"Drone-henge unveiled: America's drone corporation debuts the R10, its first-person view (FPV) airborne device"
Skydio, the American drone manufacturer, has announced several new developments and transparency measures at a recent presentation.
The star of the show was the R10 FPV style drone, designed for police use and priced at $5,995. This drone includes a unique feature called turtle mode, which allows the drone to flip itself over if it falls the wrong way up. Other features of the R10 include speakers, a mic, and the ability to fly indoors for up to 3 hours.
However, it was revealed that a demonstration of the R10's durability, in which it was shown flying after being struck by a baseball bat, was a promotional stunt for the replacement insurance scheme.
In a bid for transparency, Skydio will now make its 'flight incident rate' public, sharing where the issues are 'human factors' or technical. The company will also provide a public 'reliability dashboard' to share more information about flight incidents. Skydio CEO Adam Bray announced that the company will be more open about reliability issues in the future, particularly issues with the design of the remote controller and grinding on drone's motors.
One of the most significant announcements was the software feature that allows an operator to control four drones simultaneously, FAA approved. This software demonstration controlled four drones in a distinctly dystopian scenario, which successfully worked.
Adam Bray also mentioned the availability of a parachute option on the X10 drone, comparing the risk factor of a DJI drone without a parachute falling on someone to the safety measures implemented by Skydio.
In addition to these developments, Skydio will now have software to correct the camera's rolling shutter. A new attachment for Skydio drones, called 'dropper', was introduced, which can drop small items from the drone. Skydio CEO Adam Bray mentioned the company's future plans to diversify beyond the X10 model by developing other classes of drones, including smaller drones for individual users and larger drones designed for industrial applications.
Lastly, Skydio builds its products in the USA, according to Adam Bray, who stated that 'the future is here, it's just not evenly distributed.' The R10 FPV style drone will sell for $5,995 and includes the turtle mode feature. The company will also introduce an RTK attachment for its drones.
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