Drone Made of Lego Takes Flight

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Drone Made of Lego Takes Flight

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday December 19, 2012 @06:40PM from the toys-from-toys dept.

TVmisGuided writes "People have made UAVs out of wood, aluminum, even 3D-printed plastic. But now comes the tale of C#/C++ developer Ed Scott who, after damaging his Gaui 330x, got the idea of designing and building a Lego quadcopter. And it worked! 'Most people go to their favorite hobby store to get parts for their UAV, I go to my kid's playroom.'"

83 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Conditioned Much? by Johann+Lau · 2012-12-19 18:53 · Score: 3, Insightful

Last millenium weq had RC planes and shit. Why call them drones now? Is that to give legitimacy to extrajudicial killings, or is it to derive coolness from them? It's one thing or the other, that's for fucking sure, so tell me. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is such a needy and funny thing to call it... you mean like a paper airplane? Or a helium balloon? WTF people. Oh, and this is bad enough without dragging your kid into it, btw. Just a thought. Now do your butthurt thingy where you mod me down as flamebait or troll, you know you wanna ^^
1. Re:Conditioned Much? by AllanNienhuis · 2012-12-19 19:00 · Score: 2
  
  I thought the difference between drone and RC planes was the ability to fly them out of line of site - drones have cameras and give the pilot some form of first-person view as they are flying. At least that's how I've always thought of the difference...
  
  --
  Don't judge me based on my high slashdot user id!
2. Re:Conditioned Much? by clickclickdrone · 2012-12-19 19:08 · Score: 1
  
  It does seem a strange choice of wording. Given that Lego resisted producing green bricks for years to stop kids making tanks etc, I'm not sure they'd be best pleased.
  
  --
  I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
3. Re:Conditioned Much? by starsky51 · 2012-12-19 19:17 · Score: 1
  
  That's no fun. I'm pretty sure the OP is right and this is part of an insidious government plot to legitimise the use of terminator drones. Conspiracy!
  
  --
  There are 2 types of people in this world. Those who understand ternary and those who don't.
4. Re:Conditioned Much? by Johann+Lau · 2012-12-19 19:26 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  You'd have to give me citations there, because anything I could find on wikipedia and elsewhere doesn't tell me that at all. As far as I can tell a drone is a remote controlled flying thing. As in, RC. No constraints about wether it's controlled by onboard circuits, an external pilot, and no requirement of feeding back specific signals either. Thanks for at least trying though.
5. Re:Conditioned Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 20:54 · Score: 0
  
  This guy has even given his a autopilot - in the video he hands control over to it, it flies completely out of sight and returns on its own a few minutes later.
6. Re:Conditioned Much? by Joce640k · 2012-12-19 20:58 · Score: 1
  
  Is that to give legitimacy to extrajudicial killings, or is it to derive coolness from them?
  Nothing new there. The military has always played with language to dehumanize the enemy and sanitize the process of killing other people. Think of all the words you never heard before Iraq/Afghanistan: "Insurgent", "IED", etc. What happened to "rebel" and "bomb"?
  
  --
  No sig today...
7. Re:Conditioned Much? by mikael · 2012-12-20 00:26 · Score: 2
  
  They did use green - they had trees and stuff.
  Not that the color really mattered to a kid. With regular bricks, you could make a delta wing fighter plane from the jumbo-jet wing sections. A missile defence system could be built from those 4x4 rotating turntables and a hinge joint. Use a couple of 8x1's or 8x2's for the missile and the sloping 2x1's for the missile wings.
  As far as building tanks with Lego Technical kits, you could get the Technical Lego 856 Bulldozer. Strip the model down to a couple of long bars, axles, gears and the caterpillar treads, then add a couple of electric motors to drive each tread separately. Then with couple of battery packs, the whole tank could go at least 2 metres/second on carpet.
  
