Ever since we played with the original AR drone back at CES a few years ago, we’ve been keeping an eye on them. While we all agree there are better quadcopters out there, the price point for a ready-to-fly quadcopter of this size is really great with these. When the fake video from FPS Russia of the weaponized drone made the rounds earlier this year, we were surprised at how people reacted. Anyone who has messed with quadcopters recognized it as fake right off the bat (not to mention the overly cliche fake russian character). We won’t be adding a full fledged firearm to this. Mainly because it simply can’t lift the weight (There are ones that can, but we couldn’t justify the cost just for that). We do have some ideas though. Lets go over the specs of the AR Drone 2.0 first. The manufacturer is pretty good about sharing information. They have a decent breakdown of the specs as well as a full SDK available for writing apps for the AR drone. *We’re assuming they mean 1Gigabyte of RAM there on the specs.

As you can see, it has decent specs for the $299 price tag. This is partially due to the fact that it uses wi-fi for control. A decent radio system would greatly increase the distance (and probably response), but would have added another $100 to the price tag. This isn’t a full review of the AR Drone. I didn’t run it through any tough tests, nor compare it to similar sized and outfitted competitors. I just pulled it out of the box, flew it around a bit, and started thinking about how best to make it preposterously dangerous.parrot ar drone telecommande During this time, I found that the Wi-Fi control system works fairly well. ar drone 2 battery 1500mahThere’s not really a discernible lag between motions on the iPhone and motions on the drone. parrot ar drone film festival

The drone was fairly stable both indoors and out, though it really didn’t like ceiling fans. I started taping things to it to see how it would respond. As you get too much weight on it, you start to see that the stabilization system twitches attempting to keep it level. This happens long before it physically can’t lift things. It shouldn’t be an issue though as I only noticed it while attempting to hover in place. parrot ar drone load capacityBattery life is greatly reduced though with any additional weight. parrot ar drone long distanceThis is a pain in the butt because the stock battery only offers roughly 8 min of un-weighted flight on a 1.5 hour charge.parrot ar drone españa There is already a strong community of modders out there for the AR drone.

Here are some common mods that I found while researching. I’ve included a few links to examples, but there are many more to be found. I’ve got some ideas. They’re not all very safe sounding, but don’t worry, I’ll take precautions to make sure no one gets hurt. They’re also not very practical, but sound really fun. Let me know your ideas. Keep in mind that if I strip this thing down, I can really only carry 100-150 grams comfortably. Also keep in mind I don’t have the time or resources to carry out massive undertakings (sorry, no AI swarms, etc )Upgrading the firmware on your Parrot AR 2.0 drone has many benefits. A firmware upgrade will fix any bugs or problems which Parrot have identified such as flying erratically or dropping while flying.  The AR drone firmware upgrade may also bring new features such as better acrobatics and ease of flying. This article with video show you how to upgrade the firmware on your Parrot AR 2.0 drone. Connect a fully charged battery to your AR drone and your smartphone is also fully charged.

Make sure your Parrot AR drone does it’s normal start up test. The 4 rotors should do their little jiggle. Your quadcopter should then be broadcasting it’s wi-fi  signal. Go into your settings on your iPhone or Smartphone.  Turn on Airplane Mode so you won’t receive a phone call while upgrading the firmware on your Parrot AR Drone. Make sure you’re wi-fi is activated on your phone. Make sure you have no USB devices attached to your AR drone Connect to your Parrot AR drone Open up the AR drone FreeFlight App Make sure your AR Drone FreeFlight App is up to date. On the main screen on your AR FreeFlight software on your phone, click on AR drone update. Click ok to confirm that you have no USB keys attached to your AR drone Next, you cellphone will start sending the firmware file to your Parrot AR drone When the file has gone across your Parrot AR drone will restart. The LEDs will go red. On restart your AR drone will start installing the firmware.  

After a short period the lights on the Parrot AR will go off and then blink red.  On your cellphone, it will say “installing”. Next, each rotor in turn will do a little jiggle followed by green LED’s on front and back. Sometimes your WiFi may disconnect at this point. Reconnect if this happens and open the AR FreeFlight software.  Go back into AR Drone Update.  You should then see the message “Your AR Drone Is Up To Date” Check the Firmware And Software Versions On Your Parrot AR Drone To check your firmware and other versions of software, go to the Piloting screen option in the AR FreeFlight App, connect to the AR Drone, then on your cellphone scroll 4 screens across to check the status and versions.  This should show you the hardware, motors and software versions. Below I have a nice drone video which takes you step by step through the whole process of updating the firmware and other software on your Parrot AR Drone 2.0. Also, don’t forget, you can find further information including the latest firmware and software for you AR Drone on the Parrot Support Page.