DJI, a representative of high-tech companies second only to Huawei, holds over 70% of the global market share, and even the U.S. military needs to purchase its products.
DJI’s main core technologies include: flight control systems (mainly software and algorithms), gimbal mechanisms, mechanical structures, and flight safety assurance systems. So, which core technologies currently need to be imported in terms of components?
1. Visual Processing Unit: Currently needs to be purchased from Movidius, a company under INTEL in the United States. The visual processing unit, also known as VPU, is responsible for: embedded deep neural networks, pose estimation, 3D depth sensing, visual inertial ranging, and gesture/eye tracking. It is crucial for drones.
2. Gyroscope: Currently needs to be imported from American companies Invensense and ADI. As the core of the core in drones, gyroscope processing technology needs to integrate various products into silicon-based microelectronic chips to achieve electronicization of many sensors. However, currently, China’s gyroscope industry still has a significant gap compared to the world’s advanced level, and the production of essential components like accelerometers, gyroscopes, and electronic compasses has always been in the hands of European and American countries, while Chinese drone companies can only engage in programming and other tasks, unable to touch the core.
3. GNSS Module: Currently, only the U-blox module from Europe can be purchased. U-blox has developed rapidly, with mature technology that supports dual-mode GPS and Beidou, quickly searching for satellites with high accuracy. Since DJI needs to export to the global market, and our domestic Beidou cannot yet replace GPS, while the self-developed civilian-grade Beidou chip still does not meet satisfactory performance and power consumption, especially for civilian drones requiring high precision, high altitude, high speed, and multi-angle capabilities.
4. Main Control Chip: Currently, it is necessary to use ARM chips from ST and drone-specific CPUs provided by Qualcomm/INTEL.
5. Camera: Currently, domestic camera technology has developed rapidly, but mainstream drones still use SONY cameras.
For other accessories, whether software or mechanical parts, we have completely self-produced and supplied, so there is no need to worry about the U.S. “strangling the neck”. Even for the most core chips and components, even if the U.S. does not sell, we can supplement from Europe and Japan.
In summary, the drone industry chain mainly includes two categories:
One category includes whole machine manufacturers like DJI and GoPro; the other category consists of upstream manufacturers providing hardware and software for drones, including chips, flight control, batteries, sensors, GPS, gyroscopes, power systems, data systems, etc.
In terms of hardware, chips are the core components, directly determining the drone’s control performance, communication capability, and image processing ability.
13 Major Control Chip Manufacturers
Main Control: Qualcomm Snapdragon Chip. It has functions such as wireless communication, sensor integration, and spatial positioning. It uses “RealSense” technology to build 3D maps and perceive the surrounding environment, allowing it to fly like a bat and actively avoid obstacles.
To let Qualcomm inside and bring its chip advantages into the drone field, Qualcomm launched acquisitions and investments in 2015. In February, it acquired the drone development company KMel Robotics, and at the end of February, it led a $50 million Series C investment in 3DR, a competitor of DJI in the consumer field. In September, Qualcomm launched the drone design platform Snapdragon Flight.
The fundamental advantage of Snapdragon Flight lies in its ability to reduce the manufacturing cost and selling price of drones. Digging deeper, it is due to 1. Qualcomm’s drone chips have processors similar to those in smartphones, which may include other similar components, allowing for large-scale production and thus cost optimization; 2. The chip is highly integrated, saving costs from combining several expensive modules, reportedly accounting for 30%-40% of the drone’s total cost.
Compared to the current major drone chip solutions, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Flight has the smallest CPU size and the highest main frequency. It has been applied in products like the hover camera from Zero Zero Robotics and the selfie drone Dobby from Zero Tech.
Main Control: Intel Atom Processor. It is equipped with up to 6 Intel “RealSense” 3D cameras and uses a custom PCI-express card with a quad-core Intel Atom processor to process distance and sensor information in real-time, as well as avoid nearby obstacles.
As traditional PC sales continue to decline, Intel is shifting its chip business to the booming drone battlefield. However, compared to selling end products, Intel is more keen on providing solutions for drones, especially in drone vision. Intel’s biggest advantage lies in its RealSense technology, which employs infrared lasers, avoiding extensive calculations required for computer vision object recognition, thus effectively improving accuracy.
