There was a time when consumer underwater drones were rarely heard of, but there are now a fair number that are in various stages of production – recent examples include the Allec, BlueWater 1 and Gladius. One of the latest to ping our sonar is the 4K-shooting FiFish P3, from Chinese/Taiwanese company Qysea.
Weighing in at 6 kg (13 lb), the three-thruster P3 can descend to a maximum depth of 100 meters (328 ft), linked to the operator by an electrical umbilical cable. The topside end of that cable plugs directly into a dual-joystick-style controller, which is used to remotely pilot the P3 in real time.
The operator's smartphone (or small tablet) is mounted on that controller, where it uses an iOS/Android app to display a live video feed from the craft's camera. Although footage is recorded onboard the P3 at a resolution of 4K/30fps, it's streamed at a maximum of 1080p/25fps.
Helping with the video end of things is a 1-inch 20-megapixel Sony CMOS sensor, an F2.8 lens with a wide 162-degree field of view, and dual LED spotlights that put out a combined 4,000 lumens – that said, the spotlights can be set to eight levels of brightness, depending on what's needed.
Battery life sits at a decent two hours per charge.
The P3 should be launching commercially "very soon," and potential buyers can register for updates via the link below. Qysea tells us that special pre-order pricing will start at US$2,999.
Source: Qysea
