Torquing Zano

Was ~$183 (£139, Kickstarter, 2014)

Discontinued · unavailableNot programmableKickstarter failureNano droneSelfie followCollapsed 2015

UnavailableShipping: Unavailable.

Remote control: Not possible. Phone app only, and few units shipped.

Overview

Europe's largest Kickstarter at the time, promising a palm-sized autonomous selfie drone. Torquing shipped about 600 of 15,000 orders (reportedly only 4 to Kickstarter backers) before collapsing in November 2015. Kickstarter commissioned a long investigative report on what went wrong, making Zano the textbook crowdfunding cautionary tale.

Type: Drone · Indoor drones
Maker: Torquing Group (UK)
Released: 2014
Price: Was ~$183 (£139, Kickstarter, 2014)
Status: Discontinued · unavailable
Best for: Ages 14+
Programming: No programmability

Price and shipping

Super-early-bird Kickstarter pledge. Raised ~$3.08M (£2,335,119) from 12,075 backers (Nov 2014 – Jan 2015)

Shipping: Unavailable. The company collapsed in 2015. Working units are collector curiosities.

Specifications

Category	Drones · Indoor drones
Released	2014
Country	UK
Availability	Discontinued · unavailable
Sales	12,075 Kickstarter backers pledged over $3M (£2.3m) before the project collapsed (2014, estimate) Kickstarter ↗
Programmability	No programmability
Built-in autonomy	Reactive · Responds to its surroundings without a map, such as avoiding obstacles or following a person
LLM support	None · No built-in LLM and no SDK to connect one.
Best for	Ages 14+ (estimated)
Vision sensors	Camera, Sonar / ultrasonic
Actuators	DC / gear motors
Audio	No audio
Compute type	Proprietary / undisclosed
Remote control	Not programmable
Size	Palm-sized, ~55 g (announced)
Drive	Nano quadcopter
Compute	Not published
Vision	5 MP camera, 720p (announced)
Lidar	None
Sensors	IR obstacle sensors, sonar (announced)
Runtime	~10–15 min (announced)
Speed	Not published
SDK	None

Common questions

How much does Torquing Zano cost?

It sold for ~$183 (£139, Kickstarter, 2014). Super-early-bird Kickstarter pledge. Raised ~$3.08M (£2,335,119) from 12,075 backers (Nov 2014 – Jan 2015).