Exemplifying the perfect marriage of two emerging technologies, researchers at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (ADMRC) at the University of Sheffield in the UK have been developing a 3D printed drone that can be built and deployed in as little as 24 hours.
Essentially, the ADMRC has built the drone equivalent of the disposable camera. Except instead of buying them in packs of three at CVS, you could build as many as you want at home, on your computer. Obviously, this kind of tech is years from the mass market, but by the time this drone is available, the design will be so advanced these UAVs will be worth more than their weight (currently less than 2 kg) in gold.
Check out this video of the drone’s maiden voyage:
Alan is serial entrepreneur, active angel investor, and a drone enthusiast. He co-founded DRONELIFE.com to address the emerging commercial market for drones and drone technology. Prior to DRONELIFE.com, Alan co-founded Where.com, ThinkingScreen Media, and Nurse.com. Recently, Alan has co-founded Crowditz.com, a leader in Equity Crowdfunding Data, Analytics, and Insights. Alan can be reached at alan(at)dronelife.com