The Complete Guide to Drones, Extended and Fully Updated 2nd Edition Choose, Build, Photograph, Race

by Juniper, Adam

• ISBN13: 9781577151685
• ISBN10: 1577151682
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-04-16
• Publisher: Wellfleet Press

Summary

If you think you need a boarding pass to fly, you’re really missing out! Today, drones are everywhere. From film studios to farms, they’re in the hands of photographers, commercial surveyors, and racers alike. This fully illustrated book explains how drones developed, where they’re going, and which one you should choose. It even includes complete instructions to build both a simple drone and a super-fast FPV racer yourself.

Whether you’re flying indoors or out, buying or building, this book covers everything:

Understand the Jargon: Flying has a lot of unfamiliar terminology, but this book will make it easy to master.

Business or Pleasure: Every type of multicopter you might want is introduced, including explanations of which is best suited for what role.

Get the Best Pictures: This edition includes an extended guide to the tech and composition tricks you can use to make your pictures stand out of the pack.

Get the Best Video: A new shot-guide shows you how to get the most engaging aerial video, whatever your drone.

Be an FPV Racer: There are complete step-by-step instructions for building your own FPV racer, or a surprisingly cheap wooden drone – both great projects.

This is an Extended Second Edition. Following from the worldwide success of the first edition, which has been translated into numerous languages, this edition is not just fully updated to keep pace with the laws and the technology (including gesture controls), it is also new enough to thoroughly cover the fast-growing new sport of FPV drone racing, while still including a comprehensive guide to learning to fly any drone.

Author Biography

Adam Juniper has been flying drones and model helicopters for years, and enjoys nothing more than sharing those skills or the videos he captures. He is active in the community --- his YouTube videos have been seen by thousands of fellow pilots. He has authored several books including My Story: Easy Digital Tools and Photoshop Elements. He's also worked as a book publisher and professional video producer (with a book on the subject to his name), and has written for numerous digital creativity magazine.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

6 INTRODUCTION

8 CHAPTER 1: DRONE BASICS WHERE DRONES CAME FROM AND WHAT KINDS THERE ARE
10 History of Drones
12 Military Drones
14 Emergence of Multicopters
16 RC Legacy
18 How Multicopters Fly
20 The Basics of Multicopter Flight
22 Types of Drone
24 Indoor & "Toy "Drones
26 Building Drones
28 Professional Drones
30 Racing quads

30 CHAPTER 2: POWERTRAIN THE KEY COMPONENTS OF ANY DRONE
32 Airframe
34 Batteries
36 Motors
38 Speed Controllers (ESCs)
40 Propellers
42 Flight Controllers
46 RC Transmitters
48 FPV Systems
50 Telemetry
52 Landing Gear

54 CHAPTER 3: ACE PILOT FLY WELL, FLY OFTEN
56 Flight Basics
58 Pre-flight Checks
60 Helicopter Girls
62 Flight Modes
64 The Maiden Flight
66 Roll, Pitch, Yaw & Throttle
68 Gesture Controls
70 Key skills
72 Simulators
74 Manual Mode
76 GPS Autopilot

80 CHAPTER 4: PHOTO & VIDEO FROM MICRO-CAMERAS TO CINEMA-QUALITY
82 Camera Specification
86 Exposure Triangle
88 Amos Chapple
90 Cameras
92 Gimbals
94 Still Composition
96 Video Composition
98 Better Perspectives
100 Programmed Camera
102 Image Correction

104 CHAPTER 5: BUILD CHEAP DRONE BUILD YOURSELF A GREAT DRONE FOR LESS MONEY THAN YOU'D THINK

106 TameSky 1:
The Wooden Wonder
108 The TameSky 1 Build Part 1
112 Flashing ESCs
114 Circuit Diagram
116 The TameSky 1 Build Part 2
126 Post-build Tuning

128 CHAPTER 6: BUILD A RACER BUILD A SUPER-FAST FPV RACER ON A BUDGET
130 TameSky 2: FPV Racer
132 The TameSky 1 Build Part 1
134 Flashing ESCs
136 Circuit Diagram
138 The TameSky 1 Build

142 CHAPTER 7: REFERENCE USEFUL BITS AND BOBS
144 Drones and the Law
146 Safe to fly?
148 Communities

150 Glossary
152 Index
154 TameSky 1 Cutouts
160 Acknowledgments