This is a cool project but that total cost is prohibitively expensive. This feels more like an academic proof of concept than a viable project.

It would be interesting if they could get some input from some industry experts to cost reduce and simplify for a few iterations. From a quick look at the files this appears to be what I’d expect from the dev board proof of concept stage of a project, before it was iterated on to be simplified for wider use. Hopefully they can get some time to do a few more cycles

It's competitive with Davis' lower-end offerings with the benefit of being open source and modifiable. I'd feel better depending on data from this 3D-PAWS kit versus some of the cheaper proprietary options.