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The Yuneec Typhoon H drone can sense and avoid obstacles in real time

Look out DJI

We are really eager to get a chance to fly the Yuneec Typhoon H drone, because it looks like it might be the one to finally challenge DJI as an affordable-yet-capable option. It has six rotors, retractable landing gear, and a 4K camera that can also shoot 12-megapixel stills. Starting at $1,799, it seems custom-built to take on the Inspire 1.

We didn't fly it, though, Intel did. That's where we first got a chance to look at the Typhoon H up close, hovering inside a mesh net. The Typhoon H was built to be modular, and that's where Intel's RealSense cameras come in. They're mounted above the 4K camera and give the drone more discrete sense-and-avoid abilities than the relatively basic technology that's already built-in. The Typhoon H uses what it calls "ultrasonic proximity detection," but Intel's cameras can see much more and give it the ability to dodge smaller objects.

Intel isn't truly putting the Typhoon H through any serious paces here at CES, just letting it follow its presenters around the netted area. The real fun will come when we get to try it out in the open sky, which we hope to be able to do very soon.

See all of our CES 2016 news right here!

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