"If Dajiang is the apple of the drone world, then Dagu is the high-end Android of the inorganic world."
Due to the "star effect" of Dajiang, UAVs, which have played a great role in many professional fields such as military, logistics, agriculture, surveying and mapping, oil pipeline exploration and disaster relief, are beginning to become civilians rapidly and enter the consumer market on a large scale. The industry expects that the development of UAV and robot industry will bring the next consumer revolution.
In addition, most UAVs use open source hardware and control system, which is very suitable for makers to develop and DIY. Therefore, with the popularity of capital, UAV projects of various manufacturers have been launched one after another. It is reported that the number of UAV related enterprises in Shenzhen has increased to 200. This also reflects the consensus on the UAV market. However, many companies without core competitiveness have also directly joined in, which has also brought hidden worries to the development of UAV industry.
"Recently, many tablet computer manufacturers have come to us and want to use our scheme to make UAVs. I said that we now make UAVs for at least three to six months." Peng Maogen, general manager of Shenzhen Dagu technology, said that now the profits of the tablet industry are declining rapidly. Many tablet manufacturers now want to transform, so they hope to find companies that do UAV solutions directly and take the solutions directly.
Peng Maogen, general manager of Shenzhen Dagu Technology
Peng Maogen, general manager of Shenzhen Dagu technology, graduated from Xi'an University of science and technology after 70. Since 1999, he has worked in the radio management industry for more than ten years, engaged in software development and developed the national radio monitoring and management platform.
The habitual operation mode of these tablet manufacturers in the past may bring disastrous consequences to the UAV industry, and even have an adverse impact on the industry reputation“ Because UAVs are different from pure digital circuits, including motors and flight control, they must be tested and verified in terms of balance, stability and reliability. " Peng Maogen said that after many manufacturers make their products, there may be flight imbalance, or PTZ instability and image jitter, so it is basically meaningless for UAVs“ In addition to chips, control systems, algorithms, aerodynamics and other aspects, these core competitiveness are basically not available to these tablet manufacturers. "
It has nothing to do with Xiaomi. Be a high-end Android in the UAV world (next page)
It has nothing to do with Xiaomi. Be a high-end Android in the drone world
"We have nothing to do with Xiaomi. We are not a fake and have never imitated. Dajiang was founded in 2006 and is now the 'little apple' in the industry. In addition to us and Dajiang, other famous UAVs in China include Yihang, Jifei, zero degree, Yidian, etc. " Shenzhen Dagu technology, founded in 2007, is one of the first companies to engage in UAV R & D in China. Its predecessor mainly engaged in radio related R & D and had good cooperative relations with government agencies and research institutes. Because the name is also related to coarse grain, Peng Maogen specially explained it. It is reported that by the end of last year, Dagu technology had provided more than 50000 sets of flight control systems for manufacturers in the industry. At present, Dagu technology can provide customers with one-stop services of design, R & D, testing and production.
"In addition to Dajiang, we should be the one who gives the most." It is reported that most of the flight control systems on the market are produced by otaku“ Now some well-known manufacturers, including Yihang, have produced thousands of sets. " Peng Maogen said that previously, Dagu technology mainly helped the UAV brand, but by the second half of 2014, they saw that giants such as Xiaomi and Tencent began to enter the UAV field, so they began to realize that they wanted to start making their own brand.
"We are mainly promoting our own designed predator UAV, which has been released in JD crowdfunding. Our slogan is "big valley UAV, realize your childhood dream for you." Peng Maogen also admitted that now everyone takes Dajiang as the benchmark of the UAV industry. Although Dagu says that design and R & D are OK, there is still a gap with Dajiang. ", If Dajiang is the apple of the drone world, then Dagu is the high-end Android of the inorganic world. " Dagu's idea is very simple. Dajiang's flight control and system are made by itself, while Dagu adopts open-source hardware platform and system.
According to Peng Maogen, there are several major open source flight control systems adopted by the mainstream of the UAV industry: one is ardu pilot Mega (APM) and the other is pixhawk“ We use the APM system, and Lilly abroad is also the APM system. " This is similar to the difference between IOS and Android. Open source UAV manufacturers like Dagu can obtain certain competitive advantages through the differentiation of details and cost performance.
From the perspective of positioning, Dagu is positioning the "Predator" of crowdfunding in the medium and high-end market. The product positioning of UAVs is mainly divided by the endurance time: ordinary toy grade ones usually fly for less than 5 minutes and sell for 100 to hundreds of yuan; The entry-level can fly for more than ten minutes at a price of about 1000 yuan; Medium and high-end UAVs, such as Dajiang's "spirit" series, can generally fly for more than 20 minutes.
