Dubai: Parrot’s Jumping Sumo is a drone that drives on the ground and can jump 2.5 feet with a built-in camera to record and take snaps.
The robot has two oversized foam-coated wheels on the side with super stabilisation system and can attain speeds of seven km/h. The whole body is made of a polycarbonate material but it is very sturdy and light weight. It is equipped with gyroscope and an accelerometer for precision piloting.
It is a fun toy; it looks like an insect with two led lights as eyes, for boys and it is little more than a remote-controlled car.
To activate the drone, users need to download FreeFlight 3 app from the Apple or Android app stores and connects via WiFi with a smartphone or a tablet. It creates its own WiFi network. Pairing and repairing are pretty easy.
The big advantage is that it can perform spectacular acrobatics like jumps, spins, 90 degree turns at high speed, 90 and 180 degree turns when at a standstill, and always land on its wheels. It expresses its emotions and also makes “noises” each time it is engaged, reacting to touch.
The spring-loaded tail is used for jumping and the app has a virtual joystick for backward and forward movements and all the controls can be monitored on the smartphone.
The embedded wide-angle camera can stream the live contents on the smartphone and smartphone is used as a steering wheel. The video capture is limited to VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels at 15 frames per second) and requires a micro USB flash drive for storage. It also can be programmed to perform preprogrammed tricks.
There is an animation button on the centre of the smartphone screen for a list of preprogrammed moves like spin, shake, spin-shake, apart from other stunts.
The left side of the smartphone controls movement and basic steering while the right side controls the spins, swerves, jumps and other silly moves.
After launching the original high-flying AR Drone quadricopter in 2010, it is a step backward for the company. The original can record videos on to the smartphones directly from the camera.
The FreeFlight app can transfer photos and videos to your mobile devices wirelessly. The photos transfer very fast but videos take some seconds to transfer or the micro USB can be connected to the computer to transfer files faster.
The biggest disadvantage is that the battery life has juice only for around 20 minutes and it takes one-and-a-half hours to charge the battery to the full. Another advantage is that it does not have on-board storage. The battery can be charged via micro USB port. It is priced at Dh849.
