Parrot AR.Drone

[jannievanzyl]

Can you not get additional batteries or is the battery built in ?

You can.

Most, if not all, of the comments made above about the 12 min flight-time, were probably made by people who've never flown one of these.

I found that 12 minutes is quite long and is in the same range as most other electric planes or helicopters.

I've not felt the need to buy an additional battery, to be honest but one extra one that's on charge might be worth while.

This unit is for sure more fun to fly than other electric planes or helicopters. Especially the 'get out of jail free' button. Where you would normally crash a helicopter because you lost control or your sense of direction, on this unit you just hit the hover button and it will stabilise itself and just hang in mid air till you take over the controls again.

There's something quite UFO-ish about it just hanging there in mid air.

 

[Tomtomtom]

Does it have a hook and winch with which to abduct kittens?

 

[Grim147]

my dog would love that

 

[Diesal]

I want one, can't afford it, so one day I might be able to win i

But then again I don't have an Ipad/Iphone to control it - sigh...

 

[Xenophyl]

What I would do for one of those :C

I wont have to use binoculars for spying on the girl next door anymore.

 

[zeely]

just 12min of flight time?

pretty much the same as any battery powered flying toy.

If it bothers you, buy 3x spare batteries and always have a charged one ready

 

[DeaDm0nkeY]

Just don't answer your phone when flying Awesome gadget

 

[Cellucity]

On a serious note. another Con is that there is no Android controller app (yet)

There are Android controllers out already, we have been demo'ing the units using the Samsung Galaxy Tab in our Western Cape Stores

 

[Cellucity]

#drool
Wonder how far the wifi will allow you to fly it

Hey David, you can get about 50m away with wifi before it cuts out

 

[drukkie]

This thing can go high!!! check from about 3:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuOXSpcdjFY&feature=related

 

[Y'all Qaeda]

You can.

Most, if not all, of the comments made above about the 12 min flight-time, were probably made by people who've never flown one of these.

I found that 12 minutes is quite long and is in the same range as most other electric planes or helicopters.

I've not felt the need to buy an additional battery, to be honest but one extra one that's on charge might be worth while.

This unit is for sure more fun to fly than other electric planes or helicopters. Especially the 'get out of jail free' button. Where you would normally crash a helicopter because you lost control or your sense of direction, on this unit you just hit the hover button and it will stabilise itself and just hang in mid air till you take over the controls again.

There's something quite UFO-ish about it just hanging there in mid air.

Is this you?

 

[RaptorSA]

Been eyeing this thing since it was announced more than a year ago. The question is, buy overseas, or get one from here??
http://www.wantitall.co.za/Electron...Phone-iPod-touch-iPad-Orange-Blue__B003ZVSHB0

 

[Way69]

you must be dense if you pay 3k for a 12 minute experience, made worse by the fact that you have to wait another 90 min to play for 12 min again.

What am I talking about, this is exactly the sort of thing that would appeal to the typical apple fanboi...

 

[za1]

Its not R3k for 12 minutes, its R3k for lots and lots of 12 minutes.
I'm guessing you havent flown many RC planes - 2 - 3 minutes in the air is draining, 12 minutes is more than enough.

 

[jannievanzyl]

Is this you?

Indeed, about 20Kg's ago! Need to send rpm a new photo

 

[jannievanzyl]

Been eyeing this thing since it was announced more than a year ago. The question is, buy overseas, or get one from here??
http://www.wantitall.co.za/Electron...Phone-iPod-touch-iPad-Orange-Blue__B003ZVSHB0

There's been some issues with firmware updates that brick the unit, needing it to go back. While mine came from the US, I'd probably buy it locally in case of support issues.

 

[PAYBACK]

Not a bad "SA" price but still to pricey IMO. The RC market has become so accessible and there's lot's of stuff at really good prices that you can buy now. Came across the AIR HAWK Knight II fixed pitch Heli for $160 all in with Digital 2.4 Ghz radio a bargain if you into RC. All metal head, shaft driven, Brushless Motor,Li-Po battery with Gyro. This kit would have cost thousands a few years back.

http://www.bananahobby.com/2005.html

 

[JurieVorster]

As usual, my gadgets get a make-over as soon as they arrive... "warranty void if remove... huh?" Do not have an iAnythingy so my AR.Drone hooks up to a wifi router with the antenna sticking out the window. Using PC and joystick / keyboard to control. If I use my cordless freedom joystick I can stand outside else I sit in front of my PC in the study while the drone is outside. Still need to adapt the script so it hands over from AP to AP going around the house to get round coverage. Busy planning a base station for it to land on for "hot charging" via its undercarriage... blah blah blah... hoping to raise interest in *improving/hacking* the AR.Drone and hear from you guys also tinkering with your AR.Drone or RC toys / electronics.

 

[JurieVorster]

Being curious today... with Linux on board and able to telnet with AR.Drone while flying, it is scanning for all access points that are transmitting ESSIDs and sending me the signal strengths (and other info) every couple of seconds. Any ideas how I could possibly use the info for roughly working out its location relative to a bunch of known APs in the area? The least complex implementation using the simplest of maths wins a xmas card from me... hehe...

 

[w1z4rd]

Im getting on in December... can I run it from my Galaxy Tab? anything for android. Im upgrading my cellphone in June so Im thinking of getting the iphone4 just for this.