The Aeromapper 300 is the latest UAV offer from Aeromao Inc. Canada.
The Aeromapper 300 is one of the most complete UAV for general mappping applications, at the most competitve price on the market. Powerful yet very easy & friendly to use, with 1.5 hour endurance, currently more than two dozen different sensors or combination of sensors supported via swappable mounts, safe parachute landing capability, hand or catapult launch supported, long range data link and control and of course, fully automatic flight.
Despite its size it also has a small turning radius (about 30 m turning radius), making it also ideal for those low altitude–high ground resolution flights in which the flight lines are pretty close to each other.
The standard package of the Aeromapper 300 includes the Sony Nex 7 (24 MP) with a survey grade wide angle rectilinear lens. The UAV is also conceived to carry the mighty Sony Alpha a7r with 36 MP.
Customers can also choose from a large variety of payloads and sensors with swappable mounts, even combination of them (like Sony Nex 5 + tetracam ADC Micro, with simultaneous trigger). Information on the list of sensors and payloads for the Aeromapper family of UAVs is found here: http://www.aeromao.com/uav_payloads
The Aeromapper 300 also comes with a detailed User Manual well supported for first time users with no previous experience using drones, and trainings are also available in Ontario, Canada. Included in the package are all the accessories required as well as quality carrying cases.
Similarly to its smaller brother Aeromapper EV2, the Aeromapper 300 uses the concept of a highly engineered payload bay module attached to a high performance carbon fiber glider aircraft. Using this approach the company is able to offer high end UAVs at the fraction of the cost of other similar drones.
Most UAV manufacturers design and fabricate the fuselage and wings of their drones from scratch, leading to high pre and post production costs. The pod concept used by Aeromao reduces production costs immensely and provides additional advantages:
1. Modularity: since most of the electronics, payload and parachute system are contained in the payload module the fuselage can be easily exchanged for a new one, if required. This process usually takes two hours or less and can be done by the user. In other UAVs if the fuselage is not usable all the electronics and key components need to be migrated to a new fuselage, basically reassembling a new UAV (which leads to high costs and longer lead times)
2. Cost Savings: leveraging on an existing glider airframe produces immense savings, which are passed on to UAV customers. The Aeromapper 300 can match the specifications of other drones that cost $50,000 - $70,000 dollars.
3. Customization: pods can be easily customized for special applications, again, thanks to not having to modify an entire airframe. Customizations are usually affordable and fast.
4. Speed of adaptation: probably one of the most important advantages in the UAV market is the speed at which UAVs can adapt to new applications. If required, only the pod needs to be modified, not the entire fuselage.
For more information please visit http://www.aeromao.com/aeromapper_300
Comments
As someone before said: the value of a product is not the sum of the values of it's components!
The value of a product is partly determined by the market and by what this product enables you to do!
If you want to do aeromapping as a hobby and not generate a revenue, then it's OK to go the DIY route.
If your job is aeromapping, then you have to rely on a strong solution.
Mauricio (whom I do not know otherwise) provides such a solution for the target market he sees. Market is already proofing if he is right, but anyway, at least he is doing it.
As far as I know, none of the nay sayers here had the 'cochones' to found a company and go to the market against him.
Mauricio, you have my consideration for just that. Moreover, you have customer satisfaction in mind since you not only built a carrier, but added packaging, integrated that carrier into a software package and in fine are selling a turnkey solution.
Let the nay sayers be nay sayers and go your own route. You already did way more than the 1st step!
Whish everybody the success they deserve.
mP1, I think it's great to see what people are doing with open-source hardware and software. Just because it starts as DIY doesn't mean it has to remain in that realm.
You could argue (successfully) that 3DR's move to turn-key drone systems is contrary to the DIYDrones mission too. I bemoan the lack of legacy product support from the 3DR store, but apparently the world has to move in this direction to remain viable. There's always Ebay and Goodluckbuy for the die-hards amongst us.
I don't see Mauricio's product as an argument against DIY, but as a demonstration of what it can become.
@mike "I've spent so many hours building and tweaking and I apprecite it so much more and I actually love building planes. But lets say thats no the case and you just want to buy it exactly how I built mine and take it out the box and fly it,"
You have spent many hours, as I have, setting up UAVs. Any company however has to pay its employees and then recoup some of the costs of all these employees doing the development. Your labor is free.
If you did price it at $2500 what about the person on the phone taking support calls? Is $1000 per copy enough to pay his/her salary unless you want to stay awake 24/7 taking calls? Then if you are taking support calls all day how do you find time to fix the inevitable bugs and problems? If you did price it at $2500 what about if someone else wanted to sell it? Do you then sell it to them at your cost? The minimum price you could set is about $4500 so it leaves you able to sell to other people at $2500.
I think $10 000 is entirely reasonable and quite cheap for an aircraft of this quality and capability. The eBee is $40 000 and is a little foam wing - the genius is in the software and the throw and fly capabilities and they have sold a lot of the units at this price.
Oh, I see.
You reckon that, despite being unable to deliver the goods, you have such a good handle on the cost structure you could offer a similar or better product for several times less than that which is currently available.
Yes, your arguments are very convincing...
Mike. Please put your money where your mouth is and offer your version on the open market for USD2.5k. Please also include operation and service manuals and factory support. Oh, and please deliver the complete package by the end of next week with demonstrated and fully functional orthomapping capability.
If you can point me to your website to review your system specification and capability, I will place my order if it meets the capability of an Aeromapper300.
@Mike (But paying nearly 10x the cost for no reason and for the same exact thing? nah that's not gonna happen!)
Of course it is not! You are not a target customer. As a hobbyist/amateur you would be crazy to drop that $$.
Maybe there is a lesson to learn here... don't post a professional solution on a DIY forum. DIYers never take kindly to professional turn-key pricing. I get it and almost everyone here is correct coming from their point of view. It's just two different worlds/markets (that look very similar) colliding.
You asked for it:
http://f3j.in.ua/en/graphite-2.html
http://f3j.in.ua/maxa-pro-family.html
http://f3j.in.ua/shinto.html
http://www.kennedycomposites.com/graphite2.htm
http://www.kennedycomposites.com/maxapro.htm
prices will be different for bulk orders. Those a proven airframes in World class soaring competitions. Dependable and very strong.
Show us Mark - the proof is in the pudding.
Antonie Kruger
It is not us complaining about prices, I assume it is this statement: "I challenge you to make the list of the parts/costs involved! :-)"
Challenge is such a thing that makes people think. There is no perfect solution. All I was trying to say is better airframes available Today.
I questioned market target. Airframe is not durable enough for big Government contracts and overpriced for general public.
We'll see what market will bear. Although it is nice to see someone trying and creating!
I an not sure half the price will be 1/10th of the quality. I can name a few airframe solutions for less than 1/2 the price and 10 times better. When it comes to dependability and flight time - it counts toward final project profits.
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