Our apologies for a long time since the last update.
here is what happened since the last update:
1. We managed to meet with Prime Minister of Poland and Casey Neistat!
Very first X-TANKCOPTER went to Casey.
We were lucky to be part of this event and we are glad that Casey took time to sign few posters for us. Those will be available during the campaign, but we have only a few of them, so if any of you is a fan and wants to get one, you have to be quick.
2. Unfortunately we had a massive delay with finishing the campaign video (it took us two months), but finally, this part is done.
3. We finished all the graphics and text related to the crowdfunding campaign pitch. So now we are applying the last changes and working on the strategy.
4. New arms were designed and tested. The biggest advantage of them is the fact they increase the drone clearance by 137%, at the same belt size. In accordance with that, we designed new wheels for more demanding terrain.
The change did not involve adding too much of the extra weight, only 1.5 g, so the flight endurance, agility etc. are staying as they were, but off-terrain performance has increased significantly especially in outdoor use.
5. We negotiated better prices with factory (at cost of higher volume order) so we can make the drone even cheaper. In addition to that we will have a special price for the early backers on IndieGoGo, so do not miss out on that promotion as the price difference will be significant.
What will happen next?
1. Refunds will be issued to all of you by the end of the next week. We kindly ask you to support us on the Indiegogo campaign.
2. The crowdfunding campaign will go live next Friday.
3. We already managed to arrange the deposit for the first order to the factory, so the production will start soon, we only need to confirm the situation with the new arms to see if there is still a chance to implement them into the current model ( otherwise they will be shipped separately). It is a technically difficult task and may be costly as the tooling is already made. In any scenario, we will start the shipment of the models immediately after the campaign ends.
We would like to kindly ask you for help. If you could please share our YT video among your friends, family, over social media, hopefully, this way we could gain more attention, as the project depends on the success of this campaign.
Thank you in advance!
I know many of you are fed up with the time it takes to make this drone reality, but the delays are caused on the way as we move. The biggest reason is the changes to the design, as we constantly trying to implement new improvements. But we are a very small company, so we have only one chance to make a good impression. That is why we put so much energy into making sure you will get the best product it can be, at the current price tag.
Please be with us 🙂
We promise to publish updates more often now. If you feel it is the time for another update. Please email me at [email protected]
In the beginning, we would like to share a new video of the TankCopter, and kindly ask you to help us out a little bit. We would be extremely glad if you could share the website (https://xerall.com) or the video with your friends or family. This would definitely help us to get more exposure and get more interest in the project. For the “early bird” backers, we will have the special offer 33% discount (for the whole set: Drone, VR, TX,)
Regarding the shipment status, we are still at the progress of preparing the campaign, building a mailing list. Probably we will launch the campaign around October and begin the shipment straight after.
Before the campaign launch, we will refund your orders and ask you to join us and re-purchase the model via Kickstarter. This will help us to build “campaign momentum” and you will be the first to know about “early bird” offer. We will make sure it is the most valuable pledge.
Thank you for being with us for so long, all the support received. Hopefully, we are not far from launching the X-TANKCOPTER in the market. Once this happens we will bring you more advanced drone the X-CARCOPTER https://xerall.com/category/x-carcopter/ Maybe one day a Flying Car in a scale 1:1 capable of carrying a human https://xerall.com/category/flying-car-scale-11/
Below are the videos from first field testing. Please have in mind it was filmed with smartphones so the quality is poor, this week we will work with a cinematic camera, therefore you will soon see the full review of the drone in nicer quality.
The second video is the endurance test (maybe boring) but it only shows the flight endurance of the model.
We have done over 50 runs with the model, so far it looks very good. It has a good climbing rate, is very stable in the flight, the altitude hold mode works well (very handy for the beginners), it has good endurance. The drone is able to drive on most of the surfaces, even short grass. It is really fast, climbs well over obstacles. The hinges in the arms, function as expected: arms simply rotate once they collide with an obstacle (instead of breaking).
The camera has no “jelly effect”, its field of view is precisely positioned, so the top corners represent the place of the tip of the arms, which is handy to judge if the drone will make through the opening etc. Also, the camera hood works great and prevents against flares and mechanical damage. The packaging is solid, we used polystyrene inserts ( instead of the plastic or paper), so we are sure the model will arrive at your doorstep safe and sound 🙂
We finished the drone’s instruction manual: download We got all necessary certification, so we are ready to press the mass production button. But here is a little problem on the way: Despite the long negotiation with the factory. They will not start the production below the order of 4000 units (MOQ). As they have to open the assembly line: train staff, equip the line with necessary tools, order components in high quantity etc. At the moment we need to sale an additional 1900 units to complete the order. As we missing funds to complete order ourselves, due to the fact we just got billed for the international patent also tooling costed more than we initially calculated.
In order to accelerate the process, this week we started looking for the distributors, retailers, that could help us complete the order. We will also run a quick Crowdfunding campaign.
