Hoverfly Mikrokopter vs. HoverflyPro


Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
I'd like to express my appreciation and gratitude to everyone for contributing to such a rich discussion.I didnt expect such an overwhelming wealth of information, its awesome! It really makes my final decision that much easier.

The most important functionality I'm looking for is something capable of autonomously flying to several predetermined waypoints, loitering for some time, and then moving on to the next series of points, then returning back to the starting point. Hoverfly doesn't seem to have this yet, and I'm guessing that they're probably 2 years behind the curve on this front, but I really can't afford to wait. Yes, Hoverfly does seem to have outstanding customer support, and maybe in a couple of years they may become the new gold standard, but until then...that leaves me the Mikrokopter to fiddle with.

I'd prefer not to solder anything, but if i have to, I will.

Can anyone be a little more specific with regard to what it is that needs to be soldered on the MK board after it arrives in the mail?

Thank you,
Ron

Ron, I don't know if two years is an accurate description of the time it will take for HF to add waypoint capability to their GPS package. I suppose we could ask them but, as far as the MK stuff goes, let's get a new thread going in that forums and we can discuss it.

Good luck with things,
Bart
 


RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
Dji won't work for you? They have waypoints too. Just curious why they are not in your list of options.

With the needed additional hardware and software licensing, multi-waypoint capability on DJI will easily double the cost of the system, actually more than double if I remember the pricing structure correctly. You get it for free with the MK hardware unless you need greater than the base 250 meter distance, then you need to buy a incremental license for the Navi board that negates any price advantage over DJI.

Ken
 

Ron2020

Member
DJI requires licensing? Oh brother. And if I want to prescribe waypoints on the MK that are over 250 meters, then i need to buy a license? I need to keep feeding them money?
 

hoverben

Person of Interest
"Two years" is way off with regard to HoverflyGPS development. Waypoint navigation is on-track for release as part of a firmware update later this year. It's still in development so unfortunately I can't set a target release date yet.

As with all of our firmware updates, there will be no additional cost to download and use this feature. Also, we don't intend to limit the distance, although FAA and other legal restrictions may require particular limitations in the future.
 

Mactadpole

Member
250m horizontal distance is a lot farther than you think when flying a multirotor.

Really interested to see the release of the HF waypoint navigation later this year!

Shawn
 

Ron2020

Member
After u release the new GPS software later this year, and then have to fix the bugs from that release, we'll already be at 1 year, minimum.
No matter how i look at t, there's still no easy solution.
 

Mactadpole

Member
After u release the new GPS software later this year, and then have to fix the bugs from that release, we'll already be at 1 year, minimum.
No matter how i look at t, there's still no easy solution.

As I mentioned earlier, they are putting together a beta-tester group that should hopefully eliminate/alleviate the firmware bug fixes that are often (but not always) required.
 



Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
technically, their commercial license is for all commercial use. the gps commercial license is an additional cost i believe.
 


Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
So how much did you pay for yours?

Ken

I haven't paid anything as I still haven't made enough to pay off my gear. Last year was OK and this year has been better but I'm still growing. Been doing more to develop my gear than the media business. And then there's that website I thought would be a good idea to get started..........
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
fwiw, 250 meters is a far way off for a multi-rotor heli to fly, as someone said. beyond that you'll likely be unable to maintain LOS flying and would be putting yourself at risk if operating commercially.
 

Ron2020

Member
Bartman,

If i were to be flying in an open area, as in a countryside, clear of buildings, i should be able maintain LOS, and if using a UHF signal, i should be able to achieve a distance much greater than 250m, don't u think so?

ron
 

throwing a new competitor into the mix...

Arducopter??

The new board is $200 including GPS! all the nessesary features seem to be working. GPS hold, RTH and waypoint navi.

I have an older board on a quad, its easy enough to setup and I have have not had any issues with it failing.

Graham
 

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
Bartman,

If i were to be flying in an open area, as in a countryside, clear of buildings, i should be able maintain LOS, and if using a UHF signal, i should be able to achieve a distance much greater than 250m, don't u think so?

ron

You certainly can, however at that distance the multi is really little more than a small black dot in the sky. Unless you have an FPV system to fly by or eyes like an eagle you will be very lucky to be able to accurately determine orientation of the craft at that distance. While it is LOS the amount of useful sight you will have to fly by is minimal, more so if you have any appreciable altitude along with the horizontal distance.

Ken
 

Ron2020

Member
I'm sorry, i should have mentioned that, yes, at a distance of over 250m, that i would be flying it as FPV. So it is possible, then?
 

Kari

Member
Using just the criteria of reliability in my own direct experience I would have to rate as follows, MK #1, WKM #2, H/F #3. I have one MK flight controller that now has over 20 hours in the air with only one inflight incident, two others having less flight time with none, both of the WKM I own have fallen out the sky at least once, and the H/F more than once.

Ken

Hi Ken,

Was there fault in wkm hardware/software which issued to falling out the sky? Can you remember which fw was that when these happened?

Kari
 

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