FISHING World was lucky enough last week to receive a sneak peek at Raymarine’s new drone integration technology.
Onboard Raymarine ambassador and Zeikel managing director Bill Dimitropoulos’s Stabicraft, we tested the drone in a quiet section of Sydney Harbour.
The Raymarine drone integration is a clever step in marine electronics, giving the company a real point of difference with this technology.
So why would you need to operate a drone through your sounder’s multi function display (MFD)? There’s no doubt fishos and boaters love drones. Plenty of fishos are out there filming and photographing themselves on the water, myself included. Most large boats have at least one action cam installed these days and we’re seeing more and more footage on social media of game fish being filmed via these action cams and drones.
This new technology from Raymarine simplifies this process.
At this stage only those with Mavic Pro drones can take advantage of the technology, but it makes sense that it will expand in the future.
To operate it, the Mavic Pro controller is simply plugged in via USB to a Raymarine Axiom or Axiom Pro MFD. The drone is still operated via the standard controller, but the MFD is now the monitor. Being touch screen, it works similar to a phone or tablet monitor with access to the camera and video. It offers a really clear picture of the camera and you can pivot the camera up or down and take photos or hit record. There’s also a handy function where you can see the drone’s position via the Axiom’s chart.
Another really cool idea is the “Fish-On” feature. When you hook a fish, simply hit the button, send the drone up and it will automatically fly to a pre-set path. Game fishos will love this feature. You could film an aerial display of a marlin around your boat without the worry of someone constantly controlling and monitoring the drone as you make your way through the water fighting the fish. When it comes time to land, the drone will come back to you, not the point of take-off. That’s rather important!
At this stage, Raymarine is set to release the update for Axiom and Axiom pro users in coming weeks. And there’s no doubt we’ll see further updates and technology advancements around drone flying and fishing in the future.
More info at raymarine.com.au.
