4 ms·
A large part of it is their ability to keep themselves stable. That opens up a huge range of uses that weren't there previously, as well as reducing the chance
by eterm 11y ago
A large part of it is their ability to keep themselves stable. That opens up a huge range of uses that weren't there previously, as well as reducing the chance you'll break it the first time out flying it.
- jameshart 11y agoI was thinking about this recently; seems like affordable consumer quadcopters are a consequence of the availability of cheap, lightweight solid-state accelerometers. Why are accelerometer chips cheap? Because they're ubiquitous in phones. Why are they ubiquitous in phones? Because Steve Jobs wanted the original iPhone to be able to tell which way up you were holding it. (also, due credit to laptop hard drive 'freefall sensors' as another contributor). Combine that with the cheap lithium battery and digital radio communication chipsets, also driven by phone volumes, and that's why 'radio controlled helicopters' are no longer a niche hobby, and instead a danger to aviation.
- jjwiseman 11y agoChris Anderson talks a lot about the smartphone-drone connection here: "How I Accidentally Kickstarted the Domestic Drone Boom" http://www.wired.com/2012/06/ff_drones/ http://www.wired.com/2012/06/ff_drones/
- Phlarp 11y agoDon't forget the ultimate technological crosstie here: Using the phone as a controller for the drone.