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Your FIRST AR Drone Modification should be landing gear!

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Ok, so you’ve decided to get an AR Drone! Congratulations and good flying…

BUT, before you take off with that machine, here is some advice which may help your drone last much longer. It’s a simple modification called the zip tie mod. You’ll find many examples of it by searching the web for “AR Drone zip tie mod”, but let me simplify this for you.

The AR Drone comes with feet which look like this:

Ar Drone Leg, Motor, ESC and Gears

Ar Drone Leg, Motor, ESC and Gears

Note that the AR Drone feet are hard plastic and also contain a number of sensitive parts, including the motor and a circuit board. A hard landing, which you will have MANY of, will eventually damage some of these components or even break the AR Drone cross frame. You can purchase custom foam landing covers on eBay, but IMHO the zip tie or similar mod will work better due to the better “give” of the material on a hard landing.

The mod is done using fairly long (cable) ties – start with some which have a length of at least 12″ or more and cut to size. Try not to use very heavy ones, as thinner ties add less weight to your quad and also will function a bit better as shock absorbers. With kudos to some who have come before me, here is a pic from parrot forum users Candu1 and UFO Doctor, who made these mods years ago and actually tested them scientifically!

Easy as Pie!

Easy as Pie!

OK, so the basic steps are:

1. Obtain cable ties and electrical tape.
2. Put tie around bottom of landing feet and pull tight.
3. Place end of tie (it may help to cut a point onto it) so it enters the hull right where the cross arm does – only insert in a small amount (1/2″ or less).
4. Wrap a small piece of electrical tape around the zip tie and crossarm to hold the tie to the arm.

Since the devil is always in the details, let me remind you of some issues….

1. Make sure the quad is perfectly level after installing these! Set it on a known flat surface and measure from the ground to the original landing feet. If you don’t do this right, your quad will be incorrectly calibrated when it boots up!

2. Don’t use too much tape – in fact, I might suggest cutting the tape in 1/2 lengthwise in order to save weight. If the tape breaks on a hard landing, that generally means it helped in shock absorbing – and it’s cheap enough to replace!

3. Some folks use small zip ties instead of, or in addition to, the electrical tape.

Once your AR Drone has this modification, it will be superior in just about every way – it will be able to land and take off in taller grass and on rougher surfaces also! The one caveat is that, if you tend to get your AR Drone stuck in trees often, that the zip legs can get hooked on branches and make it harder to recover. This is yet another reason for not using too much tape to secure the tie to the cross arms!

Pic by Keenmetal (HK)

Pic by Keenmetal (HK)

A basic video of this modification is shown below.

Note – below are the Amazon links for the AR Drone and some popular replacement parts, batteries,etc.

What is an AR Drone?

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AR Drone

The AR Drone is a four-rotor aircraft which combines many of the new and advanced technologies in R/C Flight. Parrot, the company behind the AR Drone is marketing the AR Drone as a “flying video game” since it combines actual flying of the aircraft, real time video streaming to the controller, and the ability to add real-time gaming with hunter-seeker style gaming. The newest model, 2.0, is a vast improvement on the original and is a great learning platform for those seeking to find out about the new world of multirotor aircraft.

drone2

Unlike the current crop of low-budget helicopters, the AR Drone is controlled by your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch or Android device via the AR Drone’s built-in WiFi system. The plus side of this system is that the cost of including a radio transmitter is eliminated but the downside is you are limited to the range of 802.11G Wifi signal which is about 150 feet. The AR is a “smart” drone and will be relatively easy to fly for beginners as it has advanced controls and software which do not require as much dexterity and practice as with atypical 2.4 GHZ radio controlled aircraft.

The AR Drone ships with an indoor hull that provides foam padding to protect the rotor blades during the inevitable bumping into things when flying indoors. However, in reality, this machine is not designed for indoor flying except in very large rooms. Our suggestion at Droneflyers is to use the AR Drone as an outside quadcopter.

Also included is an outdoor hull which is lighter weight providing faster speeds and slightly longer run times.
The AR Drone features a 3-axis accelerometer as well as a 2-access gyroscope. The sonar provides altitude stabilization up to about 20 feet. Above the range of the ultrasonic sonar, the drone goes into a blind-flight mode that requires more control input to maintain height. Radio range is limited by WiFi communication distance to about 150 feet.
The AR Drone 2.0 is outfitted with two color cameras. The front camera is HD resolution (720P) at 13 frames per second. The downward looking camera is QCIF resolution (176 x 144 pixels) at 60 frames per second.

The AR Drone is available from Brookstone, Amazon and other sources for about $300. This site will continue to provide you with up-to-date information, news, modification, hacks, and more.

Note – if you want to get started in the world of Quadcopters and Multirotors at a much lower price point, consider a model like the Syma X1 or similar sub-$60 models. You certainly will not get the cameras and all the advanced features of the AR Drone, but at the same time you may not cry as loudly when you lose your first quad up in a tall tree!

Below are some links to AR Drone quadcopters and parts at Amazon:

2012 and 2013 – The REAL Rise of the Drones!

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A recent NOVA special entitled Rise of the Drones was quite informative on the emerging technology, although much more focused on the Military and surveillance angle.

