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DJI and 3D Robotics team up for business-focused drone tools
For all their hobbyist applications, like photography and videography, drones are still primarily commercial tools. Thus, 3DR's partnership with DJI for the Enterprise Drone Platform. Specifically, the Enterprise Drone Platform will be integrated with DJI's UAVs and further expand its Site Scan system to incorporate the job-site surveying tech into the Chinese company's drones.
Drones help expand the world's busiest airport
Drones and airports usually go together like oil and water, but you can't say that about Atlanta's air hub. The city has formed a partnership with 3DR, Autodesk and engineering firm Atkins that has drones mapping Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as part of a planned expansion. The key to making it work was Site Scan, 3DR's autonomous data capturing tech. The drones could capture 2D mosaics and 3D point scans while staying well away from the airliners -- no mean feat when they're flying between runways at the busiest airport in the world (over 100 million passengers per year).
Watch DARPA's tiny drone do 45 MPH indoors, autonomously
It's been a bit since we last saw DARPA's bird-of-prey inspired drone system, but the government's mad science wing hasn't been sitting idle. The Fast Lightweight Autonomy program recently took one of its drones on an indoor test flight where there little quadrocopter that could zoomed around a cluttered warehouse in a Cape Cod Air Force base at 45 MPH -- the target speed and environment the outfit was aiming for back in 2014.
3DR's Made for Solo program does 360-degree video on a budget
When 3DR announced its Made for Solo program last October, we knew it was working with Kodak to bring 360-degree video to its Solo drone. Today at CES, 3DR is showing off a prototype model of that integration, which adds a hyper-wide-angle lens to both the top and bottom of the drone, along with some early footage captured with the kit.
3D Robotics: The future of drones needs to be smart yet simple
Quadcopters, drones, UAVs. Whatever you want to call them, they are an unavoidable part of our future according to 3DR CEO Chris Anderson. He should know, his company is the largest drone maker in America. Smart features that help enterprise and industry are pushing the limits of what's possible (and where it's possible). These are features that will trickle down the the drones you see on shelves. We spoke with him on stage to find out what likes ahead in the future of our skies.
3DR's Solo drone can update no-fly zones in real time
Now that drones are everywhere, pilots keep blundering into no-fly zones, threatening people and airliners alike. Most of the time these are simple mistakes, so drone-maker 3DR has launched a new venture with a company called AirMap to help pilots out. AirMap shows not only restricted areas around large and small airports, but also temporary flight restrictions (TFR) areas like wildfires, public events or visits from the President. 3DR incorporated these maps into its Solo UAV (above), so that if you open the app in a restricted area, you'll see a yellow "warning" or red "don't fly" circle.
Watch the premiere of 3DR's drone-shot series 'Life after Gravity'
For the most part, consumer drone videos are without narrative; beautiful sweeping views of the world. That's no bad thing, but 3D Robotics thinks we're missing the full potential that quadcopters have to offer. When it revealed its Solo "smart drone" earlier this year, it gave special attention to the camera-specific features -- such as a virtual cable cam, orbit mode and other cinematic options. In case you weren't convinced, 3D Robotics is driving the point home with an original sci-fi mini-series called Life after Gravity shot entirely with the Solo (and a GoPro, naturally). Each episode is accompanied by a blog post that talks you through the production, and details on how key shots were achieved. We're exclusively revealing the first episode right here.
3D Robotics' Solo drone is about to get a lot more useful
When 3D Robotics announced its Solo quadcopter, one of the more intriguing features was an accessory bay. Instead of opening up the Solo and wiring in, or screwing on an accessory (as is common with hobby drones -- including the ubiquitous Phantom 2), you would simply "plug and play." Until now, that's all we really knew, but today the company is announcing "Made for Solo" -- a program that will standardize, and encourage the development of third-party accessories for the self-proclaimed "smart drone." If you make infrared cameras, for example, you could make a version just for Solo and have it work seamlessly with the drone's GPS and smart flight modes. Basically, any gadget, sensor or product that could squeeze into, and be lifted by, a quadcopter could be integrated into the Solo as if it were native to the product.
3D Robotics takes on DJI with Solo 'smart drone'
If you're in the market for a camera drone, things just got real. Last week, DJI updated its ubiquitous Phantom series with a 4K video version. Today, 3D Robotics (makers of both consumer and professional craft) ups the ante with Solo -- a stylish "ready to fly" quadcopter that challenges the Phantom (on the 'copter side of things) in quite a few ways. You'll need to bring your own camera though.
3D Robotics teases stylish drone with pro features
While 3D Robotics makes some amazing drones, it's not exactly known for its design flair. It seems that's about to change, according to a tease of a rakish new model, however. The video (below) is light on details, but we can glean a few things: for instance, it looks like it'll have first person view (FPV) flying out of the box, judging by an included phone clip. We'd guess you can also pre-program a flying route, and the dots on the case lid strongly imply follow-me settings. Lastly, it appears that 3DR has a sleek new gimbal design.
Create apps for your quadcopter with 3D Robotics' free 'DroneKit' software
3D Robotics develops the open source software that powers a lot of home brew UAVs. Today it's introducing a new tool to the public: DroneKit, software that allows anyone to create apps for, well, drones! DroneKit works with any craft that uses 3DR's "APM" autopilot (a small device you add to your 'copter), and apps can be created for Android, web and standalone "companion" devices (that you then connect to your quadcopter). What can you do with these apps? So far, mostly the same things you can do with existing flight planning software (like 3DR's own Tower app). That means controlling fly paths with waypoints, following GPS targets and access to all the telemetry of the drone. But, of course, now you can do it in new and creative ways. That's a good start, but its 3DRs promise to support the tool and keep adding new features that will change what we can do with these increasingly popular aerial craft.
