DJI Phantom 2 Vision, Vision+ can now fly solo

DJI's Phantom 2 drones might be the go to brand for personal, consumer drones, but in terms of intelligence, less popular but more experimental drones are passing it by. That all changes today now that DJI has integrated Ground Station into its core software. Now every Phantom 2 Vision and Vision+ owner will be able to tell their drones where to fly, sit back and relax and let the flying machine handle the rest.

Ground Station, also a DJI product, was previously available as a separate app and one that was restricted to the iPad. The app basically allowed you to plat pins on a map that the drone would then follow. In the latest software update, both to their iOS and Android camera apps as well as to the drone's firmware, Ground Station comes out of the box for convenience.

With Ground Station, users will be able to push those pins, up to a maximum of 16, either on their mobile device or on their PC. For each pin, they can set a desired altitude as well as speed of approach. Once you're set, simply hit Go and the Phantom 2 Vision or Vision+ will take off on its own.

But that isn't the extent of the new level of intelligence that DJI has added to its drones. The drone will take several actions when it notices that its battery is too low. At 30 percent charge, it will cancel Ground Station autonomous flight mode. It will also phone home and let you know that it is running out of juice. You can then either direct it to go back to its starting position or take manual hold of the drone yourself.

The Ground Station feature is available in the iOS app version 1.0.41 as well as the Android app version 1.0.50. In order for this to work, the drone's firmware must also be updated to version 3.04.

SOURCE: DJI

VIA: Gizmag