What are quadcopters
You must have heard about drones, quadcopters, buzzers, UAV or whatever other name you find for them. They all mean the same and mostly refer to aircrafts with four arms sticking out of the main frame, each of them equipped with an electric engine and a propeller. Nowadays people use them for various reasons.
When you think about drones what most of you probably see a device presented below:
This type of quadcopter is used for professional photo- and videography. These machines are expensive and very easy to fly. They have multiple sensors pointing forward and down to detect whether a pilot is not going to crash into an obstacle like a building or a tree. This, however is not a type of drone i want to focus on in this post. What I want to tell you about are small (250mm diagonal between engines) quads that have really short flight time (2-3 minutes on one battery). What they lack in air time they make up for with speed, flips, rolls and dives.
Below is my machine in its present form, it still lacks a battery, propellers and gopro mount which you can see in the second picture. These machines are almost always a DYI projects so if soldering, or PCB programming, is not something you’re keen on, you might want to give this hobby a pass.
Before we proceed to the final step. Llet me quickly go through parts of my quad, perfectly visible in the photo above
- A camera for the first person flight
- A Gopro mount for recording
- Engines (two of them turn clockwise, two counterclockwise)
- Propellers
- A battery
- Power distribution and control board
- A video and signal transmitter
- Antennas
Finally, below is a short clip of one of my favourite pilots, his flight style is really smooth and hardly nauseating :) see for yourself:
Sources:
After reading did you consider this as a hobby for you?
Do you think that every drone should be registered and supervised to limit incidents where someone flies over an airport and disturbs airspace?
Did you get sick while watching the video?
This looks totally like hobby for me! I would just need to make space for it next to my Arduino, Raspberry Pi and several other, older electronic devices I've been playing around and prototyping with... *sigh*
ReplyDeleteWould you mind sharing some 'getting started' guides on trying quadcopters out?
I'd rather not buy GoPro (camera) or DJI (entire pro copter) myself (thousands of złotys, ugh) if I might not like it at all. However, learning bare basics about flight with those little machines is something I'd consider giving a shot.
As for restrictions you mention: it's a hard topic, if we really want personal flight to take off (literally). I can recall incidents with birds (not sure of the magnitude) disturbing airspace and I guess humans are much more reckless and expansive in their actions, so that could easily backfire if not regulated properly.
And the video, well, I have motion sickness, so my head started to go crazy almost immediately. I'd say it is nauseating, especially when pilot turns quadcopter upside down. :)
I get you :) I also have a lot of electronics i don't even have time to play with!
DeleteIf you are really considering getting into this hobby go to any chinese allegro-like website and buy a kit. You still have fun building it but avoid the problem of ordering the right parts. Apart from the kit you just need radio controller, LiPo batteries and a charger (also order spare propellers, you WILL brake them a lot). This basic setup will allow you to start flying and will not empty your pockets. To start you don't need the goPro or the First Person camera. Just enjoy flying in line of sight :)
The flying part looks like pure fun. I'm not so sure about bulding a quadocopter by myself, but I'd definetely love to steer such a machine.
ReplyDeleteI believe some limits have to be created if ther aren't already. I don't think that every single drone should be registered. Mybe just the ones which are used for professional purposes?
If you like to tinker and you're not afraid of soldering iron then you're perfectly capable of building your own quadcopter.
ReplyDeleteCurrently there are a lot of limitations enforced by the ULC (urząd lotnictwa cywilnego). Flying too close to an airport or close to ANY major event can get you fined severly or even imprisoned. Also if your quad is too heavy (over 1kg) you can't fly on the western side of Warsaw. But if you have a small quad like mine there are almost no restrictions :)
It’s not enough to getting me interested in quadcopters as a my new hobby but it’s still very impressive. But, two years ago during my engineering study at Warsaw University of Technology I was a member of scientific circle I one of my idea was to build such a great machine. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough money so whole project had to be stop. After all we have a lot of great conversations about future of drones. Then that was pretty new and hot topic. We were interested if it will be supervised by anyone. Suprisingly it is. I think it’s great idea. Nowadays, the world seems to be so unpredictable, so it’s a great move to take control over drone and make this topic more serious, especially when we are talking about people safety. Video is sick! Really one one the best I’ve ever seen! Video makes me so excited. Have you got something more so exciting?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. One of the reasons i got so engaged with quadcopters is because I wanted to prove my brother (he bought a DJI Mavic Pro) that i can build something much more capable of freestyle flight than his quad. I am still learning, and i'm far from flying as smoothly as the guy from youtube clip above, but i already have better control of my machine than my brother.
ReplyDeleteHere is another video of the same guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlPSSzl7HPQ
And here is something a bit more crazy:
https://youtu.be/E4qJWyBHqg0?t=15s
Hope you'll enjoy :)
in my opinion this is very intersted things. This can good for people who like see something more. It's good oportiunity for helicopter but without big machins. Small size can take a lot of posiibility and fly where you would without papier and certificate. This hobby use technology but you can spend time outdoor. But your wideo is for person who have strong stomach..
ReplyDeleteExactly, you can have a lot of fun outdoors without having to buy expensive things. When i first started watching the videos i had almost the same feeling
DeleteI think that drons start to be wery popular and there's shud be some regulation and off corse registration for this type of flying ship. As You point becouse of potential problem witch airports. Also I'm affraid that terrorist can slowly think about other aplication for drons.
