SOMETHING new is in the air. Look up as you approach the plaza outside the building where Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) has its headquarters, in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, and you may well see a hovering eye in the sky staring back at you. It belongs to a drone made by DJI, a pioneer in the nascent market for commercial unmanned aircraft.On March 8th, at press events in New York, London and Munich, the firm launched its new Phantom 3 range of drones. Even the basic model has a built-in camera that takes 12 megapixel stills and video at the “1080p” high-definition standard. The firm, founded in 2006 by a mainlander who studied engineering in Hong Kong, has become a leading light in the industry. It has filed hundreds of patents, and is launching lawsuits against rivals it suspects of infringing its intellectual property.DJI’s drones are lightweight and relatively easy to use. Newer models come with built-in GPS and a motorised mount that stabilises the camera while letting it rotate in several directions.

Considering the technology embedded inside, they are also inexpensive: a new Phantom 3 can be had for about $1,000.Rather as Boeing did with commercial airliners in the 1930s, DJI is today leading the charge in transforming civilian-drone manufacturing from something for hobbyists into a proper business. ar drone battery dropThe Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, an industry body, predicts that drones will become ubiquitous, with all sorts of uses, from crop monitoring to atmospheric research, from oil exploration to internet provision (see article). ar drone 2 footageWinterGreen, a research firm, forecasts that global sales of civilian unmanned craft will approach $5 billion in 2021.Venture capitalists and technology companies, from Boeing and GE to Qualcomm, are now pouring money into drone firms. ar drone shop hong kong

An American outfit, 3D Robotics (founded by Chris Anderson, a former journalist at this newspaper), raised $50m in venture capital in February. parrot ar drone central crossEhang Guangshi Technology, another Chinese drone startup, recently got $10m in venture-capital fundingNow, rumours are swirling in Silicon Valley that DJI is looking for its first injection of outside cash. storm drone 4 goproIt is thought to have made around $500m in revenues in 2014 (the company declines to confirm this), and it may be on track to become the first maker of consumer drones to reach a billion dollars in annual sales.how much does the reaper drone costThere will be growing pains. ar drone motor check

As dronemakers’ sales soar, so will its customers’ expectations of good service. On DJI’s website, users grumble that a firm of its size should put more of its resources into this area: “Try to call them...and they treat you like you are an inconvenience,” writes one. Over-regulation is another risk. A Phantom drone crashed onto the White House lawn in Washington, DC, in January; in response, DJI rushed out an upgrade to its drones’ onboard firmware that included many new “no-fly zones”, to head off the risk of outright bans. Although America’s Federal Aviation Administration plans to relax its curbs on drones, they will still have to stay within sight of their human operators and only fly by day.Such is the civil-drone industry’s potential, DJI is bound to face a rising number of competitors, from China and abroad. It argues that it has a technological edge, including tens of millions of hours of flights, that newcomers will find hard to beat. It scorns the idea that the defence giants who make drones for America’s armed forces will eventually muscle in on its business: yes, they are technologically advanced, says DJI’s Andy Pan, but “they take five to six years to introduce a new model whereas we take five to six months.”

In reviewing the Phantom 2 Vision in January 2014, the New York Times gushed that just five years ago such kit “would have seemed like a science-fiction film prop or a piece of surveillance hardware flown only by the sexiest of superspies.” The fact that this model is now obsolete speaks volumes for how quickly the industry is advancing. EFFICIENCYThe powerful propulsion system enables the MG-1 to carry up to 10kg of liquid payloads, including pesticide and fertilizer. combination of speed and power means that an area of 4,000-6,000 m² can be covered in just 10 minutes, or 40 to 60 times faster than manual sprayingThe intelligent spraying system automatically adjusts its spray according to the flying speed so that an even spray is always applied. way, the amount of pesticide or fertilizer is precisely regulated to avoid pollution and economize operations.7-10Acres / Hour10kgPayload40-­60 times faster than manual sprayingLiquid TankRELIABILITY AND LONGEVITYEquipment used in plant protection operations is

susceptible to dust and corrosion, leading to high cost of maintenance andTo counteract degradation, the MG-1 is designed with a sealed body and an efficient, integrated centrifugal cooling system. flies, the surrounding air enters the aircraft body via the front inlet, equipped with a triple filter system that keeps dust and particulate matterThe air then passes through each of the aircraft’s arms to the motors, capturing heat from all components and the entire structure before exiting and dissipating the heat to the surrounding air. The combination of cooling and filtering increases the expected lifespan of each motor by up to three times.ACCURATE SPRAYINGSpray nozzles can be chosen according to the properties of each liquid to optimize atomization, energy efficiency and the amount of liquid sprayed. The included nozzle is resistant to wear and can be used for thousands of hours of effective spraying without degradation. the MG-1 has four nozzles, each placed directly below a motor.

airflow generated by the propellers accelerates the spray, increasing its reach. SprayingAll round SprayingEASE OF USEThe advanced flight controller integrated with the aircraft instantly and precisely responds to the pilot’s input. between three flight modes: Smart Plus Mode and Manual mode, according to terrain and the specific needs of each mission. Under Smart mode, the flight can be easily planned with the press of a few buttons, without the need for mapping knowledge or other software, making the MG-1 not only the most efficient but also the most easy to use sprayingIn Manual Plus Mode, the aircraft performs the same turns at the press of a button as it does automatically under the Smart mode, allowing for planning to be done on the fly for fields of irregularUnder Manual mode, the pilot freely navigates the aircraft.INTELLIGENT MEMORYThe MG-1 automatically records its current and remembers its past coordinates as it makes its way across the field.

the operation is interrupted, for example due to depleted battery or spraying liquid, flight easily be resumed from the last point in its memory after or refilling its tank. Data ProtectionFOLDABLE DESIGNThe MG-1 design is based on a Y-type folding structure that can be installed without the use of any additional tools. arms fold inwards making the aircraft compact and easy to transport, for example in the trunk of a car. Made from high-strength carbon fiber materials, the body frame is light yet durable and able to withstand the harshest conditions.TERRAIN FOLLOWBy integrating a microwave radar together with the MG-1's intelligent flight control system, the aircraft is able to scan the below terrain in real-time, and adjust to keep a constant, centimeter accurate, height above crops. Spray density is maintained even as the terrain rises and drops, so that the optimal amount of liquid is applied at all times. dedicated remote controller is equipped with the latest Lightbridge 2