An organisation in the US, which puts particular emphasis on the promotion of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for children, has launched a Kickstarter project for a 3D-printed DIY drone concept called SkyBot.
Led by Austin Kelly, the SkyBot team said the drone will offer hands-on experience for kids, allowing them to build their own drone from the ground up with a few parts and then programme it to do what they want it to do.
Kelly said that the base concept for SkyBot went through numerous software development cycles, but the key to the drone’s build lies in its ability to be 3D-printed, allowing any student to construct a drone once they have access to a 3D printer.
Image via Kickstarter
The hexagon-shaped drone can then be modified by the young drone pilot to suit their needs if they wish.
“When we began working on SkyBot, our goal was to make a hands-on drone-learning platform for both students and professional engineers,” said the company’s head of marketing Freddie Hernandez. “This meant making SkyBot small and lightweight, yet durable enough to take with you anywhere, intelligent enough so no piloting skills were required and, most of all, pricing SkyBot at a point that makes it affordable.”
The full kit is currently being sold as an early build on Kickstarter for US$64 (€59) and comes with the basic drone components, such as the quadrotor platform, accessible control board and control pad for flying.
The SkyBot team has just launched its Kickstarter project and are looking for US$6,400 to increase the scale of production for international markets.
Inspirefest 2015 is Silicon Republic’s international event running 18-20 June in Dublin that connects sci-tech professionals passionate about the future of STEM with fresh perspectives on leadership, innovation and diversity.
Child with drone image via Shutterstock
