Small, lightweight, and surprisingly sophisticated, the SKEYE Nano Drone is way cool (and required for your office)
I’ve tested all sorts of quadcopters but the SKEYE Nano Drone is the smallest and most affordable smart drone so far. Measuring a measly 1.57 by 1.57 inches and weighing 0.42 ounces, the SKEYE Nano Drone features six-axis stabilization (3 piezo gyros and 3 accelerometers) that make it possible for us less than expert pilots to fly a device that would otherwise be incredibly unstable.
I’ve managed to get it hovering and flipping but, so far, a banked turn eludes me; maybe that’s something that only works if you fly in a mode other than Beginner (the included controller also lets you choose Mid-Level and Expert modes).
The SKEYE has LEDs on each arm that display status and make it easier to figure out the craft’s orientation. With a flight time of around 7 minutes and a recharge time of 30 minutes this is a remarkable flying machine for it’s list price of $59 … but wait! You can find the gadget sold by affiliates for under $35!
Curiously, there are any number of competitors offering what appear to be identical products for around $20 but the SKEYE’s manufacturer, TRNDlabs, tells me these are Chinese knock-offs with a poor build quality.
I’ve looked around online to see if anyone has hacked this remarkably sophisticated quadcopter yet but apparently no one’s had “at it” yet, which is a shame because at this price you could have a fleet of them controlled by your desktop or smartphone or, even better, by a Linux system such as the CuBox-i4Pro which would be insanely cool. Imagine having a drone swarm in your office …
I’ll give the SKEYE Nano Drone a Gearhead Rating of 5 out of 5 for sheer fun.
