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Drone Pilot

Program a drone to fly through hoops and land safely.

Step 1 of 2

What you'll learn in this level

  • How the rotors steer a drone
  • Why you have to plan the commands in advance
  • What the autopilot takes care of

How a Drone Flies

A drone flies because its rotors push air downwards. If they all spin at the same speed, it rises or sinks straight.

You don't have to worry about any of that while flying. You give commands like "forward" or "up", and an autopilot works out how fast each individual rotor has to spin.

How it works

  1. Take off

    All rotors spin faster until the drone lifts off the ground.

  2. Choose a direction

    If the rotors spin at different speeds, the drone tips. Then it flies that way.

  3. Hold course

    Sensors measure its position all the time. It evens out small wobbles at once.

  4. Land

    The rotors spin slower until the drone touches down gently.

Here you put commands in a row. That way you guide a drone through a course.

Guess first, then experiment

Your command list starts straight away with “forward”. The drone has to take off for that, obviously. Or does it? What happens?