Ever dreamed you were flying like a paper plane? Well, dream no more.
Not very long ago, flying an electronically operated paper plane with a remote control was a ludicrous as it sounded. But no more--say hello to the PowerUp kit. This is basically a wirelessly controlled paper airplane drone installed with a top-mounted live streaming camera. Oh and it gives you a First Person View (FPV) of its flight, that you can experience like a VR movie.
Developed in collaboration with leading drone manufacturer Parrot, the plane can be controlled using your smartphone's touchscreen interface, or by tilting the phone sideways. But there’s more--if you slot into a its Google Cardboard like accessory, you get to experience the plane's point of view and steer it simply by tilting your head. This FPV brings to the user the undoubtedly exhilarating experience of flying on the back of paper plane 300 feet in the air.
This little aircraft turns by varying the thrust between the two electric motor driven props located at the rear. Changing the speed helps you climb or descent and you can control the plane within a generous 300 ft range.
To help flying newbies to get up to speed quicker, you can toggle to the autopilot mode that enables easy take-off and landing, even in windy conditions. It prevents your plane from wipeouts such as stalling, crashing or spiral dives. So no matter how well-versed you are with the techniques of flying, the pre-installed software plays a worthy co-pilot.
A neat feature is the 30fps VGA-resolution live streaming camera that is synched with your smartphone over Wi-Fi.
Carbon Flyer, another competing airplane drone, works on a similar concept, but this one omits the live stream and recorded video.
PowerUp’s Kickstarter campaign aimed to raise $100,000 for manufacturing this flyer. At last count the project had about 1,200 backers. With 52 days to go, the campaign has already raked in $246,117.
The donations range from $19 with a reward of one head mounted display, all the way up to $999 where you can arm yourself--and your family--with six PowerUp FPVs units. Excited? Visit their official Kickstarter campaign page and you might be able to have the kit in your hands by next summer, priced at US$199 (Rs 13,500). Check it out in action here:
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 "dnatechgaming, PowerUp, kickstarter, airplane, Google Cardboard, virtual reality")
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