A Dragonfly Robot
I got my FlyTech Dragonfly today. I had forgotten I ordered it … opening the box was a brief flash of genuine excitement … A dragonfly!!!!!!
Co-workers were as shocked at the $50 purchase as I was shocked that they couldn’t understand how cool this was … an RC dragonfly that flies by flapping its wings? … dude …. it has blue LEDs for eyes!!!
I found the FlyTech Dragonfly is tough to navigate in the two indoor spaces I tried: my open floor plan office and my apartment. They recommend 16×16 feet minimum for indoor flight, but I found even that to be too little. The ‘fly has large swings of pitch and yaw that I find difficult to control in small spaces. On the other hand, the ‘fly crashes into walls just like a real bug crashes into windows ;-) SMACK!!
But I had a great time just now taking the dragonfly out to the local park. His wings got wet from the dew on the grass. The ‘fly has about 10x more charm than an RC airplane or helicopter. Zipping by, close in, it felt more like a friend swinging by than a drone airplane.
Like the iPod, the ‘fly itself seems to have a non-replaceable internal battery. Interestingly, the way it works is you put 6 AA batteries in the remote control, and then you connect a cord to recharge the dragonfly’s internal recharchable battery. Charging takes about 20 minutes … flight time seems to be about 5-10 minutes. Never enough.
I think with some practice I will be able to launch Dragonfly from my 4th story balcony, fly around a bit, and then turn around for a SMACK!! landing against the sliding glass door. Naturally this will probably annoy my snotty neighbors
Link to FlyTech Dragonfly on Robots Rule
i love the wings! you could attach a note to the dragonfly and fly it into a *cute* neighbor’s apartment window :-)
This talk of remote control dragonflies reminds me of the book Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy. I read it in the late 80’s and it was written in 1974.
I want one! I’m buying one! How dose it do outside? Is it still stable or is it more of an indoor thing?
You should be at tronix showing us your robot. But you are not . So we are standing around talking about you instead.
My most creative act with the DragonFly was installing the batteries. When I actually *make* a robot I’ll bring it to ‘tronix.
T-WIL - the DragonFly does well outdoors if there is no wind. The slightest breeze will change the bugs course, which I think makes it fun.
Flying indoors is fun too but you need a lot of space, I would say at least 30×30 ft of unobstructed space, maybe your schools theater ;-)
Well I’m ordering one! I will take a video of it and post the link here!! Thanks fro the info! I dont want the wind to take it away! Off to school! lol