r/drones

I’m attending THR drone / low-altitude economy expo tmr in Shenzhen.

It is MASSIVE: around 110,000 sq metres of exhibition space, some 1200 exhibitors, 10,000 products on display. The show covers the full low-altitude economy / unmanned systems chain, including:

Consumer and civilian drones

Industrial drones

FPV / drone racing / drone soccer

Drone components and supply chain

Motors, optics, engines, navigation, comms, image transmission

Mapping, surveying, inspection, emergency response, agriculture, logistics

Low-altitude infrastructure

AI + robotics

Anti-drone / counter-UAS systems

eVTOL and general aviation

Single-person flying vehicles

I have an engineering/software background working in Canada, but relatively new to drones. I want to understand what’s actually useful from a business/industry standpoint, what has potential vs hype.

For people who fly, build, work with, or follow drones: what would you be most interested in seeing from this expo? Any specific companies, or types of drones would be of interest?

Also, would anyone be interested in having on-the-ground scout for a day? I could look for specific products, manufacturers, pricing, catalogs, contact info, or general market observations while I’m there. I speak fluent English and Mandarin.

In any case, I will share some photos and general observations afterward! So let me know what you would like to see!

Cheers 🥂

Note: First few photos are from social media not taken by yourstruly

I couldn't shoot as much as I wanted, time was limited.
Also, I couldn't shoot in D-Log so the colours are funky.
Music is from AI and I don't like it, I might publish on YouTube, what music can I use ?

Looking for any recommendations. Thank you

Flying my Avata 2 at slowest speed of 5m/s to create a sort of cinematic feel.

I had an in-flight incident with my DJI Air 3 at altitude this morning, and wondering how you all might have handled this.

The flight started out normally, with everything performing nominally. The drone launched, it went up to operational altitude (~350 feet), and I started doing the photography work that I had planned. So far, so good. Then after about ten minutes or so, it announced "attitude mode", I saw a dramatic shift on the screen, and the drone started flying very erratically, flying up and away from me, uncommanded. (I would eventually learn that the drone had thrown a propeller blade, but I wouldn't learn that until after it was back down.) I somehow managed to bring the drone back to my launch point, but because it was flying erratically and at an angle, it wouldn't initiate the landing. At this point, it was about two or three feet off of the ground, and flying sideways towards a parked car. My first reaction was that I wasn't about to hit someone's car with my drone as long as I had anything to say about it, and so I deliberately took my own drone out, reaching out with my hand and smacking it out of the air. It took me two tries, but I was successful, crashing it into the pavement and causing the motors to stop.

The first thing that I discovered was that I was bleeding from both hands. Clearly, the propellers had done a number on me, as I had gotten cuts on my left pinky and my right ring and middle fingers (TW: blood). The cuts don't hurt anymore, and should heal just fine on their own, so I'm not worried about that. As far as the drone was concerned, I changed the propellers when I got back home, and discovered that the right front leg was now resting too far forward and making contact with the main drone body when I attempted to launch, which, understandably, would lead to an abort. Seems that when I took it out, I damaged the housing, and now the leg goes too far out, which causes the unwanted contact.

The drone was about two and a half years old, and the propellers had been replaced two weeks ago. It had experienced no incidents prior to this, and had been fairly active since the blades had been replaced, taking the drone up for at least one flight for most of those days. I was surprised that the drone threw a blade, because I didn't think that the Air-series drones with their snap-in propellers could throw a blade (as compared to the DJI Mavic Mini, where the props are attached with screws, where I have thrown a blade at altitude before after a screw worked itself out in flight).

As I see it, I stand by what I did, because I did what I had to do in the interest of safety, because my drone was out of control, and I successfully stopped it before it damaged any people or property, and I can afford to get the drone repaired and new blades. But I want to know if you all might have handled this any differently, or if I handled it pretty well, so that I can adjust my response should something like this happen again in the future.

Captured on a mini pro 5 filmed in HLG and color graded in Davinci Resolve Studio 21.

The final footage was denoised with Neat Video. The Music was written by myself in Staffpad and finalized in Reaper.

Hey guys, i’m new to the drone World. Bought the neo2 as my first drone. Was doing some test flights in the park, got a bit too excited, enabled the sports mode and smashed into a tree at almost full speed. The drone seems to got a bit injured, some scratches in the front sensor, a bit of dust on the side of the câmera wich seems like i managed to remove, the body of the drone opened slightly.
The question is, should activate dji care or something? Or is not even worth it for the damage? Do they even cover this type of accidents? Whats ur opinion and advise for a newby like me?

I am still learning the ins and outs of Drone Video Editing. I have the Mini 5 Pro, and the Air 3. I have used the DJI App for editing for so long, but am so glad I switched to actual software. I shot this in D Log M at 4k 30FPS. Any tips are more than appreciated and welcome!

This was a test run for another project. The angle isn't quite right, but it still works. I shall get a similar shot with better angles this summer and fall so everyone can see the transition from green to yellows and reds.

Newish FPV pilot here and I'm probably pixel-peeping too hard. Pulled these two stills from one pack this morning on a tree-lined six-lane boulevard. I was flying my DJI Avata360, kept it over the center median the whole time, no cars underneath, then just reframed the 360 footage afterward. The straight-down grab feels cleaner, kind of map/satellite-ish. Which one would you post, and why?

I’m photographing a mass-start ski race soon for the 4th year in a row. I have my safety shot list in mind to make sure I get at least something good — ahead looking down 45° as everybody starts, top down (my favorite) and from behind as they ascend the first hill.

I feel somewhat burned out and uninspired taking the same shots so many races in a row. I am limited to aerial shots for the start as my colleague will be taking ground-level photos. So in an attempt to get the creative juices flowing, I’m curious: as a viewer, what would you be interested in seeing?

Edit: not doing video, stills only.

Does anyone know what kind of drone this is? It’s been flying over my house everyday around 1 - 3pm for about a week now.

Hi Everyone,

We're excited to be attending the International Low Altitude Economy and Unmanned Systems Expo (UASE) in Shenzhen on May 21-23, 2026.

UASE is a massive event, bringing together over 1000 exhibitors from 135+ countries and regions, covering a huge 110,000 sqm with 150,000+ attendees. It's the world's most influential professional exhibition for the low-altitude economy and unmanned systems.

We're reaching out to connect with other international buyers who will be there. If you're attending and looking to explore the latest tech, find new suppliers, or just network with fellow industry professionals, we'd love to meet up!

Conversely, if you're an international buyer heading to UASE and looking for specific suppliers or solutions, please feel free to comment or send us a DM. We might be able to help each other navigate the exhibition and make valuable connections.

Check out more details on the official website: https://www.china-drone.com.cn/en

Looking forward to a productive UASE!

We are having difficulty docking a quadcopter on a moving platform - we are trying to dock it in a specific position - as our future idea is to have autonomous charging or battery swapping - so it ahould land in a particular position so that the battery is aligned with the port ... but landing it is looking problematic - it lands but to put it in a specific position is difficult... does anybody have any idea on how to dock a quadcopter in a precise position on a moving platform ?