Consumer Drones (Quadcopters) as Fast As Possible
Techquickie
·Techquickie
·2015-05-07
·
1,105 words · ~5 min read
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I mean, sure, you might not get to blow things up in RL like the US military
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does with their unmanned aircraft, but if simply flying things around for the
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fun of it sounds good to you, you may just want to look into picking up a
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consumer drone, a product category that has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity
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recently. But what exactly is a drone?
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How exactly do drones work? And what do you need to know before taking off?
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We'll start by fixing your terminology. Although the words are often used
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interchangeably, most of the drones that you see on the market are actually just
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quadcopters. And as that name suggests, that means that they have four spinning
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rotors arranged in a square or diamond pattern. Now, quadcopters work by
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varying how fast each individual rotor is spinning. So, if all the blades are
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spinning at the same speed, then it'll either go straight up or down or just
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hang in the air in one spot. But when some of the blades are told by an
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onboard controller to rotate faster than others, it can cause the drone or quad
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to dive, bank, strafe, or even do stunts, like flips. But while most
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drones function fairly similarly due to the actual physics of the usual
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four-rotor arrangement, they certainly aren't all created equal. And you can
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get anything from tiny low-powered quads
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for beginners for under $50 to heavyduty
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drones with powerful batteries and crystal clearar cameras that will run
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you over $1,000 and could probably take over Luxembourg if you had enough of
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them. But let's say that that's not your goal. Or I mean, who knows, maybe it is.
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How do you shop for a drone? What exactly should you be looking for? That
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all depends on what capabilities you require, your flying and technical
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skills, and of course, your budget. There are plenty of readyto-fly or RTF
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drones that come fully assembled and include a handheld remote transmitter.
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Just charge up the battery and you're pretty much ready to rock. Cheaper
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models will typically not fly as long on a single charge thanks to their low
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capacity batteries, with some lasting as little as 5 minutes or so, and usually
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feature very lowquality cameras, if they have one at all. As you go up the price
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ladder, you'll find drones that can fly around half an hour on just a single
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charge with cameras that can capture greatl looking stabilized HD video.
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Other features might include longer range, the ability to mount your own
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camera, with GoPros being a popular choice, but some even accepting popular
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DSLR cameras, the ability to live stream video directly to a smartphone or tablet
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for firsterson control, or even the
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ability to use the aforementioned tablet or other device to control the drone's
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flight. But pre-builts aren't for everyone. And if you're a tinkerer, the
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drone hobbyist community might be what you are after. There are a number of
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build-it-yourself drone kits available in many different price ranges, as well
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as individual parts that you can buy, such as high-capacity batteries,
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advanced remote transmitters, and even autopilots that turn a quadcopter into
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an actual bonafide self-piloting drone.
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Also, as you become more and more experienced, you may even want to try
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out different flight controllers. These are the PCBs that control the rotors,
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kind of like a drone's motherboard, that respond differently to control inputs.
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um with some sort of more specialized for smooth flying and thus capturing
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prettier videos, while others might be a bit more challenging to fly, but will
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allow you to pull off much more impressive maneuvers. So, if you're
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interested in going the DIY route, there's a lot of information available
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on selecting parts for your particular skill level and needs. But before you
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jump into it, remember that just like anything else that's fun, there are some
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rules you have to follow. Both the American and Canadian governments have
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outlined regulations for flying drones for fun as they are technically
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aircraft. These include, but are not limited to, not flying too close to
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airports, getting the proper certifications if your drone is over a
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certain weight or size limit or if you're flying for commercial gain,
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keeping your drone within sight, not flying near an actual plane for what we
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hope are obvious reasons. And this should go without saying, not using your
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drone to spy on your attractive neighbor or to harass that troll who told you to
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fight me IRL. Besides, if drone owners
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start misbehaving too much, how will the drone industry ever get to the point
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where we get things like quadcopter pizza delivery? Would be
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much it. You guys like this video if you liked it, dislike it if you thought it was just bonkers. And as always, leave a
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description, leave a comment under the video if you have suggestions for future
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fastest possibles.