Lily follow-me camera drone flies itself
The Lily is a 2.8 lb device with 20 minutes of flight time (click to enlarge).
There seems to be an exploding market for drones right now. Some are toys and some are tools for photography or videography. But the most fascinating category for outdoor enthusiasts seems to be that of the ‘follow-me’ drone. These are the magical devices of formerly science-fiction lore where these drones follow you and capture your awesome activities on video. Because if you did something rad and no one saw it, did it really happen?
The formula for the follow-me drone category seems to be: Make an amazing promotional video that makes everyone look like a hero. Have everyone pay for the start-up costs. Then promise are delivery date that is very far away.
Well the Lily team seems to be following this script to perfection as they have produced an amazing promotional video. Throw it off a bridge and into the water. And have grandma throw it and catch it? As the saying goes, “Shut up and take my money.” View and see.
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vGcH0Bk3hg
Here is the fascinating introduction and funding video for the Lily. This video has been so successful in raising funds and awareness that they didn’t even need Kickstarter to generate a flood of pre-orders.
The Lily camera drone is applicable in a lot of sports and activities (click to enlarge).[/caption]
What does this have to do with mountain biking? Well our sport is one that frequently adorns these videos where are activities are captured on video. Can Lily do it? It certainly has all the right moves so given a wide open space, it should work. One key feature missing in the first revision is a collision avoidance system. So a tree or pole can be a problem if it’s in the flight path. But we’re sure that can be added in later versions.
One thing for sure, it will be interesting to see this space develop and see what these bright minds can deliver.
Specifications
- Body: Black polycarbonate and brushed aluminum
- Tracking device body: Polycarbonate
- Dimensions: 10.29” x 10.29” x 3.22”
- Weight: 2.8 lbs
- Tracking device dimensions: 2.37” x 0.75”
- Tracking device weight: 75g
- Lily’s sensors: Accelerometer, three-axis Gyro, magnetometer, barometer, GPS.
- Tracking device sensors: Accelerometer, barometer, GPS.
- Video: 1080p60 or 720p120 slo-mo
- Still photos: 12mp
- Tracking cameras: one front and one bottom
- Storage: Micro SD: 4gb card included
- File format: mp4
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObDvc1saMr4
The Lily staff showed off their product to Resource Magazine for a demonstration (click to enlarge).
The camera drone follows the person who wears this wrist device (click to enlarge).[/caption]
For more information visit www.lily.camera.
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