Comment by Rory Paul on August 9, 2011 at 4:09pm

The price is so high because Insitu need to be self insured against the ACLU

Comment by DaveyWaveyBunsenBurner on August 9, 2011 at 4:43pm

@Toby

Those numbers versus that solution is WAY out!

Look at it! It's little more than an APM, CCD camera and Ardu in a 450 heli frame!
If thats the result of twelve man years then that's depressing.
Every $20k solution ive seen is hypet matre, truly inventive or somehow worthwhile. Dont get me wrong, I dont think $20k is a lot in 2011, but thats an APM in a fancy case and a 500% markup....

Comment by Jack Crossfire on August 9, 2011 at 6:42pm

Planning for QE5

Comment by LFLoTiTo on August 9, 2011 at 8:05pm

It's really cool that the small heli resembles the big helis UAVs. However, I can't think of any reason to use a heli instead of a multicopter for this size/application. Any insights?

Comment by Rory Paul on August 9, 2011 at 9:46pm

Whats cool is the IAI Ghost...there is a Chinook of a sUAS!

Comment by John Bond on August 9, 2011 at 10:00pm

My guess is expect to pay more than $50,000 for a useful system.  Note the "contact us for configurations"  wording on the brochure.

 

Why a heli instead of a multicopter?  Collective pitch = better control.  A multicopter could certainly work, but if you started designing this a few years ago, a heli is what you would pick.

Developer Comment by John Arne Birkeland on August 10, 2011 at 5:10am

In my experience helicopters handle wind much better then multicopters. You also get more efficient lift, resulting in longer flight times and more payload. The main problems with helicopters are vibrations and lots of failure points because of the complicated mechanics. And from a DIY standpoint there is also the cost of parts.

And I have to agree with Toby. There is no way you can compare the cost of a DIY hobbyist project with a commercial one where every man hour has to be payed for. Especially when we are talking about a niche product meant for use in the government sector where safety and documentation requirements are insane.

Developer Comment by Mark Colwell on August 10, 2011 at 6:12am

Hey, this is Boeing, I bet they really wanted $80,000 !

The processors (DSP too) are way more advanced than AT1280, but the comm link is about the same, I hope it is robust.  The weak link is the freshly trained operators.

Who will get to try these?  I would like to watch the first missions, Could be interesting!

 

Comment by Paul Marsh on August 10, 2011 at 9:45am

There was a lot of hoopla years ago about $500 hammers and that sort of thing. It all seemed to flare up and go away. Then, my son just told me about a requistion that passed through his hands for a $2,000 toilet seat (for an airplane, not the Space Shuttle). I don't know if that $2,000 seat has the commode attached, but any way you slice it, something seems out of whack. I guess we're all too busy keeping our jobs to fight the good fight and try to get some control on government spending.

Comment by Hans on August 10, 2011 at 10:09am

24 minutes is impressive at 3.5lbs, battery must be heavy

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