By Parrot
Parrot has already invaded the skies with its drones. Now, it’s now ready to sail the ocean blue.
Parrot has unveiled a slew of new drones designed to work at night, carry small items and cruise on water.
The Hydrofoil is the company’s first drone that combines a MiniDrone with, well, a hydrofoil — a structure that lifts a boat above the water. Once the MiniDrone is securely attached, it can be rotated 90 degrees upward to become a four-bladed propeller for water operation.
Like all of Parrot’s drones, the Hydrofoil is controlled via Bluetooth with a smartphone app. It can cruise at a maximum speed of 6.2 miles per hour on water for up to seven minutes; the MiniDrone itself can fly at up to 11.18 mph for up to nine minutes when detached from the boat half.
An onboard camera can take snapshots at 640 x 480 (VGA) resolution and save it to the 1GB of internal storage.
The Hydrofoil will come in two different finishes and cost about €169 (about $190) when it launches in July.