Customer Reviews

Parrot AR.Drone Quadricopter Controlled by iPod touch, iPhone, iPad, and Android Devices (Orange/Green)

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

Update Jan 2012: Parrot has announced version 2.0 of the AR Drone at CES. Shipping Q2/2012, same price. This review is based on v1.0:

It was really love at first sight when I saw the first CES videos of the AR-Drone in January 2010. It reminded me on that one scene in Terminator 3 where they had one of small Skynet drones in a lab with scientists working on it... I wanted to have one - even at $1.000. I already owned a Hirobo Lama RC coax helicopter at that time and was very familiar with the problems of getting a device like that hovering stable or even flying it at all. The AR-Drone seemed to do all that automatically which is not only pretty cool but also extremely useful if you lose control of your helicopter. You would just take your hands of the controls and it stays where it is! The original idea was to start a little R&D project using the iPhone as an intermediate step and control the drone from a computer and let it automatically fly around the house from point A to B to C. Well, at this point it won't quite happen yet.

The manufacturer has built extremely high expectations by showing numerous product videos on Youtube. One particular video shows two players driving two drones through the woods out of direct eye sight just using the iPhone video display. That's purely science fiction: frame rate and video latency/delay simply don't allow you doing that.

The Wi-Fi signal indicator bar either shows 4/5 or nothing at all. DYI programmers on a web forum have now revealed that we are looking at a static picture rather than an actual indicator. The drone is actually supposed to go in auto hover mode as soon as it loses the Wi-Fi connection of if you receive a call on your iPhone. Well, we see quite a number of reports where a drone out of range flew off like a rocket! 45° angel at maximum speed until the battery is dead. You'd be more than lucky to find what's left of your done again in a distance of 3 miles and that it doesn't crash into someone. At any rate: faking the signal strength display in a case like that where it really matters is just reckless IMHO.

The automatic start procedure works nice and flawless. You just hit the <ascent> button and the machine rises to 2ft height and stays more or less in position. The auto descent however is less impressive at all. "Soft" as they state in their product copy is definitely different. It almost drops like a rock over the last 2". That should work much smoother. They might want to get that fixed in a software update sooner or later.

What really differentiates the AR-Drone from other RCs out there (beside the Wi-Fi / iPhone control) is it's built in stabilization system: you get an accelerometer, 2 gyros, an ultrasound altimeter and a video camera facing downwards feeding an real time image processor to see if you are drifting in either direction. The image processor needs a contrast rich and rather bright picture (ground, floor) to work. The more texture the better. It didn't work at all on my industrial style concrete floor although it has some light gray textures it. The drone drifted 8"/sec. Using it on a colorful carpet it worked better. Looking at the CES videos on youtube again I started to realize that the manufacturer had been using a carpet showing aerial photography at their well illuminated booth. All the roof tops, hedges and streets on that carpet provided a great texture and rich contrast for the image processor to work - now I don't want to put fancy carpet all around my house to use the drone.

The ultrasound altimeter works perfectly fine on even surfaces. The system keeps the altitude at a constant level even when flying across a sofa or a table. The drone surges up to keep the constant distance. Keep that in mind when approaching a 2.9ft table at an altitude of 5.5ft: It will surge up to 8.4ft and bump right into the ceiling. Same story flying outdoor over a hedge or garage. Heights add up. I also had random heights going over grass and hedges due to poor ultrasound reflection.

The brushless motors are getting extremely hot - too hot IMO. I would not recommend flying longer than the promised battery life of 12 minutes. That's actually quite common for all sorts of RC models with this type of engines.

The lipo battery that comes with it is supposed give you 12min flight time at 1.5h to recharge it. I couldn't get more than 8min out of it even after recharging it for the fourth time. The battery charger isn't explained anywhere in the manual. It's got 5 LEDs. I got it blinking red/green after each recharging process. Only after unplugging and charging it again I got a stable green light from it.

