Parrot AR.Drone
French quadcopter
AR.Drone
a Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 in the air
Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 in flight
General information
TypeUnmanned aerial vehicle
National originFrance
ManufacturerParrot SA
History
Manufactured2010–c. 2018
Introduction dateJanuary 2010

The Parrot AR.Drone is a discontinued remote-controlled quadcopter, built by the French company Parrot.

Design and development

AR.Drone pre-production prototype with outdoor hull

The Parrot AR.Drone was unveiled at the International CES 2010 in Las Vegas along with a demonstration of the iOS applications used to control it.[1] The main airframe of the AR.Drone is constructed from PA66 plastic and carbon fiber tubes.[2][3] Two interchangeable hulls were supplied with the airframe, one is designed for indoor and one for outdoor flight; the former made of expanded polypropylene (EPP) foam with bumpers to protect the propellers at the cost of reduced flight performance.[3][4] The AR.Drones is powered by four brushed or brushless DC electric motors, depending on the version, and a 1000 mAh lithium polymer battery gives the drone a maximum flight time of 15 minutes.[3] The drone was released alongside several augmented reality games, allowing users to race through obstacle courses or engage in simulated dogfights between multiple AR.Drones.[5][6] The drone has an embedded computer with an ARM9 processor and a Linux operating system.[3]

AR.Drone application HUD

The AR.Drone is designed to be controlled by mobile or tablet operating systems, such as iOS or Android[7] within their respective apps or the unofficial software available for Windows Phone, Samsung BADA and Symbian devices.[8]

The successor to the original drone, the AR.Drone 2.0, was unveiled at CES Las Vegas 2012.[9] The AR.Drone 2.0 is outwardly similar to its predecessor, being powered by four brushless motors, but has several internal improvements including an ARM Cortex-A8 processor, a 3-axis magnetometer, and an upgraded camera with a 720p resolution.[9][10] The drone also features a pressure sensor which Parrot claims allows it to fly up to 164 feet (50 m), though flight testing by Popular Science found that the WiFi link between the drone and controlling device would disconnect before reaching that altitude.[10] The AR.Drone 2.0 was released alongside a new flight app which was backwards compatible with the original AR.Drone.[9][10] Popular Science praised the AR.Drone 2.0 for its improved ease of use over its predecessor, but criticized its average flight time of 15–25 minutes.[10]

At CES 2013, Parrot announced the Flight Recorder add-on for the AR.Drone 2.0, which the company compared to the "black box" of a commercial aircraft. It adds 4GB of storage to the drone, along with GPS tracking and flight data recording. Flight Recorder features can be controlled via mobile phone and desktop applications, with "Director Mode" and "Rescue Mode" included. An extended battery designed to increase flight time by up to 50% was also launched alongside the Flight Recorder.[11]

By February 2018, the AR.Drone 2.0 Elite Edition and Power Edition were no longer being sold.[12]

Operational history

Third party uses

Lithium polymer battery for Parrot AR.Drone with JST-XH connector (right) and mini-Tamiya connector (left) [13]

To aid third-party developers, Parrot launched the AR.Drone open API game development platform.[14] Due to this open platform, affordability, and wide range of onboard sensory equipment, the AR.Drone is becoming an increasingly popular tool in research and education.[15][16] It has been used for experiments with visual-based autonomous navigation,[17][18][19] autonomous surveillance,[20] and human-machine interaction.[21]

In France, the AR.Drone 2.0 was tested by a Special Operations unit for aerial reconnaissance,[22] while other companies have been developing software that allows the drone to track sports activities,[23] and generate training feedback.[24] An AR.Drone was used by Tim Pool during the Occupy Wall Street protest, running modified software that allowed it to stream directly to an internet channel. He theorized that a chain of command could be set up, where multiple people could step up and take control should the primary operator be detained by police. To further this, he began the development of a new control system, replacing the existing Wi-Fi hotspot with a 3G chip. This would allow users to control drones via the internet, and potentially from remote locations.[25]

Reception

By early 2013, around half a million units of the AR.Drone and its successor had been sold.[26] It received a 2010 CES Innovations award for Electronic Gaming Hardware,[27] and was also awarded Best Smart Product of 2015 according to Wellbots Top 25 Smart Products Ranking of 2015.[28] The AR.Drone 2.0 was praised for the relative ease with which pilots could learn how to fly it; the original release required more intense practice.[29]