  --
  Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
8. Re:Conditioned Much? by somersault · 2012-12-20 00:43 · Score: 1
  
  This thing has first person view using a headset from the ground. There's a holy fuckload of negativity around here. I think the project is pretty awesome, and I didn't expect any more than the frame to be made of lego after reading the summary..
  
  --
  which is totally what she said
9. Re:Conditioned Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 00:54 · Score: 0
  
  Remotely piloted aircraft aren't drones. Drone has a very specific meaning which does not include the behavior of any remotely piloted aircraft. I suspect you are correct on the difference between those and RC planes however.
10. Re:Conditioned Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 01:37 · Score: 0
  
  "H-Ks"?
  "Hunter-Killers."
11. Re:Conditioned Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 02:00 · Score: 0
  
  This is too dangerous. We need to ban the use and sale of legos. Some unstable individual could get his hands on some. We won't stop them all, but we must try.
12. Re:Conditioned Much? by JohnRoss1968 · 2012-12-20 03:03 · Score: 0
  
  TROLL. And no I didn't say that because I am butt-hurt (I'm not because I really could not care less for the opinion of a self centered paranoid person like yourself) I said it because it is true.
  If you are so concerned about drones being used write your Congressman. And take off the tinfoil hat for a few. Its stopping the blood flow to what is left of your brain.
13. Re:Conditioned Much? by Johann+Lau · 2012-12-20 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  How is it trolling if I genuinely believe that calling this stuff "drones" is sucking murderer dick AT BEST, and that calling them unnmanned aerial vehicles is idiotic in any case?
  You haven't even got the faintest clue what would constitute trolling, you just know it's an easy defense. Instead of dealing with what I said, make up a motivation for me saying it that allows you to weasel out.
  The same goes for "flamebait": I don't pretend to despise you guys just to evoke a reaction, I truly think you're shit, basically. And deep down you know I have a point. "Your butthurt thing", it's so on cue. And even if I call it beforehand, you think you can say "this isn't being butthurt" while being butthurt. It's amazing.
  
  If you are so concerned about drones being used write your Congressman
  I'm not even American, you clown. And I think it's past writing letters anyway. Without civil (and hey, even military) disobedience America is fucked dead. I don't know what kind of rock you're living under but that's pretty much public knowledge since the circus you pulled after 9/11. I have plenty of crap in my country, naturally, and you know what I do when I have problems with newspeak stuff? I DON'T USE IT. And I laugh/bitch at people who do. Like, I address the problem where I find it.
  As I did just know. And you don't like it, so you want to redirect me to something that does not address that problem at all. My problem with you lot is you being bootlickers, and if your administration changed without you overcoming that, you'd still be bootlickers in spe, nothing would have been solved at all.... while you stopping to be bootlickers would probably change a lot of things, and would make them more bearable until then.
  And likewise: if you have such a problem with the questions I raised, why read it? The problem you have, your own stupidity, can much more easily avoided. Me ignoring extrajudicial killings isn't going to make them stop at all, so I prefer to call bootlickers out. That won't stop it either but at least I feel slightly less dirty for being ya'lls contemporary.
  Oh, and tinfoil hat? You're just playing idiot bingo, aren't you.... so you're not even AWARE of the shit that is public knowledge, hasn't got shit to do with conspiracy theories, and is happening on your dime? You see, there is being ignorant, and there is being actively ignorant, which kind of makes one guilty of the things one chooses to ignore. Wouldn't want to be in your position, at all.
14. Re:Conditioned Much? by sjames · 2012-12-20 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  RC planes didn't have cameras and autopilots, drones do.
15. Re:Conditioned Much? by Johann+Lau · 2012-12-20 06:35 · Score: 1
  
  Got anything more than your word for that? I mean, I know it's what you think how the nomenclature works, but I couldn't find anything that actually supports this claim. For example:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle
  
