Parrot Disco Ultra-Light Fixed-Wing Drone Announced at CES, Taking Flight in 2016

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Parrot, French purveyor of drones, mini-drones, and car speakerphones, unveiled their Parrot Disco prototype at CES today.  It’s an ultra-light airplane-shaped drone with fixed wings on the side, a 1080p camera on the nose, and a propeller in the rear.  Its wings are detachable for easy travel and to start flying, the pilot simply tosses it into the air.

The Disco can be controlled using Parrot’s Skycontroller, connected via extended range WiFi, or with Parrot’s Flight Plan app.  Disco contains the same 3-axis digital camera stabilization that Parrot uses in their Bebop drone camera to enable smooth first-person view on the controller.  For ease of use, the Disco also takes off and lands on it’s own thanks to the built-in GPS technology.  Parrot is also working on an “autopilot” mode that allows users to control some of the flight while ensuring a smooth flight with no crashes or stalls.

Check out Gear Diary’s Quick Look from the floor of CES, below:

See below for the full list of the Parrot Disco prototype’s features:

  • Front nose camera FullHD 1080P
  • First person view thanks to live video stream
  • Lightweight and robust design to ease maneuverability
  • Automatic take-off and landing thanks to ground sensors
  • Easy to pilot thanks to assisted flying modes
  • Flight time around 45 minutes
  • Waypoints with Flight Plan (* in-app purchase)
  • GPS return home
  • Extended Wi-Fi range with Parrot Skycontroller
  • Detachable wings for easy transport
Parrot hopes to make the Disco available to the public later in 2016.  Are you sold on a fixed wing drone?  Personally, I’m worried that a nose-down crash could damage the camera lens too easily, but I would love to take the Disco for a spin.

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About the Author

Perry Brauner
I'm an architect by trade, but the overarching theme of my life has always been trying to keep up with the newest, coolest technology. Ever since I picked up an NES controller, I've been hooked on the latest and greatest gadgets, gizmos, and toys. Whether it's gaming, mobile phones, and accessories, or PCs and Apple products, I'm interested. I use many Apple products in my daily life, such as the iPhone, iPad, and my MacBook Pro. I've also built a few PCs in my day, so I'd like to say that I'm a pretty well-rounded techie.