German MicroDrone UAV Features Wiimote Control
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Thursday, 27 of September , 2007 at 3:12 am
Making the jump from military hardware to the police and civilian markets are these miniature UAVs called MicroDrones. Developed in Germany, they boast all kinds of brilliant features, ranging from GSM network communications to 3D controllability with what’s basically a Wiimote (more on that later). According to the Times (the UK Times), the bots have been or are going to be used by police departments to monitor rock concerts, football (soccer) crowds, and “antisocial behavior” in public parks. There’s also been interest from fire departments, environmental agencies, MI5, the Metropolitan police, and the Serious Organized Crime Agency (as opposed to the Joking Organized Crime Agency, I guess).
The MicroDrone is well suited to just about any mission you can dream up. It’s rugged, versatile, nearly silent, and can carry a 1kg payload for about 20 minutes (full specs here). Sure, that’s not the longest time, but you can always swap out batteries and send it right back up. The newest version of the bot is controlled through a GSM modem attached to an RC transmitter (the bot has its own SIM card installed). The remote just makes an ordinary phone call through a commercial GSM network to talk to the bot and send commands. Other features include automated GPS waypoint navigation (through what looks to be a Google Maps interface, no less), and a commercial digital camera mount. Each one of these little guys will set you back about $60,000 or you can rent one for 2 grand a month. More info and the video after the jump.
I’ve put together about 10 minutes worth of clips from the MicroDrone website illustrating the Wiimote usage as well as most of the rest of the features, along with some really cool airborne video and (if you can make it through to the end) a German chick in a bikini. And unfortunately, we don’t get too many chicks in bikinis here at BotJunkie, so enjoy it while you can.
[ MicroDrone ] VIA [ Danger Room ]
Comments (5)
Category: Military
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Comment by tmfark
Made Friday, 28 of September , 2007 at 6:05 pm
What a great tool for search operations after natural disasters. Longer flight time would be always be great though.
Comment by Heurrgh
Made Sunday, 30 of September , 2007 at 8:44 am
That prototype controller looks suspiciously like a ‘foil’ electric shaver!
Comment by Matthias Urlichs
Made Sunday, 30 of September , 2007 at 11:51 am
It’s reasonably easy to build one of those yourself; the ambitious pilot (or peeping tom) can easily find the frame, open source microcontroller programming, camera swivel mount, and video back-link for sale online.
The one novel idea in this video is to control the whole thing with UMTS instead of an RC controller; the flyer is gyro-stabilized anyway, so GSM’s nontrivial lag is not going to be a problem. Plus, you get the video downlink for free.
In fact, I want a month of free time for christmas so that I can build one of these.
Comment by jake chaasti
Made Friday, 11 of April , 2008 at 3:09 pm
this uav looks like the uav drone from homeland security strategies. its described as an unmanned aerial vehicle used for reconnaisance in real time operation but i don’t think they use a gsm modem for communication. are they the same?
jake
Comment by jake chaasti
Made Friday, 11 of April , 2008 at 3:39 pm
i just read all of the details on their site http://www.secintel.com and they said it is the microdrone uav. i found it here for anyone who is interested in seeing their description: unmannded aerial vehicles