  An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot on board. Its flight is either controlled autonomously by computers in the vehicle, or under the remote control of a pilot on the ground or in another vehicle. [..] Historically, UAVs were simple remotely piloted aircraft, but autonomous control is increasingly being employed
  [..]
  Early UAVs used during the Vietnam War after launch captured video that was recorded to film or tape on the aircraft. These aircraft often were launched and flew either in a straight line or in preset circles collecting video until they ran out of fuel and landed. After landing, the film was recovered for analysis. Because of the simple nature of these aircraft, they were often called drones. As new radio control systems became available, UAVs were often remote controlled and the term "remotely piloted vehicle" came into vogue. Today's UAVs often combine remote control and computerized automation.
  So, nope. You could upgrade an RC plane with cameras and autonomous control, and still call/consider it that no problem; they didn't suddenly cross a threshold that makes them different, just like drones were drones when they flew in a straight line. But people don't call them that, instead they adopt military slang, I ask why, people pucker up and there I have my answer ^^ But then again, "fragging" is actually rolling a grenade under the bed of your CO, not mashing buttons to explode pixels; so there's clearly a history of derp here.
16. Re:Conditioned Much? by sjames · 2012-12-20 06:45 · Score: 1
  
  Just as soon as you start coughing up paychecks, I'll start doing your research on these ever so critical topics for you.
17. Re:Conditioned Much? by Johann+Lau · 2012-12-20 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  What? You make a claim, I ask you to back it up, you say "no, pay me"? You got it upside down buddy. If you want me to take what you said seriously in the slightest, cough up an argument. Or just shut up in the first place, but don't bitch at me for doing the work for you and seeing it to an end you don't like. The fucking nerve, the comedy and idiocy of it.
18. Re:Conditioned Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 08:02 · Score: 0
  
  As an RC pilot myself I will say 100% this is a drone because this "could" fly out of line of site. But they did not because its not allowed under RC rules, if you notice the dad only flew in fields or on beach back a good distance away from people,
  This is 100% a drone because it can fly anywhere on its own, battery lasting of course, without anyone needing to control it by the preload flight plan.
  It looks to me like this guy was trying to follow current RC rules with his drone, if everyone did that this will be a good hobby and an educational thing for our kids future.
19. Re:Conditioned Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 08:10 · Score: 0
  
  The remote is used to start it only or take over if something goes wrong, it flies to the waypoints, 3 of them then returns on its own, 100%
20. Re:Conditioned Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 08:24 · Score: 0
  
  Read the description on the YouTube video
  "Once we added the ArduCoptor board it became a 100% autonomous drone that can fly ob its own without human intervention, we only need the stick for take off or in case something went wrong and needed to take over. When the quad gets to its assigned first waypoint it just continues to all 3 and then back to launch point on its own, a real Drone."
21. Re:Conditioned Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 08:44 · Score: 0
  
  Actually Johann your pretty ignorant on the subject.
  Your correct it was RC until he added the Arducoptor board about half way through the video. Thats where they stop controlling it and changed to the flight planner, it became a drone once he added the Arducoptor board about half way through the video.
  This is the flight planner used
  http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/AC2_Waypoints
  This is the board
  http://store.diydrones.com/APM_2_5_Assembled_p/br-apmpwrkt.htm
  and it flies on GPS for its waypoints.
22. Re:Conditioned Much? by gencodeinc · 2012-12-20 09:53 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Hi everyone, I am the dad in the video, I want to clear a couple things. !) It’s just an RC plane (Jonathan) Yes, in the beginning it 100% WAS but its not now, well more of a UAV than simple RC because of the FPV. Then about mid way we added the Arducoptor controller. Uploaded waypoints and it flew 100% on its own using a Mediatech GPS through 3 waypoints and back home so yes it’s a true drone now. It also can land on its own but right now it’s such a hard landing it broke the legs that’s why you see the blue tape in the back of one of the legs. It does take off on its own, but you must throw the throttle up a little to start it for safety. Once the stick is thrown even a little it takes up on its own, I asked my son to go a little over half way in case that something went wrong and I had to take manual control. A little over half way would guarantee that it’s still ascending and not crashing to earth. It is fully autonomous. 2) Its not 100% LEGOs. Well no, it not at all, and if you read the description on the YouTube you see I stated 100% LEGO Frame, that’s all. Mainly wanted to build a cheap strong frame with my kids. And I did and it was fun. 3) I used a CAD....um no, its LDD, LEGO Digital Designer, I guess its a kiddie CAD made by LEGO but its not AutoCad and actually the kids use it more than me. My son’s involvement was 100% build and about 100% helping with design of frame. Also oldest helped configure waypoints and flight plan. This is the autopilot system I used http://store.diydrones.com/APM_2_5_Assembled_p/br-apmpwrkt.htm [diydrones.com] You can get LDD here http://ldd.lego.com/ [lego.com] Hope this helps the confusion.
23. Re:Conditioned Much? by clickclickdrone · 2012-12-20 09:59 · Score: 1
  
