What are the main criteria of a drone/quadcopter in addition
to the ability to fly? Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and camera perhaps become
important aspects that are required. But if we see again, those four aspects have
been possessed by a smartphone, and all it needs now is 'wings' to fly.
A project in Kickstarter called PhoneDrone wants to be the
'wings' of your smartphone. This product is actually a drone without a 'brain';
and your smartphone is the one that will fill that place.
As quadcopter in general, PhoneDrone has four arms; each arm
is equipped with a propeller. In the middle, there is an empty space to put a
variety of smartphones with different sizes, both iPhone and Android-based
smartphones.
PhoneDrone is not equipped with a special remote control.
You can navigate it by using other smartphone and a companion application. You
can adjust the height limit, set the autopilot route by drawing on the map, or
watch the livestream from the recording that's being done.
Speaking of recording, PhoneDrone takes advantage of your
smartphone's camera. At the bottom, there is a mirror so that your smartphone
can record video from the front with the position of the camera facing
downwards.
PhoneDrone can fly up to 56 km/h. The battery can last up to
20-25 minutes for one-time charge. When not in use, the arms can be folded up
so it will look like a 10-inch netbook.
This unique drone comes from a team named xCraft. Nearing
the end of last year, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to a drone named X
PlusOne. The campaign managed to meet its target, and now xCraft comes back to
Kickstarter to release the PhoneDrone. The lowest pledge at this time is $ 229
for a unit of PhoneDrone that's ready to fly.