ReplyDeleteActually I think it's not my type of hobby, I really enjoy the video but nothing more, not my story.
Thanks for article :)
I'm glad you liked it :) I've already heard that drug cartels started using drones to smuggle narcotics from Mexico to USA.
DeleteAlthough I’m not much into drone technology, I’ve been observing its rapid development over last few years and I have to admit it’s pretty impressive. I’ve never navigated any flying device before and I’ll deifinitely give it a try if the occasion arises. However, I don’t really see myself building or even buying such gismo myself.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to registering drones, I strongly support the idea as I’m quite hysterical about flight safety and airport security procedures. So if there’s anything to prevent incidents in the future, I’m all for it.
And as for the video, it didn’t made me sick, but it felt uncomfortable when the camera suddenly started to go full speed downwards..
I am torn on the quadcopter registration battle. From one point of view it would benefit security of us all but from the other (the pilot) i would feel a little bit limited and over-controlled. I guess we'll see what solution will be implemented.
DeleteThanks for interesting article. This hobby looks are great. Drones is popular in our country. In film industry many (even small)companies often usage for flying scenes.
ReplyDeleteI like film shots and photos from a drone.
But other hand sports drones looks great. This is more interesting that standard machines. In park next to my home often saw unofficial drones competitions. Operators with helmets looks very professional. This place is popular for drones lovers because there is long monument includes many columns. I think slaloms with high speed is dangerous. In my opinion this hobby is great, but propably expensive.
I think that drones market should be monitoring with security services, but nonprofessional operator may cause accident with the plane. Hovever small professional sports drones should not be registered.
Can you tell me where i can find this spot for racing? :) I was thinking of adding a bit of competitiveness to further improve my flying
DeleteI like machines and racing but only stuff real person can get in/on.
ReplyDeleteLike cars or motorbikes. Flying for fun with a drone is for me like computer game,
a little nerdy if you are not 15. For me more interesting part is that you can attach
camera to it. Probably because I am working in tv adverts and movies.
You can make great shots with those but they are usually much bigger
so it can carry more (big camera). Two people control it, one of them controls the camera
and the other one navigates the drone.
But crazy drone flying around for sure isn't a hobby for me.
The most interesting thing is that you made this one by yourself.
I like this kind of work.
As i said it's like computer game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR4Gq9qfpnM
I think only big drones should be registered and supervised.
There is a drone law and every owner should know it.
If someone flies over an airport, he will have huge problems. As for
terrorist attacks, there are devices that can block drone signal in some areas.
They're probably in use during big events or when Trump comes somewhere XD
I got sick when my brother who is a pilot did that things to me on real plane!
I don't recommend.
Great racing clip!
DeleteRegarding the use of those small racing quads profesionally for filming:
https://youtu.be/FkQeCXCJmmY
it would be really hard to navigate anything bigger than that small buzzer through those tight gates and openings.
I agree with you on drones registration. Small quads have a lot smaller range and because of that it would be a lot harder to interfere with for example airport without being noticed
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ReplyDeleteI've seen it before, friend of mine showed me. I don't think that I could use it properly because I break such things easily. :( Such rare and bad talent :)
ReplyDeleteFriend of mine got specified one to record long movies. Is it some kind difference between Quadcopters and drones for long movies? How does it look like?
Your movie is quite interesting, but I'm not into this as a hobby
After reading did you consider this as a hobby for you?
ReplyDeleteIt happend I'm a glider pilot so I rather fly a glider than RC model.
Do you think that every drone should be registered and supervised to limit incidents where someone flies over an airport and disturbs airspace?
Yes of course, I think one should get certified to fly anything in the public space. You can put a lot of lives in danger by flying in the wrong zone let's say airport approach zone.
Did you get sick while watching the video?
No not really.
This is definitely a cool hobby. I only droned Eachine E011, entry level drone for fun. From what I've seen on youtube, you can pretty much modify it, attach a camera that can be plugged into even a VR goggle. In my opinion, the registration of such drones is excessive. So-called security zones, like in the DJI company, will suffice. In certain places their dron just will not run. The GPS detects that this zone is forbidden and will not allow the dron to fly. I did not have any symptoms after watching the videos ;)
ReplyDeleteI already have my own hobby and I think that is enough for me. But I have to admit it’s great thing. I’ve seen one viral video this week. It’s a commercial of old Honda Accord. It looks like high budget production all thanks to quadcopters. These shots are qualifying their self to be regular TV commercial in my opinion. (Used car commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KlNeiY4Rf4) Back in the days when this car left factory ads were much different in compare to current ones. (This is original one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZOuVgGTdkg) You don’t have to be a specialist to find which one looks better… In 1996 shots from the air requires usage of helicopter. Few minutes of filming were as expensive as the whole stuff you need to have to record amazing views these days. In case of supervision I think that is at least necessary. Now you can get quadcopter even with cellular network contract extension. Without any superintendence by government or other institutions drones can occur very dangerous situations especially near airports. Simple fun can be the cause of many dead people…
ReplyDeleteI really like doing this kind of manual things. I have a LEGO Mindstorms from childhood and I loved programming and building robots.
ReplyDeleteOf course I admit that drones should get certified. If you are flying across the public area you have to know that could be dangerous and maybe uncomfortable for people. Second - we live in dangerous times of growing terrorism. Drones sounds like a perfect weapon for terrorist attacks of a great scale.
Video looks pretty good. It's definitely a future.