Feb 28
If you think every possible use for drones has been thoroughly exhausted, you’re wrong. This clever photographer figured out that the hovering crafts would be perfect for lighting his mysterious scenes from the sky.
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Feb 11
I don’t know if it’s the The Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony or the slow twisting motion of the quadcopter’s descent, but I really love this first scene from Viktor Mirzoyan’s aerial video over a beige Washington D.C.
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Jan 28
We’ve seen a hexacopter with six legs, but this quadcopter takes after birds instead of spiders. This particular quadcopter is Vishwa Robotics’ test unit. New Scientist reports that the company is developing leg add-ons for “small US air force drones.” The legs will allow drones to perch on branches, wires and other objects in order to survey and conserve energy.
Vishwa Robotics founder Bhargav Gajjar modeled the legs after those of the American kestrel. A computer controls the drone’s landing based on footage from a camera mounted on the drone: “Just like a real bird, the drone has to brake sharply just above its landing site and perform a controlled stall in order to touch down.” The legs’ strong claws allow a drone to stay upright without using any power. In addition, drones can also use the legs to walk short distances.
Vishwa Robotics is also testing its legs on fixed-wing drones, bringing us that much closer to seeing tiny Valkyries.
[via New Scientist via Gigaom]
Dec 21
Mistletoe Drone: Kiss! Or Else.
Posted in: Today's ChiliNah, just kidding. This quadcopter is armed with only the famous holiday plant. Designer George Zisiadis and his friend Mustafa Khan flew the drone – it looks like Parrot’s AR.Drone, but I’m not 100% sure – above San Francisco, California’s Union Square to get passersby to smooch.
Watch the cooties spread:
I hear George is going to arm his drone with a bow and arrow for Valentine’s. I need to get my hearing checked.
[via Laughing Squid]
Dec 10
Drones face all kinds of airborne adversaries from gun-toting quadcopter hunters to hackers
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Dec 08
Swann Quad Starship: AR.Drone Mini
Posted in: Today's ChiliSwann has been making some really cool flying RC toys that look like different sorts of helicopters. I have played with several of those helicopters over the years and they are a lot of fun, but inevitably, I end up crashing them into the wall and breaking the propeller or gears that move the propellers.
The latest flying toy from Swann is the Quad Starship and it reminds me a lot of the Parrot AR.Drone, only smaller. The Quad Starship has four propellers each protected by a plastic ring. That should mean you can touch a wall without the quadcopter suddenly becoming uncontrollable and crashing.
The Quad Starship has a wireless range of 330 feet and a controller powered by four AA batteries. The helicopter itself is powered by a rechargeable battery good for eight minutes of flight time. In addition to its size, and lack of an onboard camera, the other biggest difference between this and the AR.Drone is the price. The Swann Quad Starship sells for $79.99(USD) making it a fraction of the cost of the AR.Drone. Only time will tell if it flies as well, though.
Nov 22
Claytonias F. traveled around America the past few months and documented it all with a quadcopter drone, a Phantom and a GoPro. The aerial views of our wonderful country are incredible to us foot worn humans but probably just a normal Wednesday for flying birds. This is probably the closest we’ll come to flying. And it’s close enough, I guess.
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Sep 15
Nowadays, we often hear about unmanned aerial vehicles aka UAVs or drones in the news as next generation weapons of war. The researchers at MIT’s SENSEable City Lab want to dispel that notion and show people that this new technology can be used in more positive ways. For example, as tour guides.
The SkyCall project uses a Wi-Fi network, a mobile app and quadcopters equipped with GPS, a camera and other onboard sensors to create smart tour guides. A prototype of SkyCall is already being tested at the labyrinthine grounds of MIT. To summon a drone, the user uses the call feature on the SkyCall app. When your friendly guide arrives, the user enters the alphanumeric code for his destination (I don’t know how he gets the code in the first place though). The guide will then start moving at a leisurely pace.
The drone will even talk about landmarks along the way and can be stopped by the user through the app. The drone also uses GPS to detect if the user has fallen behind a certain distance and will wait and then alert him through the app.
The SkyCall: why ask people for directions when you can build a sophisticated network of satellites and robots to guide you through life? As someone who is socially inept, I’m only being half sarcastic. I’d love to have a drone buddy to guide me around and perhaps even protect me.
[MIT SENSEable City Lab via Dezeen]
Aug 20
If you’re into tweaking and fiddling with your gadgets but don’t have the time to start a big project from scratch, the new Iris drone from 3D Robotics could be up your street.
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Aug 16
Honey, let’s not waste money on a human photographer. I know this guy with a quadcopter and a GoPro. Baby, it’ll be awesome. No no, I promise. I promise. I mean what could possibly go wrong? This is gonna be so epic.
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