Rook- Home Surveillance Drone Smashes Crowdfunding Target

There’s something about drone technology which seems to resonate on crowdfunding platforms. A quick scroll through Kickstarter and Indiegogo and you’ll find plenty of young, ambitious and (sorry) occasionally naive startups seeking financial support to bring their big dreams to fruition.

There are many success stories, and the concept of crowdfunding our way to innovation in certain sectors of the drone industry is an exciting one. But it seems that for every Oculus Rift there is a Zano, so caution has to be advised before buying in to some of these projects.

Anyway, with that caution in mind, there’s one exciting drone project you might want to get involved in…

Have you ever got to work and had that nagging feeling that you’ve left the back door open? Or maybe been on holiday and wanted to check back home and make sure everything is okay? These are the kind of itches that Rook, the first drone from 89Robotics, has been designed to scratch.

Rook has been labelled the world’s first ‘fly from anywhere’ drone, as it connects to your home Wi-Fi network and can be easily piloted through a smartphone or tablet from any location. You’re then free to buzz around the house to your heart’s content, check up on the pets and generally make sure everything is how it should be.

It seems like a pretty clever idea. If a drone you can pilot from the beach hundreds of miles away isn’t enough, Rook also comes with soft propellers in case of a crash and an automatic charging dock. On top of that, as it’s been designed for use in the home, you won’t need to worry about registering it with the FAA.

89Robotics is funding its home surveillance drone project through a campaign on Indigogo, and has already more than doubled its $20,000 target. If everything goes to plan the Illinois-based team plans on shipping Rooks out at the end of 2016.  You can pre-order one now for under $200.