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What's interesting about the new Flybrix kit ($149) is that it has an original Arduino-based flight controller. Pretty hard core code (Kalman filters and such) so that might be a little gnarly for younger kids, but the frame looks fun to put together. 

Flybrix Kits come complete with all the components you need to make and fly rebuildable, crash-friendly quadcopters, hexacopters and octocopters from one kit. Flybrix is designed for anyone who is interested in building and flying their own creations.  There's nothing like the thrill of seeing what you made, take to the skies.  The included Flybrix Flight Control App for Android and iOs is easy as 1, 2, 3 to get your designs airborne!

So much more than a toy.

Highly capable hardware and open-source software make for a building, flying, crashing and rebuilding experience that’s not only fun, but also highly flexible; no matter your level of expertise. That’s what makes Flybrix different from typical ready-to-fly drone toys.  It's the ability to experiment, create, customize, and learn in a hands-on way.

Friendly for non-technical makers and new pilots. 

The basic snap-and-go experience has deep play-value.  Simply building and flying stays fresh and engaging time after time, especially as a project that parents can do with kids.  The more you play the more you learn about engineering, physics, design, and geometry. You'll be airborne in a snap!

Tech savvy builders and amateur aviators can get creative - quickly.

Intermediates can dive deeper into the creative experience by designing new airframes and tuning them for flight. The Flybrix Chrome Extension Configuration Software makes adjusting settings and motor tuning easy.  It opens the path of creative problem solving, deeper tuning, flight logic, and control theory.

For true techies and pro pilots, the sky is the limit.

The Flybrix brain is a 96Mhz ARM® Cortex®-M4 processor that's Arduino compatible.  Our custom PCB includes a barometer, a magnetometer, several indicator LEDs, ADC converters, SD card slot and bluetooth.  It's also possible to add Wi-Fi and GPS modules.

The Flybrix code is all open-source, so it’s infinitely tweakable. Add a GPS module, experiment with LQR control theory and alternative state estimation, or wire up some extra LEDs and do some flight-path light painting.  It's fair to say, the sky is the limit. Check out our code on Github.

Flybrix is for the young and young at heart!

Flybrix is designed for pilots 14 years and older.  As with using any drone, adult supervision, following general safety guidelines such as eye protection, safe battery handling, and using common sense is advised.  

Parents often ask if kids younger than 14 can play with Flybrix.  The answer is it's up to the parent to decide.  With younger kids one-on-one parent participation, not just supervision, is required. Flybrix is a fantastic "together time" project where everyone has fun and everyone learns together.