Looking To Buy Parrot AR Drone? - Read This First!

Parrot AR Drone

Looking To Buy Parrot AR Drone? – Read This First

 

Do you like spying on your upstairs neighbors? Well, you may want to avoid that type of thing, but the new Parrot AR Drone certainly can get up there.

 

If you have an iPod, iPhone or iPad you are already halfway on your way to being able to fly one of these cool quadricoptors all around the yard and the house.

 

Ross Catanzariti over at PCworld had a chance to check out the AR Drone in his recent article, and the drone looks like a lot of fun.

 

The AR.Drone 2.0 initially looks like a minor upgrade to the original on the whole. It has a very similar look and feel, while the basic operation of the unit remains almost identical to the original model. However, the AR.Drone 2.0 appears to have addressed three concerns many users had with its predecessor.

Firstly, Parrot claims the new model is much easier to fly. As we found out when we reviewed the AR.Drone, it definitely wasn’t easy to manoeuvre. The company has addressed this issue by reinventing the way the AR.Drone 2.0 is controlled.

The previous model used the AR.Drone itself as the reference point when flying but the AR.Drone 2.0 uses the person controlling the chopper as the reference point. This means it flies in whatever direction you tilt your phone to, regardless of what direction the quadricopter is facing.

 

OK, so the older model was a apparently not very easy to fly around due to the way that it referenced where it was at in flight. With the updated software in the new drone it keeps track of you (the pilot) and your whereabouts so that no natter which direction you tilt your controller (iPhone like device) the quadricoptor will know what is forward and fly accordingly.

 

So how does this new navigation work anyway? Great question.

 

This new control system is called “absolute control” and is made possible by the addition of a new 3D compass. A new pressure sensor also allows the AR.Drone 2.0 to fly higher than the previous model (up to 6 metres). We had a brief hands-on with the new control system at Parrot’s media launch in Sydney and we can say with certainty that it is a vast improvement over the original. The AR.Drone 2.0 is smoother, much easier to control and has far less of a learning curve than the original model.

 

So now you are looking at a quadricoptor that can fly really high, low through obstacles and windows and even in your house. What else would make the Parrot AR Drone really cool? How ’bout a camera to record not only still images, but HD video on? You got it!

 

The AR.Drone 2.0 can now capture 720p HD video and still photos, neither which was possible on the original model. Users can save images or videos on a USB key through a USB port hidden inside the device, next to the battery. The AR.Freeflight app, a free download for iOS devices, allows users of the AR.Drone 2.0 to upload any captured videos directly to YouTube, or still photos to Google’s Picasa service. The app features a redesigned interface and a media manager to handle images and video captured with the chopper.

 

Just in case that is not enough, let’s take a look at this ultra-cool flying gadget in action! Check out the video below to see it fly!

 

 

 

 

So there you have it. To get one of these cool devices, you can get one from Amazon.com by clicking the link below.

 

Click Here To See The Parrot AR Drone on Amazon.com

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via gadgetdork.org