Pre-series ordered!

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  2012-10-08  |     |    29 Comments

We just finished the top level BOM, test plan, fabrication files, etc… which mean everything required to order the pre-series of the Crazyflie. The pre-series  is meant to be last version before the first real production batch and the idea of it is so that we can test the manufacturing and verify that it is manufactured with good quality.

One of the last minute changes we made for the pre-series has been to power the motors directly from the battery instead of through the power management chip. This should gives us up to 8% more power and efficiency due to power management mosfet on-resistance losses. It should also reducing the voltage drop which causes disturbances to the other circuits. The only drawback is that the Crazyflie consume a bit more power when OFF, because of the leakage current through the motor mosfets, but it is still within acceptable limits (a full battery will still take more than 2 years to be depleted by our electronics). Also the battery can now be swapped/disconnected for storage as we have added a connector.

Our target is to have the Crazyflie DIY kit availible for X-mas. It is very tight and it will be hard but what would life be without challenges :-)

29 comments on “Pre-series ordered!”

  • Hooraay!
    Is there any documentation and what skills are needed to build the kit?

    • Yes, we will very soon roll out the wiki where we tend to put all information.

  • Ive followed you guys for a long time and its good to see this day come. Ill be ordering several :)

  • Sorry, no time to comment, writing my letter to Santa!!!

    Thanks for your hard work guys!

    • That is a good question. We are doing what we can to get the price as low as possible but it much depends on how many we can order. The more we can manufacture the lower the price will be but since we will have to pay the first batch out of our own pockets (or find an investor) we can’t make a huge amount. We will certainly do some kind of poll to get a clue of how many we should manufacture. Our latest estimates are in the $150 – $170 range but it much depends on the volume. Our first batch will be around 100 – 500 pieces.

      • Id definitely buy one at that price point. I was thinking “several” in an earlier comment (above) but in my mind I thought they’d be around 75USD and not more than 100USD.

        • Hi,
          I expected lower price, in the range of $75-$100. For $150-$170 it’s possible to buy Ar.drone Parrot which is complete and much more developed copter.
          Ofcoz I’m not discouraging you :) just wanted to say, that the price is quite high. I was seriously considering purchase, but now it’s further than sooner. Maybe it’s possible to make it as a kit for lower price or sell only parts i.e. pcb, rotors etc?
          Anyway thanks for great work you’ve done :)
          Regards

          • We are aware that the the price is in the higher range but we just can’t compete with “closed” mass-produced quadrotors, and we are not trying to. You wouldn’t get nearly as much possibilities that you get now if we would have aimed for a low price. And if you would compare it to other open source quadrotors I think we are pretty comparable price-wise as you get more then just a control board.

            As it looks now the price for the full kit will be ~$150 or close to. However the motor mount problem is not yet solved and quantity will also make a difference.

    • I was about to post the same thing, Kickstarter or Indiegogo.com
      I’m sure you have seen this, http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/569891265/microfly-an-open-hardware-4-inch-quadcopter?ref=live
      He did alright, he didn’t even have a working prototype and months later still doesn’t!

      I think it’s possible for the Crazyflie to do as well as or better than the Quadshot http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jkg/quadshot-an-aerobatic-blend-of-rc-helis-and-planes?ref=live

      You guys have done your homework, your ready for production and as we all know volume = a lower possible retail!

      • When we where half way through the development process we thought of Kickstarter (and equal sites) but decided to not use it since there where to many uncertainties and we didn’t want the added pressure of having to deliver something. We do this for fun and want to keep it that way. Now when we are almost there Kickstarter is suddenly a very good idea but unfortunately we do not live in USA. Indiegogo might be an alternative but isn’t as good as Kickstarter yet.

        We have definitely followed the Microfly and we hope he will succeed but he has a tough job. It was not easy getting all the pieces together and we still have lot of cool development to do, and hope that the community will help us here :-)

        One thing we like with having small first batch is that it gives us time to bring up the community and keep the feedback on a reasonable level. I’ve read that OpenPilot did that mistake with their first CopterControl when they got quality problems with the gyro sensors IDG500.

    • Yes we have but unfortunately we do not live in the USA which mean we can’t, or at least that’s what we have read.

  • Hi guys, I am a mexican who live in Germany. Right now I am working on a project to save wild animals from mowing of countryland fields (saving Bamby :-) ). Would you please send a Quotation for buying three of your crazyflies to make some test in our project? I will really appreciate if you can contact me by E-mail better even if we meet up by Skype if you want.

    All the best and congratulations for your first pre-serie.

    Freddy

  • Kickstarter jumps the pond this month the the UK. Perhaps this could be of use?
    A least it might be a cool option if there is a version in the future that is more plug and fly. They would get lots of interest I think.

  • I love it I like to have one please consider me on your task .

  • Availible for X-mas? Nice! Maybe it’s hard to say but do you know if that includes shipping to the EU?

    • We will do what we can to have it available for X-mas but it is a very tight deadline and it requires everything to go perfectly smooth. Very seldom have we experienced things to go perfectly smooth…

      Seeedstudio offers several shipping alternatives so if it is available before X-mas I guess it will depend on what you are willing to pay for in shipping.

  • I really want this Crazyflie DIY kit as soon as it is available. mail me please…

  • Hey been watchin your vidio over an over for ever a few days at least. I want to buy one. Do you know roughly when theyl be released and how much for a guy like me.in the usa thanks

  • is there anywhere ican order one now and what else will the kit iclude ie quad charger tx batteries?? also will you make replacement parts available such as props and batteries

    • Not yet. We will send out a mail in our mailing list, which you can subscribe to, when it is ready to order. The mailing list you will find on the right side on our front page.

      It is not a RTF toy but a DIY nano quad kit. You would have to have some assembly and soldering experience to put it together so it is not suitable for novice people. The Crazyradio, which is USB radio dongle that controls it, needs a computer to function (or soon can be configured/modded to be attached to a R/C transmitter). A joystick is needed (preferably PS3 sixaxis). For charging you need a micro-USB cable that connects to the Crazyflie.

      Yes, we will offer replacement parts.

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