Skydio R1 is the Smartest Drone in the Sky
It is the smartest consumer drone on the market. Check out how the R1 drone tracks subjects and flys around obstacles.
New Drone One-Ups the Compeition on Smarts
Skydio was founded in 2014 and came out of nowhere to release their first product the R1. It's not so much a drone as it is an autonomous self positioning flying camera and it has smarts the likes of which we've only seen inside a controlled environment. It is the smartest consumer drone on the market and we're quite surprised that this actually is way ahead of other companies in the autonomous tracking and obstacle avoidance areas.
The R1 is the ultimate drone for mass consumers who don't want to bother learning to fly, but would rather just get great shots from the air. When you watch the video below you won't believe what you are seeing. It's a one take autonomous shot that flys through many and varied obstacles with ease. It's something you can't do with any other drone on the market unless you had a separate pilot manually flying. How can the R1 do this? It's all in the tech.
The R1 is packed with cameras and sensors along with a powerful processor. There are 13 cameras on board that allow it to see in every direction. All of that data is processed by NVIDIA Jetson, an AI supercomputer that allows it to make intelligent decisions about tracking subjects and avoiding obstacles in a fluid cinematic manor. It also allows for killer shot types like Follow, Lead, Side, Orbit and Tripod modes, all selected by your smartphone. This drone is super impressive and it should be because all this technology and smarts comes at a cost, $2499 to be exact. That's quite a bit more than say the Spark or Mavic from DJI and we think it will be a tough sell at that price point even with all the advanced functions. If Skydio can get the price down and the range and run time up, they will be able to give the competition a serious run for their money.
Learn More about the Skydio R1 here
| Introducing Skydio R1: The Self-Flying Camera has Arrived (1 min 38 sec) |
Specifications
- Size: 13"x16"x1.5"
- Weight: 2.2 lbs
- Flight Time: 16 minutes each, 2 batteries included
- Top Speed: 25 mph
- Camera: 4k30, 1080P30/60
- Video Feed: Wifi 300ft range, 720P 15fps
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I will say the same as in an other post of mine regarding this flying camera.
In my opinion this is a camera and should be advertised in camera forums etc. Half the fun is flying, I personally would not buy this. I can see people wanting something like this to photograph themself but as far as I am concerned this is a flying camera and has nothing to do with "drones" as such. If you understand what I mean. |
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This is the future of consumer drones. They will get smarter and smarter (and cheaper and cheaper). Piloting skill will not be needed.
I think this particular drone will have limited appeal. It is more expensive than than other drones that can fly higher, farther and faster. For selfie use only, it's pretty expensive. It a drone with these capabilities were available for under $500 it would be a big seller. One good thing about short range selfie drones is that they pose little risk to full scale aviation. |
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Last edited by Brian Courtice; Feb 15, 2018 at 11:43 AM.
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That obstacle avoidance is unreal.
Is it doing all the image stabilization in software, no hardware gimbal? |
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There's a lot of rich yuppies out there that will buy it.
Heck I'd buy it if I had money to blow 
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Put this teck on a foldable drone the size of a Mavic Air, make it dead stupid easy to fly with only a cell phone as controller, and retail it for $500. It will sell like GoPro's did up until a couple of years ago.
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The R1 videos are certainly impressive (as are most marketing videos to be fair) but their quadcopter platform is well behind the curve. Very interested to see actual end-user testing of this, how DJI will respond and what Skydio's next product looks like as I don't imagine a $2,500 selfie drone is the end game
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I agree. I think that within about five years selfie drones will become very common place. You see them following half of the skiers at your favorite slope. Dirt bike riders, water sportsmen, etc, etc. Who wouldn't want to carry something around in your pocket or fanny pack that can easily and effortlessly create cool aerial videos of all of your favorite outdoor activities?
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