Photon Farmers
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Sunday, September 22, 2024
Potensic Atom Follow-Me Mode
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Potensic Atom: Two Bad Things About It
So, I have some gripes about the Potensic Atom. I recharged the three batteries I have two weekends ago. I was planning to take the Atom out last weekend to test the Follow-Me mode again but the weather wasn't great. Today, the weather was perfect so I rode my motorcycle out to find a place where I could safely test it in.
Two things I found out:
1) The batteries were already down to 60% capacity! After just two weeks, the batteries were draining on their own by 40%!! I had only 20 minutes of flight time per battery then. I better make sure I recharge them fully everyday when I'm travelling.
2) The Follow flight mode wasn't great. It doesn't have smart AI that would track you as you move in and out of shades, or when you disappear for a second under the canopy of a tree. Yeah, it's not smart at all but it's expected. It's not a full blown computer inside the Atom. Well, at least I know now how to use properly.
After about 20 minutes of flying, the drone knew it was running out of juice so decided to return home. I had feared that it could happen so, as always, I had placed the drone in a clear spot with an uninhibited vertical take-off path. My test was within a short distance so I could just ride back to the starting point.
It's still a great drone! I got my Atom on Amazon.ca here: https://amzn.to/4d9qzeP. You can get it on Amazon.com here: https://amzn.to/4erWFDp
Monday, September 9, 2024
DJI Neo
Potensic Atom's Return Home Feature, Part 2
Somewhat disappointed but expected, I learned from Potensic via email that the Potensic Atom doesn't support a feature to reset the Return Home point during flight. That means that if you lose control of the drone while you're biking a kilometre down the road, you'd have to go back a kilometre to retrieve the drone as it will automatically land back where it took off. So, knowing that, I'd do only short follow-me videos.
I've asked to see if it's a feature that can be added by software only. Hoping for a yes. 😀
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
Potensic Atom - Obstance Avoidance?
If you can afford a DJI, this $1239 CAD DJI Air 2S will do it for you! https://amzn.to/4d8vcpz
Monday, September 2, 2024
Potensic Atom's Return Home Feature
Here's a tip for flying the Potensic Atom's Return Home feature. First, take off from an open space with no obstruction such that you can go straight up at least 120m (400 ft.). You can change the return altitude if you like under Settings -> Safety -> Signal Lost. This is important! If you ever lose connection with the drone for whatever reason, the drone will return home on its own, but it will do so by flying to the return altitude first directly above the Return Home point and will descend to that Return Home point.
This happened to me once when I was flying the drone in Follow Me mode. I made the mistake of flying the drone when the controller had just a little power left. When the controller ran out of battery, the drone was left flying on its own, so to speak. It was high up in the sky and I couldn't do anything to bring it back down. Lucky me, after maybe a minute or so, the drone decided that I've lost control of it and returned home on its own. I thought I lost it! It had disappeared as it went high up in the sky and while I was walking toward it, I lost sight of it only to find it back at where it took off initially.
The drone's landing very exact. It's important that it can detect lots of GPS satellites (at least six) for it to be able to land back at the exact Return Home location. Remember though, make sure the vertical take-off is completely unobstructed up to 120m!
This landing pad is not needed but if you could be flying from a thick grass area, you want to take off from an even surface: https://amzn.to/4cQZ6hC
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Where Can You Fly Your Drone in Canada?
I'm in Canada. There are regulations around where you can fly a drone. Depending on weight, you might need to obtain a license to fly your drone as well.
Here is a resource that everyone flying a drone should know about:
https://nrc.canada.ca/en/drone-tool/
There is a map to show what you can do and where you can fly. Remember to select the type of drone you have. By default, the "Basic" drone type is selected. If you have a micro-drone (under 250g), you need to change the drone type and the map will be completely different for you.
Potensic Atom Follow-Me Mode
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