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?
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
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
I'm guessing (and really, just guessing) that they did a lot of surveys and found that a majority of their customers were using the flight plans, and moving over distances rather than spending a lot of time hovering. If that's true, a winged model makes all kinds of sense.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?