  It was bricks they were avoiding in green. Obviously you could still make war machines. I used to make tanks, battleships, aircraft and guns
  
  --
  I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
24. Re:Conditioned Much? by Johann+Lau · 2012-12-20 11:43 · Score: 1
  
  That's been brought up two times before, and both times it ended when I went "orly? can you actually back that up instead of just stating it?" e.g. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3328567&cid=42350553 Feel free to do better.
25. Re:Conditioned Much? by gencodeinc · 2012-12-20 12:04 · Score: 1
  
  Hey Johann, Sure, Ill try to do a flight tomorrow after work, it still has the same flight plan in it. If not it won't bee until the weekend but it should be tomorrow after work assuming there are no games going on I should get it after work. Take a look at the Arducoptor boards, they are pretty cool, thats the one they also have autopilots for cars helicoprots etc. Here is one of our other drones, this one is capable of fully automated RTH, or return to home, but not waypoints http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0PVfMl6c5I And no we don't want to hurt anyone, being a developer I feel that the future will bring more automation like in cars and farming and planes. I only did this with my kids to get them a head start in life. They learned a lot from design to development and helped every step of the way.
26. Re:Conditioned Much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 12:20 · Score: 0
  
  Here you go, this 100% proves that it is a drone or fully autonomous lego frame
  This clearly shows it has a ardu auto pilot system and GPS as I mentioned
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlnmT2TFGr4
  It was very windy today or we would have flown today, we wont fly if people are on the field or raining.
  But hope that helps prove it.
  Just go to DIY Drones, there is even a guy that flew an autopilot with his LEGO NTX board....pretty neat stuff.
27. Re:Conditioned Much? by sjames · 2012-12-20 14:05 · Score: 1
  
  Nope, you asked a question, I told you what I have observed for usage and suddenly you want a scholorly work on the subject. Sorry, no. This is NOT a debate, it was a discussion that you seem to be taking Waaaaayyyy too seriously.
  So no, I really don't give a shit if you want to take me seriously or not.
28. Re:Conditioned Much? by gencodeinc · 2012-12-20 16:28 · Score: 1
  
  If you notice in the shorter version on the video that only shows the Ardupilot flight the lego is flying autonomously When I pan back the choper is a dot, there is no way a human can fly that unless using FPV, we were not using FPV although it is equipped with one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HbKz9hl6CQ
nothing by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 18:58 · Score: 1

Thats nothing. I worked on a project where we used lego mindstorm to guide a laser for lasik.
Dead cat by kms_one · 2012-12-19 18:58 · Score: 0

...Now make a dead cat out of Legos and you can call me impressed. Copter mod optional. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kslv7l75jQ
That's... by jhesse · 2012-12-19 19:03 · Score: 0

Actually pretty lame.
I mean, not only did he use a CAD program for a box with 4 arms, it doesn't even look "cool"... No lego fins, etc. Not even a minifig in a cockpit. It looks like every other quad-copter.

