Hello From Ann Arbor

[EnigmaFPV]

Hello everyone. I am a new member here and enthusiast of the multirotor and FPV communities. A student at the University of Michigan and soon to be founder(Fall 2015 group registration pending) of the University of Michigan Multirotor Group. As this hobby is fairly expensive for newcomers, I have setup a GoFundMe for our student organization to help get our group some hardware that we would not be able to otherwise afford as poor college students. Any help is greatly appreciated and please spread the word to any you think would be interested in helping. We will be active in the community and organizing events in the Ann Arbor and greater Detroit areas. Thank you so much for your support and welcoming.

http://www.gofundme.com/umichmultirotor

 

[Mojave]

Type in "Michigan" on the Search function above - you may get some other multirotor enthusiasts that are willing to help out. Good Luck and welcome!

 

[fengshuidrone]

I just moved to Whitehall Mi. from Toledo Oh. Funny thing is, Toledo Oh. is closer to Ann Arbor than Whitehall is. Toledo hosts the Weak Signals R.C. convention every year. You might get in touch with that organization to perhaps help with your funding venture. Quoting you "As this hobby is fairly expensive for newcomers, I have setup a GoFundMe for our student organization to help get our group some hardware that we would not be able to otherwise afford as poor college students. Any help is greatly appreciated and please spread the word to any you think would be interested in helping."
A great idea. One thing there is not always true. Depending on what level of learning, research, and budget you are able to raise and willing to provide, it can be less expensive than you think to get one of these in the air. I built my carbon fiber home designed frame for under $70.00. I got a Multiwii flight controller for $32.00. Motors and ESC (a 4 in 1 ESC) another $100.00. Battery, $18.98. TX and RX, $65.00. Two landing gear retracts, less than $20.00.
Built the gear from a $6.99 piece of aluminum and some old pipe insulation I had. Top it all off with a $35.00 battery charger. Add in a bunch of extra stuff I included. Still under $400.00.
The cost of the steep learning curve to get it flying? Hours of online reading and learning about things like PID adjustment, FTDI to USB interfaces, etc. etc. But in the end my Multiwii powered craft flies awesomely and is rock stable when I want it that way.
If you choose to go with a more commercial platform like DJI or whatever, you will pay more upfront for the hardware but have a less steep curve to get it up in the air.
The build it yourself from scratch approach I took rewarded me with a ton of knowledge related to flying one of these and would be beneficial to those in college, who are after all, there to learn.

 

[EnigmaFPV]

Thanks for the tip. I will certainly reach out to the organization to see what we can work out. As far as the cost, for college students, sometimes under $400 is still pricey. That's 2 textbooks, or a month of groceries. The model I found, the new Walkera Runner 250, if flown line of sight comes in at $226 RTF, the FPV version is only a little more at $269 for the version that supplies the OSD. This allows for a low cost per unit and with goggles, each setup still hits under $500. My goal is to get 4 complete setups but fewer may have to do for now and expand the inventory each year. Hopefully later down the road we can get donations of parts for a few build workshops or even just a build demo. I'd also really love to use the Univ. spaces and resources to host some FPV races and get some exposure that way as well.