
Parrot Bebop - balakk
http://www.parrot.com/usa/products/bebop-drone/
======
andygates
The software gimbal is a very nice trick: instead of moving the camera (with
jerkiness and balance and extra control channels), they have a slightly down-
angled 180-degree fisheye lens onto a big sensor. Then software stabilises and
crops to present a slice of the view as if you were panning and tilting.
Slick.

~~~
gadders
Isn't that what the military do with their cameras on helicopters etc? Take a
too big picture and stabilise the middle?

~~~
cushychicken
That's actually what cellphones do as well. Your picture represents about 80%
of what hits the sensor.

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baddox
I've built several "hobby grade" multirotors with GPS and first-person video,
and while I find the process fun and satisfying, it's far from accessible to
mainstream consumers. I was never impressed by Parrot's original AR Drone, but
this looks much more promising as an accessible drone with a good feature set.
The biggest problem with the AR Drone, the control latency over WiFi, is
probably covered up by the Bebop's GPS stabilization.

It doesn't look like there's any pricing information for the Bebop yet. They
should definitely be able to keep it under $500, and if so (and if it works as
well as their demos portray) I bet they'll sell well.

~~~
AirDroids
For another multicopter in the $500 price range, check out
[http://www.thepocketdrone.com](http://www.thepocketdrone.com) \- the most
successful drone Kickstarter of all time (raised almost one million dollars).
Disclosure: I work for them.

~~~
erikano
Didn't see any answer to what are, IMO, the two most important questions:

* What flight time does it have?

* If you pre-order today (not that I'm going to), when can you expect to receive it?

~~~
AirDroids
20 minutes with onboard camera (GoPro etc.) - longer without the camera:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYAKpmhMADI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYAKpmhMADI)

Shipping is due to begin late summer, but Kickstarter orders will be shipped
first. I've been told there is going to be a price increase sometime this
month, although I'm not privy to the exact date.

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kirillzubovsky
I had a parrot drone before. It went up to 30 feet, disconnected from Wifi,
dropped from the sky, and when I was just about to catch it, it re-connected,
turned and crashed into pieces.... Ever since then, I am not a very big fan of
their technology. For slightly more, you can get much better drones which
would be worth the investment.

~~~
juice13
Which ones would you recommend?

~~~
dirktheman
The DJI Phantom is pretty much the standard in consumer-grade multirotors.
It's plug & play, sold as a complete package with transmitter included, and
for what you get it's actually not that expensive. If you're reluctant to fly
a $500-$1000 UAV, get a cheap multirotor first and learn to fly. The Hubsan X4
is under $50, for instance.

If you're a tinkerer you can build your own for a lot less, but be prepared
for a LOT of fiddling to get it right (and the crashes that come with the
fiddling). I fly a DIY F330 (same dimensions as the Phantom, only 'naked'
frame) with an Arduino-based flight controller (APM2.6). It has some
advantages over the DJI system, such as unlimited waypoints for autonomous
flight. It can carry a gopro, and replacement parts/batteries are a lot
cheaper if you get them from China. I don't get anywhere near the battery
duration of the DJI, though. So: if you're looking for a new hobby: build your
own. If you just want to fly: get the DJI.

~~~
lmm
Can I control the Phantom from Android? All their site seems to be talking
about ipads.

~~~
dirktheman
If it is possible, you would be severely limited by the WiFi signal radius.
I'd highly recommmend a normal 2.4 Ghz TX since they're designed for this
stuff. The phantom comes with TX, but if you go the DIY route I can really
recommend the Turnigy 9X from HobbyKing. It's only $60, has 9 channels, comes
with receiver and people won't laugh at you because you're holding an iPad or
a toy-like transmitter.

~~~
voltagex_
I'm fairly sure I've seen ways to interface the Turnigy 9X with phones via a
headphone jack.

------
sean-duffy
Although this is interesting, I think DIY multirotors are where the revolution
really is. I've built my own and it really isn't that difficult, assuming
you're buying a kit for the frame and not manufacturing your own it's hardly
more involved than assembling a custom PC and can result in a drone able to
carry a camera such as a GoPro for less than $200. If you are planning to do
this though I'd recommend getting a small, cheap quadcopter like the Hubsan X4
to practise with first.

~~~
bambax
I have a Phantom and a Hubsan; I upgraded the Phantom with a new motherboard
to install a gimbal; but I wouldn't have a clue of where to start for building
my own from scratch?

The $200 figure sounds optimistic since the frame and the radio each cost
around $100, and then you have to add the motherboard, flight controller,
motors and props...?

Would you mind establishing a shopping list of what you built, and where you
bought each part? I would love to give it a try! ;-)

~~~
sean-duffy
Admittedly for $200 you aren't going to be getting anything fancy, but you'll
certainly get something that gets the job done. Since this was my first RC
project I went with a $23 radio system, which for basic control is fine. You
can get a decent frame for $60, I went with a wooden one since it's pretty
sturdy and unlike something like carbon fibre, if you crash you only have to
go to a DIY store for replacements. The rest of the parts added up to $120 and
were from HobbyKing. At the moment I have mine carrying a Mobius camera which
is great, but it could easily carry a GoPro too. I have a blog post about it
if you want more detail:

[http://www.seanduffy.co.uk/blog/2013/8/Project:-Quadcopter-B...](http://www.seanduffy.co.uk/blog/2013/8/Project:-Quadcopter-
Build/)

~~~
cf
I'm curious how easy is it to write software to control a multirotor you built
yourself. One of the big appeals of the AR drone was a fairly easy to use
Linux SDK.

