Drones: Open Source Options? \ stacker news ~tech

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1681 sats \ 11 comments \ @kepford 19 Nov tech

Looking to get into drones and wondering if there are any good off the self open source options? I mean hardware that uses open source software.

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1245 sats \ 10 replies \ @john_doe 19 Nov

Basically Betaflight is the de facto open source standard I believe for flight controllers. For the receiver, ExpressLRS (open source firmware for receivers) is pretty good. I essentially fly drones with ELRS as I have to comply with strict rules in my country of residence. I have the 2.4GHZ antenna so I can't tell you everything about 900mhz and I didn't try to fly behind big metal obstacles but behind trees I never had a problem of signal. If you live in a country where using 900mhz is not a problem, I would say it is likely the way to go.

If you are uncomfortable with DIY drones, I suggest "RTF" (ready to fly) drones. I suggest to avoid the last hype and to go with a radio command compatible with EdgeTX (open source firmware more unstable than OpenTX) with good gimbals (very important). You can download also nice voices in many languages and heavily customize your radio with this open source firmware. An example which blew my mind: with a custom switch you can program your drone to take over you to avoid crashing (basically by changing the mode you fly).

Lastly for the firmware to spin the motors, the ESC firmware, BLheli32 was the way to go but because of European politicians favoring war over business the company which was behind it stopped and now you should look for ESCs with the AM32 firmware. As far as I know it is a fork which should remain open source.

If you want to use a drone in the wind I recommend 7inch propellers, and I recommend you to first try with cheap shitty chinese drones using open source software to not throw all your money while you crash and have to buy again parts.

And speaking about the parts, there is digital imaging system now which as far as I know is open source but never tried, manufactured by HDZero. I have heard there were bugs 1 year ago, and depending on your country the government may forbid the use of digital signals based on the rational it is a form of encoding (but in all countries the police doesn't really care and doesn't know).

Also, nobody will tell you officially that but if you use DJI be aware you may be leaking images to China and it is not open source... This is second hand information from knowledgeable people, I didn't verify if DJI actually sends videos to China and if yes how.

21 sats \ 3 replies \ @kepford OP 19 Nov

Thank you so much for this detailed response. It sounds like there aren't any simple go buy this drone options that are open source? That's why I made this post btw. I'd love to dive into this as a hobby but time wise that's not gonna happen.

What do you think of Parrot drones?

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @john_doe 20 Nov

It is the French version of DJI, with drones made for people who just want to see around and take pictures. A French neighbor I had said his father had used Parrot drones until it was taken by a bird (in the air, eagles for example tend to protect their territory).

I guess it is a good choice if your goal is just to fly around without adrenaline or feeling to fly. I knew someone who was flying DJI for his work but the videos were very slow, and it looked boring. But in his case it was for work anyway so it didn't really matter.

So I guess the drawbacks of Parrot are if you crash unless you know how to repair you may have to wait some time, and videos look slow and boring. The advantage is you have nothing to do by yourself, no particular know-how required.

The drawbacks of FPV drones is to repair you do it yourself, and it is harder to fly at first. The advantages are that you are totally free to fly like a bird, and you don't have to fear birds as you can just escape from them by changing quickly your path.

For quick kits, if you want quick recommendations for the later I recommend you this site and buy at first the cheapest drone until you don't crash anymore: https://www.fpvknowitall.com/fpv-shopping-list-tiny-whoop/ If you want to support a US company there is newbeedrone. The batteries are cheap also so you can buy many. In my case I went with the Chinese manufacturer Happy model because I was racing and it was the cheapest with the longest fly time.

In the US you can buy with Racedayquad: https://www.racedayquads.com/collections/all-pre-built-quads-wings/products/pre-order-happymodel-mobula6-whoop-hd-w-hdzero-eco-elrs-2-4ghz-racing

For digital signals of videos you will have to buy separately the goggles. For HDZero you can buy their goggles from their website: https://www.hd-zero.com/product-page/hdzero-goggle I don't know why it is not on Racedayquad as I fly only with analog images (I fly with other people around me and to avoid overlapping with the frequency of people surrounding me in my case analog worked better, but nowadays it seems digital systems have improved a lot).

Here you can buy the transmitter module: https://www.racedayquads.com/collections/transmitter-modules TBS transmitters is made by an Austrian who loves the hobby but it is closed source. ELRS is the open source system, any transmitter with a fan should work well. There is also this radio transmitter with good gimbals: https://www.racedayquads.com/products/radiomaster-tx16s-mkii-max-ag01-red-webleedfpv-edition?keyword=radiomaster

I am not in the US so I never bought anything on Racedayquad but I have heard they were sueing the US government for their new law to impose on people the necessity to buy chips to be constantly monitored, so I like them.

But I don't know, maybe you would prefer to test first and try one of these RTF kits which cost less: https://www.racedayquads.com/collections/all-ready-to-fly-quad-combos

In my opinion you're good to go with Parrot just that when you're used to FPV it looks boring. But maybe for you it won't be boring if it is your first time flying a drone. Maybe you could also go to a racing club for drones near your home to ask for advice and asked to try. If you crash their drone they won't be to upset I think because people who race are used to repair.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Thwachi 20 Nov

I learned a lot from this... Thanks

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @john_doe 20 Nov

Happy to hear that, you're welcome

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @bren 19 Nov

Thanks, I learned a lot from this.

21 sats \ 4 replies \ @Akg10s33 19 Nov

This is an excellent informative article👍 that can be useful and interesting to all of us at some point since it is the new technology!! Drones are being used worldwide🌎 and not only in the field of cinema and television series📺 but for various tasks in general..!! and if we add to that a comment as edifying and complete as this one, it is perfect 👌

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @john_doe 19 Nov

Indeed, this is a really a great hobby. Governments make it more and more a nightmare for newcomers with licenses, new weight restriction rules, new chips to add to be monitored while flying, but I highly recommend to try! Flying and doing loops with drones is a great experience!

21 sats \ 2 replies \ @Akg10s33 19 Nov

I've actually been keeping an eye out👁️ to buy one here in Peru... I have the idea of using it to take photos and things like that and with that material open a kind of channel or continuous publications on Nostr and share them with others👍 Don't stop posting @ john_doe

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @john_doe 20 Nov

Nice! You can even do this in Machu Picchu!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Akg10s33 20 Nov

That's right 👌