Ring says customers will use preset patrol points rather than manual controls for its indoor camera drone. The clarification follows a demonstration in which an early version was flown by phone and crashed twice. Ring described autonomous flight as its chosen consumer design but did not disclose whether the crashes prompted that decision.
Ring, the home-security device company, has confirmed that people buying its indoor Drone Cam will not be able to steer it manually. A single report by The Verge carries the confirmation from spokesperson Sam McGee. The consumer design instead uses an AI-assisted flight system to reach patrol points chosen beforehand. Ring describes a January launch for the flying camera.[1]
An earlier version did have phone-based manual controls. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff let reporter Jo Ling Kent try those controls during a CBS Mornings demonstration, in which the aircraft crashed twice. Ring attributed the first collision to a malfunction in obstacle avoidance. The television crew filmed the second, when the device hit a wall after it stopped responding to steering commands.[1]
Siminoff said internet connectivity was lost during the second crash. He said the intended response was for the drone to stop and land, but that response did not occur in the demonstration. Ring did not answer whether the choice to remove customer steering followed the crashes. Its explanation of the final design emphasizes autonomous travel to patrol points; the timing of that design decision remains undisclosed.[1]
