Parrot AR.Drone
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| Launch year | Original: 2010 v. 2.0: 2012 |
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| Company | Parrot |
| Availability | Original: Discontinued v. 2.0: Available |
| Website | Official website |
Parrot AR.Drone is a remote controlled flying quadcopter helicopter built by the French company Parrot. The drone is designed to be controlled by mobile or tablet operating systems such as the supported iOS or Android within their respective apps or the unofficial software available for Windows Phone, Samsung BADA and Symbian devices.
The Parrot AR.Drone was revealed at the International CES 2010 in Las Vegas along with demonstration of the iOS applications used to control it. Along with AR.Freeflight, the application designed for free operation of the drone, Parrot also released AR.Race, allowing users take part in solo games, or interact with other drones in combat simulations.
The airframe of the AR.Drone, constructed of nylon and carbon fiber parts, measures 57 cm (22 in) across. Two interchangeable hulls were supplied with the airframe, one designed for indoor and one for external flight. The indoor hull is made from EPP foam, and encases the circumference of the blades for protection. The outdoors use hull is made from lightweight plastic, and allows for increased maneuvrability. In total, the AR.Drone has six degrees of freedom, with a miniaturized inertial measurement unit tracking the pitch, roll and yaw for use in stabilisation.
Inside the airframe, a range of sensors assist flight, enabling the interface used by pilots to be simpler, and making advanced flight easier. The onboard computer runs a Linux operating system, and communicates with the pilot through a self-generated Wi-Fi hotspot. The onboard sensors include an ultrasonic altimeter, which is used to provide vertical stabilisation up to 6 m (19 ft 8 in). The rotors are powered by 15 watt, brushless motors powered by an 11.1 Volt lithium polymer battery. This provides approximately 12 minutes of flight time at a speed of 5 m/s (11 mph). Coupled with software on the piloting device, the forward-facing camera allows the drone to build a 3D environment, track objects and drones, and validate shots in augmented reality games.
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