AR Drone Review

Introduction to the AR Drone:

As technology has increased over the years, so have the neat toys that it has produced. The AR Drone is one exceptional example of this fact and is one of the first commercial drones of its class. The AR Drone itself is a remote controlled quadrocopter with many jaw dropping features. Ease of use, durability, and utilization of mainstream technology has widely attributed to the drone's success. From being able to stream multiple live camera feeds to being equipped with ultrasonic sonar, there is no shortage of advance gadgets on this device.

Core Features:

As mentioned previously, the AR Drone has no lack of features attributed to its exceptional performance. Perhaps one of the most distinguished features of the AR drone, is it's utilization of multiple video camera feeds. These feeds can be streamed live onto a device such as your mobile phone or computer. A main camera is mounted on the front of the device to give direction to it's pilot during operation out of visual range. At the same time, another camera is constantly taking pictures of the scenery below it to achieve excellent low altitude stabilization. In addition, the drone also features an ultrasound altimeter and a three dimensional accelerometer to provide additional stability. All of this combined with excellent control software makes the AR Drone one tempting purchase.  

Pros/Cons:

Pros:

• Easy to Use: Controlling the AR Drone is incredibly simplistic to the point that virtually anyone can fly it. The interfaces designed for control are clean and self explanatory. 

• Compatibility: The AR Drone is a cross platform device that works on an assortment of products such as Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. The AR Drone is also designed to be controlled on various cellular devices such as Andriod and Iphones.

• Unique Features: From multiple cameras to sonar range detectors, the AR Drone is equipped with many unique gadgets that were not common to average RC plane. These features make the produce unique as well as assist in the control and stability of the drone.

• Easy Development Environment:  The AR Drone Developer Team provides a free open source development environment for their product for the easy creation of aps.

Cons: 

• Price: Three hundred dollars is a bit steep of a price to pay for your average toy. This is still the case even if the toy is not your average toy and is WIFI ready at hundreds of feet in elevation. Regardless of its features, it is still a considerable cost amount to virtually anyone's bank account.

• Battery Life: When you pay three hundred dollars for a product you would hope to be able to use it for a bit more than 10 minutes. Regrettably, flying and streaming video takes a considerable tole on just about any battery. Consequently, this leaves something to be desired in regards to the overall flight time of the device.

Application To Electronics Field: 

While the drone is simply classified as a toy, it still has astounding applications in numerous areas such as education. The drone was successfully used as a basis for an electrical engineering embedded course focusing on the development of RTOS (real time operating systems). Washington University was the first to implement the AR Drone as a tool for education and is now currently being looked at by other universities such as NDSU. Hacking the AR Drone's WIFI control system provides excellent experience in the necessity of RTOS in modern applications as well as Ethernet control systems. 

In Summary:

In summary, the AR Drone is one incredible breakthrough in modern consumer RC electronics. Ranging from video feeds to ultrasonic sensors, the AR Drone has no shortage of neat features. Easy accessible and usable controls distinguish the AR Drone from any rival product. While battery life and cost are drawbacks to the device, there are limited ways to avoid these given the nature of the product. While the drone can provide enjoyable entertainment, it also has the ability to provide invaluable learning experiences ranging from ROTS examples to UDP Ethernet implementation. In conclusion, I would highly recommend this product to anyone associated in the electronics field since it is freaking awesome. Likewise the AR Drone can provide some rare down to earth information and learning experiences with modern technology.