About

Welcome to the largest community for amateur Unmanned Aerial Vehicles! 

This community is the birthplace of ArduPilot, the world's first universal autopilot platform (planes, multicopters of all sorts and ground rovers). Today the Pixhawk autopilot runs a variety of powerful free and open UAV software systems, including:

  • PX4, a pro-quality open source copter, plane, rover and VTOL software stack from the Linux Foundation's Dronecode Project
  • ArduCopter, open source multicopter and heli UAV software
  • ArduPlane, open source software for planes of all types
  • ArduRover, open source software for ground-based vehicles

Introduction to DarwinFPV BabyApe II

Stepping into the spotlight of the 3.5-inch FPV drone segment is the DarwinFPV BabyApe II, a marvel of engineering for freestyle flying aficionados. This sub-250g drone, even when equipped with a battery, adeptly navigates the complexities of flight regulations. It marks a significant evolution from its predecessor, the Baby Ape, and is tailored for both 4S and 6S setups in analog and digital variants, positioning it as a versatile and budget-friendly choice for a broad spectrum of FPV enthusiasts.

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Distinctive Features

Streamlined Flying Experience

Its reduced footprint, in comparison to the conventional 5-inch drones, ensures it remains under the radar, making it ideal for navigating cramped areas.

Unmatched…

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Struggling with a non-responsive ExpressLRS receiver after a failed firmware upgrade? Or maybe you're stuck because FC Passthrough or WiFi flashing isn't an option no matter what motors you eqquipped with such as 4600KV burshless motormeps 2408meps 1804.. This tutorial offers a solution: flashing your ExpressLRS receivers through UART with the help of an FTDI programmer, focusing on the Radiomaster USB UART Flasher for this task.

Advantages of FTDI Programming for Firmware Restoration

When conventional methods like Betaflight Passthrough or Wi-Fi updates fall short, possibly corrupting the bootloader, FTDI programming steps in as a reliable alternative. This approach, independent of flight controllers or Wi-Fi, is a versatile fix for all…

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When an FPV drone's motor halts abruptly, causing the drone to crash, it's often a sign of ESC Desynchronization. This guide explores the causes and provides strategies for correcting ESC desyncs through adjustments in BLHeli and Betaflight configurations no mater you are using sush as 1800KV brushless motorsmall drone motor2806.5 Brushless Motor..

Understanding ESC Desync

Not every crash signifies an ESC desync. For example, a drone plummeting without spinning might indicate a failsafe or power loss. An ESC desync typically results in the drone spinning or flipping uncontrollably.

Analyzing Blackbox logs is the most effective method to diagnose an ESC desync, characterized by a motor stalling (ceasing to spin, thereby not generating…

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1.Understanding AIO Flight Controllers

AIO (All-In-One) flight controllers are essential components for simplifying the setup process in micro FPV drones. These compact boards integrate vital elements like the flight controller, video transmitter, and power distribution, offering convenience and efficiency. They often come packed with extra features such as overcurrent protection, voltage monitoring, and integrated receivers, making them highly sought-after among micro FPV enthusiasts.

2.Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a 1S Flight Controller

  • Reliability: Given the propensity for crashes in micro FPV drones, reliability is paramount. A sturdy flight controller should endure impacts and continue operating seamlessly, ensuring uninterrupted flights and minimizing downtime.
  • Weight: In the realm of micro drones, weight is a critical factor…
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The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to FPV Drone Racing


Venturing into the dynamic realm of First-Person View (FPV) drone racing promises an unparalleled experience. This detailed primer aims to navigate novices through the thrilling domain of FPV drone flying, covering all necessary aspects to embark on this exciting journey successfully.

Exploring the World of FPV Drone Racing

FPV drone racing is a sport that combines high-speed aerial maneuvers with the cutting-edge technology of drones, offering pilots the experience of flying from the drone's perspective through live video feeds. This unique blend of technology and adrenaline-fueled competition makes FPV drone racing an immersive and captivating experience.

The Unique Attraction of FPV Racing

At its core, the allure of FPV racing is its ability to deliver intense, fast-paced action coupled with the latest in drone technology advancements. The community surrounding FPV drone racing further enriches this experience, providing a welcoming and supportive…

