RC toys have always been attractive for kids, but a quadricopter that features gyro sensors, an accelerometer, a wide angle camera, ultrasound sensors, and is controllable via iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch is rather meant for grown ups.
The quadricopter features a sturdy structure that is based on high-resistance PA66 plastic and carbon fiber. Its four 15 W electric brushless motors spin at 3500 RPM. These are powered by a 3-cell lithium polymer 1000 mAh battery that provides 12 minutes of flight after being charged for 90 minutes.
The front camera includes a 93-degree wide lens and a VGA (640×480) CMOS sensor that can record video at 15 fps. Besides this, the quadricopter also comes with a vertical camera that has a QCIF (176×144) CMOS sensor and a 64-degree diagonal lens that is capable of filming at 60 fps. It is worth mentioning that the vertical camera has horizontal stabilization.
The altimeter of the Parrot A.R. Drone is based on ultrasound sensors, has a range of 6 meters, operates at a emission frequency of 40 kHz and has vertical stabilization. Other features that play an important role include the 3-axis accelerometer, the 2-axis gyroscope and the 1-axis yaw precision gyroscope.
A.R. Drone includes an on-board computer that is impressive, to say the least. The ARM9 RISC 32-bit 468 Mhz CPU is paired with 128 MB DDR RAM, a Wi-Fi b/g module and a USB socket. Regarding the software, A.R. Drone runs on Linux OS. The Wi-Fi module is necessary for establishing a connection between the quadricopter and the iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad.
Parrot A.R. Drone Quadricopter is available on Amazon for $299.95. Considering the features it incorporates and the durable materials from which it is made, the product is well worth this price.
If you liked this post, please check the RC Mosquito 3.0 and the RC Steampunk Tank.
Via: The Cool Gadgets
