This one is called, er, the "Bad Ass HoverWASP RC Quadcopter". It's created by a team who call themselves "Two Silicon Valley Engineers" but seem to actually live in Reno, Nevada ;-) They want $1050 for the GPS version (for hold and RTL only) of their quad, although it does come with a GoPro camera and some kind of RC gear (looks like the $59 Turnigy). Doesn't appear to be open source. At the moment, they have six backers.
From the listing:
Our prototype is a quadcopter that took over seven months to develop the proprietary algorithm for stability. This drone has four propellers that requires a special software code to maintain stability while flying. This is especially important if you do any videotaping to avoid a “jello” effect.
We will have a "ready to fly" out of the box quadcopter. Most airplane and helicopter drones all require a technical assembly process that can be difficult and tedious such as programming your radio transmitter and your flight controller along with wiring and soldering. Our “ready to fly” out of the box drone is so simple that you can let your child fly it.
We have partnered with a manufacturer to build all the parts to our quadcopter and we will assemble the final product in the United States. But to manufacture the parts and assemble it we need your help. The crowd funding from Kickstarter Backers will allow us to go from beta-prototype into final production.
Comments
A wise man once said: Stick to the truth or the interwebs WILL come and get you.
Just an update on this one: it failed to reach its funding target. Turns out that the project team had been a little misleading in their description of what they'd done ("over seven months to develop the proprietary algorithm for stability." etc). In fact, it was revealed that it was just an off-the-shelf DJI Naza controller. A few other misleading claims in the product listing turned into an incredible backlash against the project and many of the backers they originally got pulled out
Kickstarter requires your bank details (or Amazon payment account) to set it up, according to their help pages:
Is an Amazon Payments account required to launch a project?
It is required for US creators. If you're a US creator, we'll send you to Amazon to set up your account when you start your first project. For Amazon Payments questions, please visit this section of the FAQ.
If you're a UK creator, you don't need an Amazon account. You'll set up your bank account through Kickstarter.
And the same goes for people pledging as well, so it's not anonymous to Kickstarter staff, just anonymous to everyone else.
As Yuan indicated, when you can get approved without saying WHO you are on the video, and with out showing your real self in the video It raises all kinds of flags. There are many kickstarters with this type of anonynmous operation. Kickstarter makes a fortune off the commissions, so they do not necessarily want to cancel as long as the project shows that funding is growing. At the end of the day it is all about the money.
I'm going to see if Kickstarter cancel this project before I judge them on their competency of preventing bad projects.
Kickstarter is home to loads of awesome projects (not just Tech prodjects, they've got good indie games as well, and presumably the arts, dance, and theater are also of interest to people as well), and I would be sad to see it go. I know there are other crowd-funding websites out there, but this problem with bad projects affects all of them.
You can't trust Kickstarter anymore as this is one of many projects that shouldn't be considered.
I'm sure Kickstarter is looking the other way so they can reap in the big bucks. Their commission is terrible.
Supporters beware....
I think people on Kickstarter are generally not fooled, I've been visiting their page now and again to see if they'll answer ramboky's questions, or post pictures or videos of their "prototypes" that they took so long to develop, and I've noticed the pledges go up and then down a bit (someone must have pulled out):
I think the fact that they're not using real names and use "Two Silicon Valley Engineers"; and don't even appear in their pitch video, would sound alarms to the credibility of the kickstarter.
Kickstarter is becoming a place where scammers can get suckers to put up free money for something they never intend to deliver. I have seen way to many projects over there that fit this model, get a video done for a few $100 dollars post it and wait for the $$$ to flow in. We are making it to easy for these scammers by blindly putting our money into these projects with out the proper background investigation into the people requesting the money as well where are the corporate prospectus for these projects. People need to be more cautious on these kickstarter projects go forward, to easy to scam this system over there.
Just went to their Kickstarter page.
There is a fellow named Adelrefir who is trolling away in the comments section. Very entertaining ideed! :-D
Perhaps Chris ought to reach out to Kickstarter and tell them on behalf of us all. I see lots of negative press coming out of another recent project on there. I cannot believe the winners will be able to provide support and advice to all the airframes they have sold. Get ready for lots of threads starting with.....
I bought an XYZ super copter from Kickstarter and it won't ABC the makers seem to have disappeared...
Perhaps Kickstarter ought to inform the local tax office and Police of awarded projects if they end up with lots of cash.
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