Remote-controlled SkyProwler hovers like quadcopter and flies like an aircraft

Although “drone” has become the de facto umbrella term designating all unmanned aerial vehicles, there’s a clear difference between quadcopters and remote control fixed-wing aircrafts. Quadcopters hove and take off like helicopters, but cannot travel long distances. Fixed-wing crafts can travel larger distances in a significantly shorter amount of time, but cannot hover in place. Krossblade’s SkyProwler is a brand new type of remote-controlled hybrid quadcopter with wings, or a plane with six rotors, capable of transitioning between vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and runway launching.

By enabling aircrafts to take off from any environment without requiring a runaway, VTOL opens up flying to a much larger range of possible terrains, including uneven fields, sandy beaches, snow-covered mountains, rocky outcrops and more.

Judging by its Kickstarter video below, SkyProwler retracts its landing gear once the desirable height is achieved. At this point, it can cock its spinning blades as needed and fly unobstructed as an airplane. To further enhance its versatility, the wings can be removed, permitting the drone to fly in “hornet mode” as a high-speed quadcopter.  Flight is manually operated or through several automated functions such as GPS or voice commands.

Users have the option of outfitting SkyProwler with a proprietary “Eye” camera lens for filming. Unlike the cubic GoPro, the traditional go-to camera solution, Eye is spherical in shape to maximize its aerodynamic characteristics. Additionally, Eye weighs approximately 1/3 the weight of a GoPro and features integrated gimbal stabilization for videos.

With 23 days left to go on after publishing this piece, Krossblade has earned surpassed their $100,000 Kickstarter target by an additional 50%, or $51,359. Although the campaign was first initiated on February 20, 2015, the SkyProwler has been in development since 2013 when the designers first achieved the transition between VTOL and winged flight.

Visit Krossblade’s Kickstarter page to procure your own SkyLander.