DJI SDK Release? Super Bowl Drone Incursions, Texas Drone Workshop, Kuddos!

 This week, we have four stories for you: the DJI SDK, a new DJI Mini 2 SE, the Super Bowl drone incursions, which were down this year, and the upcoming Texas Drone Workshop, which is right around the corner. And then, finally, we have kudos for some industry folks. So let’s get to it.

DJI Mini 3 SDK

Your first story this week is an interesting one with the SDK for the DJI Mini 3 and the DJI Mini 3 Pro. The SDKs are rumored to be in the works. Now, why is this surprising? First off, if you don’t know what an SDK is, that’s all right. SDK stands for Software Development Kit, and this is what’s being used by third-party apps if you’re familiar with PIX4D Capture, Drone Deploy, and Litchi.

All of these have to use some kind of language to control the drone. It’s usually through the SDK. Now, the reason this is funny or weird is that DJI hasn’t released an SDK for any consumer drone since the DJI Air 2S. And that was back in 2021.

Now, this looks like it’s going to change potentially because, as of April of this year, it’s rumored that we are gonna have the SDK for the DJI Mini 3 and the Mini 3 Pro.

Now, DJI says that they have no plan to release the SDK for the Mavic line, which includes the DJI Mavic 3, the Mavic 3 Classic, and the Mavic 3 Cine that we saw being released last year and the year before. Or even the DJI Avata. Mostly because it would cannibalize the sales of their DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise product line, which is not a good thing.

So also, DJI has released a DJI Mini 2 SE, which will start retailing in late March. The drone has a 12-megapixel camera, 2.7 K video, and 31 minutes of flight time, and the cost is $369.

They said it’s not going to start shipping until March 22nd, which is surprising for DJI. This is almost a month away—a little over a month from now.

We think this is not a bad deal, but quite frankly, I’d recommend just getting the mini two for $449 and then actually getting access to the 4K capability by doing that. Okay.

Super Bowl drone incursions

Your second story this week is that the Super Bowl drone incursions were down this year. This is good. Last year there were 49 drone incursions at the Super Bowl, and this year there were only 30. This is still 30 more than we’d like to see, but decrease in trend is actually a good thing.

I know some of you are going to mention that, yes, the Phoenix area, which is where the Super Bowl is, has a lot fewer people than where the Super Bowl was last year in the LA. But still, I think the overall trend of having fewer people fly is good.

We know that both of these areas, California and Arizona, have a ton of drone pilots and people using drones. Anything that we can see going down is a good thing. As always, this is all about the community as a whole, helping other people get the word, and understand what it takes to fly during the Super Bowl. So, I just wanted to mention that.

Texas Drone Workshop

I also wanted to mention one more thing. Our industry friends, Adrian Doco and Jared Janacek are putting on an in-person Texas Drone Workshop in Houston.

This is happening this weekend. If you’re watching this video as it comes out, this is February 18 and 19. You’ll learn from industry experts. You’re doing aerial photography, mapping, oil and gas, and then that includes an in-person component as well on Sunday, where you’ll be able to practice with the instructors.

If you’ve watched our channel before, taken some of our courses, you’ll see that there are some familiar faces with the instructors. You can actually get 25% off the tickets by using the coupon PI25. When you check out, and then that’s gonna save you some dollars.

Click here for more info on the Texas Drone Workshop in Houston.

Aerial Kuddos

And then the last thing I wanted to mention is a kudos to our friends, Vic Moss from the DSPA, the Drone Service Provider Alliance, and Scott Shtofman from AUVSI, who testified before the Wyoming House Judiciary Committee on a proposed bill that would not benefit drone pilots. The language is highly confusing, and it would create a lot of issues.

Vic also brought up the comment from Senator Charlie Scott, who said a couple of weeks ago, a good way to deal with annoying drones is to shoot at them or shoot them.

Vic mentioned several times that this is a horrible idea and explained why. Not only because it would destroy the property of someone but also because of potential fire using the batteries.

After that, Vic answered some questions about some of the members who were a little bit confused about the FAA drone rules, thinking that drones couldn’t fly below 500 feet. They were quoting some regulation from manned aircraft, and then Vic was able to hopefully convince them that wasn’t the case.

So thanks to both of them for representing the Drone Industry. If you ever wonder why it’s important to support not-for-profit organizations such as the Drone Service Provider Alliance, this is definitely a great example of the work that they provide.

That’s it. That’s all I have for you this week. As always, subscribe, and we’ll see you next week.