There are plenty of quadcopters out there that you can buy if you want, but they tend to have one or more of the following downsides: They are expensive. They are fragile. They are difficult to fly. Just one can be a bummer, any pair is twice the drag, and all three just all out sucks. The pair of Arial tricksters Air Hogs rolled out for Toy Fair 2013 soar above those troubles. More »
Many scientists have theorized that the reason the Hindenburg went down in flames was because of the combination of flammable hydrogen gas and paints on the surface of the blimp’s skin. Well you won’t have to worry about either of those with this little R/C toy that’s designed to look like an airship.
Created by China’s AMAX Toys, the Airship is a remote-controlled flyer that uses a pair of horizontal propellers to lift it into the air. Of course, the only reason this design works is that the Airship itself has no skin. Instead, you see the skeleton of the dirigible – and that’s pretty cool.
The Airship measures about 11-inches-long, and can fly for about 5 to 6 minutes on a 60 minute charge. I comes with a 3-channel infrared remote – which limits running distance to about 30 feet, and has gyroscopes to help keep it balanced while flying.
The Airship is available in wholesale quantities from AMAX Toys, but they’re not selling them retail at this point.
Personally, I hate speed cameras, especially the new mobile ones that are hard to spot. Now, can you imagine drones flying all over the place and handing out speeding tickets if you go over the limit? That would be hell. Actually, these drones aren’t designed to issue tickets (yet), but to monitor the highways and save lives.
This flying drone was created by the Georgia Institute of Technology in order to assist human workers safeguard 4 million miles of US highways. Such drones could inspect bridges and roads, performing surveys of land using laser mapping. The drone could also alert officials to traffic jams or accidents. The CONECTech Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology thinks that drones would help humans doing this kind of work for the Department of Transportation.
[via TechNewsDaily]
Since I already have an AR.Drone 2.0, I’m not really sure I need another quadrocopter. But that doesn’t mean I can’t want another quadcopter – especially one that I can fit in the palm of my hand.
This awesome bit of tech is called the Crazyflie, and it’s a complete pocket-sized quadrotor. This little thing weights just 19 grams, and measures about 9cm x 9cm (~3.5″ square.) It can fly up to 7 minutes at a time on a 20 minute charge, and can even lift a miniscule payload of up to about 10 grams. Under its hood (if it had a hood), it sports a microcontroller, accelerometer, gyroscope, and a tiny 2.4GHz receiver for accepting commands from your computer or other wireless device.
It’s incredibly fast, agile and stable as you can see from the video clip below:
Sure, it sounds like a swarm of angry mosquitoes buzzing around, but that’s kind of what I love about it.
The tiny quadrotor is sold in kit form, and is completely open source, so you can create your own custom applications and modifications. Keep in mind that you’ll need soldering skills to assemble it, and its creators clearly state that this thing is not a kids toy. Though it might be one for us grown-ups.
You can pre-order a Crazyflie kit from now through February 18, with an estimated ship date of April 25. Prices start at $149 for the basic kit, and go up to $173 for the 10 DOF version, which has extra sensors fo altitude and heading measurements – though you’ll have to write your own code to take advantage of the added sensors.
Remember the Drones for Peace? The project that wants to sell drones with cameras for just $250 (USD)? If you think that that’s too much to ask, check out what we have now. This is Lehmann Aviation’s LA100, a drone that’s meant to whisk away a GoPro camera or two. Along with your money.
Whereas the mythical peaceful drones are barely controllable – you point them to a spot via a mobile app and they’ll fly to it on their own – the LA100 is completely autonomous, flying on a broad, pre-set trajectory and then back to it’s master. You don’t get a remote control, an app or even a whistle. What you do get is a 2lb. foam and carbon fiber drone that can soar almost 330ft. up for up to 5 minutes.
The LA100 comes with a mounting kit for GoPro cameras. If you have the GoPro Hero3, you can mount your camera at the bottom or at the top. The older GoPro Heros can only be mounted at the top though. But if you do have an extra Hero3, you can mount two cameras to the LA100 at the same time.
You can order the LA100 from Lehmann Aviation’s website for €990 (~$1,330 USD). Don’t even ask how much Lehmann is charging for the ones that come with remote controls.
[via Uncrate]
You probably don’t have the balls to go ski jumping. If you do, congratulations; I hope you’re reading this in flight. For the rest of us, this video is a great (read: less scary) way to get just the smallest slice of that action. A piece you can safely chew and swallow. More »
Finally tired of being trounced by its competitors in the on-board internet arena, United Airlines has outfitted its first international widebody plane with satellite-based Wi-Fi. The service should be rolled out to 300 additional aircrafts by the end of the year. More »
Look up in the sky! It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s the geekiest R/C plane ever! You will believe a man can fly. This awesome Superman R/C plane makes if feel like Metropolis and makes observers do a double-take, wherever it flies.
Are they filming the new Superman movie with super cheap effects? Nah. Apparently a couple of guys were biking down the Pacific Coast Highway when all the sudden they see Superman fly by. WTF? Well, after some investigation, they caught up with the owner and shot some footage so that we all can see the awesomeness of this R/C plane.
Presumably, it’s one of these, just painted and caped up to look like the Man of Steel. I wish I had one, but I would just crash it on the first flight.
[via Obvious Winner]
The use of electronics in flight is a contentious subject. Well, contentious in that the FAA doesn’t want you to do it whereas pretty much everyone else thinks it’s probably OK. There is a danger though, according to the New York Times, and it’s the FAA’s rules. More »
Japanese security firm Secom is preparing to launch a new service that will let home and small business owners rent a quadcopter drone that the company claims will launch automatically in the event of a burglary, taking pictures of the burglars and even capturing live video of them as the crime is in progress. Sounds pretty awesome if you want the latest in home security.
When a breach is detected by motion detectors or other security methods, the quadcopter activates and is dispatched to the precise location of the break-in to get a firsthand, eye-in-the-sky look at things.
If it really works like they say it will, this could catch more criminals and keep your home extra safe. The company is also touting the drones as a cost-effective way to monitor large areas like warehouses and industrial parks without having to mount video cameras everywhere. You can check out a video demo of the (incredibly noisy) drone prototype in action here (skip to 1:54, unless you speak Japanese.)
Secom hopes to launch this new rent-a-drone business in Japanese markets in early 2014 for about ¥5000 (~$58 USD).
[via Japan Daily Press via Geekosystem]
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