DJI Spark launch

Well, here it is. Standing out for me the claimed 16 minute flight time. That is astounding. Ten minutes used to be a goal back in the day. Some amazing work coming out of DJI’s R&D to achieve those numbers.

The larger Mavic and Phantom 4 have bought gesture control and other features to the Spark. The impressive features are too numerous to list.

If I am to put a number on it, I would say DJI is now at least 2 years ahead of the crowd on the technology front. Everybody else is playing catch up, without exception.

It is a little more expensive than I would have thought at $499, but where else are you going to get the features.

They missed one metric, and that was weight at 300g it is still too heavy to avoid the mandatory registration process happening in China, June 1st. I expected it to squeak in just under the bar and be less than 250g. In Chin, users will be required to reconfirm their owner details every three months. Make no mistake it is still an amazing machine, so many features in so few grammes.

Do I want one, I want two!

The DJI Spark is the future of commercial drone operations.

So on the technology front DJI have it, the airspace policy, communication and support teams are another story.  Let us hope that side of the business does not take down R&D and the company.

Max Ascent Speed 9.8 ft/s (3 m/s) in Sport Mode without wind
Max Descent Speed 9.8 ft/s (3 m/s) in Auto Landing Mode
Max Speed 31 mph (50 kph) in Sport Mode without wind
Max Service Ceiling Above Sea Level 13,123 feet (4,000 m)
Max Flight Time 16 minutes (no wind at a consistent 12.4 mph (20 kph))
Max Hovering Time 15 minutes (no wind)
Operating Temperature Range 32° to 104° F (0° to 40° C)
Satellite Positioning Systems GPS/GLONASS
Hover Accuracy Range Vertical:
+/- 0.1 m (when Vision Positioning is active) or +/-0.5 m
Horizontal:
+/- 0.3 m (when Vision Positioning is active) or +/-1.5 m
Transmitter Power (EIRP) 2.4 GHz
FCC: 25 dBm; CE: 18 dBm; SRRC: 18 dBm
5.8 GHz
FCC: 27 dBm; CE: 14 dBm; SRRC: 27 dBm
Operating Frequency 2.400 – 2.483 GHz; 5.725 – 5.825 GHz
Takeoff Weight 300 g
Dimensions 143×143×55 mm
Diagonal Distance (propellers excluded) 170 mm
3D SENSING SYSTEM

Obstacle Sensing Range 1-16 ft (0.2 – 5 m)
Operating Environment Surface should be larger than 20×20 cm and enable diffuse reflection, with reflection rate >20% (eg. wall, tree, people)
CAMERA

Sensor 1/2.3″ CMOS
Effective pixels: 12 MP
Lens FOV 81.9° 25 mm (35 mm format equivalent) f/2.6
(shooting range: 2 m to ∞)
ISO Range Video: 100-3200
Photo: 100-1600
Electronic Shutter Speed 2-1/8000 s
Image Size 3968×2976
Still Photography Modes Single Shot
Burst Shooting: 3 frames
Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB): 3 bracketed frames at 0.7 EV bias
Interval: 2/3/5/7/10/15/20/30/60 s
Video Resolution FHD: 1920×1080 30p
Max Video Bitrate 24 Mbps
Supported File Systems FAT32 (≤ 32 GB)
Photo Format JPEG
Video Format MP4 (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264)
REMOTE CONTROLLER

Operating Frequency 2.412-2.462 GHz; 5.745-5.825 GHz
Max Transmission Distance 2.412 – 2.462 GHz (unobstructed, free of interference)
FCC: 1.2 mi (2 km); CE: 0.3 mi (500 m); SRRC: 0.3 mi (500 m)
5.745 – 5.825 GHz (unobstructed, free of interference)
FCC: 1.2 mi (2 km); CE: 0.18 mi (300 m); SRRC: 0.7 mi (1.2 km)
Operating Temperature Range 32° to 104° F (0° to 40° C)
Battery 2970 mAh
Transmitter Power (EIRP) 2.4 GHz
FCC: ≤26 dBm; CE: ≤18 dBm; SRCC: ≤18 dBm
5.8 GHz
FCC: ≤28 dBm; CE: ≤14 dBm; SRCC: ≤26 dBm
Operating Current/Voltage 950 mAh @3.7 V
Supported Mobile Device Size Thickness range: 6.5-8.5 mm
Max length: 160 mm
INTELLIGENT FLIGHT BATTERY

Capacity 1480 mAh
Voltage 11.4 V
Max Charging Voltage 13.05 V
Battery Type LiPo 3S
Energy 16.87 Wh
Net Weight Approx. 0.2 lbs (95 g)
Charging Temperature Range 41° to 104° F (5° to 40° C)

GIMBAL

Controllable Range Pitch: -85° to 0°
Stabilization 2-axis mechanical (pitch, roll)
VISION SYSTEM

Velocity Range ≤22.4 mph (36 kph) at 6.6 ft (2 m) above ground
Altitude Range 0-26 ft (0 – 8 m)
Operating Range 0-98 ft (0 – 30 m)
Operating Environment Surface with clear patterns, enables diffuse reflection with >20% reflection rate
Adequate lighting (lux>15)
WI-FI

Operating Frequency 2.4 GHz/5.8 GHz
Max Transmission Distance 100 m(Distance), 50 m(Height) (Unobstructed, free of interference)
CHARGER

Input 100-240 V; 50/60 Hz; 0.5 A
Output 5 V/3 A; 9 V/2 A; 12 V/1.5 A
RECOMMENDED MICRO SD CARDS

Model Sandisk 16/32 GB UHS-1 Micro SDHC
Kingston 16/32 GB UHS-1 Micro SDHC
Samsung 16/32 GB UHS-I Micro SDHC
Sandisk 64 GB UHS-1 Micro SDXC
Kingston 64 GB UHS-1 Micro SDXC
Samsung 64 GB UHS-I Micro SDXC