Around the world

My sick day yesterday as well as Monday had a ton of WoW as part of it.  I bet I played more in the last two days than I have in years.  It was a fun distraction to the cold I have been dealing with since Saturday.  I spent most of that time relearning how to play my priest.

I also got an unexpected surprise when my DJI Mavic Pro showed up at my door.  I knew it was en route but I did not expect it until maybe next week as the tracking I looked at from Fed Ex Tuesday night showed it had just left Hong Kong.  Well for some reason my box got super express service.  It arrived in Memphis at 3AM and was immediately flown to Fort Myers where it was put on a truck for delivery, crazy.

Even though I knew just how compact the Mavic was from videos and pictures, it wasn’t until I held it in my hand that I truly appreciated it.  Despite it’s diminutive size it packs big time tech and features.  It has full obstacle avoidance cameras and sensors and uses the same incredible app the Phantom does.

The way your smart phone integrates with the controller is very slick.  Your phone becomes your first person view window along with a TON of additional options.  The controller itself almost reminds me of a video game controller and is very comfortable to hold and use.

I was able to get the Mavic into the air very easily but I still felt like a complete novice, even though I have had a drone for several years.  The technology has advanced a ton since the Phantom 2.  There are so many features, simple flying just scratches the surface of what this thing can do.  The video the 4K camera captures is crisp and clean.  Being able to fly via FPV is a new experience for me and I can see why it is so popular.

I briefly tested one of the many flying modes, Auto Track.  You basically identify something you want the drone to keep in frame by drawing a box around it.  It can be a person, a vehicle, or pretty much anything else as long as it has half decent size.  Once this is enabled the drone will automatically move and adjust the camera angle to keep that object in it’s field of view.  It’s pretty amazing.  I ran around the backyard a little and it stayed locked on me easily.  Of course I have various ideas of how to incorporate this with EUC rides as well.

I need to do a lot of reading and viewing of tutorials to get familiar with all the drone can do.  I am looking forward to the challenge and avoiding fines from the national park service along the way.