Parrot reimagines Bebop, Disco drones with thermal camera and 3D mapping options

By Hillary K. Grigonis May 8, 2017

parrot modifies disco bebop for business pro 3d modeling housemapping2 — Parrot

Parrot’s popular consumer drones, the Bebop and Disco, are getting a sleek upgrade with features like thermal imaging and 3D cameras. The company announced Monday, April 8, the launch of several new options, upgrading existing consumer drones for commercial use in agriculture, real estate and several other industries.

Industrial drones with cool cameras designed for things like thermal readings and 3D mapping aren’t new, but by modifying their consumer drones, Parrot is launching industrial-grade drones without the industrial-grade price or learning curve. The company is calling the solutions “end-to-end tools” that are reliable and affordable enough for small to midsized businesses.

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The Bebop, a small but affordable consumer drone, is getting even more flexibility with two new package options. The first is the Bebop Pro Thermal which adds a thermal camera to the Bebop Pro, designed for inspection and construction trades as well as for fire departments. The kit adds a FLIR One Pro camera as well as a thermal app, which gives an aerial heat map view in real time.

The second variation on the Bebop adds the software to enable the drone to create 3D maps from the air. The Parrot Bebop Pro 3D Modeling includes the Bebop 2 drone as well as a one-year license of the Pix4DModel software that allows the drone to create interactive 3D models. The package is being targeted towards real estate professionals, architects, craftsmen and property insurance brokers.

The Parrot Disco Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Disco, Parrot’s glider-style drone, has also been reimagined, but for agriculture. The Parrot Disco Pro AG is designed with sensors and analytic software to map crops, quickly determining data on how well the crops are faring. The package includes the drone along with the Skycontroller 2, Pix4Dcapture app, a one-year license to Airinov First, three batteries and a backpack to put it all in.

The commercial modifications are the result of the company’s shifting focus to commercial drones, a move the company shared earlier this year along with cutting a third of it’s workforce but something that has been in the works since 2012 through a mix of acquisitions and investments, including the Airinov and Pix4D software used in the latest announcements.

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Hillary K. Grigonis

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…

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