In many ways, the Parrot AR Drone, released in 2010, foresaw the current boom in consumer quadcopters. Although there had been an active geek culture building and programming quads prior to that date (2005 on), the AR Drone fired up the fancy of many and was well covered in the press. Brookstone was the initial primary vendor and it was [ Read More ]
Your first foray into quadcopters may be with a mini or micro – most of which use a single cell LiPo battery and come standard with a USB or plug-in charger. However, once you step up in size to larger and heavier drones, you will find that most of them use batteries which are MUCH larger in size, weight and [ Read More ]
Dualsky is a well regarded manufacturer in the R/C model industry, and highly regarded for their motors – one of the key ingredients in any quadcopter. Hobbyists have long been using their motors and other parts to build their own machines, but until now Dualsky did not produce a complete quadcopter. This has changed with the introduction of their Hornet [ Read More ]
How to Troubleshoot your AR Drone after a crash (1.0 and 2.0)……. Sooner or later (probably sooner) you are going to have a nice little wreck with your AR Drone. Maybe you hit a wall too hard, hit the ceiling, smacked a tree, or sucked in a twig. Wrecks, crashes, and other emergency stops are par for the course with [ Read More ]
WL Toys are well known for their line of Quadcopters, namely the v929, v939, v949 and v202. Each of these quads have different styles and flight characteristics, allowing the prospective buyer to choose based on their intended use and flying style. The V959 model follows along with this theme and is designed and tuned to carry a on-board camera or [ Read More ]
What fun is it to leave a fantastic device like the AR Drone bone stock? We all want more power, more altitude, longer flight times, and better looks. While there are quite a few mods for sale, I am going to stick to ones that myself or people I know personally can attest to. If you have suggestions, please post [ Read More ]
Those of us with interest in photography often end up with a collection of cameras – too many to take along for travel or for all the various activities we may engage in. Optrix sells a number of cases which may help sports and hobby enthusiasts to cut down on that number! In many ways, an Optrix case turns your [ Read More ]
Ok, so you’ve decided to get an AR Drone! Congratulations and good flying… BUT, before you take off with that machine, here is some advice which may help your drone last much longer. It’s a simple modification called the zip tie mod. You’ll find many examples of it by searching the web for “AR Drone zip tie mod”, but let [ Read More ]
Most modern electric Quadcopters use Lipo batteries, so it is important for the beginner to understand a few basics about these powerful cells. There are a lot of very technical articles and discussions around the web on this subject and it can be confusing, so let’s just go through the basics. Safety First Keeping it simple, here are the first [ Read More ]
Description – Review – Hints and Modifications The Hubsan X4 ($60-$70) made a big splash when it was released a few months back. It’s a miracle of engineering, being one of the smallest quadcopters made and yet having very advanced features. Notice that it lack gears – this is a direct drive machine! It also features a 6-axis stabilization system, [ Read More ]
Note – This article reflects our philosophy of Drone Information “for the rest of us” – assuming that most of us are just getting started in our research and quest for knowledge. You can certainly find more complete reviews, but here at Droneflyers we pride ourselves on providing the Executive Summaries which will head you in the right direction! This [ Read More ]
The AR Drone is a four-rotor aircraft which combines many of the new and advanced technologies in R/C Flight. Parrot, the company behind the AR Drone is marketing the AR Drone as a “flying video game” since it combines actual flying of the aircraft, real time video streaming to the controller, and the ability to add real-time gaming with hunter-seeker [ Read More ]
I am not sure exactly why it is so cool but I really enjoy watching the video footage of a good flight once I am back at home from an outing to the park. Our options for what camera to fly are growing all the time and one of the latest entries is the Midland XTC300VP4 (what is with these [ Read More ]
