Recently I saw an interesting new drone, called Mirage and made by the Shenzhen’s  Smart Drone UAV. The drone is a quadcopter with a 3-axis camera gimbal system for aerial photography and filming. But the most interesting feature in my opinion is the obstacle avoidance. In my Kickstarter Drone Guide I commented, that this is still hard to achieve and requires extreme good sensors, much processing power and great software development. If the guys from Smart Drone UAV have done this as it should be, it would be a good step in the right direction for better drone safety. But lets check the other “standard” features of the Mirage Drone too:

• Three-axis stabilized camera gimbal
• Real-time HD video
• Mobile App for iOS and Android
• Retractable landing gear

The camera gimbal is compatible with the GoPro Hero4 camera. It looks well balanced, but I can’t say how it performs without testing it in real flight.

The real-time HD video is send to the transmitter, which forward it to the connected iOS or Android smartphone. Technically the “up to 500 m” are indeed possible, but in a perfect environment without threes or other obstacles. Sadly I haven’t found the App in the Play store to check its features. Probably its still in development, but its good to have it online, while already marketing it as a powerful feature.

The transmitter looks very good in my opinion. You have the sticks for controlling the Mirage drone as well as gimbal and shooting control. There are also buttons for easy control – like take off and return to home position.

The quadcopter has a retractable landing gear too, like the professional DJI filming copters. The battery is 10.000mAh 4S 15C and should last for 30min flight time. They achieved 35min hover time in perfect conditions, so I think a 30min flight time is really possible.

Some more details about the components:

• 4822 570kv motors
• 14×5.3 propeller
• 20A ESC
• Custom flight controller
• Ultrasonic sensors for the obstacle avoidance

Overall I like the design, but I would prefer to have the ultrasonic sensors integrated in the chassis.

I haven’t had the chance to test it, but if you wish to, the Mirage Drone will be presented on the CES in Las Vegas during Jan. 6th – 9th. 2016.