Zano is a swarm-capable autonomous mini drone controlled by your phone

January 17, 2015

We're no strangers to smartphone-controlled flying machines around these parts, especially those of us who have wandered the halls of CES, but the folks at Zano are promising something wildly different form the current experience with their mini quadcopter. While most flying experiences with smartphones happen at a 1:1 ration, Zano wants to give smartphone owners the ability to control a swarm of autonomous drones just by waving the phone in your hand around. To accomplish this, the tiny drone is packing GPS, sonar, IR, and an HD camera to capture your adventures from above. The collision detection smarts in this little casing, combined with additional instructions from the user, is apparently enough to allow some magic to happen.

We didn't get to experience this setup in person just yet due to some technical difficulties, but check out Marketing Director Reece Crowther as he walks through the details with Cali.