What do you think could be in this Trex450-style copter that could make it worth $50,000?
From Robots.net:
This small helicopter is called Inceptor and it is the latest product of Insitu, the innovative company behind ScanEagle that is now owned by Boeing. Inceptor weighs only 3.5lbs and fits into a police car trunk. It has an electric motor with swappable lithium polymer batteries. It can fly for around 24min, take-off and land autonomously, navigate and hover via waypoints and also controlled semi-autonomously through a touchscreen. The integrated flight control system is aFCS20 provided by Adaptive Flight Inc.
One can learn to operate it in a few hours and it provides electro-optic or IR imaging immediately even during adverse weather conditions and wind gusts. Video imagery is transmitted to the handheld ground control station and distributed to decision makers for real-time viewing. It flies below 500ft and within line of sight (as dictated by the FAA-issued certificate of authorization).
Inceptor will enter a developing but still very niche market sector that is mostly dominated by quadcopters. Prototypes are already flying and initially it will be available only for US public agencies at a cost of around $50.000. Selected law-enforcement customers will test it soon.
Comments
There was a lot of hoopla years ago about $500 hammers and that sort of thing. It all seemed to flare up and go away. Then, my son just told me about a requistion that passed through his hands for a $2,000 toilet seat (for an airplane, not the Space Shuttle). I don't know if that $2,000 seat has the commode attached, but any way you slice it, something seems out of whack. I guess we're all too busy keeping our jobs to fight the good fight and try to get some control on government spending.
Hey, this is Boeing, I bet they really wanted $80,000 !
The processors (DSP too) are way more advanced than AT1280, but the comm link is about the same, I hope it is robust. The weak link is the freshly trained operators.
Who will get to try these? I would like to watch the first missions, Could be interesting!
In my experience helicopters handle wind much better then multicopters. You also get more efficient lift, resulting in longer flight times and more payload. The main problems with helicopters are vibrations and lots of failure points because of the complicated mechanics. And from a DIY standpoint there is also the cost of parts.
And I have to agree with Toby. There is no way you can compare the cost of a DIY hobbyist project with a commercial one where every man hour has to be payed for. Especially when we are talking about a niche product meant for use in the government sector where safety and documentation requirements are insane.
My guess is expect to pay more than $50,000 for a useful system. Note the "contact us for configurations" wording on the brochure.
Why a heli instead of a multicopter? Collective pitch = better control. A multicopter could certainly work, but if you started designing this a few years ago, a heli is what you would pick.
Whats cool is the IAI Ghost...there is a Chinook of a sUAS!
It's really cool that the small heli resembles the big helis UAVs. However, I can't think of any reason to use a heli instead of a multicopter for this size/application. Any insights?
Planning for QE5
Those numbers versus that solution is WAY out!
Look at it! It's little more than an APM, CCD camera and Ardu in a 450 heli frame!
If thats the result of twelve man years then that's depressing.
Every $20k solution ive seen is hypet matre, truly inventive or somehow worthwhile. Dont get me wrong, I dont think $20k is a lot in 2011, but thats an APM in a fancy case and a 500% markup....
The price is so high because Insitu need to be self insured against the ACLU
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