Here's a clever way to "perch" and land quadrotors, using propeller guards instead of "feet". It requires reversible motor electronics, but other than that it's simple and elegant.
For "perching" on a ceiling, the drone simply flies up against the ceiling. The prop guards prevent the props from actually touching the ceiling, but the props are still close enough to get extra suction.
To land, the drone goes upside-down.
Two UFOs buzz over the Apartment?
** Read the ALT text for what these really are. **
First spring flight. Hands still freezing on the sticks, but the air already feels different. Birds watching the little 3.5” drone like it’s some strange new creature in their sky.
The flying was a bit stiff, like the winter is still holding on to the fingers. Ice still around, cold still in the ground. But the props are spinning again, and that’s enough to start melting the season.
Nur so ein ganz kleiner Testflug mit der DJI Neo. War vorhin noch ein Bisschen spazieren und glücklicherweise hatte es dann auch irgendwann zu regnen aufgehört. Also, einmal kurz 'ne Runde gedreht. Der kleine Quadcopter fliegt für seine winzige Größe echt sauber!
Creating the World’s Most Efficient Quadcopter Drone https://hackaday.com/2026/02/18/creating-the-worlds-most-efficient-quadcopter-drone/
#Dronehacks #GuinnessWorldRecords #Quadcopter
Creating the World’s Most Efficient Quadcopter Drone
![<div><img alt="" class="attachment-large size-large wp-post-image" height="461" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/most_efficient_quadcopter_luke_maximo_bell_youtube.jpg?w=800" style="margin: 0 auto; margin-bottom: 15px;" width="800" /></div><figure class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_916049" style="width: 400px;"><a href="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/most_efficient_quadcopter_remaining_luke_maximo_bell_youtube.jpg"><img alt="Keeping an eye on remaining battery charge. (credit: Luke Maximo Bell, YouTube)" class="size-medium wp-image-916049" height="400" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/most_efficient_quadcopter_remaining_luke_maximo_bell_youtube.jpg?w=400" width="400" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-916049">Keeping an eye on remaining battery charge. (credit: Luke Maximo Bell, YouTube)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Although not a typical focus of people who fly quadcopter drones for a hobby or living, endurance flying has a certain appeal to it for the challenge it offers. Thus, as part of his efforts to collect all the world records pertaining to quadcopter drones, [Luke Maximo Bell] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lfVKcKQ5BI" target="_blank">has been working on a design</a> that would allow him to beat the record set by SiFly Aviation at 3 hours and 11 minutes.</p>
<p>By using knowledge gained from his <a href="https://hackaday.com/2025/11/01/building-a-pv-solar-powered-q](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/116/093/699/305/969/726/original/a97e945e49ae5b18.jpg)
Drone users: reject remoteID!
Beating the World Record for Fastest Flying Drone Once Again https://hackaday.com/2026/01/18/beating-the-world-record-for-fastest-flying-drone-once-again/
#News #GuinnessWorldRecords #Quadcopter
X-Wing Aircraft are Trickier than they Look.
The iconic X-wing ship design from Star Wars is something many a hobbyist have tried to recreate, and not always with success. While [German engineer] succeeded in re-imagining an FPV quadcopter as an X-wing fighter, the process also highlighted why there have been more failures than successes when it comes to DIY X-wing aircraft.
#starwars #Xwing #quadcopter #diy #engineering #artist #media #tech #art #maker #news
![For one thing, the X-wing shape is not particularly aerodynamic. It doesn’t make a very good airplane.
