Drones

Sub-$500 Pocket Drone folds for transport and carries a GoPro

Sub-$500 Pocket Drone folds for transport and carries a GoPro
The Pocket Drone, prior to being folded up
The Pocket Drone, prior to being folded up
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The Pocket Drone comes with a carrying case
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The Pocket Drone comes with a carrying case
The Pocket Drone, prior to being folded up
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The Pocket Drone, prior to being folded up
The drone has a battery runtime of about 20 minutes
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The drone has a battery runtime of about 20 minutes
The propellers are designed to swing back, should they hit an obstacle
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The propellers are designed to swing back, should they hit an obstacle
The drone can fly by following pre-plotted GPS waypoints
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The drone can fly by following pre-plotted GPS waypoints
The propellers fold back for transport
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The propellers fold back for transport
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The original DJI Phantom quadcopter is now priced below US$500, and it's designed to carry a GoPro camera. However, while the copter could conceivably be stuffed into a backpack, doing so might be a little ... awkward. That's why the guys at San Diego-based AirDroids created the Pocket Drone. It squeaks in under the $500 mark and is made to carry a GoPro, but it also folds down for easy transport. What's more, its battery runtime is about twice that of the Phantom.

Two of the Pocket Drone's three prop arms swing in to either side of the third arm, which itself telescopes down. The landing struts also retract, and even the propeller blades fold back to one side. That prop design is additionally claimed to make the drone safer, as the propellers will swing back should they hit an obstacle (such as a person), instead of cutting into it.

When everything is folded down and otherwise withdrawn, the aircraft has a smaller footprint than that of a 7-inch tablet, and is less than three inches (7.6 cm) thick.

The Pocket Drone comes with a carrying case
The Pocket Drone comes with a carrying case

One charge of the lithium-polymer battery should be good for about 20 minutes of flight time, with a GoPro attached. That relatively long runtime is due largely to the fact that the Pocket Drone is a tricopter as opposed to a quadcopter – this means that it's lighter, and has one less motor to power. It's also claimed to be considerably quieter than a quadcopter, and more maneuverable.

Along with real-time remote control (via an included controller or an app on a mobile device), the drone can also fly on its own using plotted GPS waypoints, or it can automatically follow a GPS-enabled mobile device. Additionally, its flight control software is open-source, in case users have any bright ideas for functions that they'd like to add.

AirDroids is currently raising production funds for its drone on Kickstarter, and has already more than quintupled its financial goal. A pledge of $495 will get you a Pocket Drone of your own, when and if they're ready to take to the skies.

You can see some of them in action, along with footage shot from them, in the pitch video below.

Sources: AirDroids, Kickstarter

View gallery - 6 images
9 comments
9 comments
The Skud
Sounds very useful in places like hiking or wherever weight and storage room is at a premium. I wonder what would be heavier - a GoPro or a mobile phone filming while linked to the flyer's one on the ground?
George Wilson
Agree Skud would be fun with remote viewing.
Mel Tisdale
With all this proliferation of camera equipped drones, making love out in the great outdoors will soon be a thing of the past, except for exhibitionists, of course. Ah! Happy days, happy days.
Richard Unger
To the two previous comments. You can have remote viewing with the Gopro, But you must remember that the GoPro hardware is much more sophisticated than the mobile phone camera, The quality of image is far higher than the mobile phone. GoPros are used in TV broadcasting. A GoPro without the waterproof case is about 95grams. I'm sure there is one but I don't know of any mobile phones that shoot HD at 1080p.
Ed
I'm waiting for the GoPro housing that has built-in hooks for quad-copter arms and a snap-in part for the electronics...kinda like a flying camera...instead of a Quad-copter with a camera.
rik.warren
Great skeet shooting target for the crazy sheriff in Colorado
noteugene
Wicked cool. This lies more in line with a comment I made earler on a quadcopter for at use in apprehending hold up artist. If a gas station or small convenience store would not pay $500 for the safety of their employees or the public in general, they should be denied a license. Being able to provide law enforcement in time video of faces, cars & tag's during a robbery at progress would be a real heartbreaker for these murdering crackheads. They'd have to get a job.
Bob
I'm a little surprised that a good tricopter didn't come out sooner. I'm sure that the much more efficient larger diameter propellers have a lot to due with the heavier lift and longer battery life. The 20 minute battery sounds great but a lighter camera along with shaving a little weight could add even a few more minutes. They have definitely raised the bar with this impressive design.
Tacky-on
The Samsung Galaxy 3 i use films at HD1080 and is very good. However it does not shoot at 60+ FPS as the GoPro does.
This unit won't be available till June at the earliest and there are lots of questions to be answered still. But if it is as it appears, I want one now.