[khancyr]

I don't remember what was the price range but it was cheat. I think we speak about it in the end of their talk in the ArduPillot unconference. Check on ArduPilot YouTube channel for their talk.

What is impressive it the integration on this drone : that give a good flight time with low weight. That is a big advantage against current weight based regulation in numerous country. And of course ArduPilot integration give hight capabilities !

[gdsdfe]

Excuse my noob question but : what do you mean by integration? And why is it important?

[luminousbees]

integration of all the different parts on board in a single base: WIFI with ESP8266 WiFi, brushless motors, 4x ESC last generation BLHeli32 with telemetry and DSHOOT up to 2400 -- FlighControl -- IMU -- baro -- compass -- power system with 1 easily swappable Li-Ion 18650 for maximum flight time -- rangeFinder for accurate low height navigation 0-3m -- sdcard slot for Log -- connector for common RC radio and telemetry + connector for all the external add-ons like GPS, indoor positioning system, optical flow, 8 horizontal rangefinder for collision advoiance,... All these hw connected with the Ardupilot features. Furthermore, for small copter its very hard to have good flight time, ArduBee try to have very good flight time, safe and ready for makers to develop, supported by one of the best Open Source project for drone, Ardupilot. It has been developed to be used safely for urban swarm robotics application development, education, creativity!

https://ardupilot.org/copter/

ESP8266 with Ardupilot (telemetry and control) https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-esp8266-telemetry.h...

BLHeli_32 ESC Telemetryhttps://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/common-dshot-blheli32-tele...

[RealityVoid]

It probably means you can build firmware form ArduPilot and burn it into the drone. It's a big deal because ArduPilot is a whole platform and they have a lot of bells and whistles, communication with a companion computer, base station communication, a whole lot of possible configurations.

[StavrosK]

A 5" ArduPilot quad will probably run you about $150, maybe $200 tops, depending.

[luminousbees]

It's not so easy to stay under $200 if you mean all parts apart the RC radio. I mean 4 motors + 4 ESC BLHEli32 with telemetry + FC + WIFI, compass, 1 down-facing rangefinder, .. in particular for the FC if you select these components with quality chips and sensors it starts to be quite challenging. Furthermore, if you would like to develop swarm applications the time spent to create the fleet is not to be underestimated. Last plus its a platform with 1 single common 18650 LI-Ion battery for higher flight time in comparison to the usual LiPo.

[StavrosK]

Yes, it depends on what kind of sensors you get. I meant just with GPS, 4 BLHeli ESCs will run you around $40, 4 motors another $40, Kakute F7 controller another $50, $30 for the frame, $8 for the GPS, $10 for the receiver, $5 if you want an extra PDB, it's not that bad.

If you add sensors it does add up though, you're right.