Hands-on With the Flytech Dragonfly
Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:41PM EST
See Comments (5)
So far I haven't had a chance to once again applaud the folks at Wowwee on the company's wham-bam slew of new robotic goodies on display at CES, and, more recently, at a toy fair in London. Besides the Homer Simpson Homersapien and Spiderman-esque Spideysapien that Gina wrote about yesterday, Wowwee recently unveiled the Roboquad, as well as the cute little RoboPanda (pictured below with its creator Michael Trzecieski) that says funny stuff when you shake him/her (for video of the RoboPanda, check out Becky's footage from CES). And let's not forget the RS Media that, alas, did not win our Last Gadget Standing contest. But one of my favorite doodads of the new crop is the Flytech Dragonfly, which is the world's first RC insect.
Though made of mere "carbon-fiber," which feels a lot like styrofoam (the body), and cellophane-like plastic (the wings), the Dragonfly does a remarkably smooth and realistic job of flying around on a mere 20-minute charge. Unlike the MicroMosquito, a similarly delicate and inexpensive RC "insect" that looks more like a helicopter, the Dragonfly is easy to control, even for beginners, or at least that was my experience trying it out on the CES show floor. The typical RC remote lets you control the flap-speed of the wings and steer. The Dragonfly is actually borderline scary, what with those crazy insect-like wings a-flapping.
One word of caution: Make sure you have plenty of space to fly this thing around. I just got one in the mail, but it's been tough to get the RC creature off the ground in my small, gadget-cluttered apartment since it keeps bumping into things (and tripping over wires) before it can take off. I'm going to give it a run outside tomorrow (at the risk of breaking the indoors-optimized thing).
The Dragonfly launches a new division for WowWee, Flytech, which is devoted, naturally, to flying remote robo-contraptions. It will be available in March exclusively from Radio Shack for about $50.
RC fanatics: Any tips on making flying these contraptions a little easier?
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2 Posted by alern7 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:49PM EDT Report Abuse
HELO MY NAME IS ALLEN MY EMAIL ONLEY THE BULK HAS ALTER DATES 2031 &2038 WHAT DO I DO I HAVE DELETEED THEM AND THEY KEEP COMMING BACK THANK YOU.
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3 Posted by robertoschler on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:45PM EDT Report Abuse
What's ultra-cool about this ultra-light wing flapping robot is that the creator was a high school student named Sean Frawley. You can read more about Sean and his ornithopter designer here: http://www.robotsrule.com/html/flytech-dragonfly.php
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4 Posted by dls27seconds on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:45PM EDT Report Abuse
I have one of these little buggers and generally agree with Tom that it's easy to fly. It's keeping it flying that I had difficulties with! But, it's great fun for $50! Checkout my review (with LOADS of pictures and fan-site forums) at www.mydragonfly.info.
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5 Posted by deadmantagg on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:39PM EDT Report Abuse
i just bought 1 from target about a week ago, and, after a little practice outside in the street, it flys great! My boyfriend and I fight over who gets to fly it we both enjoy it so much. after you get used to the controls keeping it in the air for a few mins is a cinch- it flies great if you fly it with the direction of a light breeze and getting height is easier. it's worth the money (that's coming from a young couple without much money)
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1 Posted by fly47472 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:01PM EDT Report Abuse
I fly RC planes but this looks like it would be a lot of fun. A bit like a chopper?