Since its release, individuals,[30][31] organizations, and governments have expressed concern over the use of AR.Drones for surveillance. Although the technology required to feed and record live video taken from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) existed before the release of the AR.Drone was not widely available to members of the public. In Germany, consumer affairs minister Ilse Aigner described the drone as a privacy threat, and called for restrictions to be placed on the use of cameras mounted on aerial platforms.[32] A UK advertising campaign, showing an AR.Drone being flown into the grounds of Buckingham Palace was withdrawn after concerns that it was demonstrating illegal use of the drone.[33] In the US, the use of AR.Drones are governed by the Federal Aviation Administration at the Federal level and local jurisdiction,[34] which restricts the use of small UAS above 400 ft (120 m).[35]

Variants

US Navy STEM drone demonstration using an original AR.Drone with an indoor hull.
AR.Drone
Original variant with PA66 and carbon fiber tube construction, four brushed or brushless electric motors, a 480p forward-facing camera, a 144p downward camera, and interchangeable indoor and outdoor hulls.[2][3][4] Power is provided by a single 1000 mAh lithium polymer battery, giving it a maximum flight time of 15 minutes.[3] Announced in January 2010.[1]
AR.Drone 2.0 in flight with outdoor hull
AR.Drone 2.0
Improved AR.Drone with brushless motors, an ARM Cortex-A8 processor, a 3-axis magnetometer, a 720p front camera, an air pressure sensor, and a flight time of 15–25 minutes.[9][10] Announced in January 2012.[9] An optional "Flight Recorder" add-on and an high density battery were also made available.[11]
AR.Drone 2.0 Power Edition
Improved AR.Drone 2.0 with the 1500 mAh high density lithium polymer battery as standard equipment, giving it a flight time to 18 minutes per battery.[36][37]
AR.Drone 2.0 Elite Edition
AR.Drone 2.0 but with three camouflage hull patterns; sand, snow, and jungle.[38][39]
AR.Drone 2.0 GPS Edition
AR.Drone 2.0 with a GPS module that connects to its USB port, allowing for autonomous flight, flight recording, and a "Return Home" feature.[40][41]

Specifications (AR.Drone)

Data from [3]

General characteristics

  • Length: 0.45 m (1 ft 6 in) (0.525 m (1 ft 8.7 in) with indoor hull)
  • Width: 0.29 m (11 in) (0.515 m (1 ft 8.3 in) with indoor hull)
  • Empty weight: 0.360 kg (1 lb) (0.400 kg (0.88 lb) with indoor hull)
  • Battery: 11.1V 1000 MAh lithium polymer battery
  • Powerplant: 4 × 15W brushed or brushless DC electric motors
  • Propellers: 2-bladed Carbon tube propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 18 km/h (11 mph, 9.7 kn)
  • Endurance: 15 minutes

Avionics

  • Camera:
  • 640×480 pixel 15 FPS CMOS front camera
  • 176×144 pixel 60 FPS CMOS vertical camera

