Parrot SA is a French wireless products manufacturer company based in Paris, France. It was founded in 1994 by Christine/M De Tourvel, Jean-Pierre Talvard and Henri Seydoux. Since 2017, it has focused exclusively on drone manufacturing.
The firm specializes in technologies involving voice recognition and signal processing for embedded products and remotely controlled flying machines (also known as drones). It also developed products related to car telephony: Parrot chipsets (including DSP), copyrighted noise reduction and echo cancelling algorithms, Bluetooth software stack, end-user applications (Bluetooth hands free car kits). The products are sold to consumers through retailers, and are also incorporated into vehicles with the factory-installed audio system.
History
In 1995 Parrot introduced Voicemate, a personal digital assistant with voice recognition. It was used by many visually impaired people, including Stevie Wonder.[2]
In 2000 Parrot launched the first Bluetooth hands-free car kit in partnership with Ericsson.[3]
In 2006, still developing the use of Bluetooth, the company also produced home products like digital photo frames and high fidelity wireless speakers.[4]
In 2008, Parrot launched a Design By collection, featuring designers like Andrée Putman, Martin Szekely and Philippe Starck.[5]
In January 2010, Parrot introduced at CES Las Vegas the Parrot AR.Drone flying hardware piloted over Wi-Fi with a smartphone and Open API game development platform, ARdrone.org.[6][7]
Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 take-off, Nevada (CES 2012)
In 2012 Parrot bought 57% of Swiss drone company SenseFly as well as 25% of the Swiss photogrammetry company Pix4D. Both companies are spin-offs from EPFL.[8]
Parrot Jumping Sumo robotic toy
In 2014 Parrot introduced the mini-drones Rolling Spider and Jumping Sumo at CES Las Vegas. Parrot increased its ownership in Pix4D to 57%. In May 2014 at the annual AUVSI conference in Orlando, Parrot announced the AR Drone 3.0,[9] code-named Bebop, permitting YouTube personality Kyle Tarpley from the YouTube channel "AR Drone Show w/ Kyle Tarpley" to live-stream video the day before the conference opened. Parrot also revealed the option for a Skycontroller, when purchasing the Bebop. The Skycontroller allows the Bebop Drone to fly up to 2 kilometers. The Parrot Bebop Drone is scheduled for a December 2014 release and it comes in blue, red, and yellow.[10]
Leisure Drone flightAerial photo by Parrot drone over Le Bourget Air ShowBebop Drone flight over Dubai beach
At the January 2015 CES Las Vegas, Parrot unveiled the Parrot POT, a self-watering system for plants[11] and Parrot Zik Sport.[12]
In 2015, Parrot SA created two subsidiaries: Parrot Drones and Parrot Automotive.[13]
Parrot POT and Flower Power app
In San Francisco in November 2015, Parrot introduced the Bebop 2 drone.[14]
Drone piloted by Skycontroller and co-pilot with FPV glasses
Parrot purchased shares in 2015 in startups specialized in the drones industry: Airinov, EOS Innovation, Micasense and Iconem.[15]
In 2016, Parrot SA released the Disco FPV, the world's first smart flying fixed-winged drone.[16]
In January 2017, Parrot announced firing 290 of its 840 employees due to poor sales.[17] The company then abandons its wireless and connected home devices to focus exclusively on drone manufacturing.
On 1 July 2018, Parrot released the Parrot Anafi folding drone with 4K HDR and 21 megapixel camera.[18]
In May 2019, Parrot has been selected by U.S. military to win the contract for making reconnaissance drone and received $11 million from Department of Defense.[19][20]
The R&D for this contract lead to the release of the ANAFI USA, a drone focused on easy deployment, robust design, reliability and high level of cybersecurity. The ANAFI USA is dedicated to the security and defense markets and has been acquired by various institutions in NATO countries (including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Northern Europe, and Japan).
In January 2021, Parrot sealed a deal with French army for 300 micro-drones.[21][22]
On the first trimester of 2022, Parrot launched the ANAFI Ai designed for inspection and mapping professionals. With its image precision (48 MP sensor), its 4G connectivity, its capabilities for automating missions (Ai) and its protection of user data, its aim is to cover a growing number of use cases for the inspection of strategic infrastructures (telecoms, energy, engineering works), architecture and construction.
On May 11, 2023, Parrot announced a technological partnership with Tinamu, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). The synergistic partnership provides a software layer to transform Parrot’s hardware into autonomous, self-navigating drones capable of operating in challenging indoor environments and has further amplified the scope and impact of Tinamu's solutions.
Parrot is listed on the Eurolist by Euronext (Compartment B) Paris stock market since 2006 under the symbol PARRO, Code ISIN FR0004038263.
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