Former NASA Astronaut Develops Single-Handed Drone Controller

Physician, pilot and former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski has designed a single-handed drone controller dubbed the FT Aviator, created to increase the precision of and simplify drone flight.

Unlike traditional controllers, which most closely resemble a gaming controller with a two-thumbed control design, the patented FT Aviator features an ergonomic design that incorporates the drone-relevant four degrees of freedom through space (x, y, z and yaw). Leveraging the native DJI transmitter-receiver radio, the product consists of a joystick, base and smartphone holder. It also includes the camera functions, versus having them in an app.

“Working with everything from the Space Shuttle robotic arm to surgical robotics in labs, I found controllers clunky, inaccurate and in no way related to the dynamics of movement through space,” says Parazynski, founder and CEO of Fluidity Technologies, which is launching FT Aviator. “Our patented technology changes that – for the first time, providing highly intuitive, precision movement to UAVs. It stands to lower the barrier to entry to drone flying, tremendously enhancing precision while also making drone flight a lot more fun.”