Hacking a $20 Toy Helicopter into an Autonomous Drone

We chat with Kyle Moore, a member of the Stanford Robotics Club, about his project that converts cheap remote-controlled toy helicopters into autonomous drones that can map and navigate around environments.

[@tested]

Anyone try this recently? How'd it turn out?

[@bernardli9514]

I got to hacking the RC remote but not much farther.

[@newton2013]

It's time for you to re-cover the subject!

[@djbusters]

Cant decide which RC model to go for to hack the Propel star wars drone.

[@4ohm531]

I am still trying

[@eswaristudycircle618]

You have red colour wings and balancing rod nice job

[@funkblack]

I soldered some wires once.

[@chris35667]

Doc. FunkBlack made my day 😂😂

[@bottleflipshdandrewflips1767]

Doc. FunkBlack OMG 😂😂😂😂😂

[@jacobwaltz4941]

i debugged my drone once

[@IohsmdIglomdrnIjsmsIhafmIafmli]

I hacked a toster once

[@3stans936]

Doc. FunkBlack Lemme guess.. it was in 1764?

[@cosmiccheetah6906]

This is why being called a nerd is a compliment.

[@CrazyFunnyCats]

Nerds are why we have toys Engineers are the ultimate nerd Fk most lawyers and their self inflated fake ✨status About 10% of lawyers fight the system

[@cosmiccheetah6906]

+Crazy Funny Cats Exactly.

[@freeagent212]

+Casher59 *than

[@skmetal7]

+CosmicCheetah Jocks are millionaires, but nerds are billionaires!

[@cosmiccheetah6906]

skmetal7 Jocks often end up as burger flippers.

[@6Tony6Castelan6]

I DEMAND AN UPDATE ON THIS GUY!

[@Thewierdlife11]

J Castelan No update yet...

[@1compaqedr8]

J Castelan he sounds like the kind of guy that knows more about you than you do...

[@ilkanarfpv7432]

shieeet

[@Community-Action]

top secret clearance at the agency does not allow updates!!

[@dzeliongurung3218]

...

[@morphman86]

"How long did this take you?" I was prepared to hear "a year", and the dude says "A month... but I took some time off to do school work too". This man is a genious! They should be funding him!

[@hippopotamus86]

Not really a genius, what he is doing is at a basic level really. Sounds like he hasn't worked out the autonomous part of it at all yet. Not to mention the line laser isn't going to help at all, you need a grid matrix laser much like the kinect.

[@hippopotamus86]

Coding the world's first of its type intelligent security video analysis software.

[@morphman86]

Joe Anthing What type would that be? Because I doubt you're the person who coded IVAS back in 1996 or VIVOS a few years ago (which are the two major game-changers in the field of intelligent video analysis software).

[@hippopotamus86]

Similar features to the IVAS, but for a different application and can work with simple hardware. Can't say much more at the moment.

[@morphman86]

Joe Anthing Dude, I made both those things up. Next time you try to look cool in front of strangers on the Internet, at least do a simple Google search first xD

[@docbravo2go]

He has been working on this only for about a month. What he is trying to do is actually fairly ambitious. Those of you who would belittle what he has done so far (like aoxilus) fail to grasp that he is putting lidar on the craft, to map close spaces AND to track and control its 3D position, orientation, and movement through space. It is NOT just somebody tearing apart toy copters. It is NOT just substituting a different interface to control the machine. Trolling here has gotten out of hand, and just sounds like so much whiny jealosy. Would it kill any of you critics to have a minimal (entry level for humans) respect for anyone, anywhere, at any time? I would be interested to see where this project goes, and how difficult it is for him to make the machine function in a completely autonomous fashion. I sincerely doubt that many of you would be able to duplicate his success, especially thousands of times, here on KZbin. -Doc

[@MatthewTaylorAu]

ditto to docbravo2go, this is impressive hacking, even if he has adopted previous work by others. Kudos.

