parrot ar drone

[shawdreamer]

Ive been playing with the idea of buying one of these for my lad, partly due to the fun factor but also to give him a new perspective on everyday life he rarely gets the opportunity to enjoy (namely seeing the world from a higher view than a seated position)

 

now I did the usual googlin and the like, watched a few videos, listened to yanks blabber on about it in reviews and it all seemed very thrilling and useful but I struggled to find a handful of people in the UK who have experience with them?.

 

bit of a long shot I know but Im aware a few on ere have various experiences with remote controlled vehicles and might just have came across one of these drones or even given one a go.

 

I have a fair amount of experience flying mono wing RC planes but what these drones seem to offer up is far from whats needed to fly planes so its not like can make to great assumptions.

 

IF someone has came across one Id like to see if they can confirm a few things for me....

 

1. what signal is used to control them?, it cant be typical RF as they are controllable directly from a Android smartphone or Iphone....bluetooth maybe?, wifi adhoc? or do they use some form of transmitter attached via the phones mini usb??

 

2. whats the flight time off a single battery.....is it better to buy multiple additional batteries?

 

3. General opinions would be appreciated.

[PeeWee]

Maybe a link may of helped as I had to Google it as I had no idea what you were referring too?

It seems they run via WiFi not on a radio frequency.

Bad points do seem to be battery life at 15-25 mins so yes more batteries would be an option if you plan on longer as they take 30mins to charge.

[shawdreamer]

Maybe a link may of helped as I had to Google it as I had no idea what you were referring too?

It seems they run via WiFi not on a radio frequency.

Bad points do seem to be battery life at 15-25 mins so yes more batteries would be an option if you plan on longer as they take 30mins to charge.

 

hmmmm, I was thinking that given its relatively light weight I might make it possible for him to hang it on the back of his chair so he can take it wherever he fancies without it getting in the way of his chairs handling but having to carry about a shed load of batteries might kinda make the whole reason we bought him a lightweight sports chair kinda pointless.

 

sounds weird but I wonder if I could put together a solar charge unit so he can charge on the go too, that might limit the amount of batteries he'd need to lug about, theres a fair few ultra lightweight flexible 10w-20w panels available now that can be literally rolled up and tucked under his seat when not in use.

 

 

 

 

 

.... I just realized Im turning my sons wheelchair into a modifying project much the same as every bloody car I buy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hmmmmmmmm..... Gti skirts might look the nuts!!!!

 

sorry about the lack of link people....

 

this is the Parrot

[PeeWee]

I meant a link to the gadget itself but anyway.

Look up if it charges via usb? If yes then you can get solar chargers already for this, the batteries look very small I shouldn't imagine they would add that much weight for your lad.

Review here if any use?

http://www.popsci.com.au/gadgets/parrot-ar...ore-intuitively

[escortlew]

I used to race RC off road cars, a few of the blokes purchased them as something to do whilst waiting for our races (hour in between at nationals/regionals) they had plenty of fun with them, don't recall anyone complaining about them and they looked fairly easy too fly, didn't ever have a go but they spent hours over several weekends with them, as a spectator id say go ahead, looked great fun

 

Advise buying couple of battery's, will be reasonably small and lightweight, would highly guess there lipo battery's

Edited August 15, 2013 by escortlew

[SteveB]

I used to race RC off road cars, a few of the blokes purchased them as something to do whilst waiting for our races (hour in between at nationals/regionals) they had plenty of fun with them, don't recall anyone complaining about them and they looked fairly easy too fly, didn't ever have a go but they spent hours over several weekends with them, as a spectator id say go ahead, looked great fun

 

Advise buying couple of battery's, will be reasonably small and lightweight, would highly guess there lipo battery's

 

 

Yep - lipo battery packs, but I think you'll find they're soldered in.

[PeeWee]

I used to race RC off road cars, a few of the blokes purchased them as something to do whilst waiting for our races (hour in between at nationals/regionals) they had plenty of fun with them, don't recall anyone complaining about them and they looked fairly easy too fly, didn't ever have a go but they spent hours over several weekends with them, as a spectator id say go ahead, looked great fun

 

Advise buying couple of battery's, will be reasonably small and lightweight, would highly guess there lipo battery's

 

 

Yep - lipo battery packs, but I think you'll find they're soldered in.

But they offer spares for extra fight time to buy on purchasing?

[shawdreamer]

I used to race RC off road cars, a few of the blokes purchased them as something to do whilst waiting for our races (hour in between at nationals/regionals) they had plenty of fun with them, don't recall anyone complaining about them and they looked fairly easy too fly, didn't ever have a go but they spent hours over several weekends with them, as a spectator id say go ahead, looked great fun

 

Advise buying couple of battery's, will be reasonably small and lightweight, would highly guess there lipo battery's

 

 

Yep - lipo battery packs, but I think you'll find they're soldered in.

But they offer spares for extra fight time to buy on purchasing?

 

aye I just checked that myself, a couple of yanks have walkthroughs on battery mods too so you can use larger capacity batteries that are similiar to the military short range UAV that give a 50% longer flight time.

 

think Ill just go ahead and order him the drone and look into the whole better battery thing as he gets to grips with it.