As you noticed the drone got significantly cheaper 149 USD instead of 199USD, that comes from the fact we got final price confirmation from the factory. So surely we will refund the difference to you. But we also wonder if we should make the full refund and ask you to help us during the Crowdfunding campaign ( it would help us to create momentum, consequently better campaign visibility). Please allow us few days to investigate
We are very grateful for your support and patience, but we understand some of you cannot wait any longer, therefore please have in mind you can request the full refund at any time by emailing us at [email protected]
Seeing a lot of human-carrying drones, like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbeoTnuo2-U . We decided to take a time and draft the first concept of the Flying Car on a scale 1:1. The concept designed for the single person, capable of driving in any terrain ( due to large and very light wheels). Once it meets obstacle like a river, lake, mountains etc. it is capable to take off and fly over it. Equipped with eight propellers ( 46 inches in diameter) which provide necessary lift at good efficiency. Let us know what you think in the comment section.
We are happy to share a good news with you. Production samples are on the way to us. Below are few pictures of the packaging.
It will take about 5 days to get the models. Once they are received, we will inspect them, in order to finally confirm performance, quality. We will update you with the video material from the tests.
We have also finished development of the Xerall App, available for both; Android and IOS devices. Below are download links.
At the moment we only managed to get few samples, as we have not yet confirmed the MOQ (The Minimum Order Quantity). Therefore the samples have to be hand painted and assembled manually (not in production line yet). So once we accept the samples quality, confirm the MOQ, the lead time for the factory at this time of the year (busy) is 2 months. Next week we will negotiate the contract, final price, we will also try to kindly ask the factory to produce the current order (which is far away from meeting the MOQ) straight away.
We are very grateful for your support and patience, but we understand some of you cannot wait any longer, therefore please have in mind you can request the full refund at any time.
I am happy to say, that we are moving really fast in the recent weeks 🙂
We got out of the way:
1. The final colour scheme for the TankCopter.
The drone will look like this :
2. The packaging inserts.
Those will be made out of polystyrene instead of plastic. Reasons behind our choice : – Plastic inserts don’t look very aesthetic, as they tend to deform, bend. – Polystyrene inserts provide better protection for the drone.
3. Tested the idea that prevents arms damage (the snap-lock mechanism + arm on the hinge).
– The most important one; it smaller, lighter, therefore uses less plastic, which lowers impact on the environment. Also, because the size and weight, the shipping cost and carbon footprint are also reduced.
– Those buttons under the index fingers are really convenient. In had it feels similar to Sony PlayStation joystick.
Things ahead of us :
1. Packaging Graphics. 2. Instruction Manual ( for the drone and the radio transmitter). 3. Short Kickstarter campaign in order to get to at least lowest MOQ ( Minimum Order Quantity).
Please, do worry about the time involved in the campaign, your model will be shipped as soon as it is ready ( before the campaign finishes).
Below pictures of the first injection moulded model. Due to the fact the injection moulded plastic is lighter, stiffer from the one we used in 3D printing, the final model performance is significantly improved. Stiffer propellers produce more thrust. The reduced weight of all plastic components additionally increases the thrust to weight ratio.
Ahead of us is choosing the final paint style for the TankCopter and packaging design. Factory ensured us, they will be ready us ship a small batch of final product around the end of May.
Video footage sent to us ( sorry for the bad quality). The TankCopter despite the fact it has to carry the caterpillar tracks, has good climbing ratio and is agile as any other quadcopter.
We were asked to confirm on the controller, so we decided to also ask for your opinion too.
Please let us know in the comments which controller you like more.
1.Recently proposed Radio Controller
The controller is smaller in size, it has hidden antennas, also convenient to use mode buttons under the index finger.
2. The current Controller
This one is bigger in size, therefore feels better in hand, but it has external antennas and buttons accessible via thumb ( which may be inconvenient as thumbs should stay on sticks).
This is only a short update, hopefully, the last one before the shipment.
Last week we received the first batch of injected moulded parts. Those took the most time in tooling process, therefore we are happy to see them.
Factory ensured us, that everything is going smoothly and according to their time plan, now they are working on the inserts, packaging, instruction manual and certification (CE, FCC, RoHS).
Below are few photos of the moulded parts ( those are just samples for dimension verification etc, the final one will be painted according to the design).
As you probably noticed already, we have chosen the UDIRC to be our manufacturer. They one of the best manufacturers in RC toy segment, their models have really good aesthetics and performance, so we hope to see the same in TankCopter.
Thank you for your patience, hold on, the TankCopter is just around the corner.
The camera has no “jelly effect”, its field of view is precisely positioned, so the top corners represent the place of the tip of the arms, which is handy to judge if the drone will make through the opening etc. Also, the camera hood works great and prevents against flares and mechanical damage.
3. Tested the idea that prevents arms damage (the snap-lock mechanism + arm on the hinge).
You can download it here: 
Ahead of us is choosing the final paint style for the TankCopter and packaging design. Factory ensured us, they will be ready us ship a small batch of final product around the end of May.
