San Diego-based hardware startup, AirDroids is ready to launch its affordable and small-sized "Pocket Drone" in the market later this year after surpassing its Kickstarter target of $35,000 in just one day.
Some of us adore the idea of owning personal robots but the intense technology used in such devices and the resultant costs puts them out-of-reach of ordinary folks. Thanks to a San Diego-based hardware startup called AirDroids, personal pocket drones are making their way to the consumer market without digging deep into our pockets. Starting off with a Kickstarter project, the world's first multicopter has attracted more than 200 backers who have pledged nearly $90,000 in just three days.
T.J. Johnson, designer and engineer for AirDroids, along with team members Timothy Reuter and Chance Roth, showed off the first prototype of Pocket Drone during the TechCrunch Hardware Battlefield competition at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Wednesday. The company aims to put flying robots in as many hands as possible, and to achieve that, Pocket Drones come at an affordable price.
The little flying drones are powerful enough to carry a high-quality action camera and fold small enough to fit into cargo pockets or backpacks. The flying time is roughly 20 minutes with a mounted camera and it sports an integrated battery alarm that alerts of run-time to avoid mid-flight drainage. The drone's "Follow Me" feature follows the paired tablet or phone using the GPS signal, which is best suited for recording exciting events of mountain riding, skiing and more.
"There is an explosive interest in the field of drones and multi-rotor technology and there is a lot of choice for the consumer," AirDroids explained in its Kickstarter product page. "However, we feel our product reflects the very best of all combinations with respect to ease of use, utility, stability, compact size, portability, flight time, expandability, durability and feature rich software."
Pocket Drones come in different packages through Kickstarter, $445 for drone without a controller and $495 for a drone and a controller. For an additional $100, buyers can get a ready-to-fly package along with a high-quality action camera that can record 1080p videos.
