Last December, GoPro announced its first ever drone, “Karma”, after deal with DJI fell apart. They also posted a video on YouTube titled “GoPro: Karma is coming”. The video was a 4K video shot supposedly using the Karma drone. However, GoPro did not show the drone itself. The secrecy heightened the interest of its users and the tech community.
A patent published last week revealed a drone designed by Ryan Goldstein, who works as a Mechanical Engineer in the Aerial Products division of GoPro. The drone is called QuadBox. Ryan published about this drone on his website in early 2015, before he began his employment with GoPro.
The patent pending drone is a fully self-enclosed drone. When packed, it will look like a rectangular box. The motors, propellers, electronics, landing gear, and camera are all fully enclosed within the main body and thus protected from external objects that can cause damage. To use the drone, a user first extends the motor arms from the main body. Then, the user retreives propellers from a pocket and attaches them to the motors. An interchangeable battery powers the drone. Now, the drone can fly and shoot awesome videos using its 4k camera, likely modeled on the latest of the Hero action cams.
Apart from the box design, the patent discloses two more designs of the drone:
1)Cylindrical design
2) Spherical design
The Karma drone is now expected to be launched later this year.
It will be good to see if it has similar features to any of the three designs disclosed in this patent.
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Until next time keep innovating and keep patenting.
Publication number: US 20160176520
Patent Title: SELF-ENCLOSED AIR VEHICLE
Publication date: Jun 23, 2016
Filing date: Dec 17, 2015
Inventors: Ryan Michael Goldstein;
Original Assignee: Ryan Michael Goldstein
