The Lily Drone (Revisited)

Hey O&G Fans, today we are going to revisit a drone that was first reported by our tech guy Young last year. The Lily, Self-driving drone acts as a robot videographer, automatically following you anywhere. It starts recording videos as soon as you toss it into the air and is even waterproof, should you want to take it to the pool. A small tracking device lures Lily along as it uses technological wizardry to find the perfect shot.

The Lily isn't out for retail yet, but has had a big success in sales. The startup pulled in a whopping $34 million in pre-orders by the end of 2015, with 60,000 units already sold.

Here are some of the Specs for the Lily:

Battery and Power:

• Built-in Lithium-Ion Battery
• 20 min of flight time
• Charging via 10A charger
• 2-hour charge time

Waterproofing: Waterproof rating IP67

Flight:   Max. Altitude above head 50 feet (15 m)

               Min. Altitude above head 5 feet(1.75 m)

               Max. Speed 25mph (40 km/h)

               Max. Distance from user 100 feet (30 m)

               Min.  Distance from user 5 feet (1.75 m)

Camera: 

• Video Resolution: 1080p 60 fps / 720p 120 fps
• Video FOV: 94º
• Video Format: H.264 codec, .mp4 file format
• Photo Resolution: 12 MP
• Digital gimballing
• Image stabilization
• Fixed focus

Sensors: 

• Accelerometer
• Three-axis Gyro
• Magnetometer
• Barometer
• GPS
• Front-facing camera
• Bottom-facing camera

Memory: 

• 4GB micro SD provided
• External memory card slot

The Lily has a cool tracking sensor watch that you can wear on your wrist or put in your pocket.

The potential uses for this drone are great! I myself am wondering what cool things I can use it to record like my Convention coverage and Cosplay videos. I'm sure using it inside any convention area will require permission and legal paper work, but the video view would be worth it. The Lily costs $699 on pre-order, but will be $999 (around £650) when it goes on sale in May 2016.

by Sean Tucker