Drones are used for all sorts of things — photography, product delivery, military, farming, and so on — but if you just want a flying or driving robot to play with, Parrot looks to have you sorted.
This year, one of the companies that put consumer friendly drones on the map is launching 13 mini-drones, with the idea being that these are more for the people keen to have a bit of fun rather than use a drone for a utilitarian purpose.
The 13 drones are technically made up of five drones, with the remaining eight being colour differences between them, but these are spread over several varieties, with:
- Two for driving and jumping (like a more creative remote control car)
- Two for flying
and, - One for water
The two that drive and jump will be the “Night” and “Race” models, with the former of these showing up in the dark with two LEDs, while the race can travel up to 13km/h.
Taking to the sky will happen in the “Airborne” models, with the “Cargo” variant capable of carrying small toys — captain army man to the rescue! — while a “Night” variant of the Airborne will also come with controllable LEDs to light up the sky, or some small nearby section of it, almost so you can trick your friends and neighbours into believing in UFOs.
Finally, there’s the “Hydrofoil”, and this is a new area for Parrot, with this one able to glide on water and reach close to 10km/h, or 5.4 knots for people who already speak water speed.
“The success of our first mini-drones, which sold more than 600,000 units, pushed us to enlarge the family of these super high-tech toys,“ said Henri Seydoux, Founder and CEO of Parrot.
Parrot’s new 2015 mini-drones are on the way to stores and should be available September, starting at $149.99 for the Airborne Cargo, $199.99 for the Airborne Night, $239.99 for the Hydrofoil, $279.99 for the Jumping Night, and $289.99 for the Jumping Race models.
