The tech company Parrot debuted its first AR.Drone at CES four years back. This year, the company has introduced a Minidrone at CES 2014 that you can practically hold in the palm of your hand. The quadrocopter can perform many of the same tasks as the AR.Drone. Users can control the Minidrone through their smartphone or tablet with a Bluetooth connection. The Minidrone contains two thin wheels that are used to roll around the floor, scale walls, and traverse the ceiling.
Parrot’s Minidrone has a 500 MHz processor and a Gigabyte of RAM, thus it is part robot. There are a variety of sensors – a pressure, ultrasonic, accelerometer, and a gyroscope — that enable stability within the device. A vertical camera will eventually be added to record activity while the Minidrone is in motion. The battery life lasts for 6 to 7 minutes on a full charge.
Minidrone image via CNET
Currently, the price and availability have not yet been announced since the Minidrone is still in stages of production.
Parrot also unveiled a rolling insectoid robot called the Jumping Sumo. This robot can roll, can reach 80 centimeters in the air, and effectuate 90-degree turns. Jumping Sumo uses an accelerometer and gyroscope so it operates in a straight line. The iPad app uses dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi. The bot can rock and roll for a battery life of 20 minutes on a full charge.
Jumping Sumo image via Parrot
Stay tuned for exclusive content, interviews, and more about Parrot from Electronic Products during CES 2014.
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