Parrot AR.Drone 2.0: Your Private Eyes In The Sky

Parrot's AR.Drone 2.0 may well be the ultimate geek toy. A WiFi equipped, smartphone controlled quadrocopter, with camera's that stream live video to your iOS enabled device. The new 2.0 version even does acrobatics. You're totally going to flip. The 720p front camera trumps the original VGA camera of the Drone 1.0. However the detail on the video was not as expected An onboard USB port lets  you transfer the video feed right to your hard disk. The front mounted camera has a 92 degree diagonal field of view but it can be made wider. It is easy to hit unseen objects that may be present. Various controls are also present onboard including accelerometers based tilt control, though the onboard joystick on the screen provides better control. A new pressure sensor helps it stay airborne. The polystyrene body is just the ticket for a light-weight and resilient material.

Of all the new skill onbaord the new 2.0 is the new acrobatic skills which are the most eye catching. It can do impressive new tricks like aerial flips which is triggered by a simple double tap of the screen. Remote control flying generally demands cockpit like control but in the 2.0's case controlling is as easy as tilting the phone to sway away the Drone and hence the new control is aptly named Absolute Control. It's a handy, intuitive control scheme that's great for novices. Not only with the 2.0 blow your mind, it'll also augment your reality(Hence The Name AR.Drone). Combine apps with targets, stickers or other Drones, and you'll be able to race chase dogfight around the living room throuch your smartphone. You can even find your self limited using unlimited apps for single player if youy cant convince one of your mates to join. The processor is a high end 32-Bit ARM Cortex A8 @ 1GHz along with a 3-axis, 2000 degrees per second precision gyroscope.
Connectivity wise it has a lower end USB 2.0, & WiFi. It weighs just 380g which is quite light for a gymnast, acrobatic, flip-floping, flying drone

So that's my review on the Parrot AR.Drone 2.0, priced at Rs 30,990.

Sarthak J Shetty
Chief Editor