Drone Academy
A structured path through multicopter UAVs—design tradeoffs, onboard software, simulation, safe flight, and autonomy stacks.
Your Progress
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Introduction
How a small UAS is decomposed into structure, thrust, energy storage, and the link from pilot/GCS to autopilot.
First lessonWho This Course Is For
This course is for students, hobbyists, and engineers who want a structured path through UAS design, software, simulation, flight operations, and robotics integration — not a random pile of bookmarks. You can follow along conceptually first, then install toolchains when you reach coding and simulation chapters.
Course Requirements
- A modern browser for lessons, media, and checks.
- Basic algebra and comfort reading diagrams; no aerospace degree assumed.
- Later chapters assume a Linux-friendly machine (e.g. Ubuntu 22.04) if you run SITL, ROS 2, or build C++ examples.
- The first chapter in the Design track introduces how the vehicle is decomposed into subsystems, to help you orient quickly.
Recommended for beginners
New to the platform?
If you want broader aerospace context before this track, start with the open handbook and return here for the hands-on path.
What You'll Learn
Designed as a single coherent track, this academy connects hardware composition, software integration, and flight-test discipline.
Continue your journey
Progress from airframe composition into software, simulation, and flight with a single coherent syllabus.
Understand the stack
We connect props, electrons, firmware, and ground links so you know what each layer is responsible for.
Professional habits
Checklists, versioning, and logging mindsets that match how serious UAV programs are run.
Transferable skills
Patterns you can reuse on custom frames, research airframes, or ground robots that speak MAVLink.
Free and unrestricted access
No paywall on this academy hub — learn at your own pace with local progress saved in your browser.
Step-by-step learning
Lessons stay small: read, watch optional video, run an interactive check, mark complete, move on.
Course Content
This course breaks down learning into 28 lessons across 5 chapters. It's designed for easy navigation and mastery of each topic.
Overall Progress
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Chapters
Chapters
Design
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Basic composition: how the airframe, propulsion train, and command-and-control stack fit together as a system.
Basic composition
Lesson 1: Introduction
How a small UAS is decomposed into structure, thrust, energy storage, and the link from pilot/GCS to autopilot.
~12 min
Airframe
Lesson 2: Fuselage
Central body: mounting for avionics, payload bays, stiffness, and access for maintenance.
~14 min
Lesson 3: Landing gear
Skids, legs, and bumpers: ground clearance, tip-over stability, and takeoff/landing loads.
~10 min
Lesson 4: Duct
Shrouded rotors: safety, noise, and aerodynamic tradeoffs vs open props.
~12 min
Propulsion system
Lesson 5: Propeller
Diameter, pitch, blade count, and how disk loading ties to hover efficiency.
~16 min
Lesson 6: Motor
KV, winding mass, continuous vs burst torque, and pairing with prop and battery.
~18 min
Lesson 7: Electronic speed controller
Current rating, PWM/DShot, BEC tradeoffs, and thermal paths on the airframe.
~14 min
Lesson 8: Battery
Cell chemistry, C-rate, capacity vs mass, and safe operating windows.
~16 min
Command and control system
Lesson 9: RC transmitter and receiver
Manual command link: modes, failsafes, and coexistence with autopilot and telemetry.
~14 min
Lesson 10: Autopilot
Flight controller IMU suite, estimators, and how high-level modes map to motor outputs.
~18 min
Lesson 11: Ground control station
Planning, parameter tuning, and in-flight monitoring from a laptop or tablet.
~12 min
Lesson 12: Radio telemetry
Bidirectional data link: rates, range, antennas, and segregation from RC and Wi‑Fi.
~12 min
First Lesson
Introduction
How a small UAS is decomposed into structure, thrust, energy storage, and the link from pilot/GCS to autopilot.
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