The EEP (styrofoam like) elements do have quite fragile bridges. The indoor hull won't survive any medium crash. It does the job protecting the propellers and everything else from the propellers while flying. On some of the product pictures it almost looks like the indoor hull has got a chrome finish. The reality is it's a black and white print which looks nothing like what you would expect from that picture at all.

Final verdict: Disillusionment. I was expecting more than that. Skynet isn't quite ready yet. It reminds of these football playing sort of robots they show you on Discovery Channel - still struggling to walk straight, oh well. Before the product launch I've seen a couple of people concerned folks on news boards that this thing might be used as a new weapon. Don't worry at all - at least until the developers actually do their homework. I'm looking forward to an advanced model fixing the image processor and ultrasound limitations as well as adding GPS. I'm quite sure there will be more and better gadgets like this soon. I'll be back!

rkoo

PS: From the FAQs: Spying on the cute girl next door probably isn't going to work either: That thing is pretty darn loud. Recording pictures and video from the front cam do require extra 3rd party apps.

If you are not into the RC plane hobby, you need to understand what you are in for. This is a fragile high tech piece of equipment. Those who have flown RC Planes know this but those of you that are new to RC flying would be well served to buy 2 of these. One to fly and one to take parts off of when they break, and they will break.

Any fall from greater that the default (9') will cause extensive damage, a new system board is $99 and the costs of the parts quickly add up. Just a note replacement parts are not shipping at this time.

Yes these are easy to fly, but they are easy to crash and break very easily. I have a broken, central cross, system board, body set, shaft and gear.

It's fun to fly but even after about 10 hrs under my belt I am still using the indoor hull outside. Shaft and gear will break if prop hits anything. Any wind is a problem. My indoor hull is showing signs of stress and I imagine it will not last much longer.

It is well worth the $299 price but keep in mind, it will break,

FWIW I sent support an email over 2 weeks ago and no response, I sat for hours on the phone and never talked to anyone. You are on your own with this. Oh and try and find parts, my guess is 80% of the drones out there are non usable.

Buyer beware THIS IS AN EXPENSIVE TOY, that breaks very easily and the replacement parts are pricey.

One of the units purchased had bad battery charger. Manufacturer refused to treat this as DOA and refused to send a new charger. We had to spend extra money to purchase a new charger. Very very poor service which discredits the product and manufacturer.

... wow, lots of misinformation in these reviews. Let me just set the record straight and offer some advice on what do do when you first get your drone. Just FYI, I own 2 Drones.


1. You're anxious to fly. You dont want to read the manual. Fine. Just read the first steps and take it to an INDOOR ROOM preferably with carpeting and LOW CEILINGS. With the indoor hull on fly it there as much as you want. Bang it against the walls, smack it against the ceiling. You'll crash it like mad and it won't break. Despite what you read here, it's actually very very tough. You'll also fall in love with how cool it is.

2. Go the Parrot forums and read my long post about REALLY preparing to fly the Drone so you don't crash and break it. [...]

3. Don't take off the altitude limiter until you're ready. Everyone wants to go outside after a few flights and take the Drone up to see the squirrel's nest 100ft up in the tree (I did, and I trashed my first Drone). Don't do it! High Altitude = Broken Drone. It actually has an ultrasound altimeter that doesn't function above 6 meters. It was not designed nor built to fly at treetop level despite the Youtube videos that show people doing that. None of Parrot's promo videos show high-altitude flying.

4. It's designed to fly at around 4ft - 8ft off the ground and do AMAZING things at that level. What makes it so cool is that it is basically 2 completely separate flying experiences in one body. With the indoor protective hull on, it's a precision instrument able to negotiate (not too narrow) hallways and furniture and trees outdoors. When you get more experience take it to a wide-open field - soccer size - and put the outdoor hull on. Then it flies like an RC Airplane, fast and furious doing almost aerobatic moves. It takes a lot of practice with the iPhone, but it's awesome.

