In creating drones, there are two different approaches taken
by the developers. The first principle and most popular is to create drones
with the best capabilities. But some talents prefer to use the second principle
where they try to shrink the sizes of the drones. After previously the title of
'smallest drone' was held by the Wallet Drone, now the Axis Drones successfully
beats its own record.
Axis Drones team introduces the Aerius which looks like the
spy devices used in Mission Impossible or James Bond movies. When Aerius flies,
perhaps people will think that it's a lost beetle. Aerius basic construction
adopts the design of quad-copter (four propellers).
Aerius dimension is so small, only slightly wider than the
coin with a diameter of 3 cm and 2 cm high. Based on the pictures on the Axis
Drones site, the Aerius body is dominated with plastic material. There are four
landing legs on the bottom side of each rotor, surround the main module in the
middle. However, although small, its technical specification is quite special,
not inferior to the drones that are much bigger than the Aerius.
This tiny drone presents sensitivity customization control
feature that consists of two options. If you are a beginner and are not
familiar with the drone, you can take advantage of the Headless Mode which is
prepared to enable you to determine the direction of flight. To ensure Aerius
remains stable when hovering, Axis Drones has equipped this tiny drone with
six-axis gyro-stabilization system.
Aerius is also equipped with 'Trick-Mode' algorithm, gives
this drone an ability to do round maneuvers in the air. Besides helping to show
the direction, its LED lights also allow this drone to fly in the evening. Just
like the Wallet Drone, Aerius is bundled in a portable package. Once finished
playing, you can store it in the middle of the controller unit.
The minimalist shape indeed has a weakness too, especially
on battery life, because this drone is supported only by 50mAh battery. Aerius
flight duration ranges from five to seven minutes. But luckily the recharge
process only takes 15 minutes. For the mileage, Aerius brings 2GHz transceiver
- in theory it is equivalent to DJI Phantom drone, but the problem is its small
size causes the drone is hardly visible.
Through its official website, axisdrones.com, Aerius is sold
for US $ 35. The pre-order has been started, and it will be distributed on
September 30, 2015.