Drones have been around for a very long time, but it's safe to say that today's unmanned vehicles are a bit more sophisticated than the bomb-filled balloons the Austrians used to attack Venice in the mid-1800s.The technological advances that make today's military drones so terrifying can also be used for more peaceful projects - and as the tech gets better and the price plummets, drones could become an increasingly common sight in our skies as they do everything from filming to delivering products.You can join the drone revolution right now, and it'll cost less than you think. But if you go for a flying drone it's important to stay within the law.In the UK, drones over 20kg are illegal in almost all civilian airspaces and smaller drones can't fly within 150m of "large assemblies" or within 50m of people or buildings. Drones must remain in view (streaming video doesn't count) and you must be licensed by the CAA if you'll be using the drone for commercial purchases.The reason for the rules are simple enough: a drone falling from a great height onto a person could do serious damage.

Drone 2.0 is probably the best known of all the consumer drones, and the second iteration of this smartphone or tablet-controlled quadricopter is happy indoors or out. Twin batteries deliver an impressive 36 minutes of flying time, the built-in camera offers live HD video streaming and the 30m range is far enough to get some impressive aerial footage. parrot ar drone firmware upgradeThere's an even more impressive Parrot drone on the way, the Bebop, but for now the AR.parrot ar drone new versionDrone 2.0 is Parrot's flagship drone.parrot ar drone supportIn addition to its aerial drones Parrot offers "minidrones" including the excellently named Jumping Sumo. It's a rolling robot that can travel up to 4.5mph and jump 80cm, and its wide-angle camera streams live video to your smartphone or tablet (Windows, iOS or Android).

Parrot's second minidrone is the Rolling Spider, a tiny quadricopter whose removable wheels mean it's a hoot on the ground as well as in the air. This one's best kept inside, as its diminutive dimensions mean it doesn't take much of a breeze to blow it away and the battery only delivers around six minutes of flying time, but it's a lot of fun while it lasts.Amazon UK is currently offering Hubsan's H107 for less than half of the RRP, and while most customers are happy with it, it does seem to have encountered a few quality control problems. The H107 is a cheap and cheerful way to explore the world of drones, but it's a good idea to hang on to the receipt just in case.The Quad Flyer from Gaui comes in two versions: a kit for intermediate users who supply their own radio, and a ready-to-fly version for beginners. It's good for 12 minutes of flight time or 20 minutes with an optional high-capacity battery and can carry a payload of up to 700g (1.5lb) including its battery. It works just like a remote control helicopter but with the wind resistance and maneuverability of a quadricopter.

At just 3cm high and 8.5cm across the Walkera Ladybird is hardly much bigger than its natural namesake, and the price tag isn't massive either. With a flight time of up to 10 minutes and a range of up to 100m it isn't as powerful as pro-level drones, but then it costs a fraction of what they do. It's fairly damage-proof, with flexible plastic rotors that should retain their shape even if they get bent or twisted. It's definitely one to consider if you're new to flying drones.Price: £168 (transmitter/controller not included)If the Ladybird is a little basic but you don't want to shell out really big money for a quadcopter, Walkera's Dragonfly is well worth a look. It boasts a GPS autopilot, up to 15 minutes flight time, self-stabilisation and an anti-vibration camera mount for the ubiquitous GoPro, although you'll need to buy the controller separately.DJI's drones are well liked by users, and the Phantom 2 Vision Plus offers an easy to setup with easy to fly all-in-one system for aerial photography and filming.

The camera shoots stabilised full HD video at 1080p at 30fps (60fps in interlaced mode) and takes 14MP still shots, you can even adjust the camera settings from the iOS app. It looks fantastic too.It won't ship until December, but Airdog is currently accepting pre-orders for its auto-follow drone for GoPro cameras. The drone connects wirelessly to the included Airleash box, which not only controls the device but acts as a beacon it can follow automatically - so for example you might get it to follow you as you plummet down the side of a mountain on a bike or snowboard. Although it is limited to 40mph it has a good for up to 20 minutes of flight time depending on how fast you fly it, and the Airleash has a range of up to 300m.Romo may look like a toy, but the friendly-faced iPhone-powered robot is also an excellent platform for modders, a fun telepresence robot and something that'll delight the kids as they make it roam around the house. There are two versions, one with a 30-pin connector (which can connect to the iPhone 4, 4S and iPod 4) and one with a Lightning connector (which connects to the iPhone 5, 5S and iPod 5).

This is the next version of the 3D printable quadcopter. The PL1Q Vampire was the first. Now continuing on the mythological creatures naming-scheme here is the PL2Q Hugin. I have put a lot of thought in to this one, but i fear it will fly away one day.. If you already have printed a PL1Q Vampire most parts should be backwards compatible at least with some modifications.. Watch my video first, i show the quadcopter: I print everything 100% filled and i use PLA, 0,3mm layer height and i use SF35. You need some soldering skills to use the new motor mounts. You solder the ESCs in to them.. The body should now bridge more correct, one direction is now 0,3mm over the other so it bridges one first and then on the next layer the other bridge (at least if you print using 0,3mm layer height in SF35). If you intend to fly with a gopro camera, then choose the gopro legs, they are a bit taller and also have the battery further back to compensate for the weight of the gopro.

On the gopro mount you might need to grind the servo hole a bit to make the servo fit. Also the screw holes in the gopro mount need to be drilled a bit to make the screws fit. Here is a list of the things i have in my PL2Q Hugin. Most parts are Gaui 330x-s parts (my first quad).. Esc's: GE-010 10A BRUSHLESS ESC x4 Motor's: GM-410 SCORPION BRUSHLESS MOTOR 400W-KV1050 x4 Props: GAUI 330X 8 inch Props (8A & 8B) Propadapter: GAUI 330X ADAPTOR AND SPINNER SET (FOR 3MM SHAFT) x4 Board: MWC MultiWii SE Standard Edition (Crius MultiWii SE) Battery, Rhino 3s 25c 2250mAh lipo Imax B6 charger for the lipo (and a power supply to the charger) Servo extension cables a bunch of them. Linkage (music wire) between the servo and camera mount (0.8mm diameter). 2x Screw M3x25x0.5mm, and 2x M3 locking nuts for camera mount. Black and Red silicone wire for power. I use 20AWG in arms and 16AWG to battery. XT60 connector for battery. JST connectors if you want to be able to remove arms.

Small screws for the motors.. (usually included when buying motors). Lipo alarm, that warns when battery is getting low. (completely depleting a lipo will damage it) Radio: Turnigy 9x with FrSky module (er9x firmware with telemetry) Receiver: FrSky D8R-II (firmware with ppmsum out) If you think the parts listed are to cheap/expensive/etc then of course you can use other parts. I would recommend that you look , and that you ask google. Before ordering parts you should know what you wan't and if they will work well together, getting it wrong can release the magic blue smoke, and with that gone, the things will not work... Also if you do not have it already get an RC watt meter, every electrical flyer should have one ! Learn watts, amps, kV, etc.. The more you know, the more you will be able to do ! I find podcast to be a great source of information.. learn a lot of stuff while doing other things, commuting, working, My 3 favorite RC podcasts are: