Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Hands-On with the PhotoKite Phi: A Tethered Drone”.
I’M donald bell projects editor for make magazine, and i’m here in san francisco california, getting a demo of the photo kite fee from photo kite founder, sergey lapachen. This is a unique drone for a couple reasons. The first is that you’ll notice that this drone has a leash. It feels a lot like one of those retractable dog leashes.
Only the leash itself is a thin, flexible cable that extends about 30 feet. Now, why put a leash on a drone? One reason is safety. You’Re always in control of your drone, and it’s not going to fly away. But the big appeal to me is simplicity. If the goal is to have a drone that absolutely anyone could launch and be able to grab some eye, gopro footage with the photokite removes the learning curve of a remote control.
You just give the drone a twist point it where you want to go and let out the leash and pull it back when you’re done walking around with it. If i wanted to avoid an obstacle, i could just give the leash a tug. If i wanted to get advanced, there are two buttons on the leash handle that use bluetooth to remotely adjust the angle and rotation of the drone in the air. Once you look past the leash, the unsung killer feature of the photokite is its portability.
The whole thing weighs just 12 ounces and quickly folds up into a cylinder that you can stow in a backpack. I could totally see this as a drone that i could take on a hike or a vacation in order to get some awesome. Video, the swappable battery charges over usbc and offers around 15 minutes of flight time battery life is indicated on the front of the drone and will also vibrate on the leash handle when it’s about to run out.
An indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for the photo kite goes up on tuesday august 18th selling the drone for 349. I thought it was a lot of fun, but it’s definitely not a drone’s drone. You won’t be racing this thing around or flipping it i’d. Think of it as more of a gopro accessory for capturing drone footage without the fear of losing your drone or crashing it to bits. If you liked this video subscribe to our website or send us a comment on facebook or twitter be sure to check out our other project videos or visit us on makezine.com .