5. If you crash it, then call Parrot. Most likely they will recommend you send it back to them, and they will repair it (most likely) for free, at least the first crash. From NC it costs $9.80 to ship in the original carton. You do NOT have to pay for return shipping. Takes about 2 weeks.

6. I agree with the reviewers who claim Parrot spends way too much time marketing the Drone and showing people pulling it out of the box and suddenly flying outdoors with no training than they do teaching people how not to trash their Drone. It's NOT a toy, it's an expensive Radio-Controlled Quadracopter. It's actually a flying computer, but you have to read this post to understand that.
[...]
7. Finally it's not fair to Parrot for so many reviewers to have skipped the learning process, crashed and damaged their Drones, and then come on here to blame Parrot or trash the device. It's unquestionably one of the most sophisticated flying machines for consumers ever built. I've flown RC helicopters, and that's not what this is. This device has a computer built into it, it stabilizes itself like some futuristic military aircraft. You simply need to spend some time getting a feel for flying it. You need to enjoy it the way it was designed to fly and not pull it out of the box and try to copy what you saw some idiot on Youtube do.

Best Flying Toy period. Nothing even comes close. Similar Quad Copters have been around for years and are very costly. Parrot has done an excellent job of mass producing a DURABLE Quad copter with 2 Camera's for a fraction of the cost of a similar Hobby store system.

I am able to fly it via camera out of direct line of sight without issues, indoors and out, even in a wooded area - just like the promo video. It takes practice but it is a reality.

It's Fast, Easy to fly and The AR Drone has decent lifting power, I have mounted a Plush Yoda and USB missile launcher successfully. It's a developers dream and very suitable for modifications.

The quality, Durability and Fun factor are well above my expectations for a $299 TOY. Well Done Parrot!

Cons:
1. Requires An iOS or Android Device to work. If you don't have an iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad or Android Device this will not work. (Use iPod/iPhone 3GS or 4G for best experience)
2. Documentation and Instructional Videos are fair at best. They need to clearly outline the control scheme in the manual and videos.
3. Frame rate of video is decent and getting better with each update.
4. More than 7MPH of Wind will carry the Drone, It's more than powerful enough to ride in gentle wind once you have the hang of it.
5. Spare Parts are a good idea, I suggest getting a set of spare gears, They are the most likely parts to break in a bad crash and are inexpensive.

If you would like to see some Video of my drone mods or flying out of direct eye sight, Search for: JJROBOTEK DRONE on YouTube.

Update: 2 drones died in mid flight. They just dropped to the floor. Both have been replaced by Parrot support as defective motherboard, the process took about 2 weeks and had no issues with support via email. Since Replacement they are working perfect, The initial batch did not have the chips glued in, newer batches are glued and should not have this issue.

After following the development of the Drone for some time, I was very excited when it finally arrived. I had watched all the online videos and instructions prior to its arrival so I was well prepared. Set up was easy. My first flights were inside and it worked magnificently. However the problems started when I went outside. The drone is supposed to stop flying and hover if the connection to the iPhone is lost. Unfortunately, for some inexplicable reason this did not happen. I was standing about 15 feet from the drone. Even though the software was set to BASIC mode, the drone shot up in the air - well over 60 feet - and flew away. I chased after it, but lost it as it disappeared into a nearby forest. I searched for the drone for over 2 hours, but to no avail. I'm not sure if I received a faulty drone or if there is bug in the Free FLight software. However I was really unhappy to watch this $300 toy fly away during it's first outdoor flight. CAUTION: Don't by this toy until the developers fix the kinks - or only plan to use it indoors.

Bought this and two spare batteries as a company mascot. Flew it around indoors until the dog was no longer afraid of it.

Once outside, elevated it about 10 feet high in an open field, and suddenly it skied up to about 60 feet, and started to follow the wind with a mind of its own. As it departed, it raised to perhaps 120-150 feet, disappeared into a neighborhood, and that was that.

