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SamuraiBlue said:

The argument started from what was stated from this report.



Basically the present US commercial drone market is mainly for recreational purposes and DJI manufactures toy RC drones. It's the same as Parrot the French company that manufactures similar products.

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I don't think that is fair DJI sell whole range of product from Toy to semi professional all the way to professional tool So we should not denigrate their achievement
Anyway on different plane courtesy of Broadsword from CDF
Hanergy launches full solar power vehicles that can be commercialized


BEIJING, July 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hanergy Holding Group, the world's leading thin-film solar power company, launched four full solar power vehicles at a grand ceremony themed "Disruptive Innovations Drive the Future" outside its headquarters in Beijing on July 2. Over 4,000 guests from all sectors of society attended the event.


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Hanergy launches full solar power vehicles at a grand ceremony in Beijing on July 2.

A sports car named "Hanergy Solar R" made its debut as Li Hejun, Board Chairman and CEO of Hanergy Holding Group, drove it around the venue in the spotlight. In his speech, Mr. Li elaborated on the advantages of thin-film solar cells such as light weight and flexibility, enabling the cells to be integrated into a variety of products such as cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, mobiles, backpacks and clothes. The full solar power vehicles making their debut showcase the latest achievements of Hanergy's mobile energy strategy, he said.

Integrated with flexible and highly efficient thin-film solar cells and modules, the full solar power vehicles with zero emissions use solar energy as its main source of driving force through a series of precise control and managing systems, including a photoelectric conversion system, an energy storage system and an intelligent control system.

As Hanergy's full solar power vehicles acquire power directly from the sun, they do not depend on charging posts and thus have no need to bother with "distance per charge" anymore, making "zero charging" possible during medium and short distance journeys. Breaking the bottleneck of poor practicality of previous solar-powered vehicles, the four launched by Hanergy are the first full thin-film solar power vehicles that can be commercialized, redefining new energy vehicles.

With a conversion rate of 31.6%, Hanergy's gallium arsenide (GaAs) dual-junction solar cell was awarded with a World Record Certificate by the World Record Association at the launch event. The technology had previously been recognized by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the United States for its world's highest conversion rate on January 5, 2016.

Hanergy also signed a framework agreement with Foton Motor for cooperation in developing clean energy buses.

In addition to Hanergy Solar R, the Hanergy Solar series of vehicles launched on Saturday evening also included Hanergy Solar O, Hanergy Solar L and Hanergy Solar A, targeted at different groups of users.

The vehicles feature light weight and maximization of the area covered by thin-film solar cells. Their user-friendly designs enable users to select and manage different travelling and weather modes in a real-time, mobile, networked and smart way. Users can select charging modes in accordance with varied weather conditions through Apps on their mobiles. Moreover, the vehicles are equipped with ultrasonic cleaning technology for maintenance of the solar cells.

According to Dr. Gao Weimin, Vice President of Hanergy Holding Group and CEO of its Solar Vehicle Business Division, the four full solar power vehicles are integrated with flexible GaAs thin-film solar cells, covering 3.5 to 7.5 square meters respectively. With five to six hours of sunlight, the thin-film solar cells on the vehicle are able to generate eight to ten kilowatt-hours of power a day, allowing it to travel about 80 km, equivalent to over 20,000 km annually, which satisfies the need of driving in a city under normal circumstances. With this disruptive innovation, the full solar power vehicles no longer need to rely on charging posts like traditional electric vehicles.

Under the mode of routine-day use, the vehicles are able to charge themselves with clean solar energy while traveling, making "zero charging" possible. It alters our inherent concept of "distance per charge" of an electric vehicle. In the cases of weak sunlight or long-distance travel, the lithium batteries equipped in the vehicles can also get power from charging posts, enabling them to travel a maximum of 350 km per charge.

"The reason I'm here is because I very much believe in what Hanergy is doing by making a car totally powered by solar energy." said American renewable energy expert Dr. Woodrow W. Clark II, who was present the ceremony. In his view, the full solar power vehicle developed by Hanergy is the symbol of a green industrial revolution.

The R&D of the full solar power vehicles was done independently by Hanergy, which owns over 120 patents and proprietary intellectual property rights for them.

About Hanergy Holding Group

Hanergy Holding Group is a multinational clean energy company as well as the world's leading thin-film solar power company, committed to changing the world by clean power. Established in 1994, the company has branches in provinces all over China as well as in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Africa and other regions, with core businesses covering hydropower, wind power and thin-film solar power.

Can I just say.... That is the most hideous Car I have seen in years. I mean It's Almost like the designers tried to rebirth the Edsel... The only Car I can think of that is that ugly is the 3rd gen Ford Taurus (95-99) which looked like a Giant Aspirin on wheels with windows.

SamuraiBlue said:

The argument started from what was stated from this report.



Basically the present US commercial drone market is mainly for recreational purposes and DJI manufactures toy RC drones. It's the same as Parrot the French company that manufactures similar products.

Click to expand...

