Robot Dragonfly
Another UAS looking for crowd sourced funding, for a change at Indiegogo. This one a Dragonfly looks the business! A really very impressive video it’s sure to be funded.
One has to wonder though what the ITAR considerations are for all platforms being offered. Export restrictions from the 1950’s are hurting UAS innovators in America large and small.
Speaking earlier this year Wes Bush chief executive of Northrop Grumman said that:-
“The United States risks losing its current competitive edge in the unmanned aircraft market unless Washington acts soon to ease tough restrictions on their export for commercial use”
The Georgia Tech team have this to say about where there project comes from
The research behind the dragonfly began with a $1,000,000 grant from the US Air Force. The dragonfly has been developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, as a joint effort between 20+ researchers, PhDs, professors and students from multiple universities across the world.
If other North American autopilot makers have to comply with ITAR, why wouldn’t this team? If they can get away with not complying and receive large grants as well it gives them quite a competitive edge.
The TechJect Robot Dragonfly is a multi-engineering design. It requires everything from aerodynamics, machine design, mechatronics, electronics, communication systems, flight control software, user-interfaces and much more. We’ve put in a lot of work to bring harmony to chaos and bring the dragonfly to life; however, getting something robust enough to endure the elements, strong enough to outlast crashes and accidents; smart enough so everyone can operate them easily; and finally cheap enough so everyone can afford one, we have to professionally manufacture the robot bugs; which is an expensive proposition.
The funding we raise with your help, will be used for high precision injection molding, micro-machining, plastic selection & surfacing, manufacturing high-density and smart computing electronics, easy to use software development packages and so much more. We know you will love to have the newest robotic companion in our little robotic bug; but we would love it even more to be able to bring the little gizmo to life.
The unit comes ready to fly out of the box with an advanced SDK for users to customize as they go along. We are offering the dragonfly development platform as a prelaunch kit so we can get the dragonfly in your hands to let you experience the newest and coolest way of flying.
You can control the robot insect using your iPhone, Android Smartphone or computer and make it do complex tasks including home security, neighborhood watch, advanced gaming and more; you can do this in person or remotely. The Dragonfly sports the smallest and most comprehensive autopilots on the market, with video cameras, GPS, gyroscopes and more
Its that small autopilot that sounds like an ITAR item.
http://www.indiegogo.com/robotdragonfly
The team certainly have a sense of humour like this image lots.