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Latest Activity

Jenny posted a blog post
Introduction to DarwinFPV BabyApe IIStepping into the spotlight of the 3.5-inch FPV drone segment is the DarwinFPV BabyApe II, a marvel of engineering for freestyle flying aficionados. This sub-250g drone, even when equipped with a battery, adeptly…
44 minutes ago
Instant Online Divorce updated their profile
17 hours ago
CogniFit updated their profile
23 hours ago
LightWare - Laser Developer updated their profile
yesterday
Jenny posted a blog post
Struggling with a non-responsive ExpressLRS receiver after a failed firmware upgrade? Or maybe you're stuck because FC Passthrough or WiFi flashing isn't an option no matter what motors you eqquipped with such as 4600KV burshless motor, meps…
yesterday
Cody Messer updated their profile
yesterday
Sylvia Leenaers, Zied ben amira, Francis O'Connell and 1 more joined diydrones
Sunday
Brian Buckmaster posted a discussion
I am building a Tarot 650 Sport quadcopter with an Ardupilot APM flight controller and bought a used Turnigy transmitter from craigslist. THere was no documentation and so I'm trying to learn how to program it to suit my needs but I'm stuck with two…
Saturday
Nadia Nilsen updated their profile
Friday
Jesse C. Lemoine replied to Jose Sanz's discussion Low cost RTK GNSS Multiband
"Great post, thank you very much. I'd like to find an updated file with prices somewhere. The only thing is, I'm having some trouble opening this file in PDF format after downloading. But I think it's a problem on my PC side, as I managed to open it…"
Thursday
Calista White is now a member of diydrones
Thursday
Volodymyr, Jesse C. Lemoine and Sanskar Das joined diydrones
Wednesday
J S is now a member of diydrones
Mar 11
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Mar 10
omid hamidishad updated their profile
Mar 9
Marco Antonio Alves Trafaria Paiva Estanqueiro, The Droning Company, shumon and 3 more joined diydrones
Mar 8
Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's discussion Free Music / SFX Resource for Drone Videos - Over 1800 Tracks
"Happy March!

Here's a brand new MP3 music track on my Sci-Fi 12 page:

"ACROSS THE MARTIAN DESERT"
https://soundimage.org/sci-fi-12/

It's free, as always, to download and use with attribution.

SUPPORT
If you find my work helpful, please consider…"
Mar 8
Brian Buckmaster posted a discussion
After a few years hiatus, I have decided to build a new quadcopter. It will be a Tarot 650 Sport utilizing strictly old tech stuff as it is what I'm familiar with and my needs are modest: 15 minutes endurance, a three-axis stabilized GoPro Hero 10…
Mar 5
Jenny posted a blog post
When an FPV drone's motor halts abruptly, causing the drone to crash, it's often a sign of ESC Desynchronization. This guide explores the causes and provides strategies for correcting ESC desyncs through adjustments in BLHeli and Betaflight…
Mar 5
ZagiriL Brown posted a blog post
1.Understanding AIO Flight ControllersAIO (All-In-One) flight controllers are essential components for simplifying the setup process in micro FPV drones. These compact boards integrate vital elements like the flight controller, video transmitter,…
Mar 4
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Site Rules

"Because $10,000 $5,000 $1,000 is too much to pay for an autopilot, especially one that doesn't do exactly what you want."

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV, colloquially known as a "drone") is basically an aerial robot. As we define it, it is capable of both remotely controlled flight (like a regular RC aircraft) and fully-autonomous flight, controlled by sensors, GPS, and onboard computers performing the functions of an autopilot. Our UAVs include airplanes, helicopters, quadcopters and blimps. Most of them are under five pounds, and some of them (especially the blimps) can be used indoors.

We are focused on non-commercial ("recreational") projects by amateurs, although pros are always welcome too. Reasons to make your own UAV range from a fun technical challenge, student contests, aerial photography and mapping (what we call "GeoCrawling"), and scientific sensing. We are primarily interested in civilian, not military, UAV uses here.

If you're new to all this, start here.

DIY Drones is a community based on the Ning social networking platform, and anybody who registers (it's free and easy) can post their own blog entries like this one on the front page, along with starting discussions in the sidebar at left or uploading videos below that. Your registration gives you the ability to do a lot on the site--so feel free to post anything you think will be of interest to this community!

There are other amateur sites out there, from the discussion forums of RC Groups to individual blogs, but DIY Drones is explicitly built as a social network, which means that the community is as important as the content. We're also focused on the most accessible end of the amateur UAV world, with the aim of potentially including high school students.

This means we emphasize amateur UAV projects that are:

  1. Simple: The aim of this project is to create new amateur UAV platforms, including those that could be used for a FIRST-like contest appropriate for students. While we're at it, we'll make amateur UAV development easier for everyone.
  2. Cheap: The target cost of all of our platforms is less than $1,000. You can buy a very good autopilot system for $10,000, but that's not our approach. Cheaper is better, especially with students and schools.
  3. Safe: We follow the current interpretation of the FAA guidelines on small UAVs. Recreational use (non-commercial), under 400 ft altitude, line of sight, "pilot in the loop" and onboard safety systems that always allow for manual control in the case of malfunction. We're building experimental platforms that demonstrate autonomy and the capacity to do real useful UAV work, but we test them in controlled settings. If you want to fly miles out of sight or map cities, we're going to assume you've got the proper FAA clearance or we don't want to know about it.
  4. Participatory: Share and others will share with you. That means that whenever possible, we open source our code and post it online. Everything on this site is published under a Creative Commons "attribution" license, which means that anyone can use or repost it, as long as they give credit to the original author.
  5. Civil: This is a community site of peers helping each other. Bad behavior, from rudeness to foul language, will be deleted. Generosity and kindness is often rewarded with reciprocal behavior and help.