"In this market, our current retail price is set at 2499 yuan, 3499 yuan with aerial photography and 4699 yuan with picture transmission aerial photography. It's 5999 yuan for Dajiang and 7999 yuan for 4K. The price is still attractive. In terms of performance, including endurance, we still have advantages. " Peng Maogen said that in addition to enthusiasts and DIY users, Dagu "Predator" will also target professional users of photography and aerial photography, such as micro film and wedding photography“ We don't do the low-end toy market. This market is relatively mature, mainly made by manufacturers in Shantou. " Peng Maogen said.
Solve five key experiences, "never blow up" UAV (next page)
Solve five key experiences, "never blow up" UAV
From the perspective of product differentiation, Dagu has made many improvements in UAV configuration at this price“ We don't want to fight a price war, "Peng Maogen said. Dagu should make innovative, bright, safe and reliable products. For UAVs," reliability, stability and safety "is the most important and core“ Why do many UAV projects that invest tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars just fail to ship? Because reliability and stability do not pass the test. " Peng Maogen introduced several key experiences of UAV:
The first important experience is balance. This refers to whether the PTZ of the UAV is shaking, whether the flight is stable and whether the action is flexible. After the balance passes, the UAV can demonstrate some more flexible actions, such as fixed-point circular flight, etc. In addition, when shooting video, whether the UAV is stable or not determines the video shooting quality.
The second important experience is reliability, which is to minimize the risk of "blowing up"（ The so-called aircraft bombing means that the UAV falls to the ground abnormally due to operation or the machine itself, which is often due to signal interference). At least, the machine itself is lost, and at worst, it hurts the personal or financial safety of others“ Our predators are jokingly called 'never blow up' UAVs, because our remote control supports two-way communication. If the communication is disturbed, no one has the opportunity to return automatically. "
The third important experience is endurance. At present, the endurance of UAV is mainly related to battery, fuselage structure design and appearance design. In particular, the appearance design should meet the requirements of mobility and flexibility in aerodynamics“ We also visited many domestic manufacturers and determined that 10 inches is the best proportion in terms of visual experience and flight speed. At the same time, our design is to reduce wind resistance and fly at a speed of 20 meters / second. " Peng Maogen said that in the past, the appearance of UAVs was generally symmetrical from left to right, and now the appearance of "Predators" is symmetrical from left to right and asymmetric from front to back. At the same time, ultra light polyester plastic is used in the material to reduce the weight of the fuselage and increase the fall resistance.
"There are several problems to achieve ultra long endurance, including whether the design is reasonable, including aerodynamics, wind resistance and battery quantity ratio. If the fuselage is too heavy and the battery itself is relatively heavy, there is no way to control it. If the fuselage is too light, the battery will be pressed down at once. So we need to achieve the perfect ratio between the weight of the fuselage and the weight of the battery. " Peng Maogen said that in addition to the appearance design, Dagu has also made improvements in the battery, using three lithium batteries in series and increasing the battery capacity at the same time“ In terms of batteries, we have reached 7000 Ma, 35 minute battery life (limit time, excluding hanging the camera), 3.7 volts per battery, and a total of 11.1 volts. "
The weight of the fuselage is about 742g
The fourth important experience is flight control experience. Peng Maogen said that although some manufacturers in the industry began to use mobile app to control UAVs, remote control is still the most accurate control method“ It is difficult to control accurately with a mobile phone. Using the remote control to operate, you can accurately feel the throttle and control direction. " However, although Peng Maogen believes that using mobile phone control is a gimmick, Dagu has developed apps that support Android and IOS to support mobile phone control.
The fifth important experience is after-sales service. For UAV enthusiasts, a great support is the cost of after-sales maintenance. At present, major UAV manufacturers take after-sales as a source of money, so the price of after-sales accessories remains high. This has also led to a significant reduction in the interest of ordinary consumers in buying and playing machines, and they will idle at home after playing several times“ In fact, the main vulnerable parts are the propeller and shell. The motor is actually OK after a fall. We have tested it. As long as it is not seriously damaged and tens of yuan, we will provide it to users according to the cost price. " Peng Maogen said that Dagu hopes to let more users play and promote the benign development of the market, so it will not pursue profits in parts manufacturers“ For Motors sold by other manufacturers that may cost hundreds of yuan, the cost price of our batch purchase may be 80 ~ 90 yuan. We can directly give them to our users with tax. " Peng Maogen also revealed that in the future, for the DIY market, Dagu "Predator" will also support the upgrading of motor, propeller and other parts without replacing the shell, and customize some accessories at the same time“ We are non-human damage, free warranty and lifelong maintenance. "
In addition to the above five important experience indicators. For UAVs, there are also very important experience indicators of video shooting. Especially in terms of video image transmission, at present, most UAVs use analog signal transmission. The transmission frequency band is generally 5.8G and 2.4G, but it is generally used in the industry“ Now the picture transmission distance of Dajiang is less than 500 meters, and we can reach 1 kilometer. " Peng Maogen also revealed that at present, Dagu is still studying long-distance transmission technology, which can reach a transmission distance of up to 10 kilometers within the visual range“ The picture transmission market is a large market. We are not satisfied with the 5.8G based market. The 2.4G based industry is generally expensive. We hope to reduce the cost. " For image transmission, the reporter asked whether 4G communication can be used as a transmission means. However, Peng Maogen said that after testing, there will be problems if the connection exceeds a certain distance (more than 100m) in the air, so it will not be considered at present.