--

--
"I have also mastered pomposity, even if I do say so myself." -Kryten
1. Re:That's... by Plazmid · 2012-12-19 21:13 · Score: 1
  
  He's not even using all Lego parts. And yes, there are indeed Lego propellors out there capable of generating propulsive thrust. And yes, you can even use an NXT smart brick to control a UAV.
  But, worst of all it looks like he's committed one of deadliest Lego sins: irreversible modification of Lego bricks. How else are those motors staying on there?
2. Re:That's... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 22:54 · Score: 0
  
  Why on earth would an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle need a cockpit?
3. Re:That's... by ericloewe · 2012-12-19 22:59 · Score: 2
  
  The true lego propellers I've seen would never be able to produce any thrust. The NXT + motors would be too heavy for it to fly, too.
  Don't get me wrong, it'd be massively cool, but just sounds unfeasible using all Lego.
4. Re:That's... by 91degrees · 2012-12-19 23:05 · Score: 1
  
  Okay, but that's why a Lego copter would have been impressive. Because we think it's impossible. Building a copter with a few Lego parts is nice, I guess but not as impressive as the article suggests.
5. Re:That's... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 23:26 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Because it's female?
6. Re:That's... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 23:54 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Why is his doing something like this with his grandkids pretty lame? Seriously - he wasn't doing it for your approval and for you to be insulting to him (its not like he asked to be on slashdot) is a bit rude. What emotion inside you drove you to make that comment?
  I applaud his work with his grandkids..
7. Re:That's... by jimshatt · 2012-12-20 03:15 · Score: 1
  
  My granddad used to build stuff for me and repair bikes and such. Doing cool stuff with your grandkids while you still can. I guess some people don't have nice granddads and can only say "lame" all the time. Pretty lame.
8. Re:That's... by jhesse · 2012-12-20 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  It wasn't a comment on what he does with his grandkids. That's great and all that.
  It was a comment on this being newsworthy, when the application of Lego was quite underwhelming.
  
  --
  
  --
  "I have also mastered pomposity, even if I do say so myself." -Kryten
9. Re:That's... by gencodeinc · 2012-12-20 09:44 · Score: 1
  
  The reason why we used the Lego Digital Designer (LDD) was used was to teach my kids how to use a CAD. Remember this is a Kiddie Cad and these are 7-11 year olds. I am actually an AutoCad registered developer and I wanted to teach my kids some things. The LDD also lets us order the exact right amount of bricks and colors, it also creates an excel spread sheet. The kids learned a lot even what excel can do on a basic level/ People please look at this from a kids learning perspective not an adult, this project was never meant for a 35 year old. It was to teach my kids a new technology and an introduction from start to finish in robotics and flight. Again, it is 100% autonomous.
hmm by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 19:17 · Score: 0

Could replace the legos with a few pairs of sticks...and have the same functionality.
I made thing like the other things, but different by louaish88 · 2012-12-19 19:35 · Score: 2

Duurrrrrr, unlike those other people that made things out of other things, I made this thing out of Lego. See, completely different and newsworthy. It's not like I built a car out of steel then made a slightly different car out of carbon fiber. I took it another step. I used another thing for the thing instead. Get it? I used one thing in a place where you would not think the thing would be.
RTFA Much? by Dexter+Herbivore · 2012-12-19 19:37 · Score: 2

The website is a UAV/UAS enthusiasts website, so of course they're going to use the terminology of UAVs. As for the drone part, it was only in the headline so an editor or sub-editor chose it. You know, an editor from a group of DRONE ENTHUSIASTS. So I think that you've answered your own question, it's to derive coolness from them. These are people with a hobby that may seem esoteric and uninteresting to many but they like to think that what they do is cool, just like any other sort of geek. Same as a tabletop RPG geek would normally say a "D20" instead of a "20 sided dice". You appear to see something wrong with that, maybe the problem is not with this article but instead with your perception of it.
He must annoy his kids by ohnocitizen · 2012-12-19 19:42 · Score: 4, Funny

