Dubbed the “first plane Minidrone with vertical take-off and forward flight” the Parrot Swing is a hybrid that switches from quadcopter to plane, so the pilot gets the benefits of both.
The ultra-lightweight Parrot Swing (2.6 oz.) is dedicated to performing aerial tricks at high speed, the X-shaped wings allow for both vertical and horizontal flying modes. In fact, the Swing’s ability to go back to the vertical position in quadcopter mode is very useful, since it provides far more control than the horizontal flying mode. For instance, you can stop the drone by pushing a button and it will switch back to the quadcopter mode and stay still in the air, which is impossible to do with a plane drone, like the Parrot Disco.
According to Parrot, this is how the embedded technology works:
A 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis gyroscope measure the motion and the angle of the Parrot Swing and the autopilot adjusts its position. Additionally, the autopilot automatically maintains the mini aircraft at a constant altitude in plane mode.
In quadcopter mode, a camera constantly compares the current image of the ground to the previous one, every 16 milliseconds, to calculate the speed. The camera can also take VGA (460×680) photos of the ground or the landscape while in horizontal position. The 1 GB internal memory stores up to 400 pictures. An ultrasound sensor captures the flight altitude up to 13 ft, and at higher altitude a pressure sensor helps to control the Swing.
There are two ways to control the Parrot Swing. You can either use your smartphone by downloading the control app, or use the included Parrot Flypad controller. The advantage of the Flypad is that you get up to 60 metres range, whereas your smartphone’s connection will likely max out at 20 metres.
While the Parrot Swing is not explicitly designed for exclusive indoor use, its size and weight mean it’s much easier to fly indoors than a “proper” drone. It’s also so small and light that any wind outdoors will easily send it off course, into a tree, shed, or person.
Being so small and light means it’s very responsive though. For the most part, that’s what you want in a drone. You want to know that your joystick control results in a swift, fast movement. But in a confined space, that’s not always a good thing: we crashed into a few windows, door frames and ceilings by generally trying to be a bit too clever.
When the Parrot Swing drone detects impact it tends to shut off the propellers and go in to freefall, which sounds a lot worse than it is. Its size and weight mean that when it does fall, there’s no real damage upon impact with the ground. It’s not really heavy enough to break; it generally just falls like a feather and lands on its side.
The biggest negative about flying the Swing drone is that while you’re getting to grips with the controller and drone response, the battery dies. Fortunately there’s a second spare one in the box, but it’s still not quite enough.
The plane mode allows for 8.30 minutes of flying on a single charge, while in quadcopter it lasts only 7 minutes. The charging time for the ultra-lightweight 550 mAh battery is quite fast, it required only 30 minutes with a 2.1A.
Parrot Swing is a fun toy to fly with and the price point is fine at around $120.If you’re looking at drones as a serious investment and want to get a powerful and portable drone to capture stunning aerial footage, the Mavic Pro is the way to go.
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