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Local Motors' 3D-printed car now has a drone, because autonomy

The car also has Grant Imahara in it, because "Mythbuster" name recognition.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
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Local Motors made headlines for 3D printing an entire car body. Now, with the help of Grant Imahara of "Mythbusters" fame, the company's car packs both autonomy and a deployable drone. Why? Good question!

The aforementioned teamed up with Mouser Electronics, an electronics supplier, to add autonomous capabilities to the Local Motors Strati 3D-printed car. While the car is driving itself, the drone can take off and relay a camera feed to the car's screens. You can look at traffic jams or just explore your surroundings, whatever helps. The driver has to control the drone, which is why it's best used during autonomous driving.

Mouser and the 11 billion other people involved in this project see this kind of technology moving beyond traditional cars. It can provide an extra set of eyes to farmers and utility companies, for example.

The drone could also tell the autonomous car when it's driving over the centerline, which it does constantly in this video. Hopefully they're filming on a closed road.