We saw many aerial video devices (or drones) released last year, and we’re sure to see many more this year. Here’s a Kickstarter which is quite interesting, solving the compact issues many drone-copters carry due to their spanning propeller arms. The Pocket Drone is a compact foldable multicopter, capable of carrying the weight of small action cameras such as the GoPro 3+.
It clearly has some interest, as within a few days of release it’s absolutely smashed their goal of $35,000 (the campaign is currently sitting at a little under $575,000!).
The Pocket Drone folds into an impressively small carry case; looks like an over-sized wash bag. It has a payload of half a pound, for reference that’s roughly twice the weight of a GoPro 3+ with its case, so you have a little bit of headroom for accessories.
A $495 pledge will get you a ready to fly Pocket Drone package (International buyers slightly more). Pocket Drone claims the longest possible flight time for any device under $500 at 20 minutes.
Flight controller is programmable and easy to modify with open source tools, its android app compliant with iOS compatibility just around the corner.
Here are some specifications:
- Folding propellers
- Built-in landing gear
- Built-in camera mount
- Pilot from our included controller or bring your own DSM compatible radio controller
- Control from any Android tablet or phone with a USB port
- Weighs in at around 1 pound
- Capable of carrying up to 1/2 pound payload
- Deploys in less than 20 seconds
- Quick recharge system
- State of the art flight controls, algorithms and connectivity
- APM compatible flight controller 6-axis accelerometers, 3 axis gyroscopes, barometric sensor (altitude)
- Integrated onboard autopilot Flight planning with Google Maps
- Fly by GPS waypoints
- “Follow Me” mode (requires mobile device with GPS)
- Altitude Hold
- Return to home (RTH)
- Headfree mode (orientation independent flying)
- Load/Save and repeat/replay flight missions
- Real-time flight data
- Artificial Horizon
- Altitude Heading indicator
- GPS signal strength
- PC, Mac and Linux compatible
- Mission Planner or QGroundControl Compatible