~~~
dirktheman
Arducopter is open source:
[https://code.google.com/p/arducopter/](https://code.google.com/p/arducopter/)

You can tinker around with the source code. Memory of the APM is limited,
though.

------
unwind
This passage:

 _[...] Bebop Drone navigation computer features a Parrot P7 dual-core CPU,
quad-core GPU and 8 GB of Flash Memory[...]_

was intriguing. I really don't believe that they really have a custom "Parrot
P7" CPU since that makes very little sense considering their use for the CPU.
Also, even if they had designed their own CPU, why would they include a quad-
core GPU for this application? That doesn't make any sense, either.

Does anyone know more about that CPU? I don't follow Parrot closely so perhaps
I'm misjudging them.

~~~
d3k
I worked on the development of the P7, and yes, it is a dual core CPU powered
by ARM cores with a quad-core GPU. The CPU is meant to be used for other
projects too, so a quad core GPU makes sense.

~~~
unwind
OK, cool. Thanks!

I guess I kind of assumed it was an ARM, that does make it feel a lot less
magic since (from my understanding) designing a SoC based on ARM is quite far
from the same as designing a CPU from scratch in terms of complexity.

I wish they had included the word "ARM" in their description.

~~~
yardie
They've been releasing SDKs for their drones for many years. Although the PR
material doesn't make it obvious if you get a chance to download the SDK it
becomes very apparent.

My last AR.drone was ARM based with RTLinux as the kernel, not sure if it is
the same now. You could SSH directly to the onboard OS and into Busybox. I was
able to modify the wpa-supplicant so it could connect to the house wifi and be
controlled from my PC, instead of using the crappy iOS client. From the SDK I
wrote a small .Net app that used my Xbox controller, gave me telemetry, and
recorded video.

------
sytelus
One of my startup ideas couple of years ago was cheap stabilized mini
dolly/crane system for casual videographers. This space, I thought, was ripe
for disruption considering tons of new professional grade cameras sporting HD
video but other equipment remaining as expensive as ever.

Shooting with this kind of system really makes even bad video interesting.

Now I think drones could be just that dolly/crane system. I hope people make
their control software open source. The key would now be software that can
produce super stabilized flights in artistic trajectories automatically.

~~~
david927
That was exactly what was going through my mind as well.

I just make short films as a hobby, and I've been so excited over the years to
watch these huge quality/price inversions for high quality video. There's
still a ways to go, but the movement has been amazing; it's been thrilling.

And now this?! There are so many shots I have in my head that I could pull off
with this. The idea that I -- I alone! -- could essentially afford my own
dolly/crane system blows my mind.

I feel like I have just seen the future.

As for the software you mentioned: it's clear, the stability has to get better
(but there was clearly a lot of wind on that beach, as you would expect, so
maybe it would be better in different conditions). But for the trajectories,
you could also contract someone that worked remotely, to whom you could draw
out the trajectory you want or model in another way, and be your camera
operator. (Wouldn't that be mind-blowing? "The camera operator on this film
never left their home in Madagascar.") Really -- I've just seen the future,
and as a (hobbyist) film maker, I'm ecstatic at the potential!

------
omarhegazy
This with the Oculus Rift combined is going to make for some seriously awesome
"tourism demos". Someone has to make a Bebop-as-a-service thing where you have
warehouses full of Bebops across the world's largest tourist centers, then a
paying user will have his/her Rift linked up with that Bebop, which will then
fly high above the city's ground and let the tourist have a look at the city
from the comfort of his/her home.

~~~
kayoone
Wouldn't make much sense combined with the Rift though, as the camera on the
Bebop can't move. You could move the Bebop itself based on head motion, but i
am not sure if that would give a good feel of control. Besides you would still
be quite limited in wifi range and i doubt people want drones falling into the
pools or on their heads ;)

~~~
simias
The camera has a very wide handle so you can actually move the visible window
by simply adjusting the software cropping. So you can actually track the head
movements without moving the drone on a roughly 180degree angle in every
direction.

There's only one camera though, so you don't have any stereoscopic effect.

------
iandanforth
Because it hasn't been said. I love the name. A drone with really effective
image stabilization? You might even call it "Rocksteady."

------
yardie
I had a Parrot AR.drone. After one too many crashes the motherboard wouldn't
signal the motors to start. I sent it back to the store I bought it from, who
promptly gave me $300 in store credit rather than another drone. Although I
would rather have had another drone. When I asked the CSrep she explained they
stopped carrying them because the high return rate. My son and high had a lot
of fun flying it indoors and I'm looking for another.

