PowerEgg Drone Folds Up Into An 'Extremely Lightweight' Egg

Powervision Robot Inc has launched its first ever drone, the oddly shaped PowerEgg. Like its name suggests, the PowerEgg is shaped like an egg...and, you know, is powered. Or something like that. Unlike other consumer-level UAVs, the PowerEgg looks like a big egg with four armatures coming off it, each of them with rotors. Despite its weird shape, the PowerEgg can fly due to its "extremely lightweight" design, and when not in use, it simply folds up into a regular-looking (giant robot) egg.

Imagine that a robot, in some hopefully not-dystopian future, replicated by laying eggs. We imagine those eggs would look like the PowerEgg, the oddest looking drone we've seen to date. Upon first glance, one might be tempted to think it's too big to fly. That's not the case though, because as they say, looks can be deceiving. Rather, the drone has been constructed using lightweight materials suitable for the skies.

Powervision doesn't go into the finer details, though, so exactly how light the PowerEgg is isn't known.

In addition to the design, the drone is fitted with the features found on many drones. There's a camera, for example, one that can record 4K-resolution 360-degree video. The camera is joined by a 3-axis gimbal for movability, and there's support for long-range video transmission in real time, enabling live streaming from the sky.

Other features include what Powervision says is an "advanced optical flow indoor positioning system" — though Powervision doesn't go into details about that, we do know it will be used to help the drone navigate when being used indoors.

As far as control goes, Powervision describes PowerEgg's remote control as being "easy to use," and says they had the goal of making drone operation "something even a five-year-old can do." This is contrasted with the typical 10 or more hours the average person needs to learn how to fly a drone properly.

In a statement, Powervision CEO Wally Zheng said:

Powervision wanted to create a beautiful yet functional design for the PowerEgg. We think the oval shape is not only clean and pure but also has the structural and functional benefits. This simple yet vital design means that this is more than a flying robot but a work of art.

The company did not disclose when PowerEgg will be available (except that it will be in the second quarter of this year), nor how much consumers can expect to pay.

SOURCE: PRNewswire