9 ms·

Parrot announces new Disco drone, ditches quadrocopter design for wings

49 points by dronethority 11y ago

nissehulth 11y ago
For some reason, I laughed at "pilot tube" (it's "pitot tube". I guess I'm tired. Interesting concept, though.
- RickHull 11y ago
  Poor copying from the source http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-wings/ http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-wi... I'm guessing: > The Disco also features a pitot tube, which is typically used on planes to measure airspeed.
  - dronethority 11y ago
    Mistake, and corrected. Sorry.
x5n1 11y ago
45 minute flight time is awesome! going to be so much fun to fly this around with fpv goggles.
monk_e_boy 11y ago
Is it water proof? Does it float?
- codezero 11y ago
  Just curious – are these important factors? By that, I mean, is the current Parrot offering water proof, and do they float? If they aren't and do not, I doubt this will deter buyers who would otherwise be buying a quadcopter from Parrot. Who offers a water proof, floating drone?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - elbrownos 11y ago
    https://www.lily.camera/ https://www.lily.camera/
    - codezero 11y ago
      Neat!
  - monk_e_boy 11y ago
    For me yes. For everyone else - I have no idea. The world is full of water, it even falls from the sky.
- niels_olson 11y ago
  At 50 mph, it won't be waterproof after it hits the water, regardless!
flardinois 11y ago
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-wings/ http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-wi...
yial 11y ago
It's cool.. but I'm just not that impressed! People have been making wings that have rather tremendous flight times and top speeds for years... coupled with a Pixhawk or an Eagle Tree vector and you have something that will easily out perform. However this is a nice off the shelf solution.
- Qworg 11y ago
  Off the shelf is exactly why Parrot is so successful. It is harder than it looks to make it work perfectly every time for laypeople.
magic_man 11y ago
You won't be able to hover with that type of drone. With quad copter design you have more control on how the drone moves.
- mbrameld 11y ago
  In return you get longer flight times.
- Etheryte 11y ago
  What if I slow down midair, let the nose drop and then go full reverse? Like a helicopter. Sure, it will spin uncontrollably, but I would be hovering.
  - ultimoo 11y ago
    Reading another post[1], it appears that the drone will reject maneuvers that could crash it. "During the flight, the autopilot prevents any false maneuver which could bring the flying wing down." [1] http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/4/10711178/new-parrot-disco-drone-announced-ces-2016 http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/4/10711178/new-parrot-disco-d...
  - c54 11y ago
    Think of it like a propeller plane: the prop is enough to pull the thing forward but it doesn't generate more thrust than the weight of the plane (thrust generated by the prop + the lift generated by the wings gets the plane in the air) all of this attempting to have the prop helicopter the plane in the air is called a 'stall
  - baddox 11y ago
    This airframe is unlikely to have that capability, but so-called "3D flying" is a very well-established niche in the RC model aircraft hobby. Start at 5:15 for an exciting transition from fast flight into steady hovering (note that yaw from the propeller can be corrected for): http://youtu.be/DDyRpiv5_ps http://youtu.be/DDyRpiv5_ps I haven't seen this much, but people have put collective pitch propellers on 3D models to support fast thrust reversing: http://youtu.be/6YkkZw9GVaU http://youtu.be/6YkkZw9GVaU Full-scale stunt planes can hover too: http://youtu.be/qvXGATdWhEk http://youtu.be/qvXGATdWhEk
mentos 11y ago
Trying to figure out a more compelling use case for this drone.. What about a laser tag drone that hooks up to google cardboard? So two kids can have a dogfight in their backyard and maybe you can even go as far as to augment the sky with virtual drones for them to work together to down?
- solomatov 11y ago
  That's thing is definitely not for kids. From the video I see that it might get to quite a high speed and its quite heavy.
lvs 11y ago
Second video has a shot of a feature list that says "Linux SDK."
malandrew 11y ago
Are there any drones that marry quadcopter with fixed wing so the drone can switch modes? i.e. fixed wing for distance and speed and switch to quadcopter mode for maneuverability and staying in a fixed location.
- bri3d 11y ago
  Google Project Wing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRTNvWcx9Oo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRTNvWcx9Oo Transition Robotics Quadshot: http://transition-robotics.com/ http://transition-robotics.com/
- Animats 11y ago
  Yes.[1] The HQ drone takes off as a quadrotor on electric power, then transitions to gasoline-powered airplane mode. The quadrotors stop parallel to the fuselage, for minimum drag. Once airborne, it can stay up for 5-15 hours. This is most useful when you want to launch from a truck or boat and go searching for something. [1] https://latitudeengineering.com/ https://latitudeengineering.com/
PatentTroll 11y ago
Back in my day we called fix winged drones "model airplanes" /s

49 points by dronethority 11y ago

nissehulth 11y ago

For some reason, I laughed at "pilot tube" (it's "pitot tube". I guess I'm tired. Interesting concept, though.