[@ajofscott]

***** So since you have such a distaste for furthering the works of others whom have made them available for the community to expand upon, should you now throw out your cookbook, all of your appliances and begin pedestrian travel to and from your job, also which should be without the aid of electricity or mechanized tools or technology? No matter how much of a 'Me! Me! Me!' society we digress into we are all reliant on the works of others for individual success!

[@user-lu7lq3zr8j]

What he's accomplished so far is great, but the most difficult implementations of his project are "yet to come" and in the engineering world talk is cheap. Especially, talking about creating an autopilot; unless he finds an open source system small enough to implement on that toy, he will be spending months attempting an autopilot on his own.

[@user-lu7lq3zr8j]

***** I don't think you understand how open source software/hardware works.

[@user-lu7lq3zr8j]

aoxilus No. Open source software has copyrights pertaining to the author and if someone tries to license it, the author can simply sue for infringement.

[@jtoddjb]

as a man who spent most of his life farming and logging and never using a computer at all until about 25 yrs old I am so amazed by guys like this. He took his finals and went on spring break in between working on this.

[@kenatnip568]

+ jtoddjb I can relate to that.

[@tavrosnitram1122]

+Random KZbin Watcher wtf kind of comment is that

[@tavrosnitram1122]

i meant who the fuck is conformed enough to say shit like that

[@bloodaid]

+jtoddjb as a man who has a little bit of general experience with electronics and software development, I can tell you that I too am amazed by this guy. To be able to achieve what he has achieved requires quite a lot of knowledge. Not knowledge about the project itself, just general knowledge to efficiently plan and execute the project. Amazing!

[@phizicks]

and then it was completed, he called it skynet.

[@strom6592]

Lol so true

[@datboi5616]

+A Turtle waddap turtle!!

[@strom6592]

+Dat Boi ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@Shroomania]

I so want one...how has it progressed?

[@armanbhullar2527]

Attt

[@Zanzubaa]

That was a good interview. Guy was a cool cucumber and knew what he was taking about.

[@spikedpigeon5740]

Harrison Allen, you have a poor grasp of the situation.

[@3stans936]

J+J Minecraft Ne spelt it right doe...

[@dojostarfox4520]

The force is strong in this one...

[@Grabbagar670]

I was wrong... The nerds have ALREADY taken over...

[@rahemaansari9669]

yes Yes YESSSS next thing you know we will build flying tanks after y'all who messed with us and gave us swirlies in the toilet in high school.

[@zymuur]

Before you do that, us cool kids and jocks will beat you to a pulp. nerd

[@rahemaansari9669]

zymuur NO. We will go to our secret corner in the garbage can where you left us and meet up in there to create a plasma turret.

[@brandonthegrey]

Nerds and Geeks are different, Nerds concentrate more on porn, stalking people using the internet and more stuff like that, while Geeks are a bit more involved in the outside world like the guy from the video.

[@brandonthegrey]

6laderunner That was meant as a joke

[@colmanian]

This is VERY impressive for just one months work!

[@sdevane75]

Yeah. I too spent about a month working on my time travel machine... it too, looks somewhat unimpressive right now as it's 85% hard bits that you just done see... my end-date is open-ended too... LOL

[@YoSneeze]

2:40 he said "obviously". I feel dumb now :(

[@DimitriTFrost]

I feel dumb when ever he opens his mouth I have no idea how I should do it even if I had all the materials and programs

[@YoSneeze]

to understand the context of "obviously" it should be 2:42

[@error.418]

because lidar is a portmanteau of light and radar... He says "obviously" because he said "lidar is like radar but with laser beams" which is basically what the word lidar implies.

[@Crypt1cmyst1c]

It's not a portmanteau, it's its own acronym. LIght Detection And Ranging, vs RAdio Detection And Ranging.

[@error.418]

Crypt1cmyst1c Not exactly. "The name lidar, sometimes considered an acronym of Light Detection And Ranging, (sometimes Light Imaging, Detection, And Ranging), was originally a portmanteau of light and radar." James Ring, The Laser in Astronomy. p. 672-673, New Scientist Jun 20, 1963

[@garky247]

Very well spoken guy, Seems to be very passionate in what he does. I hope he gets a job in this sector.

