For the rugged, outdoorsy type, navigating rough mountain trails can sometimes prove difficult when an obvious trail is obscured by boulders, trees, and hilltops. With a rugged and portable drone, however, an aerial view of the path ahead could give hikers a leg up on Mother Nature. This is what the makers of Backcountry Drones realized hiking through the wilderness surrounding Granite Mountain in Prescott, Arizona.
Backcountry Drones is in the process of developing a drone, dubbed First Ascent, ideal for backpackers and the like to capture quick photos of hiking trails and they’ve made significant progress. With just two motors and speed controllers, the Backcountry Drone prototype, a bit smaller than a Nalgene water bottle, features foldable propellers and a tough 3D printed exterior, perfect for portability. It’s been designed to be hand launched and to run autonomously, so that it can fly into the air, snap a photo, and descend to the ground. You can watch the development process in the video below:
This prototype has demonstrated the capabilities of the drone’s autopilot, as well as its flight performance and landing system. The next step for Backcountry Drones, to take place over the next four to six months, is to optimize the device’s size, through a combination of 3D printed and composite parts. The startup also hopes to pre-program the drone with a few a different missions. Then, with six to eight more months, First Ascent would be mass produced with injection molding using impact resistant plastics and a mobile app would allow users to create custom missions, dictate hazards to the drone, access flight data, and manual control of the device. They also hope to make it possible to swap out the type of camera that might be housed in the First Ascent drone.
So, when will all of this happen? You may have already guessed that Backcountry Drones will be initiating a Kickstarter in the near future. We wish them the best of luck and will keep you updated on the crowdfunding launch! Until then, check out their website for more information.
