
Parrot announces new Disco drone, ditches quadrocopter design for wings - dronethority
http://www.dronethority.com/blog/2016/1/4/parrot-announces-new-disco-drone-ditches-quadrocopter-design-for-wings
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mentos
Trying to figure out a more compelling use case for this drone..

What about a laser tag drone that hooks up to google cardboard? So two kids
can have a dogfight in their backyard and maybe you can even go as far as to
augment the sky with virtual drones for them to work together to down?

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solomatov
That's thing is definitely not for kids. From the video I see that it might
get to quite a high speed and its quite heavy.

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flardinois
Source: [http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-
wi...](http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-wings/)

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magic_man
You won't be able to hover with that type of drone. With quad copter design
you have more control on how the drone moves.

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Etheryte
What if I slow down midair, let the nose drop and then go full reverse? Like a
helicopter. Sure, it will spin uncontrollably, but I would be hovering.

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baddox
This airframe is unlikely to have that capability, but so-called "3D flying"
is a very well-established niche in the RC model aircraft hobby.

Start at 5:15 for an exciting transition from fast flight into steady hovering
(note that yaw from the propeller can be corrected for):
[http://youtu.be/DDyRpiv5_ps](http://youtu.be/DDyRpiv5_ps)

I haven't seen this much, but people have put collective pitch propellers on
3D models to support fast thrust reversing:
[http://youtu.be/6YkkZw9GVaU](http://youtu.be/6YkkZw9GVaU)

Full-scale stunt planes can hover too:
[http://youtu.be/qvXGATdWhEk](http://youtu.be/qvXGATdWhEk)

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nissehulth
For some reason, I laughed at "pilot tube" (it's "pitot tube". I guess I'm
tired.

Interesting concept, though.

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RickHull
Poor copying from the source [http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-
drone-has-wi...](http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/parrots-newest-drone-has-
wings/) I'm guessing:

> The Disco also features a pitot tube, which is typically used on planes to
> measure airspeed.

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dronethority
Mistake, and corrected. Sorry.

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x5n1
45 minute flight time is awesome! going to be so much fun to fly this around
with fpv goggles.

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malandrew
Are there any drones that marry quadcopter with fixed wing so the drone can
switch modes? i.e. fixed wing for distance and speed and switch to quadcopter
mode for maneuverability and staying in a fixed location.

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Animats
Yes.[1]

The HQ drone takes off as a quadrotor on electric power, then transitions to
gasoline-powered airplane mode. The quadrotors stop parallel to the fuselage,
for minimum drag. Once airborne, it can stay up for 5-15 hours. This is most
useful when you want to launch from a truck or boat and go searching for
something.

[1] [https://latitudeengineering.com/](https://latitudeengineering.com/)

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lvs
Second video has a shot of a feature list that says "Linux SDK."

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PatentTroll
Back in my day we called fix winged drones "model airplanes" /s

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yial
It's cool.. but I'm just not that impressed! People have been making wings
that have rather tremendous flight times and top speeds for years... coupled
with a Pixhawk or an Eagle Tree vector and you have something that will easily
out perform. However this is a nice off the shelf solution.

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Qworg
Off the shelf is exactly why Parrot is so successful. It is harder than it
looks to make it work perfectly every time for laypeople.

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monk_e_boy
Is it water proof? Does it float?

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codezero
Just curious – are these important factors?

By that, I mean, is the current Parrot offering water proof, and do they
float? If they aren't and do not, I doubt this will deter buyers who would
otherwise be buying a quadcopter from Parrot.

Who offers a water proof, floating drone?

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elbrownos
[https://www.lily.camera/](https://www.lily.camera/)

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codezero
Neat!

