On Wednesday April 6th, Barcelona-based BonaDrone is launching a crowdfunding campaign to bring the world’s first 3D-printed, customizable, and modular drone to the consumer market. Alongside 3D-printed merchandise and drone accessories, backers have the chance to pre-order BonaDrone’s Mosquito drone, which the company expects to start shipping in September this year.
After years in development, the Mosquito is a drone ready to offer a different way of doing things. Users can choose the color and accessories of their Mosquito, as well as having the opportunity to upgrade the material used before building their own drone from scratch out of 3D-printed parts. This customizable approach means that every user, from tech-lovers to engineering, DIY, and RC enthusiasts, can have a unique drone.
The Mosquito also comes with several autonomous flight features built-in, including a Follow-Me function, flight planning, and a Return-to-Launch capability in case of an emergency.
Full customization is just the beginning. Ready to go, BonaDrone has designed and tested two accessories users can purchase with their drone - a gimbal to attach a camera for stable video photography, and a hook for transporting objects with ease. Further down the road BonaDrone will ask users to suggest new accessories and functionalities for the Mosquito, which will then be designed and made available to the community.
For the launch of its IndieGoGo campaign, BonaDrone has partnered with 3D Hubs, the largest and fastest growing network of 3D printers. The team at BonaDrone team is made up of five friends from Barcelona, Spain. In a statement before the launch of their IndieGoGo campaign, Josep, Jordi, Àlex, Dani and Pep said:
“We hope that our project will get a great reception, and see this campaign as a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about drones and 3D-printing, both inside and outside of the technology community. The aim is to give our users the tools and the knowledge to self-meet their drone expectations. We are also keen to receive feedback on our Mosquito drone, develop new products and accessories, and inspire creativity within the community we hope to create.”
BonaDrone was founded with the aim of bringing technology closer to the end user. The company hopes to promote both creativity and an interest in learning about how their technology all fits together. In a sea of tech startups looking for investment, BonaDrone stands out as a unique option for those keen to support an innovative project that brings together two of the most exciting tech trends in recent years: Drones & 3D Printing.
Comments
I think it offends most of our sensibilities calling this the "The World’s First Customizable, 3D-printed drone". Most of us have been doing just that for years.
@lot
That was exactly my thinking; distributing the .stl files and maybe having a tutorial on how to design modified parts to fit the airframe. If bonadrone wants to know what a good approach to 3d fabricated UAS is check out BoxBotix, They delivered on a successful kickstarter and didn't even bother with the heavy hardware components, just airframe. Don't get me wrong the quadcopter looks cool, very lego like and i think it'd be great for kids. But If i am a parent or beginner I want to spend at most $500 for a system. Also do you guys have the spec online? I'm having trouble finding stuff like All up weight, flight time and geometry.
Hi Bonadrone guys,
I'm missing some information about the drone.
We see a lot of 3d printed drones on the past, so please don't confuse people saying "first 3d printed drone".
Are you planning to release the 3d print files of your drone? This is very important, the power of 3D printing is that everyone can modify and adapt to our needs. So I don't see the point of your "voting" system for create new add-ons.
Hi,
We understand that there are so many aspects of our project/campaign that we have to improve, that’s why we are a startup trying to show its ideas to the community and we are not focused on experienced users, who are able to design their own quadcopter and configured it without help.
We really think that we give something different, through 3d printing, modularization and customization. Also with the included assembly and electronic configuration manuals, teaching about the electronic components, software Mission Planner and how to code little missions.
The margins of our products aren’t that high, but as a startup company we don’t have the commercial force to get better prices. If you buy as a user that spare parts form a reliable supplier it won’t be much more cheaper. That’s why we also provide the frame with the assembly & electronic manuals and a list of compatible components.
We have in mind some of the accessories and developments that you have mentioned, like retracts, Octocopter upgrade based on the Quadcopter Mosquito, FPV accessory, LEDs, “to print” version,.... In order to create a community around this we have the suggestions section on our webiste (www.bonadrone.com/en/suggestions), where users can suggest new developments.
We are sure, we can deliver the rewards in september 2016, because our Mosquito prototype is already tested and working perfectly. We haven’t paid for any article that has been published, we contacted by ourself to all of them to explain our project and they were interested in publishing about us.
Thanks for your feedback, we are working to succeed with this project and to explain it well and better, if you have any specific question, please contact us, info@bonadrone.com.
@Francisco Ferreira
I said it's not cheap, but I've seen others much more expensive
In the list that added @AlexseyNovik I just see only an other drone that follow DIY philosophy but without 3D printing technology.
I've also seen others that are cheaper and have failed. Is this because of the price? I think so.
You can buy a Zano, it is cheaper but you never will receive.
The list of components is included with the reward given with the frame
@Andrew Murphy they do have a good PR company. Maybe they should have spent less money getting the news out so that their products could be cheaper. Regarding the research, are you talking about the "journalists" or the BonaDrone people? Either way I don't see where either would have done any extensive research.
@Alexei. Z I, and others, have said we wish them success. The shell isn't exactly cheap either but where have you seen the list of compatible components? I don't even see the list of what is included in the kit.
@Alexsey Novik
Sorry but I don't understand...
What do you mean?
@Alexei.Z
Just look at this doc
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JssYSCiJ2d9QP5egDwL1fGiPMFn...
Hello,
I do not usually write in this blog, Usually I only read the articles.
Sorry if I do not express correctly in English, my level is not very good.
I've been watching the campaign of these group of young guys and you talk about $ 1700 but I have seen the full drone for $ 680 so I do not understand some things that you say. It is true that there is a drone of $ 1700 but all campaigns have some product with a reward of <$ 1000.
Also if you think they have expensive components you can buy the frame, I do not see outrageously priced and they provide you a list of compatible components (you choose whether you want to buy or not), then you can expand it with the parts that you like.
In short ...
I do not understand much of the criticism is not a super good price but we are talking about 5 young guys that just starting, maybe they not have an office. I think we should give them the opportunity to grow.
I find it very interesting the idea of adding accessories or modify parts.
We'll see how it evolves
Best regards,
Alexei. Z
i don't think the frame deisgn has optimize utilized the 3D printing advantages.
And i don't think selling hardware targeting to a 3D printed kit will be competitive for functional design.
It will be better to design some non-conventional sized robotics kits, just like bb-8 from star wars.
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