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New Draganfly semi-autonomous heli-thing looks awesome

Posted by Chris Anderson on August 26, 2008 at 9:30pm

It's got six rotors on three arms, 11 sensors (including GPS) and flies like a dream. God knows what it costs, but if you have to ask you can't afford it. [UPDATE: I just got an email from them. They say "The base model starts at $14,995.00."] The new Draganflyer X6 is designed to carry cameras to get smooth aerial video or still photography, anytime, anywhere. The GPS allows you to fly it with a single stick to simply go up and down in a vertical column. Obviously it could fly autonomously to waypoints, but once again that feature is not enabled (presumably to avoid legal/regulatory issues). Loads of videos here. It even has a custom controller with a screen that shows inflight telemetry and other data:

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  • Moderator
    Sgt Ric August 27, 2008 at 8:10pm
    I see their email quotes the selling price as starting at $ 14,995.00 for the base model.
  • Jack Crossfire August 27, 2008 at 2:19pm
    Embedding the artificial intelligence on VicaCopter took a $200 embedded computer + $64 for the radio set + $13 for a microcontroller. Sending the telemetry to the ground is only using the $64 radio set + the $13 micro. She limits the angular rates on the micro while doing everything else on the ground. Everyone needs to make their own decision. A discount pocket UAV that flies 10ft in front of you and takes your picture is probably fully ground controlled. A weapon which needs be jam proof & doesn't need gigaflops is fully embedded.
  • Jack Crossfire August 27, 2008 at 1:21pm
    It's a cost issue. That is all. The last few blog posts covered the advantages. It's "cloud" autopilot. Everybody loves the "cloud". Someday everything will fly using Google Autopilot. It's a lot less custom programming. A ground computer can do massive computations for a lot less money. Anything you move off the airframe is another part you don't risk in crashes. The wireless technology has probably gotten good enough that the cost advantage outweighs the risk of losing signal.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson August 27, 2008 at 1:11pm
    Yeah, I don't get Jack's point either. Doesn't Moore's Law work the other way, which is that the onboard stuff is going to get cheaper and faster, allowing us to do more onboard? They're not making any more spectrum but they're always making more silicon.

    BTW, as far as I can tell, this ground station is not the autopilot. It's just RC control and telemetry.
  • Jack Crossfire August 27, 2008 at 11:37am
    Proprietary ground station? Looks like everyone's moving to ground based autopilots. 1 year of improvements in wireless communication & the game is over.
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