On 2018-11-30 18:02, PeterN wrote:
On 11/24/2018 11:03 AM, Alan Browne wrote:
On 2018-11-24 10:42, Alfred Molon wrote:

The Mavic 2 Pro is the most likely candidate, but I must say it's still
quite expensive (around 1400 Euro here in Germany).
The only thing which scares me a bit, if this thing has any technical
glitch and falls on the ground from an altitude of 100 metres, it
probably smashes into little pieces and you lose the 1400 Euro you spent
on it. Are these drones reliable, i.e. they won't just fall from the
sky?

DJI drones are extremely reliable with "drop out of the sky" issues
quite rare.Â* Where Mavic Pro's are concerned, such incidents are most
likely failure to ensure the battery is latched into place.

The main concern is, no matter how reliable they are, you never fly
over people or property that could get damaged.


How true. Many moons ago, I saw an out of control model plane hit and
kill someone. It was during a halftime show at a Jets football game.

With most drones these days, "out of control" does not happen often at
all because the drone itself is in control 100% of the time, on
autopilot. The "pilot" on the ground is just "pushing" the autopilot
around (or it can follow a programmed path).

If the radio control link is lost (what possibly happened in the case
you cite), then the drone stops, then climbs to a pre-set altitude, then
returns to the "home" point and lands. This does have to be setup
correctly.

The major failure points then are the battery system (most drones have
one battery) and the motors or motor drivers. Brushless DC motors are
phenomenally reliable.

Some drones have 2 batteries (or more) and can operate on one. Drones
with 6 rotors or more can operate with 2 dead motors or motor drivers.

Low probability of failure is the CPU cluster and components.

--
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need immigrants to do jobs that most Americans wouldn't do."
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