A familiar environment for prototyping drone solutions

Sep 13, 2016 00:20 GMT  ·  By

Softpedia was informed by Canonical about their new partnership with Parrot, the famous wireless products manufacturer based in Paris, France, to distribute a drone development kit powered by Snappy Ubuntu Core.

Dubbed Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk, the new development kit is here to help developers create obstacle avoidance and autonomous robots and drones that use the slimmed-down version of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution designed for embedded and IoT (Internet of Things) devices, Ubuntu Snappy Core, as well as ROS (Robot Operating System).

"Parrot developed S.L.A.M.dunk to be as easy and user-friendly as possible for developers, researchers, integrators, and academics," reads the press release. "All Ubuntu functionalities and benefits from ROS (Robot Operating System) framework are embedded in the Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk making it user-friendly. The HDMI port makes it possible to develop directly on the product."

What can you do with Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk

Weighing only 140g, Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk boasts some impressive specifications, such as an Nvidia Tegra K1 next-generation mobile processor, a built-in fish-eye stereo camera with 1500×1500 pixel resolution capable of recording videos at 60fps, an inertial-measurement unit (IMU), an ultrasound sensor, a magnetometer, and a barometer.

Best of all, Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk offers an HDMI port so you can transform it into a full-fledged Ubuntu 14.04 LTS PC. You can use Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk for many interesting scenarios that involve flying things, including prototyping of drones and robotic solutions, 3D mapping and autonomous driving of robots and drones, or data gathering.

More details about Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk are available in a detailed report written by Canonical's Thibaut Rouffineau, but please note that it is not yet generally available. Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk is set to be officially launched sometime in Q4 2016. In the meantime, check out some press screenshots of it in action!

Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk turned into an Ubuntu PC
Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk turned into an Ubuntu PC

Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk (4 Images)

Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk specs
Parrot S.L.A.M.dunk attached to a droneParrot S.L.A.M.dunk
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