Ring rules out manual controls for its Drone Cam
Ring’s Drone Cam crashed twice during a CBS News demonstration in which founder Jamie Siminoff let reporter Jo Ling Kent pilot an early version through a mobile app. The company says the security drone will instead rely on autonomous flight when it launches in January, with no manual controls for customers.
The video, aired on CBS Mornings and posted on Threads, shows the drone colliding with obstacles during both attempts. After the first crash, Ring reportedly told CBS News that the collision-avoidance system had malfunctioned and declined to provide the footage recorded before impact. CBS captured the second crash: the drone hit a wall after failing to respond to the app’s controls.
Siminoff said the drone had lost internet connectivity. “If it loses connectivity, it’s supposed to stop and land,” he said. “It did not there.” The drone also depends on connectivity for autonomous flight.
Ring declined to show the app during The Verge’s own Drone Cam demonstration and said the device works only on pre-programmed flight paths. The CBS footage indicates manual controls were available at some point in development, but the company says they will not be offered to buyers. “We explored a lot of features throughout the development, but autonomous flight to patrol points using the AI Pilot is the best customer benefit and experience,” Ring spokesperson Sam McGee told The Verge.
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