Skydio has launched probably the most advanced consumer camera drone to date, with an aonboard object-dodgingsystem that could put autonomous cars to shame.
Although Skydio hinted at its first drone more than two years ago, the company’s first commercial release, the R1 is fully autonomous and employs technology that will help it stay in one piece, even if it’s flying at top speed.
The Skydio R1 drone has been designed to video people as they’re doing everyday tasks, such as jogging in the park, playing tennis or skiing. Although they may not sound like the most exciting videos you’ll ever see, the applications have been developed to showcase its advanced, autonomous object dodging.
The company’s Autonomy Dodging video shows this amazingly well. Founder Adam Bryn explains the drone understands what it’s looking at and the environment it’s in and has the ability to move itself, rather than needing someone to direct it.
“There’s this this general notion of a flying camera that can follow you around and capture amazing video, but the paradigm with these existing products is that you need an expert pilot there flying it and if you have that you can do incredible things, but for most people and most applications, it’s a little bit out of reach,” CEO Adam Bry said.
The Skydio R1 comprises 13 cameras that can see in every direction and at its core, it has the same chip as found in autonomous cars. It doesn’t need preinstalled maps to work, it simply maps its surroundings as it goes.
It works by looking for regions of “high texture” such as trees and they’re tracked as landmarks in the real world it can track motion again. It then builds up an image of the area, always retaining the point of focus (the person riding their bike, skiing, running, for example).