[@VanRathbunJr40]

He needs to get a job with Amazon as an R & D engineer to build their drones for home delivery operations.

[@Thunderbyrd.]

That would be like Bo Jackson leaving the pro's to play in the sand box

[@zacfarris5674]

His proposed system would not work for that his is for a small room

[@unbelievabubble]

Reading things that interest me make me realise the people doing this stuff are so much smarter than me.

[@Celrador]

They just know the field way better and have way more knowledge about what they are doing. Once you acquired the same level of knowledge, all these things will be easy to you aswell. Just keep on learning. :P

[@omgorasff4036]

unbelievabubble hesitate hyxd6wv hwhhr bhhrjbe jiwbebbe no jewellery box with wbhje hebhehhdvd

[@GRDwashere]

He's really doing this the hard way. He's scanning the environment with his D.I.Y. LIDAR and hoping to pick out the heli out of all the data+noise.... yeah, good luck with that. I've been down that road. He has a better chance of success if he sets up an IR beacon on his heli and sets up three IR filtered cameras looking at space along the X, Y, and Z axes. He can then do some simple image processing to extrapolate the cartesian co-ords of his heli in near-real time. That's the only way he's going to get a control loop with a high enough iteration frequency, low enough signal/noise ratio, and sufficient position & acceleration fidelity to allow autonomous control of the heli. He could also extend the system further and get several orders of magnitude better control if he used a transmitter and an IMU on the heli in the control loop, but that's another project. ....other than that, looks like a fun little learning project with cheap off the shelf parts.

[@MrPelletgunguy]

I was thinking that too. Good thinking there!

[@Enrollis]

His method is how the military does missile guidance in some cases.

[@chevycamaro-rp6tr]

Tim R. Lol I was about to comment that

[@Aeoronautical]

I love when people go off topic, the video was interesting and this kid is techno smart. How could the comments stray so far from the subject. Thats one hell of a trolling job.

[@katokidd]

Very cool Kyle. The world needs more electrical engineers

[@AviatorGuy]

This type of creativity is amazing. Taking everyday technology and transforming it into something more useful is good. To Kyle and the Stanford Robotics Club, job well done.

[@surrogatemarker]

It's been two years since this video aired.. Where is the kid now and has any progress been made.?

[@vikingofengland]

Can't believe there are haters here. Great project and interesting to hear what he has to say.

[@AllThatInterestingStuff]

He is using only one pin and he used a Mega for that.. Nice job.

[@junaidayaz6011]

maybe he requires high rate of sampling frequency that only a mega can do.

[@ian1064]

Bence Bujdosó thats because the uno cant input to your computer

[@darieroman10]

yes it can. it can communicate with the computer via serial through the usb port. even bluetooth with a bluetooth module, or wifi, etc.

[@guskelty9105]

Call me crazy, but what if he already had a mega and didn't see the point in spending even more money.

[@GrantHawkey]

Nice work Kyle! Need more makers like this ;)

[@MulderXfile]

Nice work!! Love the way young people get into that sort of technology at that age.

[@myhonchosg]

Interesting idea. Anyone knows if there are updates on this?

[@monoblockadi9530]

Update: he's been hired

[@sethburns6116]

Is there any vids

[@alerey4363]

@@monoblockadi9530 by the NSA he went to update the Reaper drone to kill Soleimani so I guess he put this autonomous cheapo copter project on hold

[@redeye2629]

Wow, wow the kids great. Hope to hear more about his future projects

[@truetrucker4real768]

I love to see young people doing things that take patience, knowledge and dedication. So cool!

[@Mannedavid]

Great Idea, but the only thing that bugs me that the arduino mega was ON a ESD bag..

[@dummypg6129]

i feel u bro... i cringe the whole time while watching the video. *sigh

[@AllThatInterestingStuff]

Why would someone do that? I am out of words.

[@Mannedavid]

A esd bag is used to protect electronics from getting electrocuted by statit electricity (that the same stuff that zapps you if you touch a shoping cart etc.) and the issue with putting the arduino on one of them is: A: It doesn't protect at all B: It can short out the Arduino btw: sorry for my bad english, it's not my mother tongue

[@corndog984]

one time my power went out and i used the gray metal box thing to switch it back on

[@angmarsp]

Congratulations! The world needs people like this guy!

