Hey
@Rambler358 -- The Karma controller really doesn't have too much tweak-ability. The product was designed to target the
my-first-drone market of users. (more on this in a second.)
Karma's product documentation is available here :
https://gopro.com/help/productmanuals
Direct link to the User Manual :
https://gopro.com/content/dam/help/karma/manuals/Karma_UM_ENG_REVA_Web.pdf
Here are the list of Controlability settings that I am aware of that are available:
-- Sport Mode (
https://gopro.com/help/articles/Question_Answer/What-is-Sport-Mode-on-Karma), where you can increase max speed (20mph in Safe Mode, 35mph in non-Safe Mode)
-- Maximum height (don't have link, but I think the default is "400"), and
-- Return to Home height (don't have link, but I think the default is "100"). This setting is something you need to configure per flight session -- If you have 150 trees or buildings around your flight area, you may want to increase the height to 200. (You don't want the drone to crash into something during an RTH)
Note: I think these settings are only available when the Controller is connected to the Drone because these are really
drone settings, not
controller settings..
-------------------------------------------
In regards to my "
my-first-drone" comment. The Karma was designed to be a real, full out-of-the-box experience for a first time drone user. (This is part of what swayed me this direction on my first drone purchase.) It didn't really require the new pilot to know too much before first flight. (Although, I would recommend using the built-in flight simulator before the first field flight)
In contrast that to the DJI Mavic Pro. (By the way, I picked up a Mavic a couple of weeks ago. I've been wanting to do a write up on it, but need to get the time -- you're lucky that Im triaging this post) The Mavic has a
ton of settings that can be tweak (literally, probably around a 100 or so system wide). This is great for an experienced pilot, but not necessarily a green pilot.
Personal comment: I'm glad that I opted getting the Karma first and now the Mavic. The Mavic has a bigger learning curve. (Yeah, I could have just jumped in and flew it right of the box, but the risk of me crashing because I didn't know better would be pretty high).
Also, the Mavic requires the use of a smartphone or tablet to supplement the flight controller's interface. Having a relative old smart phone (OnePlus One on Android v6.0.1) I had to do a bunch of research to see if my setup would work. I heard from a lot of other mavic pilots that the DJI Go 4 app would lockup/crash on them during flight. So, I really had to plan ahead of time where I was going to do a first flight to make sure I had space / clearance to fly with LOS in case the app crashed on me in flight. I've flown the Mavic for about 60 minutes with no issues thus far (knock on wood).
Useful comparison: Karma is a walled garden, like Apple/iOS. Mavic is more opened, like Android OS. Build-your-own Race Drones are like Linux where you really need to know your $h!t to keep yourself out of trouble. Some people are OK living in a walled garden. The more adventurous may want to explore other options. Then you got pilot who want to go Mad Max style and build gnarly Road Warrior-like flying machines who don't want to be told what they can't do with their rigs. I'm not quite Mad Max yet, but working on it. (I'm not bashing on any group, it's just a mere observation)
