Finally our yearning has come to an end, the Crazyflie kit pre-series did arrive from Seeedstudio today! We have not had time to do any extensive testing but so far so good, yay! We did however have time to program and assemble one and it flies really well. It feels like the change we did to route the motor supply directly to the battery and not trough the power management circuit made a difference. The acceleration punch when maxing out the throttle feels stronger. We have uploaded some pictures of the received package. What is still not included in this package are the motor mounts which we ordered separately from Shapeways. The motor mount is one of the last things to sort out before the kit can be ready. We are working on a moulded version which will be much cheaper in bigger quantities but it takes way more time then we expected. We might go with rapid prototyped mounts instead to make it available sooner.
The upcoming week is going to be very interesting as the testing will determine if we can go to the next step!
You guys are doing awesome work! Is there any chance it will be available for christmas? Best gift ever. If not im going to buy it anyway
We did our best trying to get it ready before X-mas but unfortunately we missed that window. Manufacturing will take at minimum 5-6 weeks and we have e.g. the motor mount issue to sort out before we can start the manufacturing. It might be possible to pre-order them before X-mas but who cares since it’s during the x-mas vacation you would want it. I know it is hard waiting for it to be ready but please bear with us, we are doing all we can.
Anyway, we are really glad you are liking it!
Hi, Great work, When Can see the source code? Is it possible?
As soon as they are ready to pre-order we will release it. There are still some clean-up and polishing to do before we want to release it.
Yes, very good work, for the whole project, and how you share with everybody the step by step process.
I want to get on the list, for Christmas or later, doesn’t care.
Hi, do you have anny idea what price will be?
Please see: https://www.bitcraze.io/2012/10/pre-series-ordered/#comment-3725
Are you going to use something like kickstarter for the first series funding? Than you can get a big first batch to reduce the price!
We will most likely use some kind of “kickstarter-ish” pre-order which could reduce the price.
Hi guys, big step in the process, just a thought, you using 6mm motors correct? I would think this would solve the motor mount problem for cheep. http://www.myrcmart.com/wlv93903-motor-holder-p-5061.html
Turn upside down clip the leg and a drop of glue of choice to mount to pcb?
Thanks for the tip, but are you sure those motor mounts are 6mm? From my understanding all the ladybirds and clones use 7mm motors? And another problem is that we would be dependent on someone else’s product which could be problematic in terms of availability as well as price. The Crazyflie should however be perfectly good to handle 7mm motors which would give it more power for e.g carrying heavier payloads.
I have to say I don’t own one of the clones as of yet, I have been holding off all this time waiting on your kit!!!! But from all the reading I have done on RC Groups, the V929 clones use a 7mm geared reduction and the v939 use a 6mm direct drive? The motor part number even has a 06 at the end of it? It was just a thought, I just know from working in the injection plastic industry for a few years your going to be out of pocket at least a few thousand for the tooling, for short runs you could go with a spray metal mold, but still your looking at a large chunk of money and at least a couple more months. Being the part in what it is, simple and cheapest opting is silicone molds and a poured urethane. Maybe RP is the way to go for now for low volume? It all comes down to how may kits you are going to sell.
You have been waiting for our kit… we don’t feel any pressure at all ;-). We better deliver something soon then…
We have a walkera ladybird and that uses 7mm motors but the v939 is some kind of clone which might be a bit different. I would doubt they could use 6mm motors though. They are not power-full enough if the v393 is the same size as the ladybird.
So you are a mechanical engineer? Maybe you would be willing to help us out a bit? We are close to having a draft foldable design that would use PP plastic and it would require about 2000 – 4000 pieces before we would break even compared to buying them from Shapeways for $2.5 a peace. The first batch will most likely use Shapways rapid prototyped motor mounts or no mounts at all any you would have to order them separately. Or if you are fortunate enough to have your own 3D printer make them there. We are not sure which route to take yet…
2,50 for one motor holder sounds impressivly expensive. Have you asked companies that offer “low volume injection moulding” for a quote? There alot of companies in this marked, just google it..
Thanks for the tip. The moulded motor mount we are working on will be a “low volume injection mould” (aluminium).
good to hear that quad is going to shop soon :)
xmas would be good but getting new quad next ( new ) year would be good too.