RickHull 11y ago
Poor copying from the source http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-wings/ http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-wi... I'm guessing: > The Disco also features a pitot tube, which is typically used on planes to measure airspeed.
- dronethority 11y ago
  Mistake, and corrected. Sorry.

x5n1 11y ago

45 minute flight time is awesome! going to be so much fun to fly this around with fpv goggles.

monk_e_boy 11y ago

Is it water proof? Does it float?

codezero 11y ago
Just curious – are these important factors? By that, I mean, is the current Parrot offering water proof, and do they float? If they aren't and do not, I doubt this will deter buyers who would otherwise be buying a quadcopter from Parrot. Who offers a water proof, floating drone?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- elbrownos 11y ago
  https://www.lily.camera/ https://www.lily.camera/
  - codezero 11y ago
    Neat!
- monk_e_boy 11y ago
  For me yes. For everyone else - I have no idea. The world is full of water, it even falls from the sky.
niels_olson 11y ago
At 50 mph, it won't be waterproof after it hits the water, regardless!

flardinois 11y ago

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-wings/ http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-wi...

yial 11y ago

It's cool.. but I'm just not that impressed! People have been making wings that have rather tremendous flight times and top speeds for years... coupled with a Pixhawk or an Eagle Tree vector and you have something that will easily out perform. However this is a nice off the shelf solution.

Qworg 11y ago
Off the shelf is exactly why Parrot is so successful. It is harder than it looks to make it work perfectly every time for laypeople.

magic_man 11y ago

You won't be able to hover with that type of drone. With quad copter design you have more control on how the drone moves.

mbrameld 11y ago
In return you get longer flight times.
Etheryte 11y ago
What if I slow down midair, let the nose drop and then go full reverse? Like a helicopter. Sure, it will spin uncontrollably, but I would be hovering.
- ultimoo 11y ago
  Reading another post[1], it appears that the drone will reject maneuvers that could crash it. "During the flight, the autopilot prevents any false maneuver which could bring the flying wing down." [1] http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/4/10711178/new-parrot-disco-drone-announced-ces-2016 http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/4/10711178/new-parrot-disco-d...
- c54 11y ago
  Think of it like a propeller plane: the prop is enough to pull the thing forward but it doesn't generate more thrust than the weight of the plane (thrust generated by the prop + the lift generated by the wings gets the plane in the air) all of this attempting to have the prop helicopter the plane in the air is called a 'stall
- baddox 11y ago
  This airframe is unlikely to have that capability, but so-called "3D flying" is a very well-established niche in the RC model aircraft hobby. Start at 5:15 for an exciting transition from fast flight into steady hovering (note that yaw from the propeller can be corrected for): http://youtu.be/DDyRpiv5_ps http://youtu.be/DDyRpiv5_ps I haven't seen this much, but people have put collective pitch propellers on 3D models to support fast thrust reversing: http://youtu.be/6YkkZw9GVaU http://youtu.be/6YkkZw9GVaU Full-scale stunt planes can hover too: http://youtu.be/qvXGATdWhEk http://youtu.be/qvXGATdWhEk

mentos 11y ago

Trying to figure out a more compelling use case for this drone.. What about a laser tag drone that hooks up to google cardboard? So two kids can have a dogfight in their backyard and maybe you can even go as far as to augment the sky with virtual drones for them to work together to down?

solomatov 11y ago
That's thing is definitely not for kids. From the video I see that it might get to quite a high speed and its quite heavy.

lvs 11y ago

Second video has a shot of a feature list that says "Linux SDK."

malandrew 11y ago

Are there any drones that marry quadcopter with fixed wing so the drone can switch modes? i.e. fixed wing for distance and speed and switch to quadcopter mode for maneuverability and staying in a fixed location.

bri3d 11y ago
Google Project Wing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRTNvWcx9Oo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRTNvWcx9Oo Transition Robotics Quadshot: http://transition-robotics.com/ http://transition-robotics.com/
Animats 11y ago
Yes.[1] The HQ drone takes off as a quadrotor on electric power, then transitions to gasoline-powered airplane mode. The quadrotors stop parallel to the fuselage, for minimum drag. Once airborne, it can stay up for 5-15 hours. This is most useful when you want to launch from a truck or boat and go searching for something. [1] https://latitudeengineering.com/ https://latitudeengineering.com/

PatentTroll 11y ago

Back in my day we called fix winged drones "model airplanes" /s