Announced in February 2018, the R1 was the first drone released by Skydio.[1] The drone is capable of flying autonomously using only its 12 navigation cameras.[2][3] The R1 also has a gimbal-stabilized 4K main camera and can be controlled with a mobile app rather than a controller.[4] The drone's structure is made of carbon-fiber and aluminum, allowing it be stowed in a backpack without being damage.[5] The drone has a maximum flight time of 16 minutes, which The Verge noted was lower than contemporary DJI drones.[4] The R1 is powered by a 256-core NVIDIA Jetson TX1, which is mounted in the middle of the drone and allows it to recognize humans and other objects.[6][7][8] The drone was initially released in a limited "Frontier Edition", which were built at Skydio's corporate headquarters before mass production began.[9][10]
While the R1 was praised for its autonomous capabilities, the drone was significantly more expensive than the competing DJI Mavic Pro.[8]Engadget noted that the R1 was almost as expensive as the high-end DJI Inspire 2.[11] The R1 was still listed on Skydio's website as late as July 2019.[12] After the launch of the R1's successor, the Skydio 2, Skydio co-founder Adam Bry referred to the R1 as "the Tesla Roadster of autonomous drones", comparing the drone to the car produced in limited numbers by Tesla Motors as a proof of concept for its future vehicles.[13]
