Sony recently announced that it was working with Japanese robotics company ZMP Inc. to create a fleet of commercial drones, designed to track and monitor areas that are otherwise difficult to access by humans.
Now, the Sony 'Aerosense' collaboration has unveiled its first two drone prototypes.
As the first video shows, the AS-DTO1-E is a UAV that looks like a mini airplane -- and can take off and land vertically. The "experimental machine" can also carry up to 22 pounds' worth of cargo and fly continuously for more than two hours, at a maximum speed of around 106MPH.
The second aircraft is dubbed the AS-MCOP-1, and is a lighter and more compact quadcopter. It also features an onboard camera, GPS and a navigation system.
Tokyo-based Aerosense has said it wants the drones, which are set to launch in early 2016, to be used by businesses looking to capture aerial imagery that can then be processed in the cloud, automating jobs such as inspecting infrastructure and carrying out surveys.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
