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"Barebones" Alta

Discussion in 'ALTA' started by Chris Jackson, Dec 5, 2015.

  1. Chris Jackson

    Chris Jackson New Member

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    Curious if Freefly would entertain the idea of selling barebones Alta frames?

    No Synapse, GPS, escs, maybe motors.

    Love the frame itself, one of the best thought out frames available, folds down to easily transportable size and the quality appears second to none. But, although the Synapse is great for film work and very polised, id like use another FC more suited to what we do.

    Cheers.
     
  2. Rolf Ableiter

    Rolf Ableiter Active Member

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    i think they would be crazy if they would do this...
    it is a well designed machine and no DIY stuff. To leave this DIY market behind was the best idea at all.
    there is no other company offering what freefly offers on this planet right now.
     
  3. Chris Jackson

    Chris Jackson New Member

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    No reason they cant do both, It doesnt degrade from what they currently offer. I do realise their market is in the filming industry though.

    The synapse is great if you dont require more advanced flightmodes and features, Im not bashing it, like I said I like it (and I dont like many "RTF" FC!)

    The Alta platform : High quality heavy lift hex thats folds small, with a very nicely engineered quick change payload system (TITH) would be a great starting point for a lot of other industries and roles.
     
  4. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Asian companies might knock it off if there's demand. But I doubt it will happen and no way will Freefly do it.
     
  5. Michael McVay

    Michael McVay Active Member

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    Agreed that FF will probably never offer it. If you have not seen this already here is a photo of the DJI MG-1. It's an octocopter that folds small for agricultural use. Not offered here yet but I'm guessing it will be the next platform that they will use for Cinema stuff too.

    DJI MG-1.jpeg
     
  6. Dave King

    Dave King Well-Known Member

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    I like the camera enclosure on that DJI.
     
  7. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    It's not a camera housing...
     
  8. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    It's basically a gas tank. :rolleyes:
     
  9. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    But is it a 4K gas tank? :)

    Andy.
     
  10. Michael McVay

    Michael McVay Active Member

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    I had not looked that close at how the booms lock into place, but it appears that there is a sleeve that covers the connection and holds it in place; functional I suppose but not nearly as nice as the Freefly locking mechanism (which I think it great).
     
  11. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    None of the above.
     
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  12. Jose Luis Ocejo

    Jose Luis Ocejo Active Member

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    I wonder how many acres.....???.... square feet the tank can cover, before you have to land, refill with chemicals, probably new battery and continue spraying where it left off
    hmmmm?????
     
  13. Raymont Stüssi

    Raymont Stüssi New Member

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    It`s a generator 25.2V for flying, for redunancy chargeing the batts. ;)
     
  14. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    Jose gets the prize. This copter is for aerial application. The tank is the fluid tank for spraying. It's going to take a lot of flights for the typical US sized corn/soybean/cotton/etc field....
     
  15. Jose Luis Ocejo

    Jose Luis Ocejo Active Member

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    Great I won........... a second Alta ?.......maybe.......
     
  16. Mark Hoffman

    Mark Hoffman Active Member

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    The idea behind precision ag is to not spray the entire field and only spray the areas that truly need it. That is where something like this might make sense.
     
  17. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Nope. You win a Phantom 1. :)
    Now go out and make a nuisance of yourself in the National Airspace System! <evil grin>
    No. Do not read the regulations. Just fly where you want, at any altitude.
    What could possibly go wrong, eh?** :rolleyes:
    Andy.

    **Please note correct use of Canadian "eh?"
     
  18. Chris Jackson

    Chris Jackson New Member

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    Ewww... a DJI.

    There are a lot more uses for multirotors than taking awesome videos and spraying weeds :p (and if you're going to spray weeds, use a yamaha Rmax, not a nozzled folding phantom...)

    A more "open" flight controller would allow for a more uses, Im not going to say the Synapse is not clever (from what ive seen it is!) it just isnt designed to do things like fly waypoints for mapping, or real time telemetry with moving maps etc, or play with tech like RTK/optical flow/sonar/laser ranging/lidar etc... All fancy toys that'd cool to see working off an Alta frame.
     
  19. Fabien Deregel

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    Hi, the Synapse is able on the hardware side for most of this even since the earlier beta versions. All the parameters for very precise GPS flight settings were available in the "Box" (this is the little name i gave to the beta unit i did test in 2012) original PC software ( WC2 software) with even a CET precision 3D real time viewer to allow more precise adjustments ( in 2012 the positioning CET was just 2,5 meter which was very impressive). Compass calibration 3D spheric viewer was also very impressive showing the exact acquisition dots + convergence test at the end of the calibration. But i guess it is a wise choice from FreeFly for not unleashing too many features. Focusing on essential ( Professional cinematography with real pilots) is a very clever way to go... For more industrial and autonomous things i would not be surprised that something comes up someday in a different way / brand /entity...
    best regards,
    Fabien
     
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  20. Mateusz Hajdziony

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    You can get all of this from DJI by buying Matrice. It has a development kit where you have access to everything (even the gimbal and camera data/control) and can attach third party hardware for processing/control. Ready made hardware extensions like optical flow and sense and avoid system are also available.
     

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