"Daaaaaaad, stop taking my legos!!!"
"Sorry champ, Daddy has dreams."
lego frame by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 19:43 · Score: 0

I was expecting lego motors and mindstorms controller.
Got simple frame with normal RC components attached. If I make a frame out of coat hangers, is it a coat hanger quadrotor?
1. Re:lego frame by gencodeinc · 2012-12-20 12:51 · Score: 1
  
  There is a plane with a mindstorm controller, its pretty cool
I'm a long-time Lego fan and ... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 19:50 · Score: 0

... I think it's a poor design, could have been much better with Lego Technics hollowed parts, much lighter and stronger, and better looking.
And that's not counting that many other materials (carbon, aluminium, even wood) are so much better for this kind of machine,
1. Re:I'm a long-time Lego fan and ... by mikael · 2012-12-20 00:36 · Score: 1
  
  The goal of the project was to build a quadcopter with low-cost replaceable parts. If you have a one piece wood or carbonfibre chassis, and something breaks, that's the whole chassis needing replacing. If the quadcopter is made from modular parts, that's a bit better, but you would still need to purchase custom replacement parts if they break. Build the quadcopter chassis out of RV parts and regular bricks, you can buy a bucket of them for $50.
  
  --
  Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
design it into an Owl, by RedHackTea · 2012-12-19 19:55 · Score: 1

make millions selling it as a Harry Potter toy. Then use the Arducopter he already has setup to fly to their friends' houses. Hell, you could trade 128-bit friend codes so that it automatically allows friends to download their "home" GPS position, just leave it out at night so that it can deliver the messages.

--
The G
1. Re:design it into an Owl, by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 20:52 · Score: 1
  
  "Young boy blinded today as friends Lego(tm) based flying machine smashes through bedroom window"
it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by Herve5 · 2012-12-19 21:05 · Score: 5, Insightful

... as far as I can see, the only thing Lego in this quadcopter is the plastic structure. Motors are not, batteries are not, control electronics are not, RF and presumably remote control are not, servomotors are not.
So are we discussing a "drone using some lego bricks for the structure"?
H.
now mod me down, but remember I'm 50: at home I have older bricks than you (in addition to the vast amount aggregated by three sons)

--
Herve S.
1. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by Kyusaku+Natsume · 2012-12-19 22:41 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I think this is a neat hack in the best sense of "hack", since they already had the bricks and the quadcopter parts. Plus, since it was designed by the kids, I will cut them some slack. Still, I would like to see the next, stronger, lighter and not glued version using Lego Technic beams. There is too much room for improvement :).
  
  --
  Mexico: 100% conservative's America now!
2. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by drinkypoo · 2012-12-20 00:36 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  now mod me down, but remember I'm 50: at home I have older bricks than you (in addition to the vast amount aggregated by three sons)
  Holy shit, I'm only 35 and I can use this insult all day, every day. Thanks.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
3. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by Smallpond · 2012-12-20 01:24 · Score: 1
  
  I have two sons and the Lego scars on the bottoms of my feet to prove it.
4. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by drinkypoo · 2012-12-20 02:55 · Score: 1
  
  I have two sons and the Lego scars on the bottoms of my feet to prove it.
  I don't have any kids, but I still have Legos. Now if only I had room to bring them out and do something with them. I would sell them if only I thought I could get any decent percentage of money back out of them, because I'd be glad if some kid(s) somewhere were getting enjoyment out of them. I've let a lot of stuff go cheap but my Lego is not on that list :)
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
5. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by IwantToKeepAnon · 2012-12-20 04:50 · Score: 1
  
  ... as far as I can see, the only thing Lego in this quadcopter is the plastic structure. Motors are not, batteries are not, control electronics are not, RF and presumably remote control are not, servomotors are not.
  From the summary:
  
  after damaging his Gaui 330x, got the idea of designing and building a Lego quadcopter. And it worked! 'Most people go to their favourite hobby store to get parts for their UAV, I go to my kids playroom.
  What part about "after damaging" and "get parts" didn't you understand?
  Also, please share your plans to build a battery using only legos; I think we'd all be interested.
  
