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My Parrott A. R. Drone

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My Parrott A. R. Drone Empty My Parrott A. R. Drone

Post by The Browncoat Cat Wed May 30, 2012 4:20 pm


I just bought myself this wonderful little technotoy of eBay. It is a Parrot A.R. Drone, a four rotor remote control helicopter that is piloted via WiFi on my Android smart-phone. In this photo it is sporting its Indoor Hull. There is a 93ยบ wide angle video camera at the front that gives the "pilot's eye view" to control where it is going. It will hover rock solid if I were to take my finger off the controls.
My Parrott A. R. Drone Indoor-hull
Unfortunately, it isn't airworthy yet. I knew it was crocked when I bought it. The fun is in making it fly again. However, before I can do that, I am awaiting a replacement battery charger, as the previous owner lost it and a set of Parrot Screwdrivers so I can perform maintenance on the bird. The first and most obvious (and so far expensive) repair will be replacing the port forward motor, which was wrecked by the previous owner when he put an anti-clockwise propeller on a motor programmed to run a clockwise propeller. Also, I suspect he disconnected the camera from the main motherboard on the AR Drone because there is no video being sent to my phone.
I will post further progress reports as and when progress happens.
The Browncoat Cat
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Post by Patrick Thu May 31, 2012 7:41 am

Isn't this the drone featured on a Christmas special episode of Top Gear a few years ago? Clarkson took control of it, flew it too high and put out all the lights in the studio.
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Post by The Browncoat Cat Thu May 31, 2012 1:58 pm

I don't know about that Patrick. Parrot launch the AR Drone in 2010 and are now plugging the AR Drone 2.0 with a vengeance.
The Browncoat Cat
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Post by The Browncoat Cat Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:10 am

Progress Report:
[justify]

  • A non-functioning AR Drone was being auctioned on eBay, which had the working parts I needed, so I bought that as well. Ffenecs Lelog, the Lilac Phoenix is now airworthy.
  • Trying to fly the drone with the smartphone's 4.5 inch screen was a nightmare, so I got a cheap and nasty 7 inch Android 4.0 tablet to use as a remote control. Although it has come in handy as my netbook has broken down again.
  • I have sheets of carbon fibre that can be moulded around the body of the drone and set solid after being heated by a hair dryer. This will give the drone, which is made from polystyrene additional strength without much extra weight.


Last edited by The Browncoat Cat on Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
The Browncoat Cat
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Post by Jennyjenkins Fri Aug 24, 2012 12:39 pm

sounds fun Very Happy
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Post by Patrick Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:14 am

Cat,
Can you take pictures of what the on-board camera is seeing when you fly it? Those would be really cool to see.
Patrick
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Post by The Browncoat Cat Tue Aug 28, 2012 2:08 pm

Patrick wrote:Cat,
Can you take pictures of what the on-board camera is seeing when you fly it? Those would be really cool to see.


So far, only one blink and you will miss it video of my first flight, and first crash. Not worth uploading to YouTube. I am currently grounded, due to the fact that I have lost the 2mm circlip that holds one of my propellers in place.
UPDATED!!!!

A fifty second video of the first flight of the finished Ffenecs Lelog (Lilac Phoenix) as I try to get used to the controls. Don't worry, I have got better.
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