DJI |

Manifold is the first drone equipped with a computer.

Representatives from DJI, the company that produces aerial drones capable of taking high-resolution photographs announced that they plan to launch a new prototype of drone. UBUNTU powered drones are coming to take over the skies and the project looks promising.

DJI wants to launch a new generation of smarter and more versatile UAVs. The prototype is named Manifold and it is basically a supercomputer with a propeller. Manifold, besides the components needed to keep the drone airborne, has also a small square box that contains a computer components.

The new prototype of UAV will be fitted with a Quad-core ARM cortex A-15 processor and an NVIDIA-Kepler GPU. Also, the producers packed into the little drone its very own operating system. It seems that UBUNTU 14.04 was used to power up the little circuit box. The processor will ensure that every program will run smoothly and the GPU is specifically designed so that the drone can capture high-quality pictures.

The onboard computer also comes with an incorporated 16GB hard drive and a 2 GB DDR3L RAM memory. In terms of connectivity, the drone will be equipped with 4 USB slots, a mini-USB slot and a non-standard USB 2.0 slot that you can use in order to directly interface with the drone.

Manifold also has networking features via the 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet network interface card. Users are capable of connecting a wide range of third-party accessories to the drone such as imagining sensors, infrared sensors and scientific instruments.

So, what can we use UBUNTU powered drones for? For example, biologists have used drones ,for some time now, in order to study wildlife. Drones have been employed to study whales whales and their offspring without disturbing them.

Basically, you can use a drone to access areas otherwise inaccessible by conventional means such as cliffs or mountain tops. And yes, smarter drones means that they could be used for military purposes. The number of applications of a drone are numerous and, as drones evolved, more and more tasks will be entrusted to them.

Michael Perry, the Director of Strategic Partnerships said, in a press conference, that Manifold is the first project of many others and that we are entering in a new era of smarter and versatile aerial platforms.

If used for peaceful purposes or transformed in a deadly new weapon, this remains to be seen.

DJI announced that starting on the 15^th of November, Manifold is available for purchase in their online sore and it will cost $633.

Image source:www.wikimedia.org

Drone enthusiasts were already aware that the Chinese Inspire 1 drone would be revealed around November 12. Some leaked photos and information made it clear for everybody that the drone existed and was ready to show its face to the world. As expected, the Inspire 1 drone made its official debut and all past speculations and hypothesis surrounding the machine also proved true.

The Inspire 1 drone is the product of Chinese company DJI, which also created the Phantom 2 drone, but in comparison to its brother, the Inspire 1 came with a handful of interesting features. First and foremost, this is a quadcopter and it is equipped with a 4K UHD camera, which is a lot for a quadrotor.

But it is not only the resolution of this particular mounted camera which makes the drone so spectacular, it is the fact that the camera can record at 24 to 30 frames per second or can shoot up a 1080p video at 24 to 60 fps. Moreover, it is able to perform a full 360-degree rotation for completely free recordings and it also sports a 3 – axis gimbal, a 12-megapixel CMOS sensor, 94-degree field of view and a 9 – elements lens.

This is cutting – edge drone technology and the Inspire 1 drone does not only boast a camera and powerful recording skills, but also a carbon fiber build – up, up to two controllers, a mobile app that can help the user remotely change the camera and flight settings while the drone is up in the air and many other more.

The Chinese company turned this drone into a veritable piece of art and for good reason: while the U.S. is still heavily regulating the use of commercial drones, allowing only the recreational ones to fly, other markets such as Canada or Germany are open to using commercial drones for commerce or even for search and rescue missions. These drones have won the hearts of filmmakers, obviously, who will probably find in the Inspire 1 drone a lot of answers to shooting movies dilemmas, especially since the Inspire 1 camera represents state of the art technology.

However, the rise of the commercial drones market is not limited to movie directors or hobbyists. Being seen as potential airborne products deliverers and reliable eyes and years in search and rescue missions, the next gen drones will begin to establish their position as everyday gadgets and this is the bet the Chinese company made.

The Inspire 1 drone costs around $3,000, being a lot more expensive than its predecessor, and it is said to start selling this month.

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