  --
  "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
6. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by the+agent+man · 2012-12-20 05:20 · Score: 1
  
  I completely agree. All the mission critical parts are NOT Lego.
7. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by mcgrew · 2012-12-20 06:40 · Score: 1
  
  Give them to some poor kids. No point in letting them waste your space.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
8. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by I+Mean,+What · 2012-12-20 06:46 · Score: 1
  
  Try donating them. If you were really concerned with some kid somewhere getting enjoyment out of them you wouldn't be thinking of your own personal gain first.
9. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 07:09 · Score: 0
  
  You can sell individual parts on bricklink.com. Classic bricks can be quite pricey. Transparent yellow plates from classic space lego sets (Galaxy Explorer) are a good example. You could contact one of the sellers there and probably get a fair price for your entire collection.
10. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 07:21 · Score: 0
  
  Without s frame you cant fly, its 100% mission critical. Glue 2 legos together with model glue, bet you cant take them apart
11. Re:it's not to boil enthousiasm down, but... by gencodeinc · 2012-12-20 13:38 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, the top and bottom part was hard to find, we had to get them on ebay
Re:I made thing like the other things, but differe by deroby · 2012-12-19 21:50 · Score: 1

Ah, but he did it using a computer ! Totally different thing !

--
If there is one thing to be learned on slashdot, it has to be sarcasm.
Awesome by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-19 23:51 · Score: 0

Not only did he design something cool and do some great programming - he inspired his grandkids to do more with their legos. First Class!
Armament by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 00:08 · Score: 0

Can it carry Lego® missiles to kill Lego®-Taliban?
Your kids must love you by LoRdTAW · 2012-12-20 00:31 · Score: 1

"Most people go to their favorite hobby store to get parts for their UAV, I go to my kids playroom."
Dick.
Fucking Lego by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 01:16 · Score: 0

I built a fully functional cruise missile. But I did it using Megablox, so no one cared.
Breaking the bank much? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 02:17 · Score: 0

Out of Lego? Wouldn't it have been cheaper just to buy a Predator drone?
He is cheating... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 02:43 · Score: 0

Neither motors nor propellers are Lego parts.
On the other hand, yes I do think the kids loves him... he is playing with them and building really cool stuff.
Re:Taco Copter by jones_supa · 2012-12-20 03:03 · Score: 1

I think there is an old McDonald's TV commercial where a boy drives a R/C car alone into the restaurant, with a piece of cardboard that has his order written on.
I am the dad in the video, this is a Drone not RC by gencodeinc · 2012-12-20 09:21 · Score: 1

Hi everyone, I am the dad in the video, I want to clear a couple things. !) It’s just an RC plane (Jonathan) Yes, in the beginning it 100% WAS but its not now, well more of a UAV than simple RC because of the FPV. Then about mid way we added the Arducoptor controller. Uploaded waypoints and it flew 100% on its own using a Mediatech GPS through 3 waypoints and back home so yes it’s a true drone now. It also can land on its own but right now it’s such a hard landing it broke the legs that’s why you see the blue tape in the back of one of the legs. It does take off on its own, but you must throw the throttle up a little to start it for safety. Once the stick is thrown even a little it takes up on its own, I asked my son to go a little over half way in case that something went wrong and I had to take manual control. A little over half way would guarantee that it’s still ascending and not crashing to earth. It is fully autonomous. 2) Its not 100% LEGOs. Well no, it not at all, and if you read the description on the YouTube you see I stated 100% LEGO Frame, that’s all. Mainly wanted to build a cheap strong frame with my kids. And I did and it was fun. 3) I used a CAD....um no, its LDD, LEGO Digital Designer, I guess its a kiddie CAD made by LEGO but its not AutoCad and actually the kids use it more than me. My son’s involvement was 100% build and about 100% helping with design of frame. Also oldest helped configure waypoints and flight plan. This is the autopilot system I used http://store.diydrones.com/APM_2_5_Assembled_p/br-apmpwrkt.htm You can get LDD here http://ldd.lego.com/ Hope this helps the confusion.
Loving Legos by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 12:28 · Score: 0