This is a smart drone which uses various sensors to find it’s way around. While most quadcopters allow you to fly them into walls and windows, this platform features sensors for avoiding obstacles Last year we reviewed a fine quadcopter from Walkera, the medium sized MX400 In the time since, Walkera has come out with a number of additional multicopters, [ Read More ]
If you are interested in flying or learning about quadcopters AND if you have a small outside area to fly around in (or a large open basement or garage), the Syma X1 may be the best way to get started Instead of breaking expensive machines and parts, your total investment is less than $40. If you crash it or don’t [ Read More ]
A recent NOVA special entitled Rise of the Drones was quite informative on the emerging technology, although much more focused on the Military and surveillance angle. The program can be watched online or on your favorite PBS station. However, there is another revolution in these aircraft occurring right now! They go by many names – Quadcopters, Multirotors, UAV’s and even [ Read More ]
When out flying at the local field quite a few people ask about the durability of a quadcopter. After all, if there is any kind of failure, a quad is going to drop from the sky like a lead balloon. An airplane can glide to a landing, a helicopter can auto-rotate, but there is no backup on a quad is [ Read More ]
Walkera has posted about a new quadrotor craft that should be hitting the shelves soon is now available, the QR Ladybird. This tiny little quad, only 4″ across, is pretty loaded with features including some telemetry functions. Flight time should be about 10 minutes per charge. Specifications Telemetry function Motor: 0720RN57A-9M-130NL52 Receiver: RX2634H-D Battery: 3.7V 350Mah Height: 1.2″ For more [ Read More ]
Midland Radio, known to many of us from our older CB Radio days, has launched a new wearable sports camera and we got our grubby hands on one this week and started putting it through it’s paces. There will be a full review as we try out more of the different options and modes so this is just a quick [ Read More ]
Quadcopter 101 and Multirotor 101 I was asked to write an article or ebook about the basics of quadcopters so I am kicking off a series of “getting started” articles to see if I can help people new to the hobby. Please also read for some other helpful articles. Let me start with saying that flying model aircraft is exceptionally [ Read More ]
Walkera has made a huge name for themselves in the helicopter segment so a lot of people couldn’t wait to see how their quads would play out. Early versions were pretty good and they have continued to evolve the product with versions such as the MX400. The MX400 is one of the very few quadcopters to come standard with [ Read More ]
The LotusRC T380 QuadCopter (sold by RotorConcepts as the HPQ-1) is probably one of the most affordable ARF quadcopters in its size (1lb payload capacity). The ARF model (no radio, receiver, or battery) can often be found on eBay for under $250 and complete systems, like the HPQ-1, selling for $350-$400 range. The closest name brand model in the same [ Read More ]
I have been doing plenty of practicing my flying with the HPQ-1 lately and today I finally decided to slap a GoPro on it and see how it handles. By the time I got things going, the wind had kicked up and was pretty strong at about 20′ so I didn’t get to get it going as high as I [ Read More ]
Now that I have had some good experience with flying the HPQ-1 I felt it was a good time to do a good comparison between the AR Drone and the HPQ-1. For the sake of this comparison, please keep in mind that I am going to use a stock AR Drone for the comparison. At the end, I will discuss [ Read More ]
The Rotor Concept HPQ-1 is a big step up from the AR Drone in that it has a lifting capacity of a full pound. With a GoPro camera weighing only 3.3oz and even larger camcorders weighing in around between 9-14oz, the HPQ-1 can be used to lift a wide variety of small size gear. Their larger HPQ-2 can loft up [ Read More ]
I got a chance to sit down with the folks from Parrot at CES and ask them about the AR Drone 2.0. Unfortunately, for existing AR Drone users, there isn’t a whole lot of good news to report. Virtually everything on the AR Drone 2.0 is brand new and is NOT, I repeat NOT compatible for the original AR Drone. [ Read More ]
If you are interested in flying or learning about quadcopters ...
The sad truth is that some people have experienced their ...
Flying an AR Drone indoors is more challenging than flying ...
Probably one of the easiest things to do and yet ...
Parrot has already announced the AR Drone 2.0 but has ...
