Belgium startup Fleye is developing an autonomous drone focused on safety, and it's getting things off the ground via Kickstarter.
Billed as the "world's safest drone," the flying robot tucks the four usual propellers inside a spherical shell. Laurent Eschenauer, a professional electrical engineer, worked hand in hand with Dimitri Arendt, an aerospace engineer to develop the drone that is Fleye.
"The classic drone design has many shortcomings; Fleye has gone back to the drawing board to imagine the future of autonomous flying robots. The resulting product is safer, more robust and easier to use," Fleye says.
According to Eschenauer, he got the idea based on his children's behavior toward traditional drones.
"My children have been quite scared by my drones. I was looking for problems to solve in the drone area. Safety looked like a key one," he tells TechnoBuffalo.
Design-wise, it looks like something out of a sci-fi story with its futuristic and glossy appearance. Eschenauer even says the device can possibly be used for training purposes in the future.
Fleye can be controlled using the startup's own smartphone app, which supports both iOS and Android. Also, it can be set to simply hover or fly on its own to a specified location. When it's moving, it detects the environment so that it won't run into people or objects, and even when it's pushed away at a short distance, it'll still be able to continue to its destination.
Currently, the flying robot can go only about 10 miles per hour at top speed, which is slower than most drones, but faster improved versions are in the foreseeable future.
It is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera that's perfect for taking shots from varying angles. On top of that, it can also capture videos using Selfie and Panorama modes, supporting 1080p at 30 fps.
The pledges range from $10 up to $4,221. The Super Early Bird pledge is the lowest price set at $632, but it unfortunately ran out of spots. The current most affordable price is $738 for the Early Bird pledge.
It seems that a lot of people are interested in the project, and those who want to get their hands on the flying robot might need to hurry with their preorders for the Early Bird spots.
Fleye will ship to supporters sometime in September 2016.
Hit up the video below to see the possibilities that Fleye has to offer in the drone scene.
