BYD and drone maker DJI have joined forces to create the Lingyuan, a vehicle-mounted drone system that costs just around P126,400, and is configured to work while the vehicle is moving. No, you are not in The Matrix.
Translating as ‘Spirit Kite,’ the science-fiction-sounding system involves a 30sqcm slim box fitted to the car’s roof, which can deploy a drone to be your car’s shadow.
This isn’t just a case of having a drone landing pad on the back of the motor. There’s been some serious integration, so the drone can soar, track the car, and re-dock safely while you cruise (albeit up to 25kph). During that time, the gizmo transmits images in real time to the vehicle’s central display.
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Yep, comfortably ensconced away from the rain, or in the luxury of air-conditioning, drivers use the car’s touchscreen to snap stills, hit pause/stop/record and/or share footage, enabling a one-person/one-camera/one-car filming job.
There’s also a choice of drones, too. While the Lingyuan hangar is set up to deliver a fast charge to the DJI Air 3S, the system will also work with a DJI Mavic 3, a model that needs a manual battery swap (arguably better for continuous filming). Underpinned by Huawei’s autonomous driving chip, either quadcopter can fly for up to 35 minutes, at more than 45kph, reportedly. Plan to shell out more on top of the Lingyuan’s price for either device, mind.
The new BYD Leopard 8 Drone Edition vehicle was used to showcase the thing on launch, but the carmaker has made it clear the system can be fitted to any model. BYD chief Chuanfu Wang said the company was keen to ‘democratise good technology.’ The brand has ambitions to be the world’s first to mass-produce vehicle-mounted drones.
When the time comes, we imagine there’ll be plenty of talk about permits and a higher price.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
