lot of time and manpower. The real development of drone competition takes time and it also faces many problems.such as the FPV battery flight time.

Currently, the UAVs on market mainly target lithium polymer battery as the main power. Endurance ability is typically between 20-30 minutes. There are some differences because of different technology but most of their flight time is less than 45 minutes while their charging time is more than one hour. The UAVs can not carry heavy battery with large capacity due to the need to minimize the weight of UAV. Most of the UAV just can maintain ten to twenty minutes in flight then it must be replaced by another battery or plug in the charging cable. So pilots often go out with three to four batteries which is regarded as a primary limits to the development of the UAV industry. To promote the development of the UAV marketing we should putting the problem how to prolong the flying time of UAV into the first place.

In September 2015 Tesla, a leader in the field of electric vehicles, announced a specific application of aerial UAV prototype. Company Tesla showed their scientificalness in rechargeable batteries. It was reported that the UAV was equipped with a 10000mAh battery and a single charge could promise a sustainable flight for 60 minutes and the charging time is only about 20 minutes. Tesla with unique skills has entered the UAV market and it is bound to have a tremendous impact on the domestic UAV battery. Everyone hope to have a kind of battery which charging time is shorter and flying time is longer. But this long-awaited product is still in the phase of conceptual designing.

The research on UAV battery has emerged in endlessly. Currently most of the new products are on the phase of research, and development of the UAVs battery can not be predicted. We hope these UAV battery can live up the expectations.
Source: http://www.genstattu.com/blog/drone-competition-is-growing-as-a-high-energy-sport/

The Funny of Play RC Car games

I have access to the RC cars by accident and was deeply attracted by their glamour. This is a set of equipment with individual character appearance, high-tech configuration, super running speed, and high degree of simulation. Although it is not the carrier of my soul, it is a way of bailment of my dreams and memories.

1. What RC exactly is?

RC is the abbreviation of Radio Control. (Literally, it means remote Control or Radio Control.) RC covers a pretty wide range, such as RC cars, airplane models, boat models, and some military drones and battle droids. But we need to emphasis that children's class remote control toys are not RC models.

2.What are the RC models?

RC models in general can be divided into the RC cars, RC airplane model, RC boats, RC robot and etc,they need strong power of 5000mah lipo battery,like Gens ace &Tattu.

The RC cars, we introduce today, is easier to play, compared to the RC airplane model and RC boats. Because RC cars have no requirement for the airspace and water area, and the requirement for ground and site is relatively low. That is to say, as long as there is available ground, you can play your RC cars.

3. What are the differences between the RC model cars and RC toy cars?

Tens dollar remote control cars in the market is only kind of remote control toys, but not RC model cars. They have obvious differences with hundreds or thousands dollars RC model cars:
1>The running distance. RC model cars, belongs to the remote control, can run at least 100m; but remote control toy cars for children can run maximum about 20 meters.

2>The control modes are quite different. RC model cars is "proportion type manipulation". What is "proportion of manipulation"? For example, we turn an angle of 15 degrees, and the wheels on the RC cars also rotate an angle of 15 degrees correspondingly; The accelerator trigger on the remote control is pulled 30%, then the power output in the RC cars is also 30%. But the RC toy cars adopt "switch mode", which means that we cannot do precise instructions, and the steering and speed are only in "0%" or "100%" two states.

3>The mechanical principle and internal structure are also different. The RC model cars is the miniature versions of various real racing cars, so they have the same mechanical principle, suspension system, similar manipulate mode and amazing speed as super racing cars. But the ordinary RC toy cars do not have these characteristics.

4>The RC model cars can be assembled, maintained, refitted to update their configuration, but the ordinary RC toy cars can not be assembled, refitted or maintained in large.

4. What's the fun for playing the RC model cars?

If you are a newbie, my answer would be that it can reach a starting speed as the a real racing car, and you can work with many actions like climbing, cross-country, drifting, tumbling and snapping.

For professional hobbyists, the biggest pleasure comes from the assembling, refitting, maintaining and studying the RC cars, share tips with teammates and the most, manipulating and conquer on the competitions.

5. How many kinds of power do RC model cars have?

The RC model cars have two main types of power: fuel and electric power. Fuel power RC cars use internal combustion engine as power output, the other use RC car batteries lipo /electric motor as power output. There are mainly 2 fuel power; one is gasoline, but not only gasoline, which is a mixture of gasoline and the 2-stroke gasoline engine oil; another is the synthesis of methanol. RC cars, powered by battery/electric motor, will generally use lipo battery or nickel metal hydride battery. If use electric power properly and maintain carefully, it can be recharged and used for a long time. When compared the gasoline and methanol, there will be limit to buy gasoline from the gas station. In contrast, though the methanol mixing fuel can easily access, it would be relatively complex to use integrated methanol cars.

6.The price of RC model cars

The price of RC model car ranges from a few hundreds to thousands dollar. For the newbies who come into this area for the first time, I recommend the price from $350-$500, like the HPI, Horizon Hobby and the many high-end imported brands from US or Europe, which have good quality for entry-level. Some domestic brands also sell some fake high-end foreign brands, and Taiwan also has some high performance brands.
I would not recommend to buy low-price RC cars, because RC cars are high loss products and commonly work in high speed and violent movement. The components quality would not be ensured in low price. At the same time, I will not recommend you to spend 10000dollar or more to play and have fun in the very beginning. The fun of playing RC model cars is in the gradual process. Your skill will be updated according to the accumulation of knowledge and technology.