Parrot Unveils ANAFI Work Drone for Business – But ‘It’s Not About the Drone’

Continuing their market realignment to offer business and industry commercial drone solutions, French dronemaker Parrot have unveiled a ‘worker drone’ version of their foldable ANAFI drone model at this year’s Interdrone.

The ANAFI Work is built on the lightweight, 320g consumer ANAFI drone that was launched in June of this year.

Whereas there was a lot of hype around the launch of the ANAFI, Parrot have kept on the down low with their newest addition to their Parrot Business Solutions portfolio, waiting instead until the commercial drone get together Interdrone kicked off the this week in Las Vegas.

It could be because that’s the proper forum for a worker drone (we’re loving this analogy), but it could also be because reviewers weren’t exactly wowed by the ANAFI – we found the image quality disappointing, for one.

But Parrot have openly said that their main focus is not on making fun drones for the everyday person to fly.

While they continue to work on a new platform that they can apply to both consumer and commercial drones – it’s about the whole solution, and hence the new turn of phrase in their latest twitter marketing for the ANAFI: #ItsNotAboutTheDrone.

Searching for an ultra-compact tool to capture the best aerial insights of your project ? We have the solution : ANAFI Work ! #ItsNotAboutTheDrone@sensefly @InterDroneExpo pic.twitter.com/46hU2mpi7v

— Parrot Business Solutions (@ParrotB2B) September 5, 2018

There were clues when the ANAFI was released that it would form the backbone of another business solution from Parrot – the 180 degree tilt on the camera for example, which allows for inspection of structures such as under bridges or eaves using the zenith view or on top of rooves using the nadir view.

Another clue was the Geofence capability included in the original ANAFI flight modes, allowing the pilot to ensure the drone remains strictly within a defined mission area.

Rounding out the ANAFI Work as a complete business solution is one years’ access to Pix4Dmodel, which makes a useful addition for architects and roofers who need to take accurate measurements, perform 3D inspections and create 3D models.

“Equipped with this ultra-compact 4K drone, professionals gain in efficiency and work safely. They make very accurate aerial imagery very easily,” says Gilles Labossière, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Parrot Group and chief executive officer of senseFly on the company’s blog.

Other than these standout features, the ANAFI Work comes with the same standard features of the consumer ANAFI: a 4K HDR camera with ability to take 21MP photos and 1080 video, 1.4x lossless zoom (which can be increased to 2.8x zoom using the HD option).

“The zoom function of ANAFI Work is particularly interesting in technical inspection, on complex infrastructures: we can approach a safe distance, then use the zoom to make a close-up on the area we are interested in” said Didier Wasselin , remote pilot, operations director at Drone Act.

Four batteries and a 25 minutes flight time, USB-C connection to fast-charge on the go, and additional flight moeds such as Touch + Fly, Point of Interest and Flight Plan complete the picture.

However, as with the ANAFI, there is no mention of obstacle avoidance technology – which is surely a huge oversight on Parrot’s behalf, given the nature of inspection work.

Supplied with a robust, water-resistant shoulder bag, it’s possible this could make a good addition to any commercial drone business – as long as you don’t crash into anything.