When our reviewer Anderson Ta put the Antigravity A1 via its paces earlier this 12 months, he got here away impressed by the idea however with some actual reservations concerning the execution. The impediment avoidance was restricted to solely ahead and downward sensors, which left a whole lot of blind spots for a drone being marketed to creators centered on flying somewhat than awaiting obstacles. Sign deteriorated at sure obstructions. And a pressured firmware replace within the area — with no cell service out there — locked him out of options mid-trip.
All these points must be averted going ahead. That’s as a result of Antigravity simply launched its U3 firmware replace, and it addresses a number of of these complaints to a tee. Right here’s what’s new, what really issues, and what to anticipate whenever you replace.
Replace your firmware first
Earlier than your subsequent flight, replace to firmware V4.0.6.3 through the Antigravity app. Then, replace the app itself to model 1.2.0 from the App Retailer. Do that at dwelling on steady Wi-Fi earlier than your subsequent flight (not within the area the place you may not have a connection).
Every little thing I like concerning the new Antigravity replace
Omnidirectional impediment avoidance: the replace that issues most
That is the headline enchancment for this new drone.
The unique A1 had ahead and downward impediment sensing solely, which meant something approaching from the edges, above, or behind was invisible to the drone’s security programs. For a 360-degree digicam drone usually flown whereas watching immersive goggle footage somewhat than the plane itself, that hole was mildly regarding.
The U3 replace provides full omnidirectional impediment avoidance — that’s entrance, again, left, proper, up, and down. The drone will now mechanically brake or maneuver round obstacles from any route. Antigravity has additionally added impediment bypass, that means as an alternative of merely stopping when it detects one thing, the A1 can actively fly round it.
Voice management: extra helpful than it sounds
Voice management on client drones has traditionally been a novelty that no person really makes use of. The A1’s implementation does make precise sense although. That’s as a result of the use case is particular and actual: you’re sporting the Imaginative and prescient goggles, you’re centered on flying, and reaching for a button is actually harder.
How do you utilize it? Single-click the house button on the left aspect of the goggles to wake the Voice Assistant, then communicate your command. Supported fundamental operations embody takeoff and touchdown, return to dwelling, switching between movement management and FPV modes, beginning and stopping recording, taking images, switching to gradual movement, and beginning and stopping display screen recording.
The instructions to start out with: “Take off,” “Begin recording,” “Cease recording,” “Take a photograph,” “Return to dwelling.” Preserve them easy — this can be a Siri-lite expertise, not a full pure language system. Keep away from the superior voice options like impediment avoidance management and good options for now; Antigravity flags these as preview-only and never beneficial for normal use but. Supported languages are at present English and Chinese language.
Auto Edit enhancements: extra selection, higher outcomes
Auto Edit was one of many extra promising options of the unique A1 however may produce repetitive outcomes. The U3 replace rewrites the modifying logic with a greater diversity of shot sorts together with 360 movement and FPV-style views that weren’t out there earlier than. For video editors, count on higher pacing plus AI-powered sound results that add environment to the ultimate video.
Some tricks to maximize outcomes on this:
- Particular person clips must be at the least one minute lengthy.
- Complete footage ought to exceed 20 minutes (shorter clips give the algorithm much less to work with).
- Preserve topics visually fascinating and different.
- Embody at the least three totally different scenes or places.
- Shoot in good lighting.
- Keep away from night time footage (not beneficial for Auto Edit).
- In flight, use quite a lot of paths — large turns, orbit pictures, noticeable altitude adjustments — and keep steady low-altitude horizontal flight under 40 meters with a visual topic in body for greater than 12 seconds whenever you need cinematic output.
On the technical aspect: be certain your footage has proxy information (.prx), that are generated mechanically when utilizing QuickTransfer or direct connection. In the event you’re importing manually, hold the .prx information in the identical listing as your footage — with out them, processing can be considerably slower. For the very best Auto Edit expertise, use iPhone 15 or above on iOS, or Samsung S24 sequence and above on Android.
Digital Cockpit third-person view
The Digital Cockpit now helps switching between first-person and third-person views. Which means you’ll be able to watch the drone from behind, as if enjoying a online game, somewhat than wanting via its eyes.
Entry it via Menu → Digital Cockpit → choose a cockpit pores and skin → select Switching Perspective.
Assigning the C1 customized button to Change Cockpit permits you to toggle immediately throughout flight. Antigravity suggests matching the cockpit pores and skin to your setting (the dragon cockpit in a mountain or canyon setting works significantly properly) and together with pictures of the attitude change to make footage extra dynamic.
What do you concentrate on the software program replace? Does it compel you to lastly purchase an Antigravity A1 drone? Does it change the way you fly your drone at the moment? Inform me within the feedback!
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