Very impressive design and what looks like top-quality components. [UPDATE: It appears to be a stock Xaircraft frame that costs $160. Thanks to the commenters for catching this]. You can back the project here ($999 for the copter, $1,499 for the full deal with APM 2)
Comments
Ellison wrote:
"and the project owners, can just go back to their day jobs"
Well... hate to say this... but it is more complicated than this.
The owners are Grayson and Kellie Sigler and they do not have day jobs.
They are the ones behind a company Lumenlab, which made CNC machines
called "micRo": http://lumenlab.com
Grayson has been very sick for the past year, apparently near death at one point.
According to a recent email by Grayson, they have lost their home and are having
trouble feeding their kids.
Now their CNC business has failed and several people are owed money/machines.
The average amount paid is around $1890, with nothing delivered or refunded.
There are at least 10 people owed machines and possibly up to 142, this isn't clear.
One person who ordered in Nov 2009 still hasn't received their CNC machine.
They have stopped answering emails and phone calls. Yet their web site is
still up and apparently you can still order their cnc machine!
Here's a thread on this:
http://lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31263
(page 3 has the email from Grayson)
You can also check their facebook page and see the complaints:
http://www.facebook.com/Lumenlab
Someone has made a form to register if you are owed something by Lumenlab:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGxUU29mcm8xQm...
There is also a yahoo group with people complaining:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/micRo-cnc/
Apparently their solution is to start this hexacopter kickstarter project to bring in some cash.
Sad story.
Ardupilot is GPL, so there's no problem with them pre-loading it on their drones, and shipping it out. The problem arises when the end users need firmware upgrades. Are they going to come to DiYDrones, or to them. Like I mentioned, unless one of them is a crack programmer, and very technical, they are going to be relying on the DiYDrones community for updates. How are they going to tell the end users that they have to tweak their PIDs because the new update requires it. Imho, they really should have contacted someone in the DiYDrones community first, like Chris Anderson, first before doing this for many logistical reasons. It seems to me they had an idea of how to capitalize on the work done by the community, and just posted it on Kickstarter, without much preparation. I hope things don't go south, because it's the community's reputation on the line, and the project owners, can just go back to their day jobs.
Great comment. I couldn't think of the best way to approach the subject but they are breaking possible CC and if the project doesn't have CC then it needs it added for protection of the the project overall.
Tero, yes, I have to admit that my initial criticism has now turned into incredulity, and a little bit of jealously. If this works, they are living the dream.
Now question though, is it not any sort of problem if they are selling these systems using our open source code? They are profiting off our work. Have they contributed anything? It's one thing if they sell the hardware, and then tell customers where to go to get the program, compile, upload, and set the parameters. But I don't think that's what the target customers will be expecting. They must be loaded and ready to go. With the code being loaded when it ships, isn't that breaking the creative commons rules?
Another factor to consider, is that I wonder if the users will be expecting a camera gimbal in the package? They do realize that an effective camera gimbal is half the problem for AP right?
What happened to the term open source and its true roots?
I see this like the learning lesson, interesting to see what happens after Kickstart period.
Dany, maybe you should contact Kellie, and her husband, and offer to give her a hand in fulfilling the order. Maybe there are some Canadian backers, and it would be much easier if they get someone on Canada to fill those ones.
Tero, what I've noticed on Kickstarter, is that many people think about, and treat these projects as non-profit. Many are willing to donate at the small amounts, that provide no benefit other than just supporting the projects. In my opinion, this is a little misleading, as most projects potentially end up making a very good profit, and I feel that any backer should be given credit, maybe in terms of shares, in these "startup" companies.
I also have a suspicion that many of these projects get their money, but for one reason or other do no happen, and Kickstarter ends up with unhappy users. There was even one case where someone stole material that wasn't owned by them, and posted it up in Kickstarter as their own.
In this case, it will involve DiYDrones software and hardware, and we'll hopefully hear hear about a bunch of very happy customers, or lots of disappointed ones.
I'm Impressed and jealous, exellent Market entrance timing.
58 Backers
$66,409 pledged of $25,000 goal
29 days to go
Ellison, put me to the test! :) someone order 20 quads to be ready in 1 month fully assembled and tested and I will deliver! (and I have a day job!)
Come on! someone.. try me out!
hehehe
And then you can get fully assembled, tested and test flown hexas from jDrones with 1190 USD. It already includes everything, this way you also would support core development.
Goodluck buy is just "another" trading company in China that buys their products from multiple suppliers around the country
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