There is now a flying surveillance drone for … your home

By Gannon Burgett Published December 29, 2017

When it comes to keeping an eye on your home, both while you’re there and while you’re away, there are a handful of options to choose from. You can go with hardwired surveillance cameras, Wi-Fi surveillance cameras, or some other similar options.

Soon though, you might be able to take an even more proactive approach. Meet Cardinal, the world’s first autonomous surveillance drone designed for home use. Developed by Cardinal Robotics, the Cardinal drone is an entirely new way of keeping tabs on your home via an eye in the sky.

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Inside the the lightweight drone is a 14-megapixel camera capable of shooting full 1080p video. These images remain smooth thanks to its three-axis stabilization technology, and the device is nighttime compatible with a near infrared camera and onboard array of infrared LED lights.

Besides the base specs, not many details have been provided. According to the Cardinal website, the drone has a flight time of 20 minutes and is capable of completing an entire sweep of your home in just two minutes, but no battery information has been given to substantiate the claims.

Furthermore, other than a few renderings and a little copy, there’s not much to go from, which could be a little concerning for those looking to pre-order the device.

Besides the ambiguous details on the battery life and no mention of how the device will automatically recharge itself, another aspect that stands out is the lack of any details of weatherproofing. If you’re paying $4,000 to have a drone keep an eye on your home, it would only make sense it would be able to fly in light rain and know when to stay put in more dangerous weather.

For the time being, Cardinal Robotics is taking pre-orders for the device at $4,000. According to the pricing page, the drone will retail for $6,000 when it hits the market.

The concept looks promising, but we’d need more information before we could assess whether the device will be able to deliver on its promises.

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