metro » j e ws in the digita l a g e
Flying
High
With Drones
E
Parrot’s co-founder Henri Seydoux gives the specs of the new Disco drone.
veryone seems to be talking about
space and breathtaking views of California’s
drones these days. Are drones the
Santa Rosa Mountains. Unlike the Bebop
wave of the future? Are they danger- models, which are quadcopters, the Parrot
ous? Do they cause an invasion of
Disco is a fixed-wing drone. While I
our privacy? Can they be used for
haven’t had much experience flying
great things or are they a waste
winged model airplanes, flying the
of money? There have been news
Disco was very easy. Once the motor
reports of people being injured by
starts, you throw it like a paper air-
drones, airplane pilots reporting
plane and it takes off. The controller
them as distractions and novice
is easy to use, but more advanced
pilots crashing their new drones
pilots can use an RC controller to
moments after unboxing.
have more control of the drone and
Rabbi Jason
My first drone was the Parrot
perform tricks.
Miller
Bebop, and it sat in its box for
The Disco drone (Parrot names
months. I was excited to pilot it
its drones after dance styles) is the
for the first time, but I was not sure where
first fixed-wing drone for immersive flights,
to fly it or what purpose it would serve. I am meaning you can use the virtual reality
a big fan of new technology and gadgets of
Cockpitglasses (they come with the unit)
the future, but I like them to have some util- for a FPV (first person view) experience.
ity. What problem are these drones going to
Legally, a pilot’s license is required to fly
solve, I wondered.
drones using virtual reality and a spotter
I knew I didn’t want to simply take this
(without VR glasses) must be onsite.
drone and fly it as if it were a video game.
One doesn’t need to know how to take off
I also was concerned about crashing this
and land with the Disco because its autopilot
expensive gadget into a tree and breaking
takes over. It is necessary, however, to give
it. At the time, there were no specific laws
Disco a lot of space for the landing. I found
governing personal drones, but I also did
the plane to be very intuitive with the joy-
not want to violate the privacy rights of my
stick controller. Lightweight (under 2 lbs.),
neighbors.
the Disco can reach a top speed of 50 miles
When I finally started flying the Bebop, it per hour, and the battery will allow it to fly
was an immediate love-hate relationship. It
for about 45 minutes. The 14 megapixel full-
was thrilling to fly an aircraft with a video
HD camera in the front of the aircraft takes
camera through the sky, but I still had con-
amazing video and still photos. The 32GB
cerns. Over the past year, I’ve begun flying
other drones, including the Parrot Bebop
2 and several mini drones, which my kids
can also fly. During this time, I’ve found
opportunities to use the drones safely to
record video of happenings on the ground. I
remain cautious about the safety and priva-
cy implications, but have enjoyed capturing
beautiful photos and videos from hundreds
of feet in the sky.
Last month I was invited by Parrot to fly
the new Disco drone in the Palm Springs
desert. With about 30 other drone enthu-
siasts, I was taken to the famous Arnold
Palmer-designed SilverRock golf course in
Rabbi Jason Miller experiments with the
La Quinta where we would have some open Disco drone.
38 September 29 • 2016
internal memory saves the captured photog-
raphy until the end of the flight when it can
be transferred to a phone or tablet.
The most impressive aspect of the Parrot
Disco is the FPV virtual reality headset.
I had a chance to use the headset with
both the Disco and the Bebop 2 while
someone else was piloting the drones. The
views through the glasses were astounding
although I did get a little nauseated at times,
which is common with virtual reality head-
sets. The Disco comes packaged with both
the Skycontroller 2 remote control and the
virtual reality headset. At $1,299, it is pricey
for a winged drone; but the controller and
headset make it a better value. The Parrot
sells for around $550.
My experience in the Coachella Valley
with Parrot provided me the opportunity to
learn to fly a winged drone and experience
the immersive FPV technology. The real
highlight for me, however, was having the
chance to speak with other techies interested
in drones and hearing the impact they think
drones will have on our world. Like all new
technologies there are pros and cons.
THE FUTURE OF DRONES
The French company Parrot got its start in
1994 when it specialized in voice recogni-
tion technologies for the auto industry. With
a strong presence in Detroit (its American
headquarters were in Southfield), the com-
pany focused on products related to car tele-
phony like noise reduction and Bluetooth
hands-free car kits.
Parrot’s co-founder Henri Seydoux said
he was frustrated that so many kids were
stuck indoors playing video games. In an
effort to replicate the gaming experience
outdoors, Seydoux came up with the idea of
personal consumer drones. In January 2010
at the Consumer Electronics Show, Parrot
introduced the AR.Drone flying hardware,
piloted over Wi-Fi with a smartphone.
During the next six years, the company
would continue to improve upon its drone
technology, which includes mini-drones that
fly, race and jump.
Significant questions remain about the
future of drone use in our country. Anytime
you fly a device in the skies over people and
buildings and near other flying crafts, there
are risks. Legislation, however, has quickly
been enacted to protect our privacy and to
ensure our safety.
Drones aren’t just for taking aerial vid-
eography of sporting events and outdoor
weddings — there are many ways that
drones can be useful to society. An organiza-
tion called Drones for Good explores future
life-saving possibilities with drones. One of
its recent developments is the Ambulance-
Drone, a high-speed drone network that
delivers emergency supplies to any location
within minutes. Drones will also be used
to locate missing people, survey real estate,
help farmers observe their fields, check on
the status of bridges and monitor the safety
of beaches. The military has been using
drones for a long time, but we are only just
discovering the uses for personal drones.
The same way our society adapted to
automobiles, airplanes, computers and cell
phones, we will adapt to flying drones in our
airspace. In our digital world, drones are the
future. There are certainly dangers involved,
but the positives outweigh the risks.
*
Miller with Parrot’s co-founder Henri
Seydoux
Rabbi Jason Miller is an entrepreneur, educator and
blogger. He is president of Access Computer Technology.
Follow him on Twitter at @RabbiJason.