Rise of the Drones - 2013 is the year of the Quadcopter and Multirotor!

Rise of the Drones – 2013 is the year of the Quadcopter and Multirotor!


The program can be watched online or on your favorite PBS station.

However, there is another revolution in these aircraft occurring right now! They go by many names – Quadcopters, Multirotors, UAV’s and even “toys”, but these amazing pieces of technology are very real and are about to transform our world and our lives in many ways. What’s more, you and I and others who are hobbyists, photographers, pilots and/or just have interest in technology can participate in this revolution at a very low cost. Read more after the break….
[Read more…]

AR Drone 2.0 Backwards Compatibility

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I got a chance to sit down with the folks from Parrot at CES and ask them about the AR Drone 2.0. Unfortunately, for existing AR Drone users, there isn’t a whole lot of good news to report. Virtually everything on the AR Drone 2.0 is brand new and is NOT, I repeat NOT compatible for the original AR Drone. The only thing that seems to remain the same is the main drive gear and the propellers, although they did say there is a change to the propellers as well.

The cross member is all new and will not fit into the original AR Drone nor will any of the electronics boards. Even the motors are new.

So what should you do with your original AR Drone? Well…keep flying it. The new AR FreeFlight 2.0 software WILL be compatible with the AR Drone 1.0. Expect the new software to arrive when the AR DRone 2.0 ships which is “sometime in Q2” which translated to “sometime between April and June”. Given that it is only January right now, don’t expect to see the AR Drone 2.0 flying near you for another 4 – 5 months.

Until then, here is some video I shot during CES and no, you cannot do flips and rolls with the AR Freeflight 2.0 software. ust like the current software if the AR Drone has too much of a tilt, the Drone’s motors will shut off. These demos are done with custom firmware designed for the shows.

Parrot AR Drone 2.0 Videos

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With the official announcement of the Parrot AR Drone 2.0 there is more information starting to flow out as well as some videos that are available. Here is some of the info and  videos we have managed to find so far.

  • Camera: 720p
  • Barometer to aid in higher altitude flight
  • Compass mode for intuitive flight
  • Better position holding to resist wind
  • New application for control
  • Record video and take pictures
  • New flight modes designed for video production

 

 

AR Drone Quick Start Guide

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The AR Drone does not come with much in the way of a manual and many new users find themselves wondering what to do first. This will be a complete step-by-step guide to get you up and flying as quickly as possible.

Step 1 – Charge the battery

Unfortunately you cannot just unbox the AR Drone and run out and fly it. You have to charge the battery first. Expect this to take about 1.5 hours although it will probably be a little shorter than that.

Step 2 – Prep The Drone

On the top of the chassis and on the top and bottom of the hulls are clear plastic sheet covers, you will want to remove these to make sure the hulls seat properly onto the chassis.

Step 3 – Install the Apps

There are actually multiple apps available for both iOS devices and Android devices. Search your appropriate app store for AR Drone and find the official Parrot AR Drone app, and maybe a few extra apps if they look interesting to you.

Step 4 – Understand How the Drone Will Behave

Unlike a helicopter, you don’t just turn up the throttle until the drone takes off, you press the Take-Off button on the application. When you hit Take-Off, the drone will do a quick self-test, do a quick rotor test, and then climb about three feet off the ground and just sit there waiting for you to control it. The control “stick” on the right side of the application controls your altitude and left/right rotation. You only need to touch the screen and move your finger around the controller area for this control to function.

On the left side is a press-to-activate control for left/right and forward/back tilt. To use this control you simply touch the screen there and then actually tilt your phone/tablet to make the drone tilt in that direction and start moving in the direction of the tilt.

To land, maneuver to the spot you want to land, get you altitude as low as you would like, and press the Take-Off/Landing button.

Step 5 – Install the battery

Once the charger is showing a green light, the battery is charged and you are ready for your first flight. Place the drone on your launch location, the box works really well for this, and I will explain why in just a moment.

Step 6 – Connect to Drone

Once the AR Drone powers up, it will start broadcasting a WiFi SSID that you need to connect to from the device you are going to use to control it. Connect to the ardrone WiFi network and then launch the AR Drone controller application. If you are properly connected, the app will launch and display the image from the drone’s front camera. At this point you are ready to take off, but before you do, you might want to read the next section.

Step 7 – Flying the Drone

When you start off, your AR Drone will be in a limited functionality mode. In this mode you are going to be limited on speed, range, and altitude. On the bottom of the drone is a down facing camera and two ultrasonic sensors. When you are below about 10′ or so off the ground, the ultrasonic sensors are acting like sonar and redetermining the altitude off the ground. This system helps to keep the AR Drone at a constant altitude to help make sure your drone doesn’t go flying away or take a nasty header into the ground. No matter how much you try to push it, it simply won’t go outside of these limitations. Once you are comfortable flying you can go into the application’s settings and disable the limiters.

Step 7 – Have Fun

The AR Drone is the easiest aircraft to fly you will ever have experienced. Take your time to learn it, practice with it, and improve your flying skills until they become second nature and then unleash the beast by using the outdoor hull in a wide open space and push it to its full potential.

Thanks to Doug Rowe for help with this guide