ANAFI Ai Available in January: First 4G-Connected UAV

Parrot says consumers can expect the ANAFI Ai available in January

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Leading European drone company Parrot has announced that the release of its ANAFI Ai model drone is on the horizon. The new drone will start shipping this coming January, with prices from $4,000 (excluding taxes), available from Parrot’s leading resellers.

The ANAFI Ai’s purpose is to allow its professional users to improve the speed and efficiency of their photogrammetry, mapping, inspection and surveying missions with a drone specially built to carry out those tasks.

Parrot ANAFI Ai features Verizon 4G LTE connectivity, which serves to provide a connection to the flight controller that avoids interference, enabling real-time data transfer and Beyond Visual Line of Sight flight operations.

ANAFI Ai is designed with cybersecurity in mind. The link between the drone and the user’s device is secured by the model’s embedded Secure Element, providing each individual drone with a unique ID. The Secure Element also guarantees the privacy of transferred data and safeguards the stability of the drone software.

The model also features a first of its kind omni-directional obstacle avoidance system, as well as a 48 MP camera, 4K 60fps videos, and 32 minutes of flight time, all in an airframe that weighs in at just under 2 pounds.

Owing to the 7th generation of the FreeFlight iOS application, Parrot is able to improve the ease of use of photogrammetry. Operators are able to form a specific flight plan by simply clicking on the land registry of the building they intend to 3D map. ANAFI Ai works autonomously by utilizing obstacle avoidance in order to adjust its flight path in complex environments. 4D images are shared in-flight with Pix4Dcloud to display the 3D model of the inspected building on users’ Pix4D accounts 2 hours after the flight.

The mobile App’s core is open-source, granting developers the ability to execute custom code in the ANAFI Ai itself. The SDK provides access to all flight sensors, including obstacle avoidance sensors, occupancy grid and internet access.

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.