👾Quadcopters on the other hand rely entirely on precise motor control to defy gravity in a controlled way. It occurred to [German engineer] that if one tilts their head just so, an X-wing fighter bears a passing resemblance to a rocket-style quadcopter layout, so he set out to CAD up a workable design.👾](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/115/639/280/699/184/617/original/5f6a3310c66bbb88.jpeg)
![[ImageSource: YouTube - German Engineer]
⁉️The unit still needed a lot of fine tuning to get to a properly workable state, but it got there. It takes off and lands vertically, like a classical quadcopter, but when flying at speed it levels out almost completely and looks just like an X-wing as it screams by.⁉️
👾There are also a couple design elements in [German engineer]’s build I thought were notable. The spring-loaded battery door [all 3D-printed, including the spring] looks handy and keeps the lines of the aircraft clean. And since it’s intended to be flown as an FPV [first person view] aircraft, the tilting camera mount in the nose swings the camera 90 degrees during takeoff and landing to make things a little easier on the pilot.👾](https://files.mastodon.social/cache/media_attachments/files/115/639/280/741/898/726/original/06e6a53095beb873.jpeg)
Hedges Report: On Israel Exporting Occupation Technology
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/11/24/hedges-report-on-israel-exporting-occupation-technology/
Antony Loewenstein discusses the ease with which Israel has used Gaza to experiment with tools of war and surveillance as a means of control as well as profit thanks to their grave human rights abuses. By Chris Hedges The Chris Hedges…
#Politics #Analysis #Britain #Colonialism #Commentary #FreeSpeech #Gaza #Genocide #Germany #HumanRights #Intelligence #Israel #MilitaryIndustry #Palestine #SaudiArabia #UnitedArabEmirates #UnitedNations #WarCrimes #AntonyLoewenstein #ArtificialIntelligence #BlueWolf #ChrisHedges #Drones #ElbitSystems #Hebron #JamalKhashoggi #MonaShtaya #Palestinian #PalestinianGenocide #Pegasus #PegasusSpyware #Quadcopter #RedWolf #Surveillance #TheChrisHedgesReport #ThePalestineLaboratory #ThePalestineLaboratory:HowIsraelExportsTheTechnologyOfOccupationAroundTheWorld #TommyRobinson #WestBank
Went to my friend’s cabin. We flew in the cold, battling wind and darkness, while the dog guarded the gates and made sure we didn’t run the track too cleanly.
Hmmm, odd. I fiddled around some more in the ESC Configurator and got it working again, but the only thing I actually changed was the Minimum Startup Power. That was way down at 1025 for some reason, so I increased that to 1120, which was the setting that gave me a good spin on all 4 motors when using ESC Configurator's manual motor control.
No time for any proper flights after all that messing around, but I did take it into the back yard for a few test hops. This confirmed several things:
1. The quad can now fly again. Excellent!
2. My FPV flying skills are very, very rusty.
3. This thing is a pocket rocket and is very hard to fly in confined spaces, and not just because of 2.
Arse. I decided to take advantage of a day off and fly one of my FPV quads for the first time in ages. I picked the Flywoo Firefly 2S Nano Baby 20, charged some 2S batteries, my transmitter and my goggles batteries, plugged the quad into Betaflight Configurator to check it was alive, then walked down the road to fly. I got set up, armed the drone and... nothing. The motors wouldn't spin up.
I tried a few more times, with two different batteries, but no joy. So I walked home, plugging the drone back into my computer and tried manually running the motors in Betaflght Configurator. I could get them to spin up one at a time, but when I tried to spin all four I'd only get one or two to work. Then they wouldn't even work individually either. I tried ESC Configurator too and it could talk to the ESCs so they aren't completely dead, but I'm guessing they are damaged. It's either that or all four motors, but that seems unlikely.
Found a DIY downhill track hidden in the forest. Looked perfect for ripping, but reality hit fast. My 3.5” struggled with tight lines and too many branches grounding it. Broke a few 3D-printed parts and switched to the whoop. Better, but luck wasn’t on my side. Resoldered motor wires three times, and most batteries were half-dead. Maybe the cold, maybe the full moon, or just poor care. I’ll be back, better prepared, or with a new drone.
A mysterious wall appeared in the middle of the gallery. Whoops approved, while the VTX signals battled for dominance.
Flying through corridors with the whoops. The gates revealed themselves as mysterious objects and chaos was mandatory.
Crash landed at a forest festival, documented the swamp’s lost souls before the static took over.
Whooping the old factory. Half the DVR vanished into static.
Broadcasting my secret base through the lens of analog noise and ghost signals.