I'm fascinated by this drone[1]. Variable pitch rotors means it has the
agility of a helicopter, including inverted flight (upside-down). Only
downside is there is 1 motor so 1 single point of failure.

[1]
[http://curtisyoungblood.com/V2/products/quadcopters/stingray...](http://curtisyoungblood.com/V2/products/quadcopters/stingray-500)

~~~
baddox
The Stingray is awesome, although I wouldn't trust myself flying it until my
skills are much better (Curtis Youngblood is a beast). The motor as a point of
failure probably isn't a huge deal, because those motors are themselves very
reliable, it can autorotate like a traditional helicopter, and a traditional
quadcopter can hardly survive a motor failure anyway (although software should
be helping that soon).

------
seth1010
This is amazing. With some camera smoothing in post production you could have
shots that were previously only possible with a helicopter shot. I can see
this being just as influential if not more than the gopro.

~~~
kayoone
yes, but many drones like the DJI Phantom already do that, and better than AR
Drones and possibly the Bebop. They also feature GoPro Mounts but are
obviously more expensive if you add the cost of the GoPro.

------
mikeknoop
The big innovation here over comparable camera-stablizied GPS-locked drones
(eg. DJI Phantom II) is that there is no mechanical gimble which significantly
reduces weight and battery consumption of the Bebop.

~~~
bambax
But a mechanical gimbal is _awesome_ ; it can rotate to a horizontal position,
so you can get satellite-like views, or simply look at the top of something;
with a fixed front camera you will never be able to get those kinds of shots.

~~~
andygates
It must be said, some of the best shots I get are straight down. If in doubt,
velcro more cameras to the thing. MOAR!

------
rjbwork
I'm more interested to see a small drone that can carry a small load, say of a
couple to a few pounds. This could start to disrupt the small package/food
delivery industry on a massive scale while cutting emissions and increasing
service quality. We have seen plenty of small drones meant to be used for
surveillance; it's not very interesting anymore.

~~~
cookingrobot
Current law doesn't allow commercial drones - meaning nothing that makes a
profit or supports a business. Hobby photography is the only application that
makes sense right now.

~~~
dkroy
If you do your homework or even a little googling you will realize that what
you are saying isn't true. Hopefully this is good news for you! I think the
link below may have even been submitted to HN, though I haven't checked.

[http://motherboard.vice.com/read/commercial-drones-are-
compl...](http://motherboard.vice.com/read/commercial-drones-are-completely-
legal-a-federal-judge-ruled)

~~~
dronehire
This is correct. I believe the post you are referring to is one I submitted a
few months ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7360260](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7360260)

------
jpdlla
Owning an AR.Drone 2.0 the thing I most hate is using their mobile app to
control them. The Bebop looks small enough to make it worth using my mobile to
control it. I can see why the introduced the Skycontroller which looks pretty
interesting. Saw a guy build something like this for his homemade drone.

[http://blog.parrot.com/2014/05/12/introducing-parrot-
skycont...](http://blog.parrot.com/2014/05/12/introducing-parrot-
skycontroller/)

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amckenna
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the IRIS by 3DRobotics. It uses a brushless
gimbal to provide the image stabilization and is made largely of plastic
components that can be replaced easily. I have their hexa-copter (built from a
kit) and have been very happy with it.

Two things worth pointing out that I think are very important:

* The IRIS uses RC plane blades so they are cheap to replaces

* The piloting software is open source

------
ilitirit
I think this has the potential to be the next big thing. Not necessarily this
particular device, but the idea itself.

There are lots of applications for these types of devices. \- News reporting
\- Surveillance and recon \- Security (couple it with a wireless charger) \-
Entertainment

All of these can be broken down even further into different industries etc.

------
lifeformed
Tiny website design nitpick: the black vertical nav bar on the left side looks
like I should be able to grab and drag the black circle, but I can't.

------
auvrw
is this thing named after Cowboy Bebop? the controller design looks almost
exactly like something from that tv show.

~~~
evan_
That's what I thought too- the Bebop was the name of the ship they lived on so
it makes sense as the name of a flying machine.

------
dharma1
two thoughts.. what flavour of Linux? and 2km range with wifi, legal, how?

We do similar stuff, just with big boy tools.. Red EPIC and octos, 3 axis
gyros - [http://londonhelicam.co.uk](http://londonhelicam.co.uk)

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MrJagil
Did anyone else catch the "distorsion" typo in the video? What is it with
typos that makes you want to point them out? Is it that important to us (me)
to feel superior? Or is there a tiny bit of altruism hidden somewhere...

~~~
Gmo
Parrot is built by a French company. In French, distortion is spelled
distorsion. You should not look any further for the reason of the mistake,
which is (very) hard to spot for a Frenchman.

~~~
MrJagil
Thanks for the info! Did not think of that at all!

------
rodh257
It all looks very cool, but that 12 minute battery life :(

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captainbenises
What beach is that in the header image? It looks nice.

~~~
peteretep
ALL HAIL TIN EYE

[http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?src=PS5DwrRy6S3EBRIUs8...](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?src=PS5DwrRy6S3EBRIUs8iKRA-1-1&id=55216840)

(it's Miami)