For consumers, with the increase in the number of UAVs, policy risk has also become an important consideration in purchasing. It is difficult for consumers to fully understand where they can't fly“ Basically, you can't fly near the airport and some key places in Beijing. You should also pay attention to the no fly order. For example, during the two sessions, large-scale state visits cannot fly. And you can't fly near military bases. " Peng Maogen said that in the future, Dagu will realize FOTA wireless upgrade and update some flight ranges and no fly zones to UAVs in real time. "Even if it flies to heaven, an instruction can make it fly back."
Xiaomi enters the site, and the consumer UAV is reduced to less than 1000 yuan（ (next page)
Xiaomi enters the site, and the consumer UAV is reduced to less than 1000 yuan?
According to the news, Tencent is considering cooperating with Jiuxing technology to launch a four rotor UAV. At the beginning of the year, Xiaomi also bought a UAV team called feimi in Guangzhou“ We are also studying feimi internally. It is said that they may make the price 999 yuan. " Peng Maogen said. It is said that the first version of feimi UAV prototype was killed because it was too similar to DJI's phantom product. The redefinition of the product is estimated to start with the relatively low-end popular type.
In fact, Lei Jun said on many occasions that Xiaomi should support 100 "Xiaomi" in different product fields. Since Xiaomi generally supports only one company in a subdivided product field, it often arouses public anger in this field and leads to group fights. Can feimi break out of the siege in the UAV field and redefine the industry rules?
Peng Maogen believes that the positioning of feimi is different from that of Dagu“ Their pricing performance must be different, the size must be a little smaller, and the motor will not use a particularly good motor. " However, Peng Maogen also believes that feimi's entry into the UAV industry is good for the whole industry“ Our strengths are technology and R & D, but our weaknesses are marketing and publicity. Xiaomi can make the cake of this industry bigger. " Peng Maogen also said that at present, UAVs in the industry are still too expensive, and many involve government procurement, which is too long for manufacturers. Therefore, only by rapidly popularizing and expanding the mass consumption market can we start to grow rapidly“ It's also good for the whole ecosystem. " Taking Xiaomi's mobile power industry as an example, although the product unit price has decreased, the cost of the whole supply chain has decreased, so the mobile power can still be maintained within a profit range.
Don't chase Lilly, and Dagu can realize follow me (next page)
Don't chase Lilly. Dagu can follow me
In addition to Dajiang, a new star product Lilly has been launched abroad this year. According to Lilly's promotional video released on the crowdfunding website, this "selfie artifact" can realize the follow me functions of throwing, ring shooting and intelligent following. Because this product subverts the previous industry's perception of UAVs, the industry is very excited.
The follow me function enables the UAV to fly with the user and keep a certain distance. This function may replace part of the selfie market of GoPro, which has great imagination space.
"We are also doing the follow me function and have tested it on the product. Lilly actually won't ship until February next year. At present, it's just a video. " Peng Maogen said that the feature of the follow me function is that the UAV will always maintain a distance against the target, and this distance will not move in the horizontal, vertical and XY axes“ Let's look at Lilly's demo. When people rush up, the machine still flies flat. This is definitely a demo. " Peng Maogen said that since the parameters of follow me need to be adjusted, such as speed and distance, Dagu will officially announce them to the public after adjustment.
Experience the valley predator up close (next page)
Experience the valley "Predator" closely
After the interview, the author also followed Peng Maogen to experience the big valley "Predator". Overall, the shape and control of the big valley "Predator" are very good.
In the price range of 2999 ~ 4999 yuan, in addition to the valley, zero is also entering the market, hoping to become a challenger in Dajiang. At least in terms of parameters and prices, the two positioning are somewhat similar, but specific
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