Probably not the fastest $300 I ever lost, but it ranks "up there."

This bird not ready for prime time.

Anyone need the indoor foam protector and a couple of batteries?

I've owned a previous remote controlled heli and own numerous RC on-road & off-road cars/trucks and can say that the AR.Drone is a blast! Using the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad as the controller is a brilliant use of technology and after a short familiarization period, is very intuiative. Flying a heli is generally very challenging, but the AR.Drone defaults to auto-hover by simply taking fingers off the controls! Brilliant!

If you already own an Apple mobile device, the price becomes nothing short of amazing considering the included technology (LiPo battery, balance charger, quadracopter, camera's, ultrasound, gyros, accelerometer, carbon fiber, etc.).

This thing is an absolute blast!

The first time I tried to fly my drone after receiving it I got an EMERGENCY_UNKNOWN error. Contacted tech support and they said to send it in for repair. That was a month ago. Ive sent 2 emails asking for status and the only replies I've gotten say that the tech support and repair centers cant talk to each other and the only status Ill get is when they ship it back to me. Ill be asking for my money back at this point.

No need for iPad/iPod/iWhatever! While this product is advertised as controlled by Apple products, there is a production Android version of the control software available from the Android Market. It costs $4.99, so for less than five bucks, most Android device owners can control the Parrot A.R.Drone, and with slightly better video that the original. I have controlled mine with both my Motorola Droid 2 smartphone and my Toshiba Thrive Android tablet. The tablet is a bit cumbersome as a controller, but not so bad and the video is spectacular on the 10.1 in. screen.

Charge the battery fully before use with the included charger. I suggest you buy a second battery, because the 20 minutes or so the neophyte pilot will will get from a fully charged battery goes by quickly. Operation is pretty simple: follow the instructions for connecting it to the wireless network the drone itself is the access point for. It's very simple is you take your time and go step by step. Once setup the first time, your device will remember the settings and auto-connect with subsequent connections. The aircraft is very simple to start. Simply press the "takeoff" button and the unit will start up and rise to about 3 feet from the ground and then it's ready to follow the commands from your device (iPhone or Android). You tilt your phone/tablet, and the drone leans right with it, moving in the direction of the tilt. You can cause it to rotate around its axis and move it left, right, up and down as well.

It comes with two hulls: one is the most common shown in advertisements, with the protective shields around each of the propellers. This is called the indoor hull and will prevent typical wall contacts from costing you a propeller or two. However, as suggested in the users guide, I find that using the small outdoor hub, one with no propeller shields to work better outside. The larger hull catches the wind more easily and makes it a bit harder to control. For the first few flights though, you should use the more protected indoor hull "just in case." After you get a feel for it, the control becomes fairly intuitive. The A.R.Drone comes with two video cameras. One faces forward and can be used for First Person Video, which means you can fly it by looking at the controller video rather than watching the drone itself. It takes practice. The second camera faces straight down, so that you can see what it is you're about to land on. It does take diverting your attention for a couple of seconds as you tell your controller to trade the downward facing video with the forward facing for display on the screen. However, with hands off the control, the quadracopter hovers pretty solidly without any helpful inputs.

As you become more adept at controlling your A.R.Drone, you can get into dogfights and negotiate obstacle courses against other drone pilots. The cameras have color recognition abilities, and can be made to seek out its opponent by the colors it's flying. That's why you will see it billed as a real life video game. It kind of is, but it's also a wonderful remote control device, a lot of newcomers to R/C helicopter will find id much easier to control than any regular model heli, even the coaxial beginners aircraft.

The $300 price tag feels a bit steep, but compared to other R/C devices, it's price is a lot more justified by it's abilities and simplicity. I love my Parrot A.R.Drone and recommend it highly to anyone looking for an easy to use R/C that can grow in sophistication with the skills of its pilot.