For his latest project, wakeskating pioneer Brian Grubb has managed to ride down Slovenia’s Sava Bohinjka river, being pulled solely by tech giant Infineon’s electric-powered quadcopter drone.
Situated in the mountains of Slovenia, the river is one of a number of "unrideable" places that Grubb has targeted as part of the ongoing challenge, with its shallow depth preventing boats from taking to the water.
The promotional clips were also supported by GoPro, who posted it to their official Facebook page. Many of those commenting on the shorter promo clip initially thought the footage was fake and a result of clever editing. Putting any doubters to rest, Red Bull, who the stunt is in conjunction with, laid out the specifications.
In a post titled "What kind of drone is strong enough to tow a man?", Red Bull revealed it took engineers months to perfect. They explain:
It features a battery as powerful as 158 smartphones (1.5 kWh/51.8 V/30 Ah), has rotors with a diameter of 80 cm, weighs 24 kg, and can tow Grubb for up to 10 minutes — even lifting him into the air if necessary. And because it was electric, there was no negative impact on the environment.
Grubb added: "Flying the drone under a bridge feels pretty damn good and tastes even sweeter when you know your good times aren’t causing any harm to the beautiful surroundings.”
Brian Grubb, he's a good guy, super talented. Pretty much the pioneer of the wake skate movement.
We were covering the wake boarding event Wakestock back in 2002-2004 in his early years.
He's come a long way, but nice to see he's still living that dream.
"And because it was electric, there was no negative impact on the environment.
WRONG....
Compared to a 250 HP boat....ya it's much more environmentally friendly. Relatively and context to the subject is important in that line.
Unless they're running renewable electricity like solar or wind, "electric" just means "coal/steam powered"
Brilliant and looks amazingly fun, though I fear the danger of a drone with this much power landing on or colliding with a person is super high. Especially if this thing ever hit consumer shelves and wasn't being piloted by a professional.
"We had an electric Harley"
Frankly, I dread the thought of the noise pollution machines like this would bring to our waterways.
So much for photographing the wildlife along the shores.
But I do wonder, why this is posted on Fstoppers, whats the relevance?
You think it's louder than a outboard motor? Because drones are a huge part of photography and today's technology
This is so awesome. I wish it could be made in a smaller package but that's probably impossible.