[The Parrot AR.Drone is the] first quadricopter that can be controlled by an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad. Thanks to its on-board Wi-Fi system, you can control the Parrot AR.Drone using an iPhone, iPod Touch, or an iPad.
And I tell you, flying the Parrot AR.Drone is fun but frightening. Fun because it’s a high-tech toy that promises super-cool aerial moves. Frightening because it costs a penny shy of £300. If that’s not enough to scare you away, it’s a temperamental beast, too. Sometimes the Drone would mindlessly wander off as if drunk. Once the Drone lost connection with the iPhone, refused to reconnect and hovered above us until the battery ran down. I could tell it was judging us. Frightening.
Controlling the Drone is achieved via two on-screen control circles (below). The right circle allows you to control the altitude of the Drone by touching up or down. Left and right rotate the Drone. If you press and hold the left circle this enables your device’s accelerometer; tilting your device forward will cause the Drone to move forward, tilting sideways will move the Drone sideways, and so on. Combine the accelerometer movement with left and right movements and you’ve got a nippy, highly controllable iPhone controlled quadracopter. Fun!
The Drone is suitably high-tech and features front and downward facing cameras that are viewable on your device. We tried the Drone on an iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad. Video performance is best on the latest hardware, with the iPhone 3G struggling a little. Recalling the pains of trying to manually dock spaceships in Elite, I’m suddenly thankful that take off and landing of the Drone is automated.
Here’s what Parrot have to say about the innards:
The cockpit of the AR.Drone includes an inertial unit, ultrasound sensors and a vertical camera. The combination of these elements which are controlled by an autopilot program allows extremely accurate piloting of the quadricopter. The AR.Drone detects the movements of your iPod Touch/iPhone (to go up, down, turn, reverse, go forwards etc.). Anyone can pilot the AR.Drone, it is extremely simple to use.
I couldn’t help feel that the AR.Drone would benefit from some physical controls, like those analogue nubs on the PSP. When flying the Drone you often look at your device’s screen and then at the actual Drone in the air. When you look away from your device’s screen there is nothing to stop your fingers leaving the on-screen controls. Thankfully the Drone simply hovers waiting for your command, but it can make flying an awkward experience. Relying on a digital representation of an analogue control makes sense, but it just doesn’t work that well. It’s up to developers to come up with novel ways for us to use touch based devices.
While the AR.Drone is an impressive technical achievement, at £299.99 with a battery life of around 13 minutes I’m doubtful these Drones will be flying off the shelves.
