One of the big problems with discovery drones is if they crash into anything, they’re likely to crumble, especially if they’re travelling at speed.
Enter Flyability‘s Gimball: a drone that has been designed to find obstacles in order to avoid them, using one of the most sophisticated sense and avoid systems out there. Additionally, it can remain undamaged even if it’s travelling at speeds up to 15km/h.
The video drone was developed to help discovery missions, whether to find people, things or to explore an otherwise inaccessible environment.
Gimball comprises two layers: a crash-resistant rotating outer layer with flight control algorithms that protects the second, more sensitive interior from knocks and bumps.
If the drone looks like it’s going to hit something, the protective frame will stop anything from penetrating the tech inside, meaning even if the outside is damaged, it will still be able to get out of its environment if it needs to.
This design also makes Gimball more stable than similar drones and that’s because it’s carefully weighted to keep it upright at all times.
The device can be controlled from more than 500m away and although can only fly for ten minutes at a time, the batteries can be easily swapped out if juice is low.
An HD camera is mounted on two axis and shoots coverage at a resolution of 1280x1080p and stills at 5-megapixels.The onboard illumination system means it’ll record great quality video, whatever the lighting conditions, while other parameters such as ISO and exposure can be manually controlled by the drone operator.
Gimball isn’t likely to become available for consumers, because with a price tag of $25,000, it’s probably beyond most peoples’ price range. However, for businesses, it’s being tested already and Flyability is appealing for partners to express an interest for distribution purposes.
