Top Five UAV N00b Questions (and answers)

Having run this site for a few years now, I'm all too expert on the first reaction of newbies. Some of them I understand, some continue to mystify me. Here are the top five:

1) I want a helicopter to fly by itself! Can you help? We get this one daily. I don't really understand why. Perhaps it's because helis are so hard to fly manually? At any rate, most of these folks don't stay long. As the regulars here know, helis are the hardest autonomy challenge there is, between vibration, lack of forward motion for GPS yaw correction and generally fiddlyness. It sounds easy ("can't I just use a gyro or something?"), perhaps because heading-hold gyros are so common in RC helis, but it's not.

2) Where can I buy a UAV ready to go? Do you have one for less than $100? This is pretty understandable, and maybe someday you will be able to buy UAVs at Target. But not yet. And this is, after all, DIY Drones.

3) I've got a tilt sensor/heli gyro/Wii controller/iPhone. Can it fly a plane? This is the reason we have the FAQ about the need to fuse data from three gyros and three accelerometers to create a full attitude solution right on the front page. Again, unless you know about gyro drift and accelerometer noise, you don't understand the need for both. Hopefully a little reading here will help explain all.

4) I want 2 build a UAV drone! Can u help me please sir! Sigh. This is invariably from college students from a certain country I won't name. No, we won't do your homework for you. Please do us the favor of reading the information on this site for just a minute before you ask people to repeat what's already here.

5) How do I do [X]? (where X is something linked right on the front page). This is probably our fault as much as newcomers', but there is an incredible volume of information on this site if people would take the trouble to look for it. We've tried to anticipate most needs with tabs, a search box, forums organized by categories and a newbie guide ("I'm new to this. Where do I start?") right at the top of the front page. As we move the documentation to the Google Code wikis, we'll have even more organizational features at our disposal. I suspect this is a job that's never done, but if you all have any suggestions on how to do it better, please leave them in the comments.

This ain't DIFY DRONES.

I was, am and will be a noob for a while yet...probably a long while.

But, I appreciate everyone who welcomed me gave me a bit of feedback and allowed me, through the organization of this site, to participate and learn by "watching" what they have been doing, trying and sometimes failing. Things I can try or don't have to now that its been done.

I understand DIY and what it really means...

All you Noobs...look, read, learn, have fun...but don't expect anyone to DIFY (Do It For You), that includes selling you a ready-made UAV or tracking down the info you need and could easily find on your own.

All you not-so-Noobs...patience. Its the most important trait of the teacher...and like it or not that is what you are here...teachers. Its expected.

Umm...maybe put a link to the FAQs right up at the top with the other tabs. I had a hard time finding it and I've been here a bit. A big flashing button "Noobs go here..." might help. LOL

Keep up the great work everyone.

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Comments

Developer

Doug Weibel May 23, 2011 at 7:25pm

Are you sure you want to print it? The manual changes almost daily....
Joel September 7, 2010 at 5:04pm

and <$200
Joel September 7, 2010 at 5:03pm

Everyone has ben trying to add AP to the t-rex 450 which is a highly acrobatic heli. Why not try it with a more stable heli first.(larger one), or maybe a blade SR(built for stability for newbes) which is what i will be attempting.
Joel September 7, 2010 at 4:56pm

first sentence "should be using a Hh gyro"
Joel September 7, 2010 at 4:55pm

I am the heli guy.. and yes, HH gyros are used in most heli's now days. I think that one could(should) be used in an AP for a heli starting out because that's less things to worry about. I would be fine with no controlling the tail with AP starting out, and even elevation.(which is a big things that should be controlled[not that the tail shouldnt]).

Also, a coaxial heli could be done without a tail using the rpm of each of the two rotors.
Tim McMahan March 3, 2010 at 11:31am

I AM a noob, for sure, without a doubt, not subject to opinion. I am still assembling my first drone, and read line by line through the manual while doing ANYTHING. I don't think posts like this one are offensive, but noobs DO get offended. Watch for it. There are people right here at the drones, just like any web community, who feel a need to use the forums as stress relief. Noobs are an easy target, and veterans need to watch out, or the knowledge base will quit growing.
Ron Jacobs February 22, 2010 at 11:24pm

This ain't DIFY DRONES.

I was, am and will be a noob for a while yet...probably a long while.

But, I appreciate everyone who welcomed me gave me a bit of feedback and allowed me, through the organization of this site, to participate and learn by "watching" what they have been doing, trying and sometimes failing. Things I can try or don't have to now that its been done.

I understand DIY and what it really means...

All you Noobs...look, read, learn, have fun...but don't expect anyone to DIFY (Do It For You), that includes selling you a ready-made UAV or tracking down the info you need and could easily find on your own.

All you not-so-Noobs...patience. Its the most important trait of the teacher...and like it or not that is what you are here...teachers. Its expected.

Umm...maybe put a link to the FAQs right up at the top with the other tabs. I had a hard time finding it and I've been here a bit. A big flashing button "Noobs go here..." might help. LOL

Keep up the great work everyone.
Developer

Jordi Muñoz February 22, 2010 at 1:45pm

@Jim, I share that feeling too and sometimes i wait months to get an answer (usually happens when i'm surfing the web and i find it by accident). Right now i feel fear to post something about anything, specially if i'm not 100% sure because this site has hundreds of super professional Engineers with masters in control design that are watching and maybe they laugh about the stupid post from a 23 years old University Student from Mexico.

For example Jack Crossfire is a clear example of persons that make nervous.

That doesn't stop me to continue learning and developing in the background. The only difference is that i post less often (as you can tell). But i guess as more i learn this insecurity will fade away. ;-)

@Dave Glidden, Sure you can. Just don't ask me how because i'm kind of busy building the ArduPilotMega Shield and other goodies. ;-)
Dave Glidden February 22, 2010 at 1:27pm

@ Jordi; so you're saying I CAN'T use ArduoPilot to get my Furby's Barbie to operate a blender while vacuuming?
Well there goes my summer project!

Also, I probable fit the definition of a "DIY lurker". All reading, no questions... yet!
Jim February 22, 2010 at 6:46am

Hey Guys.
I'd like to think of myself as a n00b too, among all you 1337 pros :) However, posts like this only help to reinforce (in me) a sense of fear about posting messages that may be seen as uninformed, or lazy. I know this is a great community, and you are all a super friendly bunch but you just get this feeling that I can't post, because or the suspicion the answer is on the site somewhere already. Often, the most noobish questions are the ones with the most unspecific search terms, which in turn return many hits of only passing relevance. I know this sites admins and founders have worked very hard to make this accessible to everyone, but the sheer depth of information on here can be difficult and daunting to navigate.

Now I've said that, I'll pluck up the courage to ask my own noob question... just got to work out if i should post it as a blog message, or in a forum? hrrmm :)

Jim

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