Droneblocks Simulator

   Today in class, we learned about DroneBlocks Simulator. DroneBlocks allows you to connect to a drone called Tello and program it to do things. We read over how to work it because class was online due to the tropical storm. The website we found the information was learn.droneblocks.io with Marissa Vickery. I went through the Introduction to Tello EDU Drone Programming with DroneBlocks module.

     Some important things to do before using the drone is to make sure the propellers are secured. The battery should be charged, inserted into the drone correctly, and you need to have a backup battery. Tello should be used in a big room if a lot of drones are used. The area around Tello should be clear, so it doesn't collide into obstacles which can damage Tello. The module also gives specifics about using DroneBlocks on certain devices to connect to Tello. 

     

This is one code that Tello can be programmed to do.

     Takeoff has Tello go up about 4-5 feet (1.5 meters) into the air. You can also use fly up or fly down to get Tello to fly higher or lower. Distance for Tello is relative to position. Tello might have some marginal errors since it doesn't have GPS. For example, you might command it to fly forward 60 inches, but it might go only 55 inches. Hover means that Tello will stay in one place for a certain time like five seconds.

This is a box technique to where the magenta arrow is the direction the drone is facing.

     Another term that I learned from the module was yaw or yawing which is an aeronautical term for rotating about a vertical axis. There was also the term loop ("repeat" block in DroneBlocks) which is used for repetitive commands to make it one command. A code with loops is also referred to as refactored meaning restructured or revised.     

This is the box technique of yaw with the magenta arrow showing the yaw or direction of flight.

Here is an example of the box technique as a code.

Here is the box technique with loop and a fly up command.

     This is very helpful to learn for when I use DroneBlocks to program Tello. I can't wait to try out some code and see Tello fly in class Wednesday.