3D Robotics Consumer IRIS Gains Altitude

3D Robotics has begun shipping its first personal drone built with the consumer in mind. Smart, flexible and reliable,IRIS is not just an RC quadcopter, but a fully autonomous platform that supports professional-grade aerial imaging and data gathering at an affordable price.

The IRIS launch follows months of rigorous beta testing. Starting in Sept. 2013, hundreds of 3DR early adopters purchased the IRIS developer edition, sharing their feedback in the IRIS-Developer community forum. This led to several key hardware and software enhancements, including improvements to Pixhawk, our newly released autopilot.

The result is a flexible and robust aerial platform, capable of flying autonomous missions from a laptop, Android smart phone or tablet. IRIS offers virtually unlimited way points for reliable, repeatable missions. Built to accommodate a GoPro HERO3 camera, IRIS captures breathtaking aerial imaging for consumer enjoyment or business applications.

Based on open source hardware, software and firmware, the 3DR platform is highly flexible and configurable, enabling boundless innovative applications, including infrared and thermal imaging, surveying, geofenced mapping and 3D modeling. We expect this platform to be used across a broad range of industries, including cinematography, agriculture, construction, search and rescue, ecological study and education.

“We’re still in the first minute of the day of the personal drone age, and many of the ultimate applications for such low-cost aerial robots are yet to be discovered,” says Chris Anderson, 3DR co-founder and CEO. “Our open platform is designed to make it easy for users, entrepreneurs and developers to build on IRIS to explore such applications.”

You can learn more about IRIS on the 3D Robotics website.