[@caleb420star]

literally best ever, this kid is spending all his time programming for fun... AWESOME!!!

[@ZOMBIEHEADSHOTKILLER]

its 3 years later.... lets see the finished version..... and lets get some links to the arduino coding.

[@hippopotamus86]

The arudino only takes serial input from the laptop and turned it into IR pulses. This really isn't anything amazing, and it's no where near being "autonomous" .

[@andrewrobotbuilder]

Joe Anthing Not yet at least

[@hippopotamus86]

Andrew Micallef It's completely the wrong way of doing it. He's using a Web cam with an IR filter and a line laser. Should be using something like a kinect that can actually sense depth.

[@andrewrobotbuilder]

Joe Anthing that's pretty much how the kinect works, he's just using his own version of the same principle

[@firstalsharif88]

first time in my life watching a youtube ad to the end 😂😂

[@Paulklampeeps]

Murad Alsharif it's get worse when you can skip them

[@JD-7792]

Brilliant! This kid is awesome! If he can do this in a month while taking exams etc imagine what he could do in a year without any interruptions. Well done.

[@davidalantrickett5326]

well done mate,i watched the vid,and i am impressed with your way of thinking.keep it up......

[@pacrat90]

"Autonomous"

[@tttv687]

pacrat90 yes? That's what he is creating.

[@maincarolinaboatshop6723]

Not really autonomous r actually yes bt only within its own space, because as he said he's using algorithm and marking an area with laser beams the drone could not fly outside that area without the algorithm.

[@ArcadeGames]

This guy is a smart cookie.

[@javedkhandurrani4637]

weir's 0., play rian

[@Heart2HeartBooks]

A lot smarter than Achmed the clock boy!

[@tmuxor]

Ahmed was like 10 years old you dumbass, this guy is in college

[@jamesleehunter]

This guy is awesome, has a real knack for explaining things too.

[@sandet02]

That is amazing! what is really amazing is that he was not only able to think up what he wanted this drone to do but t build it.

[@mastermanio2]

This is really cool, except RC copters this size have like 8 minute battery life.

[@brandonmows]

My syma can fly 32minutes on a lipo tenergy battery

[@mastermanio2]

For sure but the point of this video was to run with a $20 toy helicopter, not a decent RC copter with hobbyist parts / upgraded battery. These low end pieces won't have the battery life to make use of this.

[@brandonmows]

The syma cost $20 and the battery cost $12

[@mastermanio2]

Exactly.

[@Deathbysnusnu125]

mastermanio2 I dont remember him saying the idea was to do this with a $20 copter. That is just what he started this project on.obviously he has put a lot more money into this with the laser and electronics he has purchased. i think its more about the concepts hes applying. When he has it all figured out and fine tuned it would be much easier for him to apply the same concepts to a copter that could do a lot more.

[@markrainford1219]

I understood the spring break bit.

[@rahemaansari9669]

Lol.

[@franciscoferraz6788]

mark rainford really? It was all really simple tho. Still, was pretty funny what you said :3 . I guess you can still have my upvote

[@clintyoung8255]

Awesome start, hope too see more...

[@adisharr]

Pretty slick project! Definitely interested so see how well it will work.

[@noecamarena1896]

these guys are creating skynet

[@diegogutierrez5989]

Noe Camarena no

[@iamchillydogg]

Noe Camarena Skynet creates itself when the T-X terminator downloads it into the system.

[@vybezOnly]

I bet well be hearing about this guy in the near future

[@PabloPazosGutierrez]

Well done, this is great in every way.

[@GeorgeZoto]

Great and inspiring work! Keep it up!

[@ndrsg3013]

Hacking = Making it with the least resources, or Finding a way to make a existing better + simpler. Finding mistakes/weak-points in a system/object and take advantage of it, or in modern ages, modify a system or object with ''simple'' cheap tools/methods.

