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Intel's Drone Aspirations Take Flight With Project Aero

Project Aero opens the door to entirely new possibilities with drones.

Updated August 17, 2016
Intel Drones at IDF

SAN FRANCISCO—At the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) here this week, Intel has done a lot to shed its processor-focused image, most notably with its Project Alloy "merged reality" initiative. But in case that's too earthbound for the company (and for you), Intel made another announcement that should really get things flying: Project Aero.

Rather than a specific product, Aero is a platform on which developers can build any kind of drone they can conceive. The playing-card-size Aero device is based on a quad-core Atom processor, and offers the storage, communications, and I/O capabilities needed for any drone. An optional Vision Accessory Kit gives the device the ability to run applications as needed. The Aero compute board is currently available for purchase for $399 at click.intel.com.

Project Aero Board

Those who are feeling less adventurous have another option. The Aero Ready To Fly Drone is a preassembled quadcopter based on Aero that also incorporates an Intel RealSense camera to give it what the company calls "depth and vision capabilities." Plug-and-play options make it easy to adapt the Ready To Fly drone to other usages, and include flight control, vision, and airspace service. According to Intel, the Ready To Fly Drone will be available by the end of the year.

In a specially designed "Drone Cage" established on the second floor of the Moscone Center, Intel held multiple demonstrations throughout the day of the Ready To Fly Drone in action. Though limited space precluded the possibility of any fancy aerial tricks, the (obviously experienced) drone pilot showed how the Ready To Fly model was just as flexible and maneuverable as larger models.

With Project Aero, Intels Drone Aspirations (and Yours) Take Fligiht

Considering this was the base platform model, it stands to reason that creative and enterprising developers will be able to spin off Aero into even more visually and technologically exciting directions in the months to come.

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About Matthew Murray

Managing Editor, Hardware

Matthew Murray got his humble start leading a technology-sensitive life in elementary school, where he struggled to satisfy his ravenous hunger for computers, computer games, and writing book reports in Integer BASIC. He earned his B.A. in Dramatic Writing at Western Washington University, where he also minored in Web design and German. He has been building computers for himself and others for more than 20 years, and he spent several years working in IT and helpdesk capacities before escaping into the far more exciting world of journalism. Currently the managing editor of Hardware for PCMag, Matthew has fulfilled a number of other positions at Ziff Davis, including lead analyst of components and DIY on the Hardware team, senior editor on both the Consumer Electronics and Software teams, the managing editor of ExtremeTech.com, and, most recently the managing editor of Digital Editions and the monthly PC Magazine Digital Edition publication. Before joining Ziff Davis, Matthew served as senior editor at Computer Shopper, where he covered desktops, software, components, and system building; as senior editor at Stage Directions, a monthly technical theater trade publication; and as associate editor at TheaterMania.com, where he contributed to and helped edit The TheaterMania Guide to Musical Theater Cast Recordings. Other books he has edited include Jill Duffy's Get Organized: How to Clean Up Your Messy Digital Life for Ziff Davis and Kevin T. Rush's novel The Lance and the Veil. In his copious free time, Matthew is also the chief New York theater critic for TalkinBroadway.com, one of the best-known and most popular websites covering the New York theater scene, and is a member of the Theatre World Awards board for honoring outstanding stage debuts.

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