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If the word “drone” conjures up visions of military vehicles fighting terrorists then I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. At the DroneBot workshop we use the term “drone” to represent UAVs which are unmanned (or better still “unpersoned”) aerial vehicles. These are also called quadcopters or multicopters as they often have more than four blades. But you have to admit the word drone sounds pretty cool!

As you’re probably aware the drone market has exploded in the last couple of years. No longer just toys for rich kids quadcopters (or micro copters) are available for as low as $20, making them affordable by just about anyone. Of course you can also spend $20,000 on one that can water the crops on your farm. Essentially there’s a drone for everyone and every budget.

In this section of our site we cover everything to do with drones – designing them, building them and flying them. So check out our articles and YouTube videos, I’m sure you’ll find something here that interests you (unless of course you really came here to fight terrorists).

 

Safely using LiPo Batteries

LiPo batteries are incredible powerhouses, they have a higher power-to-weight ratio than any other type of battery.

But with all that power comes a number of safety concerns, and not following them could lead to a deadly LiPo fire.

Today we will learn how LiPo batteries work, how to charge, discharge, balance, store and dispose of them. And, just in case, we'll see how to extinguish a LiPo fire.

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A Drone You Can Program - Introducing PlutoX

The PlutoX Aerial Robotics Kit is a DIY quadcopter that you can program and add your own hardware to. This unique device is perfect for experimenters, hobbyists and basically anyone who is interested in developing a project that can fly.

In this article I'll introduce you to the PlutoX and to the Cygnus IDE, the development environment you'll use to write code for the drone.

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How does a Quadcopter Work?

Quadcopters and drones - they're in the news and in the air! And while they might just look like souped-up helicopters not everyone knows exactly how they fly. Come to think of it, not everyone knows how a helicopter flies either!

In this article I'll explain how a quadcopter works - how it flies and what components are used to put together one of these amazing little devices. If you're planning on building your own quadcopter one day then this is mandatory reading!

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