According to this article, this very ordinary looking quadcopter from AirCover Solutions that's being promoted to US police forces costs $40,000 to $60,000. Can anyone explain why?
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According to this article, this very ordinary looking quadcopter from AirCover Solutions that's being promoted to US police forces costs $40,000 to $60,000. Can anyone explain why?
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Comments
Because they can charge the military/police force virtually whatever they want
Chris, Why not call the contacts mentioned on here and offer them a better deal? Seriously.
Travis: If you're having issues, please contact tech support. That's what they're there for. There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get the same performance from ArduCopter as a commercial system.
It's probably supplied with a "fully trained & highly operator", and that's to cover their wage. Alternatively, it's got a 100% unconditional repair and replacement warranty for 12months on it, and they are letting police officers or other untrained personnel fly it ( ie they are buying one unit up-front, and 50+ units worth of spares )
The price also comes from the requirements set by the government. First is mil spec, than so many years of training to the users, plus all the required insurances the company has to have to even put there name up for bid. Than of course the profit. I think the Air Force could build these in house alot cheaper.
My guess: Selling into government bureaucracies is difficult and expensive. So is offering quality support. Perhaps they also burden some of the risks associated with flying. Perhaps they went through the FCC certification process on the drone?
To put that another way: $60k only pays for 200 hrs of "expert" time to make sure the little details are done right, and that it works reliably "out of the box" every. single. time. As an example... My 3DR Hexa took ~6 weeks to arrive from UDrones. The "ready to fly" hexa didn't come with a battery. It arrived and the calibration routine in the firmware wouldn't run correctly. We finally got that fixed, but some hardware calibration is off -- it pulls back and to the left. After two ~10 second hovers, it can't even take off properly. Now we have a full-time grad student addressing the issues.
I love the ~$1800 Hexa, and I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. But there's still a big difference between DIY / research and commercial systems. If someone thinks they can do better ==> Yay, capitalism. Go out compete 'em.
See the decal..
Some thoughts about why the 60K$ value
Communication frequency and equipment, Top quality TV camera, Zoom lenses, Camera orientation system, Video HD transmission system, Base station sophistication, Telemetry, Production cost, Customer support, Warranty Sales and marketing and ….. profits !!!!
Kenneth: Good point--that's $150 explained. Now we just need to explain the other $59,850 ;-)
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