BUILD A UAV vs BUY A UAV

Drones, UAV's RC Multi-rotors what ever you call them they are the buzz right now and for the see-able future,so your thinking I want to get into drones I want to have a go at videoing or taking photos from the air, flying one for pleasure or even wanting to have a go at FPV racing but where to begin.

I hope this will help make the first step into the world of flying drone's a little easier.. but be warned DRONE FLYING is very addictive!

There are two routes to the air, the first is to buy an off the shelf pre-programmed ready to fly machine the other is to build one either from a kit or by designing and selecting the composite parts.

Both routes are rewarding but which one...??

Why Buy?

If you are a person that has not got an interest in building, fiddling, tinkering and exploring then the buy route is the one for you. Buying a Ready to fly drone has to be the quickest route up into the air, buy it charge it fly it ( minutes if the battery is already charged). With off the shelf ready to fly most manufactures have proven technology and sometimes could be cheaper than building. It might not do all you want it to and would be difficult to modify or customise but this is the compromise. Repairs or upgrades could be expensive and you are locked into the spare parts from the OEM but for instant out of the box action this is the most attractive option.

What to Buy?

There are are so many ready to fly drones on the market but here we can see the five best selling drones in 2015 strangely despite there popularity ready to fly FPV racing drones are sparse this is probably due to the nature of the activity and the potential for collisions or crashing.

Whilst this is some of the best selling drones of 2015 so far, there are 100's out there to choose from.

Why Build?

A good question... Are you an engineer, do you like to get down to component level details, do you like to adapt improve, customise or upgrade and see how it all goes together then this is definitely the route for you. Please do not be under any illusions that this route will be cheaper or faster than buying a ready to fly drone, but it certainly can be the most rewarding. Also you will inevitably crash , so if you built it you will know exactly what to do to fix it and be back in the air.

What to build?

The most common and and easiest to build and fly has got to be the quadcopter, 4 fixed motors set symmetrical apart, here we see a block diagram showing the key blocks of a quadcopter.

Below is a parts list detailing the composite parts of a typical 450 size quadcopter.

Because you have decided to build a drone, don't rule out buying a small semi-indestructible drone to hone in the flying skills, a small £30-40 drone like the hubsan X4 which will fly in exactly the same manor as the bigger quadcopters and will give you that flying confidence for when your build is ready.

Coming soon: Blog Detailing selection of motor and propeller combinations including considerations for optimal lift and payloads.

Please remember to always fly safe... please read the knowledge item on Flying Drones 

See you in the skies

Greg