Most drones have collision detection as part of their algorithms, allowing them to recognize obstacles and change directions to avoid a damaging clash. That’s easy enough to account for when avoiding stationary obstacles, but things become very different when you’re on a collision path with other moving objects, especially at night. Simply put, things can get complicated. The Lume Cube Strobe, a snap-on drone light, is designed to help with that.
No, it won’t make any drone’s collision AI more sophisticated. Instead, it’s meant to help other manual drone operators see your drone in the dark, making it easier for them to adjust their flight paths well before you’re in collision range.
Billed as a “consumer-friendly, anti-collision drone,” the Lume Cube Strobe is a 500-lumen light that you can mount somewhere on the top front section of your drone to give it 360-degree visibility in low-light conditions. It’s bright enough to be visible from three miles away, too, making it easy for other drone operators, aircraft pilots, and flying superheroes to spot you at a safe distance, allowing them to make the necessary adjustments to avoid any unwanted accidents. Yes, it also allows them to make the corresponding adjustments to cause a crash, although you’re going to have to run into some nefarious dude for that to happen. Hey, they exist.
The device can flash white light in either fast strobe, slow strobe, or constant mode, with two included light caps that you can use to change the shade to either red or green. A single button on the light allows you to cycle between the three different lighting modes, so you just set how you want it to light up before takeoff and you’ll be set.
The Lume Cube Strobe mounts on the drone using 3M Dual Lock pads, a Velcro-like material that provides an even more secure hold than the long-running fastener. It’s light, too, weighing in at just 10 grams, so it shouldn’t add any significant heft that can affect the drone’s flight performance in any manner. That means, you still get the same battery performance as you would normally get, allowing you to send your drone to the skies with full illumination without compromising its mileage. A USB-rechargeable battery allows the light to keep running for up to two hours in fast strobe mode, ensuring it will keep you visible in the dark for as long as you will need, with the battery juicing back up in around an hour’s time.
Like any device designed for use outdoors, it’s weatherproof, so you can use it in any condition where your drone can actually make it up in the air. It’s designed to fit most any brand or model of drone, too, provided there’s space at the top to attach the 3M pads. Granted, there may be a few models that are too small or too unorthodox for the mount to go on them, but they should be perfectly mountable for the majority of flyers you can pick up.
The Lume Cube Strobe is available now, priced at $49.95.