The sky has long been the limit for print-your-own drones, but as 3D-printing tech proliferates, opening up seemingly endless possibilities for the maker crowd, a whole new breed of printed drones – robo zeppelins – could soon be scuttling above in lazy, long-endurance circles.Hobbyist UAV hub DIYDrones points to this RC blimp made of printed components. The Arduino craft is still in developing stages, but holy shit! Look at this thing go.DIYDrones co-founder Chris Anderson posted about the robo blimp late last week, claiming that he’s “got a soft spot” in his heart for blimps, which he sees as the “ideal aerial robotics learning platform for kids.” Anderson, of course, recently announced his departure as long-running editor-in-chief at Wired to focus full-time on 3DRobotics, the multi-million dollar hobby-drone company that spun off of DIYDrones. Coincidentally, his quick print-your-own drone blimp gush went out the same day as his decision to migrate fully from digital to DIY.What that move may say about the future of both media and the hobbyist – and maker-drone movement is not yet clear. But if Motherboard getting what very well could’ve been one of Anderson’s final interviews as Wired top dog, a brief encounter featured in our upcoming feature doc on unmanned aerials, is any indication, the sky is now even more the limit for 3d-printing makers.Something to look forward to as you blimp out.Top viaReach Brian at brian@motherboard.tv. @thebanderson
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