I'm sure he could have found other materials to make his quad copter from. Legos are kind of expensive for that purpose.
Re:I made thing like the other things, but differe by Anonymous Coward · 2012-12-20 12:41 · Score: 0

The Ardupilot will accept a ground station allowing flying from a computer, but thats more $$$, we may add it later, it lets you fly from a joystick or logitec controller.
This was a test to try out the automation nothing more.
Big Deal by slick7 · 2012-12-20 12:49 · Score: 1

We have a bunch of corporate drones ruining...er...I mean running this sector of the planet.

--
The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.
Drone == automated, RC == remote pilot. by mjwx · 2012-12-20 13:23 · Score: 1

Last millenium weq had RC planes and shit. Why call them drones now?
I use drones, you can call them RC planes or model planes (as we do in Australia), I wont get upset.

To me the difference is a drone is autonomous whilst an RC plane requires continuous input from a remote pilot.

With our drone, we program it with a flight path and parameters and it does it's thing with little or no input from the user. We do manual take off and landings via remote but once it reaches the starting co-ords we flip it into automatic mode. The biggest usage we have for them is to take aerial photo's we can program them with the co-ords for each photo and let it's do it's thing. We used to use expensive manned planes and helicopters for this (Australian rules requires any externally fixed device to be certified by aircraft engineers, which is bloody expensive so putting the same camera inside a model plane designed for it is a lot cheaper), the drone is surprisingly accurate in comparison.

--
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
1. Re:Drone == automated, RC == remote pilot. by gencodeinc · 2012-12-20 13:57 · Score: 1
  
  We also have a NAZA controller but it does not do waypoints, it does a RTH full autonomously and with accuracy within ac couple feet. This LEGO one has automated flight, we automated it about half way through the video using the Ardupilot and GPS and it does do waypoints It did 3 waypoints on its own, if you see the last part of the video it was way to far for me to fly maybe a landing but thats it. In the USA the main rules are dont fly over places or around people and keep line of site. Granted I could have used the FPV but then there is no reason to buy the board. Here is the GPS/Board config http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlnmT2TFGr4
2. Re:Drone == automated, RC == remote pilot. by mjwx · 2012-12-20 17:27 · Score: 1
  
  We also have a NAZA controller but it does not do waypoints
  We kind of need to do waypoints as we use it for aerial photography and remote sensing, the more accurate the positioning when we take the photo the less work required to mosaic them later. One of the drones we use is the Yamaha RMAX helicopter that can carry 20 KG, the other is a custom built (basically a kit built) petrol powered plane using a MicroPilot 2028G that can carry just under 30 KG, 20 KG is enough to lift any of our sensing packages (mostly regular and IR cameras but we can get LIDAR units for clients that request them).
  
  Expensive setup, but this is for a business.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Toy quads! by cciRRus · 2012-12-20 14:39 · Score: 1

If the Lego quad interests you, you might want to check out V929, V939, V949, or V959. These toy grade quadcopters are dirt cheap. You can get one online for less than 50 bucks and they fly really well.

--
w00t
Johann Lau is WRONG by gencodeinc · 2012-12-23 10:32 · Score: 1

Here is another example of it running the waypoints without the controller. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx-Qz7eXAyk Maybe you should take 5 min and look at the DIY Drones http://diydrones.com/ and see how many people are making Drones that actually fly themselves, not just simple RC controlled planes, these things fly themselves, take off and land themselves based on preprogrammed waypoints. Call it a drone, autopilot flying machines or whatever. These also log full telemetry about the flight too that can be played back on google earth, there not your fathers RC planes anymore. Hope that helps your understanding of an RC plane and todays modern drone for the consumer.