3D Robotics

What is this strange old quadcopter?

Our IT guys found this in a closet. It's an old quadcopter that uses thermopiles rather than gyros for stabilzation. It's RC only, but it's got a big old webcam on a stalk. Like a Parrot AR.Drone from the dark ages!


The only identifying writing on the board says "Spectrolutions, 2004" and when you Google that it comes up with this site, which shows a very similar board with "Draganfly" markings. Maybe this is a prototype of an earlier version of the current DraganFly?


[Update: it looks like it is indeed a prototype of the DraganFly V, which came out that year. Here's a good pictoral history of that development]


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Comments

  • haha it looks like something a crazy failure of a ezsperiancced builder trying to build a realy light weight drone
  • hahahaha that was funny. yep that is it..
  • Moderator
    I was recently shown one of those things as the very latest in things at an aeronautical university!!!! It probably is the exact inspiration for the ARdrone.
  • It looks just like the Draganflyer V we had in school. I used one of these as the platform for my thesis project. I took their electronics off and put my own on, so I could have a full IMU based autopilot. On a minor note, the draganflyer V does still have gyros on it to provide stability. The thermopiles just replace the accelerometer portion of the IMU by detecting the horizon instead of gravity.
  • It would make a good T3 prize or something.
  • Moderator
    lol thats a cool thing to find :P.. u gonna give it a try?
  • No way..

    Oh, wow, he's right:
    http://www.wired.com/about/staff_magazine/

    Where do you find the time? Amazing.
  • 3D Robotics
    I'm the editor of Wired magazine, so it's not so unusual ;-)
  • Where do you work that involves finding quad prototypes in the closet?? :)
  • I own one like this. At the moment, it is the only quadrotor I have but it will change soon :)
    It is fun to fly but it really lacks expandability. It is also really bad for video, it is very shaky because of the gears between the motors and the propellers and it has an approximate 150g max payload capability.

    It was made by Spectrolutions and sold by Draganfly until last year

    - Charles
    capability.it
    This domain may be for sale!
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