Well here is something new! A drone called the Seeker drone from RadioPlane that can be outfitted with a metal detector. It can then autonomously fly low over the ground and help clear areas of landmines, which are still a problem in many parts of the world. To be clear, this is the main goal of the company behind this new drone. If that is not good enough, supposedly the drone can also help you find gold while you kick back and maybe take a nap. This all sounds very ambitious, but hey, you never know. RadioPlane will be launching a Kickstarter campaign next week to make this new drone a reality. So, if you’re interested… early birds can pick one up for $3,400.
The drone that finds what you seek
RadioPlane Seeker drone
Radioplane, a new player in the drone sphere is introducing a next generation, highly adaptable, modular drone for serious work and adventure. The state of the art Seeker drone is designed to carry many different types of equipment for a multitude of tasks autonomously, automatically and continuously.
The Seeker drone is a highly precise flying device that can be programmed to take off, travel a predetermined flight path over an area while avoiding obstacles and flying as low as mere centimeters above the ground. When it runs low on power, it finds its way back to a special RadioPlane Charging Pad where it automatically recharges itself and resumes its mission until completed.
The drone has front and rear mounts with multiple interfaces for connecting RadioPlane or third-party modules, a true playground for scientists and tinkerers. There are several modules in the pipeline for the Seeker drone and development of further modules by third-party researchers and inventors is actively being supported.
The first completed RadioPlane module – a metal detector attached to the rear mount is currently being prepared for official certification so that it can be used to help clear landmine fields around the world – our current main goal. It doubles as an advanced automatic gold detector, revolutionizing the task of finding precious or other metals autonomously while you do other things.
The Seeker drone works in tandem with the RadioPlane Ground Control Station which processes data and sends and receives instructions to and from the Seeker and the RadioPlane Charging Pad which the drone lands on for automatic recharging.
The Seeker drone is made of an elegant, super rigid carbon frame that folds neatly into a 17″ laptop case. It has smart vibration dampening, smart batteries, multiple RadioPlane universal bus connections and conductive landing legs for automatic battery recharging.
It has a flight time of up to 50 minutes depending on the weight and shape of any attachments. Fully equipped with our metal detector module, flight times average 25 minutes.
The Seeker navigates its environment through a network of cameras, GPS and GNSS systems, range finders and multiple sensors all controlled by advanced proprietary and open source software running on a fast computer chip. We have tested our fully autonomous flight system and have achieved impressive results.
The Seeker can be controlled by a long-range remote controller or the RadioPlane mission planner app for shorter distances if you wish to fly the drone manually. Otherwise, activate fully automatic operation in our Mission Planning app.
The RadioPlane Mission Planning app is easy to use. Simply draw a flight path on a touch screen and press start. The app can notify one or multiple users simultaneously if it discovers something in real time and any discoveries are logged for future reference.
Many spare parts can be printed locally using our modifiable 3d printing files. The open design of the Seeker base drone allows it to serve as a carrier for all kinds of modules weighing up to 1kg – from cameras and infrared sensors to tree planting modules and inflatable rescue devices. We hope users will come up with many innovative ideas.
We will be crowdfunding our drone on Kickstarter in the next week. A follow-up e-mail with the link to our campaign will be sent out or you can check the front page of our website next week to find a link to our campaign.
For more information, please contact us at info@radioplane.one, visit our website to sign up for our newsletter, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and soon you can watch us on Youtube.
RadioPlane LLC is a company dedicated to making technologically advanced, useful, benign tools. Our hardware and software engineers have been drone enthusiasts for the better part of a decade – building and programming quadcopters primarily for aerial video and photography. RadioPlane was founded to take advantage of this expertise and focus is on developing products that solve problems. Our first aim is to find and defuse explosives. Parallel to this objective is making our drones, modules and other technology available for other meaningful and/or fun purposes.
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