Airblock Is A Modular And Programmable Drone Revealed At CES 2017

Most of the time, if your drone falls and breaks into pieces you are devastated because that means you’ve lost a lot of money on your aerial machine, but not any more! The Airblock drone that has been created by Shenzhen-based robotics startup Makeblock is made up of magnetic, modular parts that users can take apart and put back in different configurations.

Revealed at CES 2017, the drone can be used for various applications as well due to its programmable format. The creators also hope to make it a way for children to enhance their logical thinking and problem solving skills.

It features different modes – drone mode, hovercraft mode, triangle mode and spider mode – but the modular design leave place for a lot of different shapes and possibilities. Assembling and taking the drone apart is easy, and the individual pieces are attached to each other using magnetic connectors.

The body of the drone has been made using a lightweight Styrofoam material and it encloses the processor, motors, and rotors inside. As an addition, the fan blades aren’t exposed as they are surrounded by hexagonal frames that make the drone great for flying indoor, and also makes it safer for the drone with lesser damage done.

Makeblock’s Airblock drone was started as a Kickstarter campaign, and their goal of $100,00 has been backed by 5,307 people and funded to $829,506!

The Airblock can be controlled using a mobile app, and users can also test their programming skills by making it do aerial routines as well as other operations. This can be achieved by drag-and-drop programming that lets users simply rearrange different commands and turn them into various actions.