Sony announces its first professional drone, the Airpeak S1

Sony today announced its first professional drone, the Airpeak S1.  The new drone utilizes a proprietary motor, propeller, control system and sensing technology.  It also includes obstacle detection, automatic flight control via sensing and increased safety via cloud management of the aircraft and flight information. 

The new Airpeak S1 offers dynamic flying capabilities, including a maximum speed of 55mph (90km/h), a maximum angular velocity of 180°/s, and a maximum tilt angle of 55°. 

Stereo cameras equipped with Sony’s image sensors are installed in 5 locations (front, back, left, right, bottom) of the aircraft. The Airpeak S1 is also equipped with a unique high-performance flight control system that integrates all sensor information such as IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), direction, barometric pressure and infrared ranging to optimize the propulsion device.

The Airpeak S1 uses Multi-directional sensors to enable its obstacle braking function.  The Airpeak S1 is compatible with a wide range of camera bodies including: the Alpha 7S series and FX3 for high descriptive capability with suppressed noise, the Alpha 7R series for ultra-high definition, and the Alpha 9 series and others for distortion-free images.

The new professional drone includes “Airpeak Flight,” an iOS® and iPadOS® compatible application that integrates the aircraft, transmitter, camera, and gimbal.  Airpeak S1 also includes a dual operation mode so that one user can operate the drone, while another user can operate the gimbal and camera simultaneously, all while checking the same image, even in complicated scenes. The FPV (First Person View) camera, which can be tilt-operated from the remote controller, is mounted on the nose of the aircraft.

The new drone includes “Airpeak Base,” a web application that allows the operator to manage equipment, create flight plans, and manage flight logs. With Airpeak Base, the operator can create advanced flight plans and automatically fly the aircraft along the same course repeatedly, as if the drone were on rails installed in the air. It is able to set the position (latitude, longitude and altitude) and speed of the aircraft along the timeline, and specify the orientation of the gimbal and the timing of video or still image shooting. It can also draw smooth curves on the map.

The new Airpeak S1 suggested retail price is approximately $9,000.00 and will ship with two (2) pairs of propellers, a remote controller, two (2) batteries and a battery charger. A third-party gimbal made specifically for the Airpeak S1 will be sold separately. The Airpeak S1 will be available for pre-order and ship to customers in the fall of 2021. Airpeak S1 is made in Japan.