R2A on Non-DJI Platform - Need Non-DJI for Transmission Work

Hi all. We currently have a M300RTK + L1 but are looking to get into Transmission work. Anyone have any suggestions on a sensor/platform solution that is non-dji? Can the R2A work well on something other than the M300RTK and if not, any other solution advice would be great. Trying to keep investment under $100k total for sure.

Have you looked at the Freefly Astro?

Provided that the mission planning app works for you, it is a suitable package and comes in well under your budgeted price.

DM me here, email sales@rockrobotic.com, or hop into the chat on www.rockrobotic.com to reach out and get a quote.

We are using a Skyfish M4 with our R2A. Customer service is great and so far I haven’t had any issues. They currently are working on adding a corridor mapping feature to their flight planning software. And it came in well under your 100k mark.

Thanks all! Definitely have some good ideas going here. Key things will be a robust flight planning solution with the hardware, safe, reliable integration with R2A, quality of support from vendor and then little things like smart batteries vs dumb batteries, etc. We are a survey company and would like the ease and reliability of a DJI Product… but not a dji product so we can actually get utility clients :wink:

In terms of ease of use, you aren’t going to get the DJI simplicity and cleanliness on a US made aircraft right now.

In terms of functionality, you can get about 80% of the way there, but that last 20% is things like obstacle avoidance and FPV…

Smart batteries are now a thing with the Astro, and they are really cool. You can use them for PD out of the USB C port to power your equipment even after a flight because running them to 0 won’t damage them.

Mission Planning is pretty good with the Astro. I’ll be able to tell you more next week after my next round of testing with it.

I feel like no matter what you’re making compromises. It simply comes down to what you are willing to accept and deal with.

I haven’t flown the Skyfish yet, so I don’t have a lot to say about it.
Astro:
Flies very nice, and it supports the R2A really well (simple integration)!! Flight time is almost equal to an M300 maybe 5-10 minutes difference depending on conditions. It’s very modular, light, packable (not the case it comes in however, that’s a biggun), robust as well (actually a quite durable frame and assembly), and I absolutely love what they’ve done with the batteries!