3D Robotics Launches Solo, Its Most Advanced Consumer Drone Yet
3D Robotics today unveiled its most advanced consumer drone yet, called Solo.
3D Robotics Solo has been dubbed as an all-in-one drone based photography platform, and is also the first consumer drone ever to make use of two Linux based computers. These computers enable the drone to take high quality aerial photos when it’s on the move.
Solo is based on all the feedback 3D Robotics (3DR) has generated from its customers and select testers till now. 3D Robotics Solo will also offer a completely high quality customer support, something that will be hard to match with other vendors.
The new drone can stream video from any modern GoPro action camera, right on a user’s smartphone or a tablet using the new optional 3-axis Solo gimbal. The announcement comes just a week after DJI, a competitor, launched one of its largest drones yet in the Phantom series. Solo is not just an incremental update, there’s more to it than what meets the eye.
The company focussed on a better user experience with the Solo’s development. It’s built in such a way that it’s easy for beginning while still being highly useful for professionals.
The platform focusses entirely on aerial photography as its single biggest area of application. To make this happen, 3D Robotics rewrote all its mobile apps to make them more easier for users, and it also built new internals for its controller and the drone.
The Solo promises a maximum flight time of around 20 minutes using a camera and gimbal, and around 25 minutes without any of them. The company has tied up with GoPro to allow users to quickly stream video from the drone to their devices using the in-built cameras.
The newly designed controller offers a smaller display that can show battery backup and other important data to the user. It also includes an HDMI port to stream live video on big-screen TVs straight from the drone. The controller can work with the drone over WiFi in an area of about half a mile.
3D Robotics Solo Launch Film
The drone also includes several features from the company’s previous drones. These include automatic modes, ability to orbit around a specific object, follow the user, or fly on a preset mode. Users can also build their own track by making the drone pass through a specific set of spots that need to be captured in photos or videos.
The Solo is powered by a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, and features a near identical processor on the controller as well. It includes new PixHawk 2 autopilot which comes into work when something goes wrong, or when the user wants to use it. It’s useful when the computer needs to be rebooted and the autopilot can still keep the drone in the air.
Solo will be priced at $999 without the gimbal. The drone will hit retail shelves in May this year, in the US. The global launch has been planned for June and July.
The company has partnered with several retail chains in the US, along with a lot of camera and electronics resellers to promote the drone to professional photographers. Solo Gimbal will be optional, and will be available at a price tag of $399.