In terms of market, Intel spent $60 million in 2015 to hire TyphoonH for the promotion of RealSense in the consumer market, and its developer-facing Aero drone is also equipped with RealSense technology.
In addition, Intel has previously invested in two drone companies, Airware and Precisionhawk, and in 2015 acquired wearable device and smart glasses manufacturer Recon, as well as the German drone manufacturer Ascending Technologies, which focuses on algorithm research.
Main Control: STM32 Series. ST provides a full suite of MEMS gyroscopes, accelerometers, sensors, and power management chips.
STMicroelectronics’ STM32L0 series microprocessor is based on ARM’s Cortex – M0+ architecture, focusing on ultra-low power consumption, mainly used in wearable, medical, and industrial sensor fields. Previously, many STM32 F0 and F4 series products have been used in drones.
Main Control: TI OMAP3630. Micron flash memory, Texas Instruments power management + USB solutions, Atheros 802.11b/g/n WiFi controller, Bosch BMA150 accelerometer, BMP180 barometric sensor, and MEMS-3000 gyroscope and motion processor from Invensense, as well as Microchip’s PIC24HJ microcontroller.
Main Control: Samsung Artik Chip. Artik 10 uses a 1.3GHz octa-core processor, has 2GB of memory and 16GB of flash storage. It includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, ZigBee, and Thread.
Samsung launched the low-power Artik chip in May 2015, which comes in three specifications, with Artik1 being only 12mm*12mm and priced under $10. It is reported that the specifications differ in processing speed, storage capacity, and wireless communication capability. This chip is aimed at drones and smart home devices. The industry generally believes that Artik will be Samsung’s trump card against Qualcomm and Intel, but strictly speaking, Samsung is still a latecomer.
Main Control: ATMEL MEGA2560 Development Board. AT91M55800A, ARM7TDMI core, embedded ICE interface, memory, and peripherals.
Compared to Intel’s attempt to use its processors to enter the drone market to make up for the decline in PC sales, NVIDIA does not have an urgent reason to enter the drone market, as its core GPU graphics processing business has grown by 7% year-on-year, accounting for 82% of its revenue in the first half of 2016.
It is reported that in 2015, NVIDIA provided chips for both Parrot and its competitor DJI, and developed the Jetson TX1 chip solution for the drone market, which can handle various image recognition and advanced artificial intelligence tasks, allowing drones using it to stay airborne longer.
Previously, NVIDIA also provided chip solutions for both DJI and Parrot. Of course, NVIDIA has not limited the potential of the TX1 motherboard to drone applications; it can also be used in robotics, IoT devices, or laboratory equipment. NVIDIA also provides developers with libraries like OpenVX1.1 to help them use the motherboard.
Main Control: Nuvoton MINI5 Series. Low-end remote controllers use SOP20 packaged 4T 8051 N79E814; mid-to-high-end remote controllers use Cortex-M0 M051 series with built-in ARM9 and H.264 video decoding N329 series.
Main Control: XMOS XCORE Multi-core Microcontroller. With a frequency of up to 500MHz and a 32-bit RISC core, equipped with Hardware Response I/O interfaces. Multi-rotor aircraft need to use four to six brushless motors to drive the drone’s rotors.
Main Control: Rockchip RK3288. Rockchip has showcased drone products based on RK3288, but this is the first time it has been exhibited and test flown in China.
It is reported that this drone product uses a quadrotor with a wheelbase of 300mm, based on the Rockchip RK3288 processor, and the camera and body have an integrated design, supporting 1080p video recording. The body weighs about 730g, and the endurance time is 14 minutes. In terms of functionality, it supports one-button panorama, loss-return home, point cruise, one-button selfie, one-button fly-around, geofencing, etc.
Founded in Zhuhai, Guangdong, Allwinner Technology has launched the R8 portable Internet TV solution; collaborated with JD Smart to launch the “Dingdong” smart speaker (Allwinner R16 solution); and successfully crowdfunded the $2 million computer Banana Pi from Next Thing in the United States (Allwinner R8 solution).
These three products are all based on Allwinner’s R series chips aimed at the IoT market. Remix launched the first “Android PC” based on Allwinner A64 chips—Remix Mini, successfully crowdfunding nearly $1.5 million on Kickstarter. The main control scheme used in Xiaomi drones is also the latest R16 platform from Allwinner Technology.
