It’s been a really hectic last couple of weeks and we are now very close to shipping the first batch of Crazyflies. It is a very big step for us so we would like to start by thanking you for your support! We wouldn’t be able to do this without your support and we really hope you will be pleased with the product and that it lives up to your expectations!
There are some updates to the pre-order kits which we hope you will be happy about. We have added two extra propellers in each kit. We have also updated the motor mounts to real moulded ones which should be easier to work with and more durable. They don’t require any glue, handles impacts and vibration better. The 3D printed motor mounts was not a viable solution when the volume increased so we have been working really hard on getting these ready in time. Since the new motor mount wasn’t available to order as a spare part during the pre-order, we have include a spare one in the kit for you.
Assembled Crazyflie with new motor mounts
The pre-order shipments will start as announced, on Apr. 25th, and finish on Apr. 30th. Orders will be shipped out in the order they where placed so second batch orders will be shipped a bit earlier with the last order going out on Apr. 30th. Since Seeedstudio got a lot more pre-orders than expected, the first batch orders will need some more time for packaging and delivery and couldn’t all be shipped on Apr.25th, please understand.
Keep in mind that we are still doing development on both the firmware and software as well as continuously updating the wiki. So once you get your Crazyflie visit our page to get the latest updates and information on how to assemble the kit and start flying. Updating the firmware only takes a few minutes and you will get the latest features.
Thank you!
Bitcraze
:)
So.. when will the next round of orders open up on seeedstudio? Been checking daily to see when I can reserve a unit for myself :)
We are currently planning/discussing this with Seeedstudio and we have no exact date yet but it will be after all the pre-orders has shipped. I would say in the beginning of May. We will update the blog when we know more exact.
Thanks Tobias :)
Well I can’t wait..
Still one question about shipment Tobias. You say that the shipment will start at 25th april and end 30th april. On Seeedstudio it says..
“Time frame for pre-order: Jan. 31- Feb. 18, 2013
First batch 300 kits — Sold Out, Time of shipping: April, 25, 2013
Second batch 500 kits, Time of shipping: May 3, 2013”
I was late with pre-order (15 feb 2013), Does this mean that I will get a crazyfly on the second batch that will end on May 3?
Seeedstudio will ship them out in the order the pre-orders where placed which means they will probably ship your order the 29th or 30th of April. So there are no second batch shipping just one FIFO (first in first out) :-)
So beginning of May I’d be able to order?
I suppose you’ll post it here (this blog), right?
btw: shut up and take my money!
Yes in the beginning of May they will be in stock for ordering. We will post more information about the exact date and Seeedstudio will also send out notifications if you have subscribed.
Very cooooolll ;-)
My order number is 70094. I ordered on February 1 at 3:14.
I’m in the first batch of shipments ?
++
Seb
Hi Seb,
Since there are only one batch of shipping now and you ordered pretty early it will most likely be shipped 25th or 26th of April.
Hi guys at Bitcraze,
Thanks for the awesome email, some really great news that cheered me up right before my impending exams which start today! o.O
I look forward to recieving my crazyflie and thanks for the tremendous work and keeping us in the loop.
Regards,
Ferg
That’s awesome :-) can’t wait!!!
Cool! Nice e-mail! I also can’t wait! :)
Seeedstudio posted on there blog so you can see what packaging looks like :-)
http://www.seeedstudio.com/blog/2013/04/25/were-shipping-crazyflie/
It’s the 25th!! Ships Ahoy!!! Where is my crazyflie? :) Fortunately I have enough toys to keep me busy for the next year or so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5khOq6y8B4
Mine shipped today!!
Hi bitcraze, i have been following you guys for quite some times.. awsome work!!
i was wondering.. as a specific tweak.. do you think these motors will also work on the quadcopter?
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6312__hexTronik_5gram_Brushless_Outrunner_2000kv.html
They won’t work without a lot of modding. As they are brushless you would need brushless controllers for them and also modify the Crazyflie firmware to control the brushless controllers. Also the PCB frame should be strengthen to handle the added weight. A long time ago we actually did some test with those motors and one a problem was that they generate a lot of vibrations. It might be fixable with balancing but we dropped that route then. Brushless mods will come eventually and if you are up for it and have the skills go for it ;-)
Something we are looking at is hooking it up to this frame:
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=22319
wow.. hooking it up to this frame would be realy cool. Are bigger modifications required or is it just like soldering the pwm signal to the esc input?
Well it might not be that big modification but it will be a bit of work for on firmware. The PWM output from the MCU is only 3.3V (when charging) which might not be enough for the BLMC PPM input so taking that output might be a problem. One could use the motor PWM output instead which is the battery voltage 3.0V – 4.2V (or always 4.2V as the battery would normally be charged). That would mean the CF propellers would spin as well and if driven to much would drain the battery… there are some hurdles to solve but I’m positive there is a good way.
For the firmware we need to implement brushless motor drivers (almost done) and also tune it for the new frame and all difficulties that comes with that. It will be a lot of fun but since we are very occupied with documentation and such I think someone else will beat us to it :-)
shipment arrived in HK!
Mine arrived in Shanghai yesterday (April 29) and I assembled it last night. Everything in the kit works great and it went together without any trouble. After a bit of hacking with the code this morning (to get it to work on Linux and to take it out of debug mode) the Flie is flying around the house. Makes such a cool noise, drives my dog crazy! :) Thanks for the great kit. Look forward to hacking around on this for a while.