ArduBee Is a Small 3” Quadrotor Drone Equipped with ArduPilot

While high-end quadrotor drones can be quite expensive, small toy drones are very cheap. You can purchase tiny micro drones for as little as $10, but these leave a lot to be desired. They usually have cheap motors that don’t last long, extremely limited flight time and range, and the bare minimum of sensors required to keep it flying. They’re good for a few minutes of novelty — and not much else. Soon, however, you’ll be able to back a much higher quality ArduPilot-equipped drone called ArduBee on Kickstarter.

ArduBee was developed by the Luminous Bees team, who create indoor drone-based light shows in Italy. They designed their own high-tech drones for those light shows, and they had to be quite high-tech in order to perform the complex coordinated movements necessary for the shows. They’ve used that same expertise in the development of ArduBee, and are hoping you’ll be interested in what they’ve managed to create. At first glance, the ArduBee looks a lot like any other small drone with 3” propellers. But the advanced array of sensors and fully-featured flight controller set it apart from the crowd.

That flight controller is running ArduPilot, which is fantastic open source autopilot flight software for drones (and other robotic vehicles). Thanks to the thriving ArduPilot community, a huge range of features are available for you to take advantage of if you purchase an ArduBee. ArduPilot is running on a 32-bit STM32F427 microcontroller, which has plenty of power for the job. It’s paired with four BlHelis32 ESCs, which are capable of providing motor telemetry. An ESP8266 module sends telemetry data via a WiFi connection. Integrated sensors include an IMU, a barometer, a compass, and a downward facing rangefinder to maintain elevation. Power comes from a single 18650 lithium-ion battery cell.

All of those components are integrated into the PCB that doubles as the drone’s frame, which helps keep the weight down. But a number of add-on boards will be available to expand the ArduBee’s capabilities. Those include a camera, additional rangefinders for collision avoidance, a GPS module, a custom indoor positioning system, and an RGB LED effects board. The Luminous Bees team expects to launch ArduBee on Kickstarter within the next few weeks, so be sure to sign up for updates on their website so that you can back the project when it’s available.