This idea goes back some years. Back to the Erle Robotics era, when onboard compute and autonomy on small UAVs really grabbed my attention. I owned a few boards of PXFmini variety and was able to test them with what was then a brand new idea pairing them together the Raspberry Pi Zero W and Rasberry Pi 3B which in all logical theory enable endless possibilities for sensors and data. Well needless to say I was immediately captivated. Even after that path of hardware disappeared, the core goal stayed the same: build a flying system that is not just piloted, but instrumented, observable, and capable of more than manual control.

Here I am now. 

-RR