If you want to shoot underwater but can’t cough up enough money to purchase those high end drones, such as HexH2o, then we suggest you look at Urban Drones’ Splash Drone. This drone is an economical alternative and although it resembles a quadcopter, the ABS body is fully watertight.
Users can attach a GoPro camera on the underside on a waterproof 2-axis gimbal and then fly it to the area where they want to take pictures underwater. Once the drone is in the area, it simply has to be landed on water where it will float on surface while the camera is submerged. The drone stays there till the time it is commanded to take off again.
The camera features a built-in transmitter which enables to transmit live video feed to the user for a range of about 1.6km. The drone can be flown in real time through a radio remote control unit that comes as part of the package or it can be piloted via flight plan that can be laid out on the accompanying app. The app can also have the drone float in Follow Me mode. In this mode, the drone simply follows the user (following the tracking device that gets attached to the smartphone).
To make it more practical, it sports a flare holder that has been located on the top to allow the drone to serve as an emergency beacon. It comes with a payload release mechanism as well through which the drone can drop cargo. The battery shall provides 15 minutes of flight time once fully charged. As of now, Urban Drones is busy raising funds on Kickstarter. A pledge of $799 will warrant you one ready to fly unit. The retail price, however, is said to be $1,199.
