Karma is Coming

WilsonFlyer · Sep 16, 2016

9.16.16 or so they've been saying for months.

Nothing.

I'm sure there are others here intrigued with what they are going to release but it's 5:00pm on the east coast of the US and still nothing on the website.

Has anybody heard anything? Did I miss the memo?

https://shop.gopro.com/karma

and supposedly www.goprokarma.com and that site has been totally empty all day.

Ray of Light · Sep 16, 2016

Launch is on Monday, 9.19

WilsonFlyer · Sep 16, 2016

Ray of Light said:
Launch is on Monday, 9.19

Thanks. I must have missed that somewhere!

WilsonFlyer · Sep 16, 2016

I misread the date! Sorry!

I'm sure it's just another Yuneec Breeze but I'm more interested in who's going to be forced to make these things so cheap you just throw them in the back seat of the car without even thinking and who's going to make them cheap first.

I'm not sure where the mass market pricepoint lies, but I just don't think $499 is it but the good news is that the market is getting flooded so a pissin' contest has to be forthcoming.

Patrick · Sep 16, 2016

its their first quad , not holding my breath they've nailed the design or software.

Greg Nystrom · Sep 16, 2016

We will see Monday if it will perform but it looks like its fast and agile.

This is the First Glimpse of the GoPro Karma Drone

This is the First Glimpse of the GoPro Karma Drone

Trinimon · Sep 16, 2016

I can tell ya who isn't going to be first in line to get one. I believe all the early releases of their goPro cams have had bugs that needed ironing out after the first firmware. A failure with a drone could mean it not being around to update. lol

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QuadBart · Sep 18, 2016

I'm really curious to see this! In my mind there are few things the Karma has to do to make it a success. I think GoPro's rep as an "personal action cam" is going to be what is expected of the Karma...

IMO, for it to be successful it has to be;

Compact enough it fits in a backpack
Complete physical package - Meaning, Grab the Karma, the widget that controls it and spare batteries thats it. Don't need to remember props, RX, etc.
Durable enough that it can be thrown in a backpack and stuff piled on top of it in the pack and the Karma not get damaged
Follow Me with Collision Avoidance thats fast enough to keep up with a 'boarder, mountain biker, etc
Follow Me that is near-perfect. It can't lose "sight" of the user and simply hover in-place. It may be difficult for the user to get back to where the Karma stopped following the user, think "back-country" skier/boarder.
Collision Avoidance in more than just the forward and downward looking direction. Mountain bikers/boarders can go places where there is a canopy of trees, or obstacles to the side and up. So its going to have to somehow navigate those
Simplified Remote. While it may have the option or come with a standard 2 stick remote, It must have a controller thats easy to carry/wear and easy to use.
Little or no flying experience needed. Based on what I feel is the target consumer, its going to have to be basically a "Fire and Forget"
Flight times of at least 30 minutes
Backward compatibility to maybe a GoPro Hero 4 or something like that to keep initial costs down rather than work solely with the yet to be announced GoPro 5

Hmmm, after creating this list it made me wonder about compliance with the FAA rules here in the US. Does the user really have control of the "bird"? Will there be enough "control" features to be able to manually pilot it in case of an emergency? And if I'm riding my MTB do I really have VLOS?

Obviously, just my thoughts and again really anxious to see what it is and isn't. BTW, I'm not considering purchasing one at this time...

WilsonFlyer · Sep 18, 2016

I'm betting it's an all-in-one unit with something similar to Session built-in and you won't be able to change the camera to begin with. I hope I'm wrong about that.

It's going to be a virtual clone or a slightly one-up of Yuneec's recently released Breeze unless I get tremendously fooled.

I see weather-proofing and a removable battery as a big deal too.

I'm not into these phone app controlled quads. Range and all kinds of issues come into play, not the least of which is a pair of sticks under my thumbs.

We shall see tomorrow, I guess.

Patrick · Sep 18, 2016

the library video was awesome, if it was really filmed with karma and not smoke and mirrors it should be awesome. hopefully they nail it
will be interesting to see how it compares to the new DJI mavic quad.

John Locke · Sep 18, 2016

Patrick said:
the library video was awesome, if it was really filmed with karma and not smoke and mirrors it should be awesome. hopefully they nail it

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will be interesting to see how it compares to the new DJI mavic quad.

That interesting. The other trailer I saw implies it's bigger and faster than what this video implies. I hope it's something good, otherwise GoPro won't be around in 2018. They are bleeding badly.

aaronrivera · Sep 18, 2016

Sept 27 is for dji boyszzzzz soooo excited

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Patrick · Sep 18, 2016

aaronrivera said:
Sept 27 is for dji boyszzzzz soooo excited

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the mavic reminds me of the concept x video. I cant wait to see what the feature set is going to be

msinger · Sep 19, 2016

It's almost go time...

TheLightSpeedz · Sep 19, 2016

No way that library is filmed with a quad. Unless the big breakthrough is some sort of alien technology that allows 100% quiet, 100% windless power plant. Star Trek stuff? lol. That video was total smoke and total mirrors!

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