Here are the full set of Site Policies:
 
  1. Civility is paramount. Treat others with respect, kindness and generosity. Some of our most expert members are people who were once total n00bz but were helped and encouraged by others, and are now repaying the favor with the next generation. Remember the Golden Rule. Don't be a jerk to anyone, be they other members, moderators or the owners. This is not a public park, and you have no constitutionally-mandated right to free speech. If you're creating a hostile or unpleasant environment, you'll be warned, then if it continues you'll be suspended.
  2. No discussion of politics or religion. This is not the place to discuss your views on the wisdom of military use of UAVs, any nation's foreign policy, your feelings about war, or anything else that is inclined to turn into a political debate. It is our experience that the rules for good dinner party conversation--no discussion of politics and religion--apply to online communities, too. DIY Drones aims to bring people together, and we find that discussions of politics and religion tend to polarize and drive people apart. There are plenty of other places to discuss those topics online, just not here.
  3. Ask questions in the discussion forum; inform others in blog posts. Submitted blog posts that are just questions and should have been posted in the discussion forum will not be approved. The moderators may or may not message you with the text so you can repost in the right area. To avoid losing your post, put it in the right place from the start.
  4. Blog posts are for informative topics of broad interest to the community. They must start with a picture or video, so the image appears on the front page on the site and gives a sense of the topic as well as inviting people to click in for more. Videos should be embedded (paste the embed code in the HTML tab, not the Rich Text tab). The post should also include links where appropriate. Don't make people do a Google search for what you're talking about if you can provide a link. 
  5. The Discussion Forum is for questions and tech support. We prefer to do all tech support in public, so that others can follow along. If you have a problem, please describe your particular system setup completely, ideally with a photograph, and pick the right forum tags so that others can find the thread later.
  6. No discussion of military or weaponized applications of UAVs. This site is just about amateur and civilian use.
  7. No discussion of illegal or harmful use of UAVs will be tolerated. Responsible use of UAVs is at the core of our mission. That means conforming with all laws in the United States, where this site is based, and insisting that our members elsewhere follow the laws of their own countries. In addition, we feel that part of our responsibility it to help the relevant authorities understand what's possible with amateur UAVs, so they can make better-informed policies and laws. So we have encouraged all relevant regulators, defense agencies and law enforcement agencies to become members here and even participate to help them do that, and many have. In addition, if we see any discussion of UAV use that we feel is potentially illegal or intended to do harm, we will bring it to the attention to the relevant authorities, and will comply with any legal request they make for information about users (although we don't know much that isn't public; see the next item).
  8. Promote safe flying. Moderators may delete postings that they decide are unsafe or promote unsafe activity. This is a judgement call, since it is also healthy to have public discussion about why certain activities are unsafe, but the decision as to whether to leave a post or edit/delete it is at the moderators' discretion. 
  9. Your privacy is protected, up to a point: This is a social network, so everything you write and post here is public, with certain exceptions: 1) Your private messages are private. Administrators are unable to see them, nor can anyone else other than the recipient. Members must not make private messages public without the explicit permission of everyone involved. 2) Your IP address is private. We are hosted on Ning, which controls the server logs. DIY Drones administrators can only see your username and email address; they cannot see your password and do not have access to your account.
  10. Do not publish personal emails or PMs without permission. This is a violation of expected confidentiality (that's why they're called "personal messages") and is grounds for banning.
  11. Do not type in ALL CAPS. It's considered SHOUTING. Posts in all caps will be deleted by the moderators.
  12. Absolutely no personal attacks. It's fine to disagree, but never okay to criticize another member personally.
  13. Share. Although we are not limited to open source projects, the ones that tend to get the most participation tend to be open source. Don't wait until your code or design is "finished"--post it as it is, and you may find that others will help you finish it faster. The best way to contribute is with your creativity--we love data, code, aircraft designs, photos of UAV projects, videos of flights and build logs. Post early and often!
  14. Keep comments open: Authors of blog posts and discussion threads technically have the option to close their comments or approve them before they appear, but we ask members not to do that. We want to encourage a free flow of conversation and blocking or delaying comments only interferes with that. The Moderators are standing by to ensure the conversation remains on-topic and civil, so please leave your comments open and let them do their job.

Monocopter build

I'm trying to build a monocopter. It has one wing, one motor and one servo. Show Betaflight setup for a monocopter. Monocopter has one wing. Monocopter has one motor EDF. Monocopter has one servo. Servo moves Hiller flap at 90 degrees to wing axis.…

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