What argument even is this? Going over the last few pages, I see no debate or argument about DJI and its market share at all. Did a mod delete some posts or something?

As for DJI, the reason they're so successful in the commercial drone market is because their products are just that good. Parrot offers some decent drones as well, but the DJI phantom line was the first to offer an accumulation of capabilities like stabilized gimbal for camera, easy to control app for the drone, and highly integrated and capable positioning, all in an aesthetically pleasing, simple to fly package with associated app software. The Phantom 4 even has image recognition and tracking capability and object avoidance via optical sensors. The more advanced "prosumer" drones that DJI offers even has Lightbridge 2 datalinks that can transmit live HD video at a distance of 5km, which is arguably the best in the industry.

So it's definitely incorrect to say that DJI's drones are merely RC toys -- there is a lot of technology behind them to allow them to operate the way they do, in such an intuitive manner that they're able to capture such a large market share.

I have a Phantom 3 Standard myself, and for the price point it is easily the best drone you can buy.

Commercial drones a few years ago were clumsy things only for hobbyists, but are now viable for pro film makers and entertainment industries, and also civilian govt agencies. A few of the DJI drones even have an option to adopt FLIR cameras through a partnership with that company.

TerraN_EmpirE said:

Can I just say.... That is the most hideous Car I have seen in years. I mean It's Almost like the designers tried to rebirth the Edsel... The only Car I can think of that is that ugly is the 3rd gen Ford Taurus (95-99) which looked like a Giant Aspirin on wheels with windows.

Click to expand...

Well it is "proof of concept car" the highlight here is the thin film solar technology that doesn't need charging station and it has high efficiency of 32%. Which is close to piston engine. Styling can done on latter date when it come to mass produced the car . Actually Chinese mar is getting better quality wise and styling too. Like this Geely car

They are investing more and more into designing their own vehicles. Hafei "mini" Van hired a Italian designer and it sold really well.

TerraN_EmpirE said:

Can I just say.... That is the most hideous Car I have seen in years. I mean It's Almost like the designers tried to rebirth the Edsel... The only Car I can think of that is that ugly is the 3rd gen Ford Taurus (95-99) which looked like a Giant Aspirin on wheels with windows.

Click to expand...

To be fair, solar powered car have a very different structural design compared to the common everyday car. The shape of the former is very much constrained by aerodynamic consideration because of its markedly lighter weight.

The story of DJI is proof that entrepreneurship is thriving in China . Only in China can this happened due to large ecosystem of supplier and engineer. Private sector can realized idea faster than SOE.I hope China will free the aerospace industry to private sector and bring the enormous energy,wealth and creativity of private sector to bear. But western press can't help themselves from harping on rote learning and other impediment to creativity. Which contrary to reality. Every country in the early stage of development will copy ideas . Japan did so did Korea. But as the level education and industry rise they will invent

In China, the 'Apple of drones' is flying away with success

Paul Pan, a senior product manager at DJI, examines a Phantom 4 drone at the company's headquarters in Shenzhen, China. (Jonathan Kaiman / Los Angeles Times)
Jonathan Kaiman
In April, a group of Finnish farmers outfitted a spindly black drone with a remote-controlled chainsaw and filmed it decapitating snowmen. They called it “Killer Drone.” More formally, it was a DJI S1000.

This spring, marine biologists flew a drone over the Sea of Cortez to capture samples of the fluid sprayed from the blowholes of blue whales. They called it “SnotBot.” It was a DJI Inspire 1.

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In March 2015, two men in Ottawa equipped a sleek, white drone with Roman candle fireworks and sprinted away shirtless as the machine fired spark-spewing projectiles. They called it “Roman Candle Attack Drone 2.0.” It was a DJI Phantom 2.

DJI, which stands for Da-Jiang Innovations, is a midsize company based in Shenzhen, China, and it essentially put recreational drone-flying on the map. Fans call it the “ of drones,” and for good reason — the company owns 70% of the consumer drone market, analysts say. As of March, it was valued at about $8 billion. It may be the first Chinese company to create, and then dominate, a hot new class of consumer electronics.

As China’s decades-long investment and exports-driven “economic miracle” comes to an end, the Chinese government is attempting to boost innovation to keep the country’s economy afloat. Officials are investing billions of yuan in gleaming new office parks, university engineering programs and start-up incubators.


A drone hovers at the DJI booth during CES International on Jan. 7, 2016, in Las Vegas. (John Locher / Associated Press)
Their ambitions won’t be easy to realize. China’s education system encourages rote learning; government censorship restricts the flow of ideas; lax intellectual property laws enable piracy to flourish. But the country does have one major trump card — its manufacturing prowess — and that has engendered innovation in some surprising ways.

Shenzhen, a city of 7 million adjacent to Hong Kong, can seem like an endless sprawl of factories, boxy and self-contained. It’s frequently called the “Silicon Valley of hardware,” “the overnight city” or the “factory floor of the world.” Experts say that the consumer drone revolution couldn’t have happened anywhere else.

