Drones have been around for years now, and dozens of companies are building these drones for various applications such as underwater coverage and aerial surveillance. Several companies are making underwater drones or submarines to capture the underwater world, and the newest one is the Gladius Ultra HD 4K Underwater drone.
The underwater drone Gladius comes in standard and advanced models, both weighing 3 kg (6.6 lb). A 30 meter (98 feet) tether attached to the drone connects to a Wi-Fi equipped buoy that tows along at the surface. The maximum dive depth of the Gladius is 100 meters, and an upgrade of a 100-meter cable is available for both of the versions. The Wi-Fi range for both of the models is different. The standard model has 30 meters (98 feet), but the advanced one offers a range of 500 meters (1,640 feet).
Gladius is controlled with a smartphone-compatible remote and the Wi-Fi range, added with the long tether that will allow the user to cover a considerable area. You might end up finding treasure chests buried beneath the oceans with a 1080p resolution, but that is the standard version only. The advanced version offers a maximum resolution of 4K. An onboard SD card will store the footage and the 16MP images. The vision of the drone is aided with the built-in 1,200-lumen LED spotlights.
Gladius is made with a neutrally-buoyant aluminum body and four thrusters. The lithium polymer battery packs allow a runtime of 3 hours at a 1.5-hour charge while offering a maximum speed of 2 meters per second. The remote control unit (similar to video-game controllers) is compatible with your Android or iOS smartphone and shows a 720p live footage from the drone camera.
Gladius ran a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo where it easily exceeded its pledged goal of $30,000. You could get the standard version with a pledge of $599 and the advanced version for $799. The drone is estimated to be shipped by August
You can see Gladius in action in the video below.
