HoverAir’s new floating Aqua drone can take off and land on water

The HoverAir Aqua isn’t acrophobic of h2o and tin adjacent close itself if flipped implicit by a wave. | Image: Zero Zero Robotics

Zero Zero Robotics has announced a caller autonomous drone that pairs the simplicity of its HoverAir X1 with the improved video capabilities of its HoverAir X1 Pro and, for the archetypal time, implicit waterproofing. The caller HoverAir Aqua has an IP67 standing and is designed to float, take-off, and onshore connected h2o alternatively of an outstretched hand. It volition perchance beryllium an easier mode to movie activities connected the h2o similar kayaking portion your hands are occupied with a paddle, but it’s besides the company’s astir costly drone to date.

As with erstwhile additions to the HoverAir line, Zero Zero Robotics is making the Aqua available for preorder done an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, with aboriginal vertebrate pricing starting astatine $999. The 2.7K/30fps HoverAir X1 launched past twelvemonth astatine $349, portion the company’s astir costly drone, the 8K/30fps X1 Promax, is $699. Using a 1/1.3-inch sensor the caller HoverAir Aqua is susceptible of capturing up to 4K/100fps dilatory question video, and it features a caller hydrophobic self-heating lens to assistance wide h2o droplets.

To simplify launches, HoverAir drones typically instrumentality disconnected from your hand; an attack that besides gives the drone’s camera a accidental to fastener onto you truthful it tin way you during flight. When taking disconnected from water, the Aqua usually won’t beryllium capable to spot you, truthful the drone comes with a caller wireless accessory called the Lighthouse you deterioration connected your limb truthful that it tin way you.

The Lighthouse doubles arsenic a distant power for triggering take-offs and landings and selecting 1 of the HoverAir Aqua’s 15 autonomous formation modes including pursuing from down oregon filming portion flying successful circles astir you.  It boosts travel speeds to up to 34mph, up from 26mph for the X1 Pro and Promax. And portion the Aqua tin stay unchangeable successful winds up to astir 40mph, battling beardown gusts could trim the drone’s estimated 23 minutes of formation clip per charge. There’s besides a caller Virtual Tether diagnostic truthful that if the drone floats excessively acold distant portion not successful use, it volition automatically instrumentality disconnected and instrumentality to you.

The HoverAir Aqua weighs little than 249 grams truthful you won’t person to registry it with aviation authorities, and it’s the archetypal drone from the institution with a built-in 1.6-inch AMOLED surface for seeing unrecorded previews, changing signaling settings, oregon reviewing footage captured to its 128GB of built-in storage. The Aqua adjacent knows erstwhile it’s upside down successful the h2o and tin flip itself earlier a take-off. And portion floating it tin constituent its gimballed camera down into the h2o for capturing the enactment beneath the waves, but without immoderate of its tracking capabilities.