You know Luke Skywalker’s trusty astromech, R2-D2, from Star Wars? Yes. The trash can-like profile droid whose cuteness was only recently usurped by BB-8 from the The Force Awakens. Well, if you know anything about Artoo, it can’t fly on its own, but that doesn’t mean it can’t in real life. I mean, Artoo isn’t real, but if men can recreate the cinema little hero, men can also make it defy gravity and that’s exactly what Aerial cinematographer Don Melara and aerial photography outfit, Air Cam Shots, have done. They basically figured out a way to shove a DJI aerial imaging drone into a R2-D2 body and the end result is an Artoo just the way you know it – complete with with moving head, LED lights, and the familiar beeping and whistling sound effect, but with four rotors protruding out of its mid-body that enables it to take to the skies.
Now, who needs X-Wing fighter when R2 can fly on its own, right? Don and Air Cam Shots creation isn’t the first, but it is the first that actually look like the movie’s iconic droid. A DJI GPS autopilot navigation system that aids in flying and a CCD camera, appropriately located in R2’s eye, completes the flying astromech package. We are not agreeable that R2-D2 should fly, because it doesn’t in the movies, but it is still impressive nonetheless.
via MightyMega
