JAYFORCE

Above: Bitcraze is buzzing will be selling mini-drone copter kits this spring, but you can pre-order now.

Wait…WHAT? Didn’t we just post on military drones that might be over our cities. Now, we’re talking about drones in our cities… launched from private homes? Yep. Believe it.

Marcus Eliasson, Arnaud Taffanel, and Tobias Antonsson are the engineers behind the Swedish startup Bitcraze; and they now accepting pre-orders for a palm-sized quadcopter called the Crazyflie Nano. At less than four inches across and 19 grams, the device is small enough to fly under tables and chairs, and through enclosed spaces.

The trio used only open source material for the project’s hardware and code. So, they did not have to waste time and money they did not have to test and perfect their market version. No fighting over intellectual property rights either.

‘It’s extremely fun to play with as well, just fly around. Our hope is that they will develop on it.’

– Marcus Eliasson

They have already gotten suggestions for modifications to the $149 device, and hacked the copter to carry a video camera, LEDs, and even an inductive charger. There will already be a more advanced, $173 Crazyflie Nano, with a magnetometer and altimeter offered.