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

In the competitive real estate market, high-quality visual content is key to attracting potential buyers. As drone technology becomes more prevalent, aerial photography has become a powerful tool to showcase the full picture of a property, providing customers with a unique perspective.

As a professional-grade drone, the Autel EVO II Pro V3 is an ideal choice for real estate photography with its superior 6K camera, long flight time, and smart features. This article will explore the advantages of the Autel EVO II Pro in real estate photography, application scenarios, and how to use its features to create impressive real estate pictures and videos.

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Why choose the Autel EVO II Pro for real estate photography?

The Autel EVO2 Pro…

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Drone technology has rapidly transformed how we observe and interact with the world. From agricultural monitoring to film production, these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) now play critical roles across industries. This article explores drone fundamentals, operation guidelines, real-world applications, and future trends.


Understanding Drone Basics

Drones fall into two primary categories: fixed-wing and multi-rotor. Fixed-wing drones excel in long-range missions due to extended flight times. Multi-rotor models prioritize agility, making them ideal for photography or precision tasks.

Core Components

A typical drone includes:

  • Flight control systems for stability

  • Motors and propellers for propulsion…

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If you’ve spent any time flying drones in Australia — or just talking to people who do — you’ve probably heard a few “facts” that aren’t quite true. Some of them are based on old rules. Others are just plain wrong. The truth is, CASA (Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority) has clear and evolving regulations, but the rumour mill often overshadows reality.

Whether you’re flying for fun, filming for clients, or thinking about becoming a licensed drone operator, it pays to know what’s real and what’s myth. So let’s dive into five of the most common misconceptions about legal drone flying in Australia — and what you should know instead.

Myth 1: “I don’t need to register my drone if I’m just flying for fun.”

This used to be true, but not anymore. Since 2020, CASA requires all drones over 250g to be registered — even if you're flying recreationally. That includes popular models like the DJI Mini 3 Pro (which skirts under the weight) but excludes…

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Drone technology has democratised cinematography. What once required a helicopter and a six-figure budget can now be attempted with a sub-$2K rig and some courage. But while the tools are accessible, the results often fall short — especially in indie films and DIY productions.

As a Sydney Drone Operator working on everything from network TV series to big-screen productions, we’ve seen (and fixed) just about every common drone filming mistake. If you're an indie filmmaker looking to level up your aerial footage, here are five key things that go wrong — and what to do about them.


1. Thinking a Drone Equals a Good Shot

Just because your drone is in the air doesn’t mean you’re capturing anything useful. One of the biggest mistakes we see? Random, meandering flyovers that add little to the narrative. In cinematic storytelling, every shot must have intent — including…

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Energy-motor synergy drives modern electric systems, where battery energy density and motor efficiency jointly define performance limits. The impact of energy density on range and load capacity remains pivotal, but true innovation emerges when these metrics align with motor dynamics. Let’s dissect how this synergy shapes drones, EVs, and beyond.


Energy Density: The Range-Load Catalyst

Defining the Core Metric

Energy density (Wh/kg or Wh/L) measures how much power a battery stores relative to its size or weight. High-density cells, like lithium-ion packs exceeding 300 Wh/kg, revolutionize load management—enabling lighter systems without sacrificing runtime.

Range-Load Balancing Act

The impact of energy density on range and…

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Energy-motor synergy drives modern electric systems, where battery energy density and motor efficiency jointly define performance limits. The impact of energy density on range and load capacity remains pivotal, but true innovation emerges when these metrics align with motor dynamics. Let’s dissect how this synergy shapes drones, EVs, and beyond.


Energy Density: The Range-Load Catalyst

Defining the Core Metric

Energy density (Wh/kg or Wh/L) measures how much power a battery stores relative to its size or weight. High-density cells, like lithium-ion packs exceeding 300 Wh/kg, revolutionize load management—enabling lighter systems without sacrificing runtime.

Range-Load Balancing Act

The impact of energy density on range and…

Read more…
Comments: 0

Latest Activity

Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's discussion Free Music / SFX Resource for Drone Videos - Over 1800 Tracks
"More cool LoFi music tracks for your projects are ready on my Action 2 page:

"DESERT MAYHEM"
"URBAN ASSAULT"
"STREET CHAOS"
"CROSS COUNTRY IN A CONVERTIBLE"
"CROSS COUNTRY IN A CONVERTIBLE 2"

https://soundimage.org/action-2/

As always, they're…"
3 hours ago
Dreamland Bedz updated their profile
8 hours ago
Jack Leo updated their profile
8 hours ago
riddhi updated their profile
12 hours ago
HR is now a member of diydrones
13 hours ago
Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's discussion Free Music / SFX Resource for Drone Videos - Over 1800 Tracks
"Hi Everyone,

I have more cool music tracks to share with you. Free to use, as always, with attribution:

Dreaming of Puzzles_LoFi
Light Puzzles 12_LoFi
Candy Smash_LoFi
More Puzzle Madness_LoFi
Cryptic Clues_LoFi
The Bubble Gum Factory_LoFi
Quirky…"
Saturday
Korey Ta, Shandil Studios, Beyond SKY and 3 more joined diydrones
Saturday
drone036 posted a blog post
In the competitive real estate market, high-quality visual content is key to attracting potential buyers. As drone technology becomes more prevalent, aerial photography has become a powerful tool to showcase the full picture of a property, providing…
Friday
Tech Plus Gadgets updated their profile
May 7
Adlai Allen posted a blog post
Drone technology has rapidly transformed how we observe and interact with the world. From agricultural monitoring to film production, these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) now play critical roles across industries. This article explores drone…
May 6
Reber saleh haji updated their profile
May 6
Shandil Studios updated their profile
May 5
Evan Smith posted a blog post
If you’ve spent any time flying drones in Australia — or just talking to people who do — you’ve probably heard a few “facts” that aren’t quite true. Some of them are based on old rules. Others are just plain wrong. The truth is, CASA (Australia’s…
May 4
Brett Aurand, Matthew Carr, losting and 3 more joined diydrones
May 4
Eric Matyas replied to Eric Matyas's discussion Free Music / SFX Resource for Drone Videos - Over 1800 Tracks
"Greetings Friends,

I have some cool new Sci-Fi tracks to share with you. Free to use, as always, with attribution. They are:

Introspective Machine Intelligence_LoFi
Ancient Alien Worlds_LoFi
Across the Martian Desert_LoFi

You can freely download…"
Apr 30
Evan Smith posted a blog post
Drone technology has democratised cinematography. What once required a helicopter and a six-figure budget can now be attempted with a sub-$2K rig and some courage. But while the tools are accessible, the results often fall short — especially in…
Apr 29
Adlai Allen posted a blog post
Energy-motor synergy drives modern electric systems, where battery energy density and motor efficiency jointly define performance limits. The impact of energy density on range and load capacity remains pivotal, but true innovation emerges when these…
Apr 27
Adlai Allen posted a blog post
Energy-motor synergy drives modern electric systems, where battery energy density and motor efficiency jointly define performance limits. The impact of energy density on range and load capacity remains pivotal, but true innovation emerges when these…
Apr 27
Lisleapex, Ronny, RayZhang and 3 more joined diydrones
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RandyV, Ali Raza and Ilya joined diydrones
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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.