A Flying Camera for Extreme Sports Fans

Entrepreneurial Latvian sports enthusiasts, Janis Spogis and Edgars Rozentals were fed up of hearing from friends that there was no drone on the market which could both fly itself and film their stunts. So, as well as inventing one, they set up a company, “Helico”, which sells drones equipped with small cameras to be used in the extreme sports industry and businesses use them to film or monitor operations from above.

But, as keen fans of extreme sports, they particularly enjoy getting involved in anything which involved an element of speed, stunts and danger!

They’ve named their product,” Airdog”, a small foldable drone, with four propellers, weighing about 1.6kg (3.5lb). It can be fitted with a small camera, which rests on a pivoted support, to ensure that the footage is filmed smoothly. Its maximum speed is about 70km/h (43mph).

With the help of a GPS sensor, about the size of a large watch, attached to an arm or helmet, the drone then automatically points the camera at the user, and follows at a pre-set distance.

Janis claims that “Nobody has done anything like this in the world,” he claims. “Helico” is on track to start production in October, and before Christmas the first models will be shipped out to the hundreds of thousands of customers who have already made an order.