Consumer and media drones are becoming increasingly popular among the masses. However, most of the drones available in the market are capable of either fixed wing flights like aeroplanes or hovering like helicopters. But recently, dual flight capability drones are becoming more and more popular. After Skyprowler and XPLusOne, Vertex is also equipped with dual flight capacity.
Both the hovering and fixed wing function are important according to the scenario. If we want to monitor a high rise building in the case of an emergency, hovering will be the appropriate way. If we want to gather some speed to have a bird’s eye view of an area, fixed wing flight will prove more useful.
The Vertex’s astute design is comprised of four independently rotating propellers, landing wheels capable of being steered along and retractable wings that can be replaced or even removed if necessary. A significant improvement in the design is that it can switch to either flight mode at any height or speed. It is an important step forward in this field as previously, changing at high speed left the aircraft in disarray, and it crashed as a result. This switching is done with the help of a button on the radio. When we press that button, the propellers realign to adjust to the other flight pattern.
A 2-degree optical mount can be equipped with a GoPro camera to record aerial footage. The drone is remotely controlled for now, but a semi-autonomous flight system is also on the cards. A 5300 mAh battery provides power to the Vertex that lasts about 35 minutes of fixed wing flight or 15 minutes of hovering.
ComQuest Ventures is the company behind the Vertex, and it is currently seeking funding through Kickstarter. An initial pledge of 1,550$ would be enough to get your hands on the drone if the company is successful in achieving its targets. Take a look at the video below: