The technology has been around for a long time, but the cost has dropped dramatically, which has made drones a lot more accessible. In terms of hardware, a sma

The technology has been around for a long time, but the cost has dropped dramatically, which has made drones a lot more accessible. In terms of hardware, a small drone is essentially a smartphone connected to motors, right? The autopilot needs a bunch of sensors to estimate its position, and it turns out that many of them (e.g. IMU, GPS) are part of smartphones. With the mass production of the smartphones, those components have become infinitely cheaper, making it possible for a student to build a drone at home. If you look at open source autopilots like Ardupilot, it seems to correspond to the era of smartphones, I think.