Drone thumbnail 1
Drone thumbnail 2
Not on display

Drone

2015 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In 2015, the Zano mini drone became the most successful European project ever on crowdfunding website, Kickstarter, when it raised £2.3 million from more than 12,000 backers. But in November 2015, Torquing Group, the company behind the Zano, collapsed having shipped under 700 of the devices to customers.
While crowdfunding has transformed designers’ ability to make products independently, the Zano has become a cautionary tale about the risks of these campaigns. The original Kickstarter campaign video for the Zano stated that the palm-sized drone would have a built-in high-definition camera, intelligent sensors, Wi-Fi linked smartphone controls, and the ability to fly uninterrupted for up to fifteen minutes. But the few devices that were shipped performed poorly or not at all, and other drone manufacturers have since claimed that the Zano was impossible to build at such a low price.
Faced with severe criticism, Kickstarter commissioned an independent report on the Zano. It proposed that for “projects involving complex hardware, massive overfunding, or large sums of money [there] should be better mechanisms to identify weak projects before they fund.”

Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Drone Aircraft
  • Battery
Materials and techniques
Plastic, metal, and electronic parts
Brief description
Zano Special edition in black with premium clam shell case, fuel charger with quick charge module, Torquing Group
Physical description
Black mini-drone with four rotors (quadcopter), clamshell case and charger.
Gallery label
29.02.2016

Mini Drone

In 2015, the Zano mini-drone became the most successful European project ever on crowdfunding website Kickstarter, when it raised £2.3 million from more than 12,000 backers. But in November 2015, Torquing Group, the company behind the Zano, collapsed having shipped under 700 of the devices to customers. While crowdfunding has transformed designers’ ability to make products independently, the Zano has become a cautionary tale about the risks of these campaigns.

The original Kickstarter campaign video for the Zano stated that the palm-sized drone would have a built-in high definition camera, intelligent sensors, WiFi linked smartphone controls and the ability to fly uninterrupted for up to 15 minutes. But the few devices that were shipped performed poorly or not at all, and other drone manufacturers have since claimed that the Zano was impossible to build at such a low price.

Faced with severe criticism, Kickstarter commissioned an independent report into the Zano. It proposed that for “projects involving complex hardware, massive overfunding, or large sums of money [there] should be better mechanisms to identify weak projects before they fund.”

Zano
2015
Designed and manufactured by Torquing Group, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Plastic, metal and electronic parts
Museum no. CD.8-2016
Summary
In 2015, the Zano mini drone became the most successful European project ever on crowdfunding website, Kickstarter, when it raised £2.3 million from more than 12,000 backers. But in November 2015, Torquing Group, the company behind the Zano, collapsed having shipped under 700 of the devices to customers.
While crowdfunding has transformed designers’ ability to make products independently, the Zano has become a cautionary tale about the risks of these campaigns. The original Kickstarter campaign video for the Zano stated that the palm-sized drone would have a built-in high-definition camera, intelligent sensors, Wi-Fi linked smartphone controls, and the ability to fly uninterrupted for up to fifteen minutes. But the few devices that were shipped performed poorly or not at all, and other drone manufacturers have since claimed that the Zano was impossible to build at such a low price.
Faced with severe criticism, Kickstarter commissioned an independent report on the Zano. It proposed that for “projects involving complex hardware, massive overfunding, or large sums of money [there] should be better mechanisms to identify weak projects before they fund.”
Collection
Accession number
CD.8-2016

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Record createdFebruary 29, 2016
Record URL
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