Drones Flying without a Pilot?
Written By Elzette
With the development of action footage and quadcopters alike, the market is starting to see very innovative ways to combine the two for a more user friendly experience. Take the AirDog for instance, which sets out to solve the problem of having your action camera strapped to you (we don't mind that, of course - and this will take away the POV shot which everyone came to love so much).
Latvian startup, Aerospace Industries, introduced AirDog this week - a fully autonomous personal action sports drone, which might look like an old concept. BUT, this little gadget only requires you to wear a wrist-strapped controller called AirLeash that the AirDog will follow. It can take off and land automatically, and whilst following the action, uses gyro stabilisation technology to ensure the subject is always in frame.
“You can take it everywhere. Fold it down, put in your back pack and go wherever you want. Then turn it on, put on the ground, strap the tracker on wrist or helmet and with push of a button it will take off and start following you in desired altitude and angle,” explains Helico founder Edgars Rozentals. “We are putting technology that used to be available only for pros and rich into hands of every sports enthusiast.”
(Update: You wait all year for an autonomous aerial camera drone to arrive and two turn up at once. According to Tech Crunch - launched on Kickstarter is the Hexo+, which has already reached its crowdfunding target.) Is this the future of the technology?