Let’s go back to the dark ages of the computer. 1970s. This is when companies like Data General, Wang, and others ruled the world with “microcomputers” (which were anything but micro). Funny thing about computers back then was that if you wanted a new application you more likely than not needed to buy another computer. Wang had word processing applications but didn’t have any accounting software. So you then had to buy a computer from Data General for accounting. And the cycle would repeat itself across many other applications.
That seems crazy today – and for good reason. If Apple or Samsung made you buy a new smartphone every time you wanted to download a new app, you’d rightfully say: “that’s ridiculous. It’s a huge waste of money to purchase all those phones and then I’d need to manage all of them.”
But how is this any different than drones today?
Let’s shamelessly beat up on DJI. Just like the micro-computer era, DJI has dozens of different drones, each with their own application. If you need to do scouting, then you buy the Mavic. If you then need to do any sort of heavy lift or longer flight time, you need to buy an M300. If you have another application, then you need to buy another drone.
This is a great business model for DJI. It means that they can sell more drones, more batteries, more everything.
This is one of the main drivers of creating the Modovolo Lift. As drone operators, we kept asking ourselves: “why do I need to keep buying more drones?”
We wanted something that not only has hours of flight time and extremely low cost. We also wanted a modular endlessly configurable design. It’s like a Lego kit. You link Lift Pods together for thrust and Utility Pods for useful things like cameras and 10lbs payload capacity. Need longer flight time? More payload? Just add Lift Pods.