Sentence ● Yusuke Aoyama / Composition ● Editorial department
Lecturer ● Tetsuya Tagawa / A drone engineer whose main job is to design the IPEX connector, which is also used for drones. About six years ago, when he still called drones "multicopters," he started making aerial drones. He has also been involved in the production of racing drones since 2014. He is the founder and administrator of the Facebook group "U199 Drone Club". 2016 Dubai International Tournament Japan National Team He is an engineer. Currently the DMM RAIDEN RACING team he is an engineer.
2018 was a year of growing popularity for micro drones. There have been people who enjoyed racing for a long time, but in the sense of taking pictures, the work "Onnanocos x Micro Drone" was released on YouTube in the spring of 2018, and it came into the limelight. A micro drone is literally a very small drone, originally derived from a racing or freestyle (competition for the beauty of flight technology) drone, but recently it is possible to shoot indoors and people, so for shooting Is in the limelight as a drone. Some people think of it as a drone for aerial photography, such as DJI's Phantom and Mavic, but the maneuvering method, difficulty level, and what they can do are different.
First of all, most aerial drones are stable even if you take your hand off the controller while hovering due to the function of GNSS and various sensors for positioning, but micro drones always adjust the throttle to adjust the height of the aircraft. In addition to maintaining it, you should always operate it in the front, back, left and right directions to stabilize it. In other words, while maneuvering an aerial drone "operates in the direction you want to go", micro drones need to "balance the aircraft and adjust and move it". It may be close to the difference between driving a car and riding a bicycle or motorcycle.
Also, both have cameras, but their purposes are very different. Aerial drones fly exclusively by visually observing the aircraft, and the images seen on the transmitter are purely for shooting. On the other hand, the micro drone flies while watching the image (FPV) of the camera. If the video is delayed, the operator's reaction will be delayed, so the video will prioritize transmission speed over image quality, so we will use analog modulation exclusively in the 5.8GHz band. Originally, race freestyle drones and micro drones are loaded with cameras for this FPV flight, but recently the performance of the cameras has improved and it has become possible to record FHD images on the aircraft side. As a result, the number of people using it for video recording has increased.
Another big difference is the stability of the camera angle. The aerial drone is equipped with a gimbal that can be panned and tilted to obtain the desired angle regardless of the attitude of the aircraft. On the other hand, since the camera of the micro drone is fixed to the aircraft, the attitude of the aircraft = camera angle, and the attitude and movement of the aircraft affect the image, so high flight maneuvering skills are required for shooting. This difference is similar to shooting with a camera on a hand gimbal such as Ronin and shooting with a shoulder mount. The image of the micro drone is less stable than the drone for aerial photography, but it is suitable for shooting with a sense of mobility and speed. Also, the camera work depends on the skill of the operator.
Nowadays, micro drones are becoming more popular in the field of photography, but in terms of shooting images, I would like to understand the characteristics of these aerial photography drones and micro drones and use them properly.
Drones for aerial photography released by manufacturers such as DJI use radio waves in the 2.4 GHz band for maneuvering and video transmission. You can monitor the camera image with a dedicated application in combination with a smartphone etc. without a license.
Drone racing machines use 2.4GHz radio waves for maneuvering and 5.8GHz radio waves for video transmission to FPV goggles monitors, etc. * Worker license and radio station opening are required. The same is true for micro drones.
You can take images with suppressed shaking with a gimbal
▲ It is equipped with a gimbal that corrects the shaking of the three axes of roll, pitch, and yaw, and maintains horizontal even if the aircraft tilts, so stable images can be taken. You can also tilt (or pan depending on the model) from the radio.
FPV and shooting cameras are often different
▲ Since the delay of the image is fatal in the drone race where the aircraft flies at high speed, the FPV camera uses analog image with less delay. Therefore, the image quality is rough and there is no recording function. When recording with a race machine, GoPro etc. are often installed separately (many users stop the camera stay with Velcro or make their own with a 3D printer). The camera is fixed and cannot be panned or tilted.
Small ones basically don't have a recording function
▲ Among the micro drones, especially the small Tiny Whoop is equipped with an FPV camera, but there is no recording camera. You can record with the recording function installed in the goggles, but the image quality is rough (640 x 480 pixels) because it is an analog FPV image.
