They Somehow Squeezed A Streaming Camera Into This Tiny RC Drone

They Somehow Squeezed A Streaming Camera Into This Tiny RC Drone

The Axis Aerius is considered to be the smallest RC quadcopter you can buy, even smaller than the company’s new Vidius drone. But that’s because Axis has managed to fit a live-streaming Wi-Fi video camera inside the new Vidius, giving pilots a first-person view of their flights.

They Somehow Squeezed A Streaming Camera Into This Tiny RC Drone

At just 3cm in size, the Vidius quadcopter is still incredibly small, especially sitting next to the smartphone that it can send a live 420p video stream to over a direct Wi-Fi connection. It comes with a 2.4GHz four-channel controller allowing you to pilot the drone up to distances of 30m, but you can also use a free accompanying app if you’re more comfortable with touchscreen controls.

They Somehow Squeezed A Streaming Camera Into This Tiny RC Drone

Flight time for the Vidius is rated around five to seven minutes on a 20-minute charge, but that will vary based on how aggressively you’re flying, and whether or not you’re streaming live video from it. Gyro stabilisation helps keep the Vidius level in flight and easy to control, but because it’s so small even the tiniest of breezes will send it careening out of control, so you might want to limit its flight plans to indoor sorties.

The Vidius won’t officially be available until the end of January of next year, at which point it will sell for $US95 ($130). But if you pre-order one now, you can save $US20 ($27) and get it for just $US75 ($103). What Axis has managed to engineer here is nothing short of amazing, but the best feature might be that you don’t have to worry about registering the Vidius with the FAA before you grab the controls. [Axis]


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