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some free designs on the Web, but we had to make some changes so they would
work with our internals.”
“Well, that’s good news, isn’t it?” Mateo asks.
“Well, not really,” Cam says with a skeptical tone. “If we wanted to build more
drones, we’d need to harvest more parts from existing drones or buy generic parts and
try to see if they’ll work together.”
Joni and Mateo both look confused. Mateo shakes his head and asks, “Well, why
didn’t you build it with generic parts in the first place?”
“Honestly, we weren’t sure we could make it work even if we used existing
internal components. I’ve never made a quadcopter before,” Cam says flatly. “We
ended up printing about 20 parts, but we still needed motors, a speed controller, a
flight control board, a radio transmitter and receiver, propellers, batteries, and
a charger.”
“We also needed to make sure it could integrate with our internal systems. We
didn’t want to start experimenting with generic components until we knew
we could actually make a quad that could fly,” she adds.
“So your next step is to take out the existing internal components
and replace them with generic parts to see if they will work, right?”
Mateo asks.
“Well…” Cam starts to say.
Joni interrupts, “It probably won’t matter if the generic components work or not.
Essentially we’ve just replaced the frame, skids, and a few other parts to hold the
“3D printing our camera. We still have to buy the other nonprintable component parts. Those won’t be
own drones isn’t cheap. Add in the additional labor costs to assemble and test each quad…” she trails
off.
going to save us “Plus the time and labor to integrate them with our internal systems,” Alexis picks
enough money.” up her train of thought. “It won’t be easy or cheap.”
Image source: rommma/Fotolia “Exactly,” Cam says. “3D printing our own drones isn’t going to save us enough
money. There aren’t enough parts that can be replaced. Yes, the passive recharging
platform we developed using 3D-printed parts was a huge success. It has allowed
us to automate the recharging process and extend the reach of our drones. But I just

STudy QueSTIonS

Q4-1 What do business professionals need to know about
computer hardware?
Q4-2 How can new hardware affect competitive strategies?
Q4-3 What do business professionals need to know about
software?

Q4-4 Is open source software a viable alternative?
Q4-5 What are the differences between native and Web
applications?
Q4-6 Why are mobile systems increasingly important?
Q4-7 What are the challenges of personal mobile devices
at work?
Q4-8 2026?
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