Toy_Dji_11

QUART ERLY - P.I. 21/07 /2017 Intern ationa l € 10, Spedizione in Abbon Chf 10,50 , UK £ 7,50 Poste Italian e S.p.a. amento Postale - 70% - LO/MI

J A D E I S S U E

JADE ISSUE - n° 11 - 2017 - € 10

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The Art of Sailing

[ TOYS ]

I

’m lucky enough to have taken the controls of a number of flying machines, and for a few years now, since drones made their appearance, be they small or large, I just can’t

help myself wanting to try them out. I was expecting the electronic systems that enable them to fly autonomously to evolve quickly, so you wouldn’t have to know how to pilot them, but I never thought things would develop so quickly that remote control units, tablets or smartphones would be replaced by gesture-sensitive systems. So I was eager to try out the DJI Spark, the latest jewel from the Chinese giant. It weighs about 330 grammes, and is shaped like a solid parallelogram with a length of 14.3 cm and thickness of 5.5 cm. I fire it up and it “stares” at me, memorising me as its owner and confirming my arrival with a few flashing lights. I’d be ashamed to be called a pilot with this aircraft.

It lifts off from the palm of my hand and waits for a gesture – a little wave – to send it flying off. If I show it the palm of my raised hand I can position it in the space I think will give the best framing. Another movement of the hand and it takes a photo, (joining index fingers and thumbs like a film director), or by setting other ways of operating the Spark will fly routes at up to 50 km/h to a distance of 500 metres. It handles obstacles on its own, its sensors detect and avoid them, and when it’s too far away you can call it back by moving your hands with arms raised and wait for it land on your hand. It’s devilishly clever. If you want a panorama from above, simply start up your Rocket and with a simple gesture it flies straight up, takes a photo and comes down again. Then slip it into the pocket of your backpack. And it’s not just for messing about with - while you’re practising a sport or there’s an event to be recorded, the Spark stays still in the air exactly where you tell it to stop, and if a gust wind shifts it, then it recovers its position on its own. The video camera has a maximum resolution of 12 megapixels, so it’s HD, but not sharp enough to compete with professional drones. However, apart from its rather low maximum speed, the Spark is ideal for taking bird’s eye view selfies while you’re waterskiing, kayaking or windsurfing. It’s not waterproof and will be ruined if it falls into the water, but as there’s no pilot to make a mistake, simply bring it back before the battery runs out, and the Spark knows how to make you realise it’s time to stretch out your hand for it to land on. www.Dji.com

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The new super-smart DJI Spark mini-drone is the new must-have for photos and videos to share in real time. light and compact, it avoids obstacles itself, has a 12 megapixel camera and can travel at up to 50 km/h to a distance of 500 metres

by Sergio Barlocchetti

A CLEVER LITTLE DEVIL 183