The 3dr solo is probably the closest feature-wise, but it is not exactly charp compared to the phantom, neither Open Source. BTW, parrot drones really sucks. Don't even think about them if you are looking for something similar to the DJI phantom. Their products are children toys.
Crazyflie from http://www.bitcraze.se/ is also pretty cool. I own one myself, and I like it a lot. This is a tiny fully opensource quad which can be flown indoors. I think I'll add a camera like the post to make it FPV.
For the RF geeks here - can't manufacturers implement some kind of anti-hijacking protocols into the RF I/O between the radio and the receiver? I understand it's hard to defeat jamming if the attacker has more power at hand than you do, but it seems like it would be easy to defeat devices that want to try and MITM or otherwise spoof the original remote controller.
I am waiting on my new printer and have the option of getting either PLA or ABS material as part of the initial package.Can anyone help advise me on which would be best?
GPS navigation is generally a good thing. GPS tracking is a slippery thing, seen by some as an invasion of privacy. The vehicle owner should be entitled to know where their property is, but it is none of their business where I go and what I do during the day. Insurance companies would love to hike premiums based on where you park, where you eat, how many mistresses you entertain, or those brief stops in the seedy part of town.
On one hand, GPS tracking can help against theft, or at least facilitate recovery. On the other hand, it opens up a wealth of possibilities for abuse
Would it be plausible to make a sort of mobile wifi scanner? Just something to output on an lcd what the strongest wifi is? So I don't have to pull out my laptop to check if a place has wifi? Just an idea that I've been tossing around.
If anyone thinks there is any “security” in a remote lock/unlock fob, then they are just plain old silly. Even your garage door is dead easy to get into as it’s remote does the same thing. Note the house “remote deadbolts” are the exact same rolling code tech and easy to defeat.
Why? Because the manufacturer does not want to provide real security, and people will whine like crazy if their keyfob does not work. so they make it insecure for price and reliability