DJI Phantom 4 has used the Unisoc scheme LC1860, and Zero Tech has launched a binocular vision overall solution based on the Unisoc LC1860. It is reported that Unisoc has also jointly established Pinecone Electronics with Xiaomi, focusing on the smart hardware field.
In the drone field, Huawei’s wholly-owned subsidiary HiSilicon originally held a 70% market share in the security camera market, and then to give wings to the security cameras, it launched the Huawei drone platform in July 2016, collaborating with the local startup in Shenzhen, ZHOUXIN Technology, to launch a series of drone solutions based on Huawei HiSilicon chips.
Top 10 Domestic Drone Suppliers
Currently, there are about 200 domestic drone manufacturers, with only about 10 having core technologies, most of which focus on the consumer market for civilian drones, accounting for 90% of the global market share, particularly DJI, EHang, XAG, Zero Tech which perform exceptionally well.
① DJI Innovations Technology Co., Ltd.
Known as the “Apple” of the drone field, ranked first in the global civilian drone field, and also a leading pioneer in flight imaging systems. Representative works: DJI Phantom 3 4K, DJI “Inspire” 1 Pro.
② Chinese Academy of Remote Sensing Technology Group Co., Ltd.
Controlled by the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, established in 2007, with five wholly-owned subsidiaries, it has strong capabilities in the field of drone remote sensing and has previously surveyed remote sensing maps during the Wenchuan earthquake.
③ Shenzhen Zero Tech Co., Ltd.
Founded by Shenzhen Rapoo Technology and Beijing Zero Tech, the company focuses on the research and manufacturing of small intelligent drones and is a pioneer and leader in the global intelligent aircraft field. Currently, it has a leading product system in intelligent drones, multi-axis gimbals, and high-definition transmission. Representative work: Explorer 2nd generation.
④ Guangzhou EHang Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.
In the field of model aircraft and flying vehicles, it independently develops communication transmission hardware and mobile navigation control systems. Representative: EHang 184.
⑤ Guangzhou XAG Technology Co., Ltd.
Committed to the research and manufacturing of civilian drones and flight control systems, it is a leader in the drone industry and a leading commercial drone R&D enterprise in China. Significant breakthroughs have been made in the commercial drone and agricultural drone fields. Representative work: XMission “Extreme Hero” (all-weather drone).
⑥ Shanghai JiuYing Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.
Its control system has revolutionarily improved the balance, stability, and controllability of single-rotor remote-controlled helicopters, opening a new chapter for single-rotor model helicopters. “JiuYing-Technology” self-branded products include “NINE-EAGLES,” “SOLOPRO,” and “MOLA,” which are mainly sold to over 150 countries and regions including North America, South America, Japan, and the European Union. Representative work: MOLAX1 drone.
⑦ Shenzhen Flypro Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd.
A technology company specializing in the design and R&D of drones, FLYPRO has an international drone product R&D team with industry-leading innovative drone design and R&D capabilities, along with advanced flight control systems, visual positioning systems, and obstacle avoidance technologies. Representative work: FLYPRO XEagle drone.
⑧ Shenzhen Yidian Technology Co., Ltd. (AEE)
A global leading multi-rotor drone system manufacturer, the world’s first integrated multi-rotor drone system.
⑨ Shenzhen Ait Technology Co., Ltd.
Receivers, transmitters, aircraft models, dual-rotor helicopters, simulation aircraft models, miniature mechanical gyroscopes, etc.
⑩ Shenzhen Dagoo Technology Co., Ltd.
Shenzhen Dagoo Technology Co., Ltd. integrates cutting-edge technologies and resources in the IT wireless communication transmission field, collaborating with military product manufacturers to form a high-tech joint-stock company, rich in customer resources and market, aiming to provide various access methods for customers in the wireless communication transmission field.
Military/Civilian Drone Manufacturer Rankings
In the civilian drone field, it is almost dominated by Chinese companies. DJI ranks first with an absolute advantage, while Yidian Technology, Zero Tech, EHang, etc., also remain at the forefront of the world. In the military drone field, however, it is mainly dominated by European and American manufacturers.
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