[@Lyricon24]

0:36 "Figure out where the hell the copter is"

[@mccc4559]

That young man is really cool. I respect him and I don't envy him because he deserves all the energy available. I send my best wishes.

[@killerMILLER117]

That is a very smart kid. He's pretty coordinated too. Keep up the good work bro!

[@GPantazis]

Dude, you are like, the world's biggest nerd right now. I wish I ever get half as much a nerd as you.

[@GPantazis]

I'm not even going to comment the irony that is going on right now. It's too easy; not worth it.

[@hazza123live]

If you could catch up with him on where it he is now that would be amazing

[@sirdrakey]

Very cool! The light radar scanning is the real gem here it could be used for more real time AR interaction and robotic vision!

[@rockybalboa1086]

Being an engineer, I find this interview soo satisfying. Usually guys just throw around buzz words to make it sound cooler. But everything he said actually makes sense. the project is pretty simple and I could finish it in a month and a half but only after procastinating for a seminar maybe lol. guess, that's why he's at Stanford! *silently cries*

[@naughtywizard]

He should work for hacksmith

[@naughtywizard]

Someday Soon fair enough haha

[@ronaldkuizon8369]

Look at the year. He is probably sending bombs right now.

[@averdaderestaurada]

Perfect Joseph Smith

[@Weeble68]

Can't tolerate the upward inflection any more (?) lol

[@yogeshwarmaya7732]

How you done this? "Well, it actually been done couple of times in the internet." Man, hatsoff to use giving credits to the internet.

[@gerrirobertson5770]

Kids a genius. I say this because ive always beleived there was new ways to do things with different particles in the universe. Using his knowledge and putting together this program is amazing

[@abdulrahmanbostani4353]

he looks like michael from RT

[@thepretenda]

Hey Nerd - This is what you did in a month? You work for DARPA now.

[@chriskuva]

a nerd with social skills. he's going to go far

[@chadmalo4446]

I liked this guys passion for taking bits and pieces of knowledge from different areas of engineering and deciding to create something useful. If this small drone can then be used to map a room with laser measurements it would save hours of time on site surveys. If anyone knows if this has already been done, I'd love to hear about it.

[@tin2001]

I like how people are bagging the kid out for knowing nothing and using the wrong kind of microcontroller... check the date of the upload people. It was over 3 and a half years ago. Stuff's changed.

[@theghostmachine]

Almost six years

[@TimecastGaming]

everything he says end like a question? it's kind of weird? i don't understand?

[@SpAzMaNiK]

Thetimeman100 California accent

[@TimecastGaming]

SpAzMaNiK ah

[@valrie9157]

Thetimeman100 That's the open-ended spirit of software/hardware development.

[@WhitedevilEE]

Val Rie That is actually a really nice answer! I've tried to listen to my freinds and many of them do this sort of "questioning everything" thingie... but nice catch there, I didnt notice it.

[@GreenestGanja2]

Thetimeman100 Well he is "experimenting." He's obviously still tampering and not 100% on his design. To speak with full certainty on his part would be a mistake.

[@Smeff14]

People can call him a nerd now but soon he might be their boss

[@Tireesmoke]

This does deserve a follow up. This is the kind of thinking I would love to see followed by Tested...

[@daweller]

As a guy who understands about 10% of what this guy is talking about... is he basically making those mapping drones that they let loose in the caves in the movie Prometheus?

[@creodivinitus]

daweller Essentially, yes.

[@gains7455]

Michael Rose Essentially, no. The thing on the table is used to map the room - the drones themselves would then use that information to fly around without hitting things. In prometheus the idea is more that the drones have an active understanding of their environment and are mapping the caves for the humans use.

[@msiankid]

daweller In layman terms: He took apart the drone and reconfigured its remote function to run on his PC, so now his PC is the remote (pitch, yaw, roll, thrust etc). Then he is using a webcam + a laser as a cheap version of a laser scanner to scan a room so that his drones can fly inside them without hitting anything. His challenge he said was to scan such that it is of high enough resolution, once he does that, he can program his drones to do anything.

