Star Wednesday: Remote Controlled Speeder Bike Drone

About a month ago, I found myself wandering through what remained of my local Toys R Us. The shelves weren’t completely bare, but I certainly wasn’t the first middle-aged nerd to show up in hopes of getting a good bargain. I told my wife I was only there to look, but when I ran across this thing… “look,” I said as it jumped right into my cart!

Speeder Bikes, ridden by Imperial Biker Scouts, have always been my favorite vehicles from the Star Wars universe. They’re essentially hovering motorcycles with jet engines — what’s not to like? If (somehow) you haven’t seen Return of the Jedi or aren’t sure what a speeder bike is, here you go:

I’ve already covered my LEGO Biker Scouts on a previous Star Wednesday, and last year I wrote a post discussing all the Biker Scouts and Speeder Bikes I own, which looked like this at the time:

All of these speeder bikes have one thing in common: they can’t fly. They require the imagination of a child (or *cough* middle-aged-man *cough*) to make them go.

Now, I have one that flies.

The Remote Controlled Speeder Bike Drone by Air Hogs looks slightly different than all my other speeder bikes. The bike’s main body along with the Biker Scout seated on top look familiar, but what’s different are those four plastic fans protruding from the corners in the shape of an X, the telltale sign of a drone.

Despite the bike’s solid looks, the majority of the body (and rider) are actually lightweight foam with plastic coverings added. In the film, bikers raced through the forest of Endor (California’s Redwood National Park) at over a hundred miles per hour, dodging gigantic trees and Rebellion laser blasts. In reality, this vehicle might not survive a collision with a chain link fence at a moderate clip. Soldiers, you’ve been warned.

The back of the box mentions one of the drone’s most interesting features: Height-Lock. Because drones have x, y, and z-axes to control and human beings only have two thumbs, some drones, depending on their remote control, come with a steep learning curve. Height-Lock “locks” the z-axis (the drone’s height from the ground) by using small ultrasonic speakers. The system’s not perfect, but over a hard surface like a driveway or a sidewalk, it’s good enough and will allow you to focus on the other two axes — speed and steering.

So, full confession time — I haven’t opened mine yet, but I’m planning to. This drone is big enough that it’ll be more fun to fly outside, but at only two pounds, even a medium wind gust would be enough to overthrow the Empire. When the conditions are right, I do plan to take it out on its maiden voyage. Until then, here’s a video someone else uploaded to YouTube of their own drone flying. I can’t wait to try mine!