coolguy982 said:
I am researching drones for use in my family farm operation. I'm looking at the Phantom 2 Vision+ and the 3DR Iris+. I have a few questions that I am trying to have answered to help make the decision.
1. When using the Ground Control app to set waypoints for autonomous flights, how far away can you set waypoints? If they cause the V2+ to go out of range, will it turn around and come back, or is there a way to override this? I would like to preprogram flights to survey fields or pastures that could be a mile away and review the video footage afterward.
2. I believe the V2+ can automatically take off when using Ground Control, but cannot land itself (though the Iris can). Has there been any hint that being able to land itself will be a feature in an upcoming release?
3. If the V2+'s battery somehow dies while it is out of range, is there a way to find it? I would have a general idea of where it is. Will it continue to emit some sort of signal to help pinpoint its location?
Thanks in advance!
Others will give you better answers, but as an owner of both the Vision Plus and the Iris Plus, I can tell you the Iris+ is my preferred drone. The customer support is much better too. I suggest you send them an email (check their support page for contact info). If you describe what you need (you might even want to include a gps location and screen shot of your farm), they can and will recommend the right solution for you... which might actually be one of their planes instead of a copter.
Quick answers:
1. You can set your own distance limits in software. Both iris+ and vision+ can cover a mile (but as others will chime in, the FAA doesn't want you flying beyond visual range).
The Iris+ ground station software is far far more robust than the Vision's crappy little iPhone app. For one, you can save missions and load them up later to run again. On the Vision+ you have to create the mission in the field just prior to launch and frankly that's a pain. With the Iris you could create multiple missions with different names (pasture1, pasture2, etc) from the comfort of your home. Tweak them to be just right, then load your selected mission on any given day throughout the growing season over and over again. With the Iris+ you can also designate points of interest along the way, and much much more.
2. The Vision+ can land it self, but not as part of a planned mission. I never let the Vision+ take off on its own. I always do that first, then start the mission. The Iris+ does take off and landing very well. In fact I prefer to use the android app to have it take off, even when I'm going to fly manually. It's just quicker and easier. Once it's up in the air, I take over. Same goes for landing (while it's landing itself I can still tweak it's positioning without fully taking it out of auto).
3. The Vision app will tell you it's last known location (same for Iris+) but a lot of people install GPS trackers to be safe. I'm sure someone here will recommend a good tracker. I've heard of people loosing drones in corn fields and not being able to find them for hours, so a tracker might be a good call for you.
I think the Iris+ or another 3DR drone is probably the right way to go for agriculture. The Vision+ is more of a consumer aerial photography platform. It's easier to use, much easier to get started with, it's smaller and the battery lasts 5 to 7 minutes longer, but it's definitely not aimed at the agro market.
As I write this, I guess it sounds like I'm slamming the Vision+, but that not my intention. I just don't think it's as well suited for your needs.
(One other feature I like about the Iris+ is that it get a satellite lock within seconds! where the Vision seems to take a minute or more. This allows you to launch it much more quickly - but I don't suppose that matters for your needs)