GoPro, the American action camera company, attempted to break into the camera drone market, with its’ first-ever drone, named Karma. However, soon after its launch in October 2016, almost 2500 Karma drones were recalled within November, because the quadcopters lost power during the flight. The company informed that the issue was caused due to some mechanical problems related to the drone’s battery. The company issued a full refund to the customers facing a problem with Karma.
However, in this year, 2017, after having resolved the factors causing problems previously, GoPro is all set to relaunch the drone in the market.
Technical Specifications:
GoPro’s Karma box comes with the drone itself, a Karma Grip, Karma Controller, and a Karma Case.
Karma Drone:
The drone, having a maximum speed of 15m/s, maximum distance coverage of up to 3000m, maximum altitude of 3200m, wind resistance up to 10m/s, operating frequency of 2.4GHz, is all set to hit the market again in 2017.
The weight of the drone is 1006g. The drone is compatible with GoPro Hero 5 Black, Hero 4 Silver or Black, and Hero 5 Session.
Karma Controller:
The Karma Controller looks and feels like a video game player. It has a 5 inch touchscreen display.
The controller has a screen resolution of 720p, a battery life that lasts for 4hours, and operates at 2.4GHz frequency. It weighs around 625g.
Unlike other controllers, Karma Controller has smooth, rubberized, controlling sticks which feel comfortable to hold. The lack of antennas gives it a better look than other transmitters.
Controller connects to Wifi to download maps and updates.
Karma Battery and Charger:
GoPro Karma uses a 14.8V 5100MAh Li-Po battery. A 16.8V 5A charger is capable of charging the battery for 1hour, the controller for 2.5hours and the grip for 2hours.
Passenger App
GoPro Karma comes with an additional Passenger app for the mobile phones. The app enables the user to hand over the control to another person via phone. He/she just needs to connect the phone to the user’s Wifi hotspot. Although the feature is available with GoPro Karma, it’s working only in iOS, and Android is still under testing. The app is useful for uploading images or videos directly on Facebook and Youtube or other social media sites.
Although GoPro Karma has faced certain problems following its first launch in October 2016, a successful relaunch of the quadcopter will prove to be a groundbreaking achievement for the company. GoPro Karma is easy to use and can take videos and still photos from land or air. Built-in display of the Karma Controller helps in viewing the picture to be taken. Karma drone comes with a stabilizer that has a range of motion from -90 to 0(down and up), and (the stabilizer) can be used with other GoPro accessories too.
GoPro Karma costs $799 without the camera, and $1099 with the camera (GoPro Hero Black 5, Hero 5 Session or Hero 4 Silver/Black).
Limitations:
The certain limitations of the GoPro drone are that it doesn’t have any ‘Follow me’ mode or other smart features, obstacle avoidance technology, or any downward positioning sensor to keep in position. Also, the gadget has a moderate battery life.
