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ArduCopter unboxing!!!

Posted by Chris Anderson on August 12, 2010 at 9:00pm

It's here! The first beta of the retail ArduCopter frame arrived today, and it's GORGEOUS. Jani has totally outdone himself. Above is the box, which is surprisingly small--just 13" x 4.5". Nice label, tells you what's inside. (This box is just the frame. If you'd ordered the other bits, such as the APM autopilot, GPS, motors, ESCs and props, they would have come in smaller boxes, and they'd all be packed up in one bigger box.)



Everything fits in really neatly.



Here all the parts are laid out. Each subsystem is in its own sealed bag, labeled and numbered.



An example of one bag: the power distribution PCB. Front...



...and back.



An example of the CNC'd parts. Love the little touches, like the name etched in the dome components.



Parts list



Introductory instructions. Full instructions are online.



Stickers!


Next steps: the beta testers are going to build and fly the quads with the latest software. Based on that feedback, we'll finish the documentation and decide on a release candidate of the code, and burn that into the boards. Jani will stock up on a LOT of the component parts, including motors, ESCs and props, and we'll announce a release date and prices for all of the versions, from just the frame to a complete ArduCopter UAV kit with everything included.


Totally thrilling. This project has been a long time in development, starting with the original ArduPilot board, and it's really gratifying to see it hit commercial maturity like this. Jani, you're a star!

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Comments

  • Taylor Cox August 13, 2010 at 10:34pm
    I got 600 hundred bucks in gift money for my 20th birthday...All I have to do is throw it in the bank and I'll be ready to make the pre order lol
  • Admin
    Morli August 13, 2010 at 10:31pm
    And make sure you let Your feelings about quad copter known to family and frnds ( give them discrete hint that Christmas might be good this year ;) )
  • Taylor Cox August 13, 2010 at 5:28pm
    Christmas is coming way early this year gents :)
  • Mike Lombardi August 13, 2010 at 1:39pm
    Nice work guys! I can't wait to buy one and start tinkering.
  • robert mcintosh August 13, 2010 at 12:21pm
    Fantastic news! I know what I want for xmas.
  • Moderator
    Graham Dyer August 13, 2010 at 11:02am
    YES, would love to program ArduPilot with an Android phone/tablet pc
    - http://www.pcworld.com/article/189086/droid_usb_host_hack.html?tk=r...

    Excellent job on the ArduCopter guys!!
  • Jhon August 13, 2010 at 8:49am
    there is a new touchscreen device called Ramos w7, wich is like a mini ipad, but android powered, and its under 200$ (one of the singles with capacitive toushcreen),
    wouldn't be atractive to develop an android app for define waypoints in a map and load them into arducopter without the need of a heavy laptop?
  • Nick Bright August 13, 2010 at 8:34am
    I'm looking forward to purchasing a full kit! Really top notch professional work guys!
  • Developer
    Jani Hirvinen August 13, 2010 at 8:10am
    I would like to thank you all on behalf me and my whole ArduCopter team for these encouraging words. It has been a long and sweaty path to get to this point but it's worth for every drop. There are still a lot of work that needs to be done until they can hit the masses but we are close.

    @Muthanna, yes that price was only for Beta frame as seen on this post, future full kit and frame price is still a bit unknown tho it should not be so far from that price.

    @Morli, if that's the only mistake on Beta frame and whole development, I can live with it. It's already fixed on future stickers :P

    @Adam, Yes it will be. You can even get all parts as separate if you want.
  • AKRCGUY August 13, 2010 at 8:03am
    Will the kit be available without Ardupilot Mega/IMU for those of us who already have it?
This reply was deleted.