[@gtxhunter1720]

ive been waiting for the code and how to for 4 years now cmon where is it

[@TheRealKyle125]

Sounds like a boatload of fun.

[@rodneywoodward2248]

its people like him that make giant leaps in the way our world works.. One word.. Brilliant 💡

[@zacklantz8181]

I love it when people goto seminars to show off their shit, and they take something that dont really work just yet. the idea is there, it "kinda" works, about 85%. shit ive got a uav that "kinda" works, its about 90% done. Im not going to any seminar, id feel like an idiot showing off an idea of something that dosent work just yet around everyone else who is showing working products. keep up the good work.

[@RBXXXX]

he doing something creative thumbs up for that so what the funny part aoxilus. I would say he smart and creative doing something that will keep him focus. In stead of angry and destructive

[@gtisleuth]

P

[@BWilly4]

aoxilus Aoxilus, you're such an idiot!!! The immediate implications of this simple and incredibly cheap method of LIDAR mapping is so obvious to anyone in the construction business alone, not to mention numerous other science fields and industry. This kid could just about bankrupt the whole of industry of 3-D mapping via laser scanning, an industry just getting off the ground---and costs a fortune to own the equipment! Great job Kyle Moore! And if you ever get a chance to read this, please, please, email me. Now Aoxilus, live up to your word and either remove your comment or/AND apologize to the young man! At least HE IS GOING PLACES!

[@user-lu7lq3zr8j]

Scott Williams This exact project (albeit on a larger scale) was done in an electrical engineering capstone course at my university. The concept exists and it isn't unique to the kid in the video.

[@BWilly4]

MadBreh Yea, I was pretty brash. I just didn't care for the put down of a kid that's accomplishing a lot more than I'm able to muster these days. MadBreh, please share with me, if you can, some information about this type of project or your electrical engineering course/university where i can poke my head into and see just how beyond this old mans capability these days---thanks!

[@will16320]

great interview, nice one kyle

[@itsciwi]

That is amazing. When he said one month I nearly spat out my drink! :D. I'd love to see an update is a month or so

[@TheRoyceCraft]

Kickstart that

[@U2Lula]

ugh

[@CrackedTubeGamer]

Yes, rob my money please. It's a product that already exists....................

[@nicoman9]

People love to make fun of "nerds" when they're in college, but it all changes when they graduate and make 3 times your salary :P

[@RCPhotosVideos]

I would like to see more videos like this one ! :)

[@Mymayhem]

I dig Kyle Moore's hobbies.

[@100012231]

Lets test Google plus.( this will be top comment as its praising them) Google plus is awesome i don't know why people hate it, i think its very useful and easy once you get the hang of it.

[@RichmondEstes]

you proved nothing

[@100012231]

Richmond Estes actually I kinda did

[@RichmondEstes]

Exactly.

[@timothyunlnown4433]

It's not hacking it's modifying

[@hippopotamus86]

Well in today's world hacking can also mean something along the lines of modifying something to work beyond its intended purpose.

[@jonathanselnes2317]

do you know what hacking means?

[@andrew1717xx]

Hacker is a word created by Hackers to describe the creation of a different object by modifying an existing object, possibly creating a new purpose or expanding the existing purpose or even a hybridization of purposes. People using a garbage bag to keep dry, or the applying bacteria to the waste of breweries to produce materials that can be used in batteries, are Hackers.

[@johndripper]

i m a life hacker ill hack your life into little pieces with an axe ;) btw hack also means shortcut

[@MeLawenity]

havent you ever heard of the expressions "hacking things together" or "its a bit of a hack but it works"

[@bigfil1981]

Would love to see an update on this when he's finished.

[@Ra5h3d_]

KZbin Recommendation: 2013 : 2014 : 2015 : 2016 : 2017 : 2018 : 2019 : 2020 : Hello!

[@RocKiteman]

That LIDAR work he is doing is interesting.

[@230jjordan]

the government has now taken this super nerd

[@KdogTN]

That's quite amazing. He basically went to walmart, spent about $100 in components and is recreating what the military does for millions.. It's young men like this that give me the greatest hope for the future.. I love the concept of using the line laser and webcam for 3D imaging.

