What do you think?
Rate this book
Build a Drone: A Step-by-Step Guide to Designing, Constructing, and Flying Your Very Own Drone
Whether you plan on using drones for recreation or a more serious purpose (from search and rescue through farming to scanning construction work on a high-rise apartment buildings), Build a Drone will make sure that you not only understand how to construct a drone, but the proper and safe ways to maintain and handle them.
Within the last couple of years, the usage of drones in both the public and private (military) sector has exploded. People are talking about drones, building drones, and something most people didn’t know of a few years ago is now a household name.
Build a Drone will not only teach you how to build your very own drone, but will explain their history in the military and the impact they will have—and are starting to have—on our everyday lives. Chapters
Author Barry Davies has built drones for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and AAI (one of America’s largest drone manufacturers), as well as six experimental ones for MIT. He not only understands their use in the world, but knows the ins-and-outs of how they can be created and handled.
Within the last couple of years, the usage of drones in both the public and private (military) sector has exploded. People are talking about drones, building drones, and something most people didn’t know of a few years ago is now a household name.
Build a Drone will not only teach you how to build your very own drone, but will explain their history in the military and the impact they will have—and are starting to have—on our everyday lives. Chapters
Author Barry Davies has built drones for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and AAI (one of America’s largest drone manufacturers), as well as six experimental ones for MIT. He not only understands their use in the world, but knows the ins-and-outs of how they can be created and handled.
- GenresEngineeringNonfiction
216 pages, Paperback
Published November 22, 2016
45 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 6, 2024
Drones don’t always bring the greatest associations to mind. Say “drone,” and the first thing I think of is a worker in Sector Seven-G at Springfield Nuclear Plant, or a male bee capable only of work, not reproducing.
And it’s not like the associations get much better when you get to the little unmanned aerial vehicles. When thinking of those, my mind typically conjures images of Afghani wedding parties being interrupted by hellfire raining down from some fixed-winged bird of prey. Or even worse, some annoying hobbyist ruining everyone’s day at the park with his attempts at majestic flyover photography with his noisy quadcopter.
Barry Davies, BEM (Best Ever Micromachine-Hobbyist?) is an avowed lover of drones but he is aware of their limitations and their downsides. He also, in the course of “Build a Drone” promotes responsible behavior with drones, and methods for educating oneself in their operation. This is important, as a lot of what hobbyists do with their drones is a legal grey area; and the grey is only likely to be cleared up after some disaster sets a precedent that requires legislation. I.e., since Billy flew his drone too close to the local private airstrip and caused Spinal Tap’s privately chartered plane to veer off into a cornfield, no more drones near airstrips. Or cornfields.
The book is not mostly about the legality, benefits and drawbacks of drones, however. Davies recognizes that the drone—for good or ill—is here to stay. And so, after seeding the text with some caveats, and bookending things with some main points, he gets to the nitty gritty. Building, operating your drone, as well as the care (and feeding) of your flying pet.
Topics covered in the text include: types of drones available for purchase on the market, as well as homebuilt kits; advice on how to safely and slowly grow proficient in the operation of one’s drone, without wrecking it; how to establish a baseline budget for your outlay. Will it be a hobby or do you intend to use it for research, or even become a professional operator?
The need for drones in various fields is not only growing, but is already quite varied. They’re used for stunt-heavy film scenes, to assess crop health for farmers, and to deliver much needed relief to unfortunates in times of disaster.
I myself might contemplate a job in the field, were I younger, and were my limbs not already slightly addled with a touch of the arthritis. Then again, I never had the greatest manual dexterity in the world, or the lightest touch. And the eight cups of coffee I help myself to per day haven’t really improved the situation.
Recommended, regardless, with photos, diagrams, and screenshots.
And it’s not like the associations get much better when you get to the little unmanned aerial vehicles. When thinking of those, my mind typically conjures images of Afghani wedding parties being interrupted by hellfire raining down from some fixed-winged bird of prey. Or even worse, some annoying hobbyist ruining everyone’s day at the park with his attempts at majestic flyover photography with his noisy quadcopter.
Barry Davies, BEM (Best Ever Micromachine-Hobbyist?) is an avowed lover of drones but he is aware of their limitations and their downsides. He also, in the course of “Build a Drone” promotes responsible behavior with drones, and methods for educating oneself in their operation. This is important, as a lot of what hobbyists do with their drones is a legal grey area; and the grey is only likely to be cleared up after some disaster sets a precedent that requires legislation. I.e., since Billy flew his drone too close to the local private airstrip and caused Spinal Tap’s privately chartered plane to veer off into a cornfield, no more drones near airstrips. Or cornfields.
The book is not mostly about the legality, benefits and drawbacks of drones, however. Davies recognizes that the drone—for good or ill—is here to stay. And so, after seeding the text with some caveats, and bookending things with some main points, he gets to the nitty gritty. Building, operating your drone, as well as the care (and feeding) of your flying pet.
Topics covered in the text include: types of drones available for purchase on the market, as well as homebuilt kits; advice on how to safely and slowly grow proficient in the operation of one’s drone, without wrecking it; how to establish a baseline budget for your outlay. Will it be a hobby or do you intend to use it for research, or even become a professional operator?
The need for drones in various fields is not only growing, but is already quite varied. They’re used for stunt-heavy film scenes, to assess crop health for farmers, and to deliver much needed relief to unfortunates in times of disaster.
I myself might contemplate a job in the field, were I younger, and were my limbs not already slightly addled with a touch of the arthritis. Then again, I never had the greatest manual dexterity in the world, or the lightest touch. And the eight cups of coffee I help myself to per day haven’t really improved the situation.
Recommended, regardless, with photos, diagrams, and screenshots.
Want to read
March 25, 2024A
August 22, 2025
If any feds are reading this, I'm just trying to learn how to build a cute drone (in my Minecraft server) ✨️
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews