Steve Klinkner's blog » gadgets http://plateofshrimp.com plateofshrimp.com Mon, 25 Apr 2016 16:29:07 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 Cool Geek Toy: AR Drone http://plateofshrimp.com/2011/01/cool-geek-toy-ar-drone/ http://plateofshrimp.com/2011/01/cool-geek-toy-ar-drone/#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 01:54:30 +0000 stevek http://plateofshrimp.com/2011/01/cool-geek-toy-ar-drone/ Continue reading →]]> AR Drone A colleague at Zynga recently brought in his new AR Drone – I now have Christmas Present Envy.  AR Done is a product of Parrot.

Videos

Although I don’t (yet) own one, I’ve had my eye on these for a while.  The Drone seems like a candidate for the top geek toy of 2010.  You can view some videos on their web site, or YouTube.

What’s Cool

I think what’s cool about the the AR Drone is its integration of several innovations

  • self-stabilizing

It has feedback systems (accelerometer, gyroscope, ultrasound, video) allowing it to be self-stabilizing.  Turn it on, and it rises up several feet, and (eerily) just sits there, like a bumblebee.

  • iPhone controller

It’s WIFI-enabled, enabling it to be controlled from an iPhone app.

  • web cam

WIFI capability allows it to stream video back to the phone.

The combination works together nicely. 

Good fun.

 

(Thanks for reading – Steve Klinkner)

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