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References

  1. ^ a b "The iPhone: Now There's a Helicopter for That". Associated Press in the NBC News. January 8, 2010. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Parrot AR.drone launches at E3". sUAS News. 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Anderson, Chris (January 6, 2010). "Parrot AR.Drones specs". DIYDrones. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  4. ^ a b "Parrot AR.Drone hits the US this September for $299, we go hands-on with video!". Engadget. 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  5. ^ Kuchera, Ben (2010-06-15). "Parrot AR.Drone to attack this September, for $300". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  6. ^ "Parrot AR.Drone gets multi-platform support and new games". New Atlas. 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  7. ^ "AR.Drone coming to Android, gets new multiplayer games". 2010-06-08.
  8. ^ Alan Brandon (6 January 2010). "Control your own augmented reality aerial drone? There's an app for that". Retrieved 7 January 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d e Aufranc (CNXSoft), Jean-Luc (2012-01-13). "Parrot AR.Drone 2.0: Linux based Augmented Reality Helicopter - CNX Software". CNX Software - Embedded Systems News. Retrieved 2025-07-19.
  10. ^ a b c d e Dillow, Clay (2012-07-03). "Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 Review: Fly Higher, Farther, and More Intuitively". Popular Science. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  11. ^ a b Heater, Brian (17 June 2013). "Parrot announces availability for AR.Drone 2.0 add-ons, offers software upgrades". Engadget. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 Elite Edition". Parrot Official. Archived from the original on 2018-02-12. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  13. ^ Parrot AR.Drone battery technical details Archived August 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "The Coolest Video Game? It's A Hovercraft". NBC Universal, Inc. March 16, 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  15. ^ Tom Krajnik. "ARDrone quadcopter in robotics research". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  16. ^ Jürgen Sturm. "Visual Navigation for Flying Robots". Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  17. ^ Cooper Bills; Joyce Chen; Ashutosh Saxena. "Autonomous MAV Flight in Indoor Environments using Single Image Perspective Cues" (PDF). Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  18. ^ Jakob Engel; Jürgen Sturm; Daniel Cremers. "Camera-Based Navigation of a Low-Cost Quadrocopter" (PDF). Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  19. ^ Jakob Engel; Jürgen Sturm; Daniel Cremers. "Accurate Figure Flying with a Quadrocopter Using Onboard Visual and Inertial Sensing" (PDF). Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  20. ^ Jan Faigl; Tom Krajnik; Vojta Vonasek; Libor Preucil. "Surveillance Planning with Localization Uncertainty for UAVs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  21. ^ Wai Shan Ng; Ehud Sharlin. "Collocated Interaction with Flying Robots" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  22. ^ "Special Operation Unit tests AR.Drone 2.0". Parrot Blog. Parrot. 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  23. ^ Gilbert, Jason (2012-06-07). "Joggobot Is A Drone Helicopter Who Wants To Be Your Jogging Trainer". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  24. ^ Keita Higuchi, Tetsuro Shimada & Jun Rekimoto (13 March 2011). "Flying sports assistant: External visual imagery representation for sports training". Proceedings of the 2nd Augmented Human International Conference. pp. 1–4. doi:10.1145/1959826.1959833. ISBN 9781450304269. S2CID 3336372. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  25. ^ Sharkey, Noel & Knuckey, Sarah (2011-12-21). "Occupy Wall Street's 'occucopter' - who's watching whom?". Guardian. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  26. ^ Cornish, David (2013-03-17). "ESA launches drone app to crowdsource flight data". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  27. ^ Gaudiosi, John (2010-01-09). "CES 2010: The Hottest iPhone Game in the World". GamerLive.TV. Archived from the original on 2011-04-16. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  28. ^ Berdugo, Philippe (2015-12-01). "Wellbots top 25 smart products of 2015". wellbots.com. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  29. ^ Dillow, Clay (2012-07-03). "Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 Review: Fly Higher, Farther, and More Intuitively". Popular Science. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  30. ^ "Google chief urges action to regulate mini-drones". BBC News. BBC. 2013-04-13. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
  31. ^ Subbaraman, Nidhi (2013-03-24). "The drones are coming ... but our laws aren't ready". NBC News. NBC. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
  32. ^ Mortimer, Gary (2011-01-02). "Parrot AR.Drone causes German politicians to debate privacy and sUAS". sUAS. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  33. ^ Mortimer, Gary (2010-09-25). "UK CAA underline legal position for sUAS". sUAS News. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  34. ^ "FAA Drone Regulations". Quadcopter Academy. 2014-06-12.
  35. ^ "Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Regulations (Part 107)". Federal Aviation Administration. 6 October 2020. Archived from the original on 10 August 2025. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  36. ^ "Parrot News: It's a bird, it's a plane – The AR.Drone 2.0 Power Edition Takes Flight!". sUAS News. 2013-08-15. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  37. ^ "Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 Power Edition Specs". Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  38. ^ Couts, Andrew (2013-12-25). "Hands On: Parrot AR.Drone 2 Elite Edition". Digital Trends. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  39. ^ Robert Roy Britt (2014-02-15). "Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 Quadricopter: A Drone Anyone Can Fly". Live Science. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  40. ^ "Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 goes solo with GPS flight". CNET. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  41. ^ Martin, Joel (16 August 2014). "Parrot AR.Drone2.0 – GPS Edition Teardown". EE Times. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Parrot AR.Drone.
  • Official site for AR.Drone 2 HD
  • Official website (in English)
  • Official site for AR.Drone game developers
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