You want to come out with something that everyone else is chasing, and you have to do that once a generation. — Adam Najberg, global director of communications for DJI
DJI owns three factories in Shenzhen, only a short drive away from its corporate headquarters. Employees say that parts for new prototypes sometimes arrive “still hot.”

“I think DJI could only happen in Shenzhen,” said Michael Perry, a 30-year-old American who is DJI’s director of strategic partnerships. The city has a “confluence of talent, resources and connectivity,” he said, giving DJI the ability to design and manufacture equipment “faster than anyone else in the industry.”

He said DJI has developed its own cameras, stabilization mechanisms, motors and a “flight control system” — even software to edit video and post it online.

Yet DJI employees are worried that their advantage might not last. Competitors are nipping at their heels. The French drone maker Parrot and other Chinese firms — Yuneec, EHang — are threatening DJI’s market share. In May, Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi released its own drone, the “Mi Drone,” which sells for $460, less than DJI’s basic Phantom 3 model. GoPro will launch its own quadcopter — called Karma — this year. That’s not to mention the dozens of Chinese imitators that have reverse-engineered DJI drones to produce their own, inferior products at a fraction of the price.

Despite DJI’s global reach — the company has opened marketing offices in Los Angeles and Frankfurt, Germany, and research and development offices in Palo Alto, Japan and Hong Kong — the company has not established itself as a recognizable, mainstream brand.

“The challenge [for us] is that a lot of consumers don’t really know the difference between OK, good and great” drones, said Adam Najberg, DJI’s global director of communications. “Then they start flying and think drones are terrible because the one they bought was a beginner drone and it crashed right away, or it’s not doing what they thought.

“You want to come out with something that everyone else is chasing, and you have to do that once a generation,” he added. “Honestly, other companies have very good engineers, 100 or 200 of them. We have 1,500 of them. And it’s very hard to run as fast and [in]as many directions as we’re running. That’s the advantage we have to maintain.”

Then there’s the legal factor. Drones are a nascent technology, and countries haven’t yet formalized rules to govern their use. Controversy has ensued. The militant group Islamic State reportedly has used Phantoms for surveillance. In 2015, a Phantom crash-landed on the White House lawn, and months later, another landed on the roof of the Japanese prime minister’s office. At least two people in the U.S., one in New Jersey and one in Kentucky, have shot down Phantoms that hovered near their property. (Both were arrested).

“It’s like the [Transportation Security Administration] regulating travel: Everything is reactive,” said Sarah Kreps, a drone expert and professor of government at . “Shoes are fine to walk through security, until someone tries to hide a bomb in his shoes. Water was fine until someone tried to use it to detonate an explosive on an airplane. Everything is a countermeasure.”

On Tuesday, the U.S. that make it much easier to fly drones for profit. Commercial drone operators no longer need a pilot’s license; they need only a “remote pilot certificate,” which is far easier to obtain. DJI said in a statement that the new rules “will make it easier for American businesses, farmers, nonprofits and government agencies to use drones in their work.”

DJI’s CEO is Frank Wang, 35, the son of a teacher and an engineer from Hangzhou, in eastern China. In photographs, he usually wears round spectacles and wool caps. As a child, Wang was a model airplane enthusiast; as a high school student, he received middling grades. Rejected from MIT and Stanford, he studied electronic engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, and launched DJI from his dorm room in 2006. After graduation, he moved to Shenzhen with two classmates; they worked out of an apartment, funded by his university scholarship.

By that time, drone-flying had been a niche hobby for years. But when DJI released the Phantom quadcopter in January 2013, it quickly went mainstream. The machine came ready to fly, took remarkable aerial video and sold for $679.

Three years and several product releases later, Wang is now worth $3.6 billion, according to Forbes.

Paul Pan, a senior product manager at DJI who has been working at the company since 2013, said that Wang nurtures a meritocratic work environment. “It’s not like there’s one guy leading, like [the late Steve Jobs at] Apple,” he said. Wang “wants us to debate with him, to tell him why his ideas aren’t good, and if they’re not good, whether there is a better way to do it. But you have to prove it.”

To stay ahead of its competitors, DJI is trying to enter lucrative markets — science, agriculture, search and rescue, surveillance — by investing in its “software development kit,” a platform allowing individuals and companies to program DJI drones to suit their needs. Remember the “SnotBot”? The development kit made that possible.

“When people start trying a drone and flying it around, suddenly a lightbulb goes off, and they think, we can do this,” said Perry, the director of strategic partnerships. “We never planned to make drones for sports teams, or snot collection. Our users brought these to the platform.”

A drone, essentially, is “a node in three dimensions that can send and receive information,” he added. “So the drone is applicable in any situation where gathering that information is either too time-consuming, costly or dangerous. When you think of it in those terms, things start to open up.”

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I saw this Communist Youth League rap video on CNN this morning. Apparently it's gotten some mad. Not sure why. Because they think it's patriotic propaganda promoting China's achievements like that somehow is illegal and they want to control the message?