Indoor fully-functional mini-helicopter

May 1, 2007 09:27 GMT  ·  By

HeliBots are tiny helicopters used in reconnaissance missions by really bored people (Ok, and probably by kids too). You must've heard about the WoWee DragonFly and Micro Mosquito HeliBots. Well, here's another cute one that should help you do some effective helibot-mapping around your obscure workplace.

The CAUL (Car Action Unit's Line) Helibot utilizes simple remote-controlled micro electric rotors in order to keep an eye on an area. The cool part is that, unlike other HeliBots, CAUL's "eye in the ceiling" has a little guy wearing a jet-pack instead of the tiny helicopter case.

Here's a short descriptionof the CAUL HeliBot. The white plastic guy that pilots it is tethered to a backpack which is tied to a main rotor that produces the vertical lift. Another tail rotor provides the horizontal thrust. A standard joypad-like remote control is used to send 2.4 Ghz signals to manipulate the HeliBot's air path. It may seem like the guy is holding ski sticks, but those thin beams you see in the picture are actually load balancers that give the tiny toy the needed aerodinamic shape when flying in undercover missions.

The device measures (W) 200 x (H) 15.60 x (D) 120 cm and weighs only 12 grams. It can fly for approximately 5 minutes on a full battery charge. Since it only boasts a range of 30 meters, do remember to stay close to the guy when he departs for your colleague's desk inspection mission. Too bad the remote can't let you control more than one of these reconnaissance robots.

CAUL the HeliBot can be pre-ordered starting with mid-late July from the Tomy gift store.

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