Check up on things inside your house while you’re away.
We’ve all been there: You leave your house, only to question 10 minutes later as to whether or not you turned off the stove or put on the alarm. What if, instead of calling a neighbor or going all the way back home, you could just pick up your smartphone and have a drone check for you? This is the idea behind Rook, an indoor quadcopter designed by a team of Northwestern engineering students who together make up the startup Eighty Nine Robotics.
Rook is a small, lightweight and remotely-controlled drone suitable for use inside your humble abode. It connects to your home’s Wi-Fi network and is flown with the help of your mobile device, with which you could keep an eye on on things, monitor pets, see where you left your wallet, and even offer an HGTV-like virtual tour of your living space. Meaning, you’ll never have to worry again if you closed the door behind you or unplugged the iron.
Rook is equipped with a mounted camera that provides live-streaming to your smartphone as it soars through the house. To control the drone, simply point and drag the direction you want to go on your screen. When done, fly your Rook back over to its charging dock, which can refuel the battery in an hour. At the moment, it can only last in the air for roughly five minutes, though that should be plenty of time to check up on things while you’re away.
Built with safety and indoor use in mind, Rook features soft blade guards, speed limits for novice pilots and flight stabilization software. Looking ahead, the Eighty Nine Robotics crew intends on enhancing its capabilities with voice-activated commands, timed flights, triggered routines via the cloud, as well as integration with your smart home equipment.
Intrigued? Fly on over to its Indiegogo campaign, where Eighty Nine Robotics is currently seeking $20,000. Delivery is expected to get underway in December 2016.
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