Video: Test Flying Parrot’s Bebop Drone
With the release of the Parrot’s Bebop drone coming December 1st, IEEE Spectrum took the opportunity to take one for a test flight at an event in New York City. As we’ve previously reported, the Bebop has a number of advanced features, but by far the most fun is the support for first person video flying.
A fish-eye lens on the front of the US $500 Bebop allows pilots to look in any direction in a 180-degree field of view, much as a helicopter pilot can look around her without having to rotate or tilt her aircraft. The video can be viewed and the drone controlled using a smartphone or tablet interface as with many of Parrot’s earlier drones, but Parrot also offers a dedicated Skycontroller that attaches to a full size tablet (the Skycontroller is bundled with a BeBop in an $800 package). The antenna on the front of the Skycontroller allows a Bebop to be controlled out to a range of about 1.5 kilometers.
More: Video: Test Flying Parrot’s Bebop Drone - IEEE Spectrum