FPV / shooting integrated camera module has appeared, and its use in video works has increased.
▲ Runcam Split Mini is a small camera module that integrates an FPV and a shooting camera. Up to 1080 / 60p shooting is possible.
The radio is center neutral and maintains altitude even when the stick is released.
The drone for aerial photography is equipped with a barometer that detects altitude, a vision sensor that detects the ground surface and enables stable hovering, and GNSS such as GPS. It also has a flight assistance function that stays on the spot.
Stick operation is always required to hover
It doesn't have the auxiliary features of an aerial drone, and you always have to operate the stick to manually maintain altitude in order to hover the aircraft. The aircraft is only equipped with a gyro sensor to detect tilt and maintain levelness, and basically has no other auxiliary functions.
Acrobatic flight that cannot be taken with an aerial drone is possible
" BanniUK SHENANIGANS" Team Black Sheep, which distributes a number of videos utilizing racing machines in a wide range of fields from sports to the outdoors. Images that somersault or plunge cannot be shot with an aerial drone.
Acrobatic flight is possible, but there is a problem with image quality
"Loving the BeeBrain V1" The aerial photography by the micro drone is said to be the origin of the American drone team "Big Whoop". "Tiny Whoop", which is the name of the team, is a brand of micro drones. It can fly like a race machine, but the image quality is rough because it records analog FPV images.
Taken with a micro drone equipped with 1080 / 60p Runcam Split mini
"Onnanocos" x Micro Drone "Katsuhiko Masuda of Cinema Ray, who was impressed by Tiny Whoop, developed and shot a micro drone with a 1080 / 60p camera. He got a lot of attention with his camera work, which approached a person and slipped through a narrow space.
● Propeller facing distance of about 100 mm ● Propeller size 2 inches or less ● Battery used 2S or less (3S outdoors) ● Weight 100g or less ● It is assumed to fly with FPV using 5.8GHz radio waves
Racing drones use 5-inch propellers and often weigh more than 300g. It has high speed and wind resistance, but the propeller is powerful and dangerous, so it is not possible to shoot close to people. Also, as a drone that supports FPV with 100g or less, there are toy drones such as Tello and Parrot Mambo of RYZE Tech provided by DJI, but since the auxiliary functions such as barometer and ultrasonic sensor are excellent, acrobatic flight is possible. Because it is difficult, it deviates from the "micro drone" defined in this series.
● You can fly without difficult adjustments.However, the types of radios are limited
Horizon Hobby Inductrix FPV ¥ 8,980 (Aircraft handling)
Micro drone used by Tiny Whoop. You can skip without setting with software such as BETA FLIGHT. The DXe radio released by Spektrum can be used, but the DSM2 protocol is used, and if you want to use the radio on other aircraft, your options will be narrowed.
● Initial setting is required by the micro drone BETA FLIGHT that can use Futaba's radio.
BETAFPVBeta65S 10,800 yen (handled by ep-models)
Entry model of BETAFPV, a micro drone maker in Shenzhen, China. By using Futaba's radio, which is the mainstream in Japan, it is possible to unify the radio with other aircraft, so it is gaining popularity. Work such as assigning radio switches is required with software such as BETA FLIGHT.
● HD compatible micro drone that became a hot topic in Onnanocos
ep-modelsNanoVespa80 HD 48,800 yen
A micro drone jointly developed by Mr. Masuda of Cinema Ray and epmodels. The camera has anti-vibration measures and has been adjusted with software called BETAFLIGHT, so you can expect images with less jero (konjac phenomenon). You can skip it by assigning a radio switch with BETA FLIGHT. Futaba's radio can be used.
● HD micro drone for advanced users who need anti-vibration measures for cameras
SPCMAKERK1 25,515 yen (Goldstone handling) * Propeller guard sold separately
A micro drone released by SPC MAKER, a Chinese racing drone maker. Like the Nano Vespa80 HD, it is equipped with Runcam Split Mini. There is no problem with maneuvering, but due to insufficient anti-vibration measures, it is easy for Jero to appear in the shot video. Adjustment requires knowledge and experience.
● Reprinted from the February 2019 issue of Video SALON
Micro drone