[@naturehyd]

awesome dude congrats

[@kdragonlaser1541]

Its not hard.. having a arduino and having a good knowledge in coding this looks easy in some ways !

[@17Benton]

Yeah our US military already has this technology

[@imnotbeeber]

a.) His will most likely cost $10, 000 less than the militarie's will b.) His is about 10X smaller than most c.) I'd like to see you hack a $15 heli and THEN make a 3D mapping system and THEN control it with your iPhone Seriously, quit knocking this guy

[@walldoo99]

Jaren Hinten I bet his was $500 million cheaper to build and program, not $10,000 cheaper. You have to remember that the army would pay $10,000 for a silica based carbon receptacle, aka glass ashtray.

[@khavannahdunkley915]

Oh shit I failed to realize that you were the only one that knew this, fucking jackass. What else do you know that no one else knows

[@walldoo99]

Khavannah Dunkley take you meds and carry on a civil conversation. Your turrets, is treatable

[@doceigen]

Khavannah Dunkley I KNOW so much that other people don't know, in some cultures I'm considered to be ...a God.

[@Geertpieter]

Wow very nice programming!

[@MadStinger21]

Awesome job man. Anyone being negative either does not get it or they know about this stuff and are being completely ignorant. Great software engineers, computer engineers, programers etc,etc will tell you that his is awesome. We all start somewhere and either make something new, improve it, or just keep on trying. Best thing is to test and drive, test and drive.

[@CrazyFunnyCats]

44 sec... How many are looking at the triangle on the shirt?.. Damn illuminati .. Lol This guy is intelligent🌹hope hes smart enough to not work for a weapons manufacturer Its 2015.. Nov1... Whats this guy doing right now?... ✨👽✨

[@alex46215]

+Crazy Funny Cats working for a weapons manufacturer

[@johnking2631]

+Crazy Funny Cats why would he work for a weapon manufacturers? if anything he'll prob get contracted under Defense and work on drones for scouting and what not....he's clearly not interested in weapons

[@magicalfungi3206]

+John King because there are more of them and they pay more. Also they kill you if you say no.

[@johnking2631]

Magical Fungi lol^ and people like him don't go for pay they go for what they're passionate about. completely different kind of people who the weapon manufacturers attract. i understand what you're saying tho

[@magicalfungi3206]

John King more of a joke, but it could easily be true.

[@mrmalade559]

what happened to this guy? Can't find an update anywhere. I guess he got a girlfriend

[@CrnogorskiNacionalista]

No, no he doesn't

[@toenoblefb8627]

Thats actually awesome

[@CamdenWallraff]

I wish our robotics club was organized enough to start projects like this .-.

[@Overrice]

While it's definitely cool what he did - it's not something that's 'genius'. He is just interested, and reasonably talented in electronics. The things he did in a month probably were like 1 hour a day on average - so 30 hours. In those 30 hours, he reverse engineered the protocol for the IR remote, which is mostly time consuming, not that hard. Then he wrote an app, just for fun. Not really hard at all though. Then, he STARTED working on a LIDAR with a laser and a webcam - yeah, cool, if that worked it would have been a LOT more impressive. Also, keep in mind he's in a Robotics Club, so he probably got some help. He sure shows promise, and might become great, but this is not something you should call a 'genius' project. It's cool, just not genius level.

[@hippopotamus86]

Exactly, I have no doubt that he may go on to make something very clever with this, but from his current progress in this video, all he has done is recorded the IR commands and plays them back to the helicopter via Arduino. He even said it can only go up and down. Lasers won't help with this really, he would be better off using motion tracking from 2 or more camera's, or for better precision, add IR filters to the camera's and add a IR beacon to the helicopter.

[@gs51018]

yea, well I know I couldn't do it!

[@fragment7]

so in short he did nothing new,

[@edstud1]

I'm extremely impressed.

[@RicZalewski]

There is a big push from the department of education of Australia for primary school kids to learn how to code, I hope it leads to things like this, amongst other areas. Really really awesome.