Zero Zero Robotics has introduced a brand new autonomous drone that pairs the simplicity of its HoverAir X1 with the improved video capabilities of its HoverAir X1 Professional and, for the primary time, full waterproofing. The brand new HoverAir Aqua has an IP67 score and is designed to drift, take-off, and land on water as an alternative of an outstretched hand. It’ll doubtlessly be a neater option to movie actions on the water like kayaking whereas your fingers are occupied with a paddle, nevertheless it’s additionally the corporate’s costliest drone thus far.
To simplify launches, HoverAir drones sometimes take off out of your hand; an method that additionally provides the drone’s digicam an opportunity to lock onto you so it might probably observe you throughout flight. When taking off from water, the Aqua normally gained’t have the ability to see you, so the drone comes with a brand new wi-fi accent referred to as the Lighthouse you put on in your arm in order that it might probably observe you.
The Lighthouse doubles as a distant management for triggering take-offs and landings and deciding on one of many HoverAir Aqua’s 15 autonomous flight modes together with following from behind or filming whereas flying in circles round you. It boosts comply with speeds to as much as 34mph, up from 26mph for the X1 Professional and Promax. And whereas the Aqua can stay steady in winds as much as almost 40mph, battling robust gusts may scale back the drone’s estimated 23 minutes of flight time per cost. There’s additionally a brand new Digital Tether function in order that if the drone floats too distant whereas not in use, it would mechanically take off and return to you.
The HoverAir Aqua weighs lower than 249 grams so that you gained’t need to register it with aviation authorities, and it’s the primary drone from the corporate with a built-in 1.6-inch AMOLED display for seeing dwell previews, altering recording settings, or reviewing footage captured to its 128GB of built-in storage. The Aqua even is aware of when it’s the other way up within the water and might flip itself earlier than a take-off. And whereas floating it might probably level its gimballed digicam down into the water for capturing the motion beneath the waves, however with none of its monitoring capabilities.