Just came across this Pixhawk clone, so thought I would share.
http://witespyquad.gostorego.com/flight-controllers/rtfhawk-2-4.html
Ready to Fly Quads is a reputable distributor, and I have made a few purchases from them already. They already have a clone of the APM2.x, that has been somewhat successful. Will this new clone be just as good. for under $100USD, might be work a try.
Comments
@Adrian I have not heard from Paul Baxter.
@Guy, actually we are empowering users. Here's a great example of why we are using a Certificate of Authenticity in the Pixhawks
http://www.infinity-hobby.com/main/product_info.php?products_id=10596
The first paragraph says "Pixhawk is an advanced autopilot system designed by the PX4 open-hardware project and manufactured by 3D Robotics."
And a few lines further it says "This product is based on open source project. We carry this product is for customer's convenience to purchase. We will always assume you are capable of handling this kind of open source project by yourself as we can't provide comprehensive technical support as you may expect."
That board was not made by 3D Robotics so people are being deceived by a vendor who does not have truthful advertising and a manufacturer who did not bother to put all the components on the board.
Obligatory
I ordered a RTFhawk 2.4.3 from them a week ago. No updates since. No reply to my emails asking when it might dispatch. Not sure what 'reputable' means these days, but I don't think it's that.
i noticed in APM clones from HK,, they were continuing with the same 500mA fuse that was supposed to be replaced by a Tiny 1100mA fuse.
whatever guys it is not worth saving $100 to buy a clone. they do not support any issues with hardware flaw. remember how 3DR supported replacement of a 500mA Tiny fuse which was supposed to be 1100mA fuse. 3DR sent me a $1 replacement fuse by $40 fedex shipping free of any charge. i really appreciate such a support. u can buy clone motors, ESC or any other hardware but not a high end autopilot. it's just not worth the money saved.
and again I respond I spent 3 years of my life trying to get folks to copy/steal/clone Paparazzi hardware and software ANYTHING to get the market penetration of the design that Ardupilot now has, in early guerilla marketing efforts we called it "steal our code please!" dates from the late 1980s.
While the cloners in your view dilute market share, I maintain that they are beneficial by increasing the population of UAV's in general to markets where 3DR would NEVER penetrate. And it keeps 3DR and the companies that clone them constantly on the move tech wise.
you DONT have to support the clones its a choice.. but I run genuine 3DR and clones and have found very little difference in usage/operation. I buy 3DR when I want support and clones when I dont feel its necessary to have support for that area.
I dont miss any point at all.. license under GPL and expect to get cloned/forked, its been the same for most BSD/GPL style licensing since about 1987.
dont come complaining when folks do EXACTLY as the license intended.
ie NONE of the point you claim have any validity given the terms of the code license
regards
HZL - who chose ardupilot PRECISELY because it is so popular with cloners :)
rob:for me it s not because 3dr stuff is too expansive but it s for poor warranty or support from them..
if i have a problem with my units i need to wait a long time before to flyhing......so if it s chinese copy which is cheaper i don t care..
for french and most of europeen country the best is to have a compagnies near as us like dortek..shipping cost is cheaper,no duty taxes, and return to the compagny will be faster than usa..on top of that the quality will be good as original 3dr!!!!!!
open source project should stay open for everybody....and not everybody have 200usd for one controllers
Guy, I have not disagreement with your statements at all. Good points.
I've never argued that clones should not exist, or that people shouldn't be free to choose. I just want people to be aware of the issues, and make an informed decision. I've seen vendors of clone equipment make statements that 3DR doesn't actually contribute anything more than they do, and that's an outright lie. When I hear people say things like "3DR Product is too expensive", I think they are stating that from a misinformed position. It tells me that they are either unaware, or unappreciative of what 3DR has contributed to this ecosystem.
I also feel it's a personal insult. The cloners do nothing to help write the firmware, this is why their price is so low. 3DR does a lot to help write the firmware, this is a big part of the reason their price is higher. So when somebody says that 3DR is too expensive, to me it sounds like "I don't value the firmware". They are assigning the code a $0 value. That makes me, and I would assume other developers think "well gee, thanks".
Saying "I bought a clone because 3DR is too expensive for what it is", is misinformed. Saying "I bought a clone because I'm a student, interested in aerial robotics, but I just cannot afford the higher price", is a completely valid statement.
While this is more or less true... actually less true, anyway... you're missing the point here completely. The point is, that the cloners benefit from the open source community in exactly the same way 3DR does. But 3DR puts something back. The cloners put NOTHING back. And just the fact that they are selling cloned boards at a lower price does not mean they are putting anything back. If clone users are putting anything back in to the general community (and I think there's a lot less of that than you assume), it is *they* who are contributing. Not the cloners. I can only thing of a handful of clone users who've contributed anything back, bug fixes, testing, etc. It seems like they spend most of their time asking questions that are already explained in the wiki, and futzing around with mismatched poor-quality hardware and bodging fixes to try to get airborne.
The cloners take code from the developers. They take designs from 3DR. They take free customer support from the community And they take money from their customers. They do not give anything back. Why does anybody want to support that?
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