Today we got a neat little nano RC Quadcopter that we received from Tomtop. The GooIRC Scorpion T36 Mini Drone packs a lot of fun, in a tiny body. Currently on special sale for $15.99USD the Scorpion comes with the drone itself with 4 preinstalled 4 blade propellers, 4 Replacement propellers, a small li-ion battery, a remote controller, a USB Charging cable and a Philips screwdriver. As a side note, I thought it was extremely thoughtful of the manufacturer to include a Philips screwdriver for the Quadcopter as I find it annoying at times when I can’t find my regular one and have to search all throughout the house to find it.
So im sure most of you have seen these tiny quadcopters before and are thinking that the Scorpion is just like every other cheap quadcopter out there, but that’s where you’re wrong. The first thing you’ll notice that separates the Scorpion from most other quadcopters is the fact that it has solid cylindrical plastic guards surrounding each of the 4 propellers. These guards not only protect the blades, but they also very notably assist the Scorpion to really channel the amount of lift that each propeller generates. Even from a few feet away, you will be able to feel the air that the Scorpion displaces as it hovers around your room. You can also appreciate the fact that these guards help to protect yourself as well as the random things you have in your room from the quick spinning propellers. Within the Scorpion is a 6-axis gyro which greatly helps in balancing out the power that each individual propeller generates, meaning a more stable controlled flight. You definitely know this gyro is working, especially when the Scorpion is running and you hold it in your hands. If / When you tilt it from side to side you will see the 4 propellers running independently at variable speeds as it attempts to keep itself balanced, unbeknownst to itself that you’re manipulating it with your hands.
The Scorpion itself is controlled with a white multi-button controller that features two analog joysticks, and three additional buttons that help to adjust: the speed of the propellers (left rectangular button), the Pitch of the Scorpion (center rectangular button) and lastly the Roll of the scorpion (right rectangular button). These three buttons are instrumental in order to really balance and fine tune the Scorpion as it flies, as you will indubitably find that it may lean towards a certain direction when you first power it up. The left analog stick controls the up and down power of the unit while the right analog controls the pitch and roll of the Scorpion. Furthermore each analog stick also has a sub function when pressed down: the left controller instructs the scorpion to “return home” and will automatically move towards the location of the controller, while the right analog stick will cause it to do a loop in mid air. All this is runs at a 2.4ghz frequency and is powered by three AAA batteries, which will give you literally hours of usage.
Lastly I would like to talk about the actual real world usage of the Scorpion. So what I haven’t mentioned yet is the internal, yet removable, battery that gives the Scorpion a majority of its weight. It is a tiny rechargeable lithium polymer power pack, about the size of a piece of gum, that offers 150mAh’s of power at 3.7 Volts and it sits inside the chassis of the Scorpion. When not in use or charging, you basically just disconnect the cable from the Scorpion’s main IC board and connect it to the included USB Cable. It charges relatively quickly in a few minutes, and each charge gives you about 5-10 minutes of flight time before another recharge is necessary. The one thing I don’t like about this system is that there really isn’t any indicator of when the battery is fully charged. You will see in my example that I used a power bank to charge the battery, which does have indicator lights that alerts you when whatever you’re charging is drawing current from it. Other than that the real world flight is pretty sensitive and fun, as with most quadcopters It does take a little time to really get used to how it operates and the controls, but once you get the hang of it, it’ll offer you tons of fun, abet 5-10 minutes at a time. I would definitely recommend this for anyone that doesn’t want to spend >$20USD on a quadcopter but still wants something that is fun and responsive. At $15.99USD from TomTop the the GooIRC Scorpion T36 Nano Quadcopter will offer you a flipping good time.