The Bebop drone by Parrot is pretty cool. With its aptitude to be controlled with an Oculus Rift headset or through a mobile device, this drone acts as an airborne surveillance system.
This drone’s HD 14-megapixel camera with a 180° FOV fisheye lens records video footage while flying around. There are sensors in the drone that help with image stabilization that uses three-axis digital image-stabilization technology, and a vertical camera to monitor the speed. Images are stored in an 8-GB hard drive inside the drone and can be uploaded to a cloud service called Sky Academy. The recorded video is sent immediately to the user’s smart device to deliver a live stream. The user controls the drone through the FreeFlight 3.0 app on his/her iOS or Android device. The controls on the app almost resemble a video game.
There is a Skycontroller that contains four antennas to lengthen the drone’s range of Wi-Fi to 1.2 miles and a connectivity of 802.11 ac. Unfortunately, the battery life of this drone is extremely short, only lasting 12 minutes of flight with a 1,200-mAh lithium-ion battery. The quad-core processor is highly effective. The entire drone measures 28 x 32 x 3.6 cm and is lighter than 1 lb.
Video quality and image stability were the main focuses when Parrot developed this drone. The drone’s internal capabilities enable it to expertly hover when the human operator stops momentarily stops controlling the drone. The mechanical and technological elements including an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer enable video stability when in-flight filming takes place. Bebop’s internal GNSS chipset helps with GPS navigation and geo-location. Users can virtually map out a course for the drone to navigate, and it will fly the autonomously.
If you want to control the drone via an Oculus Rift headset, an HDMI port in the Skycontroller lets you become one with the drone. With this option, you can maneuver the drone through a series of head motions. Bebop is also compatible with FPV (First Person View) glasses, Epson Moverio, Sony Personal Viewer, or Zeiss Cinemizer.
The Bebop drone will be released sometime this year.
Story via Parrot
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