Aerial Mapping with Quadcopters and Drones

In the quadcopter space, Parrot may be best known for its AR.Drone and mini quads, but they're also behind two initiatives to use unmanned vehicles for aerial mapping. SenseFly and Pix4D are two departments making those vehicles and the 3D mapping software, and we learn about their latest quad at this year's CES.

Shot by Joey Fameli
Edited by Tom Crenshaw, Circa Digital

[supraman]

Amazing what technology they are putting on their quad, the thermal and infrared like cameras are awesome

[SKStealth]

I can see both these used in search and rescue operations not just for lost hikers/campers but add thermal camera for pinpointing fire hotspots. They just need to increase the flight time from around 30 mins to an hour or two and the range of signal for control and video then the quad would be well suited to search and rescue as it can fly lower than a helicopter without risking lives.

[cadet]

I could see an upgraded version of the fixed- wing aircraft using inferred cameras to map and track a lost person. It could be used by search and rescue personnel on a smaller scale to locate lost casualties. It could save on locating time for locals to operate these instead of waiting for a helicopter to pin- point a lost individuals location.  

[CaallMeeMrrD]

interesting seeing more copter on Tested :) keep it up, and fly safe. 

[Zohannine]

Tristemente la tecnología que no sirve para la guerra no avanza, y este dron desde luego es una gran avance táctico para el ejército.

[leetrevarthen]

Totally disagree with giving these to people with no knowledge of flying.
This is why the FAA is clamping down on all FPV flying, because the people with "All the gear and no idea" are buying these and DJIs etc then flying them, losing control, and off they go into the wild blue yonder, to be spotted by a commercial airline pilot in his air space.
Anyone buying this sort of product, should have the skill to fly them manually incase of a malfunction. I'm sure I could fly an A320 commercial jet on Auto pilot until something went wrong. Then what would i do????

[alaskankare]

I'm not sure why they couldn't take advantage of the multi sensor array to help it avoid trees and other objects.  This sounds promising for firefighting and search and rescue applications. 

[MwRYum]

Back in 2 years ago, who'd have thought high-grade recon UAV is commercially available as easy as toys?

[Megabean]

I forgot Parrot even existed. I think they are venturing in a market that's probably saturated by more professional technologies. I could be wrong though. 

[HoverbotTV]

I like the flying ant, it really needs LIDAR for object mapping. I think ultra sonic is pretty old tech.

[JohnletsDudas]

I have a parrot drone 2.0 but these are too cool. Too bad they are commercial only :(

[vazza]

As a FPV pilot for many years i do not believe in this concept. I believe for safety reasons that the "drone pilot should always know how to control a model manually. This is why we se so many accidents and bad flying that ruins model flying for the hobbyist. The one whom started this!!

[shintsu]

love to see a open world zombie or other post-apocalyptic game based on city infrastructure would love to see a 3D mapped world based on tech like these maybe still re textured for better quality but at least the containing original locations of buildings in city's

[Zohannine]

Dios quiera se use para fines beneficiosos para el mundo. Ojalá compre la patente Google,

[ButterfieldEric]

I don't think he heard the first sensor question.

[thudeets]

I heard the drone companies overtook the whole event.

May be an exaggeration, but my understanding is there were over 100 drone companies there this year.

Seems excessive, but then again, I have no need for or interest in one.

[SWAYDRIFTAWAY]

i brain hurts! but i got it... i love the look of this thing

[MagicSteve]

so they receive an exception to make drones designed for people who are not educated in how to use them properly, but those of us who do know how to use them properly are not allows to fly? FAA logic for you.

[PHeMoX]

They are lying through their teeth about being the first and only to do HD live video with various video modes. There are many companies trying to get HD live video ready for consumer level quads and hexacopters.... aside from how their exemption is not remotely useful for anyone at the moment, because 'professional' users will still require written permission to fly for whatever commercial purpose is intended. Regardless of their exemption. The FAA also does not require an exemption for a company to sell autonomous drones or FPV capable drones anyway.

I know the FAA does not seem to want FPV style flying to become even more mainstream than it already is and perhaps they are being pressured by the US government with the whole 'drone' stuff supposed to be for police or military purposes only. But I'm afraid I can't think too highly of Parrot. 

[Highlaw]

How come it's always NATIVE english speakers that complain about accents and not understanding the person, asking for subtitles, etc ?
English is my 3rd language. He has a french accent (I don't speak french). I understood him perfectly. I really don't get how a native speaker doesn't understand him just as well as I do, if not much better.