A drone has been making waves as of late as being able to fly itself while taking amazingly detailed pictures of its targets. Seemingly taken out of a science fiction movie, the Skydio’s R1 is advertised as a “selfie drone” that can navigate itself through obstacles with ease. The camera drone, created by robotics company Skydio, is built with the capacity of 13 cameras that provide a 360 degree view of the drone’s surroundings. Equipped with an NVidia Jetson TX1 processor, this drone can map out its movement and create intelligent decisions to allow it to avoid collision with the environment. The R1 drone can create decisions multiple times in one second, meaning it can avoid incoming and moving obstacles without any problems. Because of all the cameras in its arsenal, the drone has no blind spots and can evade incoming traffic from any direction.
The drone may very well be an amazing device to accompany you in your travels, however be warned that the drone can cost up to $2,500. Another thing to consider is that the drone does not have a controller. It merely requires an app on your mobile device to get it started. From there you can start up and shut down the drone, which frees up your time significantly compared to navigating a drone with a controller the entire time. The drone is capable of flying on its own, meaning the most work you have to do is turning it on and off.
Along with this camera drone are features or modes that can make the flight a lot more versatile than the common UAV. The R1 drone can be programmed to orbit around you, follow you from behind, stay in front of you, or simply watch your movement from a bird’s distance. It has an advertised flight time of 16 minutes, while its cameras have stabilizers and can record up to 4k resolution. The drone’s flight capabilities have also been tested, showing off a top speed up to 40 kilometers per hour.
