Hopper is built for daily classroom use and backed by a lifetime warranty. A drone that survives the school year and survives the next one. Hardware that breaks or gets discontinued mid-year leaves a teacher stranded. Hopper is engineered so that does not happen.
Hopper is the only drone designed, manufactured, and serviced entirely in the United States. NDAA Section 889 compliant. Zero foreign dependencies. Single vendor, single contract, full supply chain visibility from PCB to propeller.
When Parrot retired the Mambo with no domestic replacement, our customers became our reason to build Hopper. Same approachable form factor. What changed:
Lifetime warranty, US-supported. FTWCode.ai still programs Mambo for the customers who have them. Hopper is what comes next.
Every Hopper. Every component. Full supply chain visibility for procurement.
Eligible for Perkins V, Title IV-A, Title I, JROTC, and federal workforce contracts. No prohibited components.
Hardware built for thousands of flight cycles. Service and parts from the same American team that built it.
Mambo customers are still supported. Hopper is the next step, not a forced migration.
Already have a Hopper or a Mambo? Find support, parts, and curriculum on Resources.
The same Hopper, for everyone outside the classroom. Parents, co-ops, clubs, and self-directed learners build, fly, and code the real aircraft, and educators master it themselves before bringing it to their students. One kit with six batteries, a full spares set, the complete toolkit, and 12 months of the Build Fly Code platform. $495.
Dimensions and Weight
7in x 7in
65g with battery
50g without battery
30g payload capacity
Range and Altitude
Max Range 150ft
Max Height 15ft
Regulatory
Category 1 Drone (under 250g)
Section 889 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
Sensor Suite
Camera
2MP Articulated Camera
45 degrees Forward-Facing
90 degrees Downward-Facing
Flight Control System Autonomous and Manual Flight Modes
Telemetry Suite Real-Time Measurement Reporting from Onboard Sensors
Examples:
3-axis accelerometer and 3-axis gyroscope for detecting movement, tilt, and orientation in real time
Functions as a digital compass, helping determine Hopper's heading
Measures altitude based on air pressure changes
Monitors ambient temperature to aid in environmental sensing or onboard diagnostics
Bottom
Top
Novel user-centric method for developing test flight strategies to be later developed in the programming environment. FTW Fly also serves as the singular Hopper and Hopper Controller software update vehicle.
Designed and manufactured in the US
Main Chip (MCU) Nordic NRF5340
Communication Bluetooth
Manufacturer For The Win Robotics (FTW)
Manufacturer Headquarters San Diego, California
Coding platform utilizing block-based programming technology enabling rapid engagement with Hopper's full autonomous capabilities. Programs both Hopper and Mambo.
To ensure the smoothest and most reliable flight experience with Hopper, we recommend the following setup:
Program Directors and Procurement
Yes. Hopper is fully compliant with NDAA Section 889, which prohibits the use of telecommunications and surveillance equipment from certain foreign manufacturers in government-funded programs. Hopper contains no prohibited components, making it eligible for use in CTE programs, JROTC, Title I schools, Perkins-funded initiatives, and federal workforce development contracts.
CTE programs require a drone that is NDAA compliant, durable enough for daily use, and paired with a structured curriculum that maps to industry credentials. Hopper is the only US-manufactured drone that meets all three criteria, built in San Diego, California, with a full autonomous systems career pathway curriculum included.
Yes. Hopper and the Build Fly Code curriculum platform are eligible for Perkins V funding as career and technical education equipment and instructional materials. FTW Robotics provides purchase order processing and grant documentation support for district procurement offices.
Hopper is designed and manufactured by FTW Robotics in San Diego, California. The printed circuit boards, hardware and software are all US-built, ensuring full supply chain compliance for government and federally funded programs.
Guides, Safety Manual, Compliance
Hopper build guides, safety documentation, firmware update walkthroughs, warranty information, and NDAA compliance details all in one place.
Help us improve ftw-robotics.ai
To everyone who owns a Hopper: thank you.
Some of you bought the very first Hopper in 2023. You believed before it was easy to, and we made you a promise, that it would get better, and better, and better.
We meant it every time we said we were close. We genuinely believed it, every time. The truth is it was harder than we imagined. Way, way harder. It took longer and cost more, in every sense, than we could have known. But we stood in it. For years. And then came the breakthrough.
Firmware 2.0 is here, and it is not a small step. It is a magnitude better, honestly a hundred times better than Hopper has ever flown. And every existing Hopper receives it, free, because that was always the promise.
We are proud of this one because we killed for it. And we couldn’t have done it without you. The early adopters gave us real feedback in real conditions, and that is exactly what now teaches an .ai platform that gets more intelligent with every flight, made smarter by the people in our network.
FTW is one of the few American drone companies that owns its entire telemetry and flight control stack. Wholly owned. Zero outside dependency. And it’s genuinely good. We have been teaching and learning on real systems, across the country, the whole way.
This July 4th, we shipped an American flight stack. And it’s actually good.
