FPV FAQ - FPV drone racing DIY quadcopter store with FPV goggles

Building Your First Mini Quad after Flying a RTF Drone

A visitor asked me for advice how to start building a quadcopter after flying with a RTF (pre-built) drone. The flying experience and basic understanding with RC and FPV he has had will definitely help him with this first racing mini quad build. The path he should take could be different from a complete beginner’s.
Here are the original questions from him:

I am currently flying a pre-built Parrot Bebop drone and now want something more exciting. I am planning on getting into this hobby full force. I have been researching for weeks, but some things are still unclear. Can you please guide me in the right direction on my first build?

1.I want to start with a “sporty” quadcopter or hexacopter. I found some 250mm and 290mm carbon fiber frames on ebay that look very cool. Is that big enough without being too big?

2.I want a racing quad but I am spoiled by the Bebop video quality so I will need to be able to mount a gopro camera with gimbals for flying and racing

3.I need something with over 10 minutes flight time

4.I want to get a FPV goggles as well, with head tracking feature

5.I want to have “follow me” feature if possible

I have been able to find most of the parts online. But most are vague as to how well they will all work together. I’m comfortable with a soldering iron and decent at coding, but how technical will I have to be to put this all together? I can’t imagine what is involved in programming a flight controller and what additional tools am I going to have to buy to get into this?

Learning the basics

I strongly recommend you to go through my guide on getting into mini quad and FPV first, these guides will explain most of the basics you need in order to build you first quadcopter:

·Getting into Mini Quad

·Basics of FPV system

The Choice of Frame Size

Between quadcopter and hexacopter, I think quadcopter is a much better choice if this is your first build, A quadcopter is a more versatile platform, great for racing, freestyle or aerial photography. It’s cheaper, easier to build and maintain since it’s using 2 fewer motors and ESC. If you are looking at compact form factor that delivers good efficiency, 5″ frames would be the best choice. (180mm to 220mm frames that can fit 5″ propellers are called 5″ frames, check this mini quad frame guide for more detail).

You can use bigger frames with larger propellers, but you won’t get as many component options as 5″ because it’s the main stream right now. Here is my mini quad parts list.

Camera Gimbal?

Although you can carry a camera gimbal on a mini quad, I would not recommend it.

I tried putting a 3-axis camera gimbal on a mini quad, the result looked great. However the mini quad didn’t fly very well due to the extra weight, and flight time was very short (about 5 mins). If you want a proper aerial filming platform it’s better to build a bigger 450 quadcopter, or just buy a DJI drone to avoid headaches.

For a mini quad you want to keep it as light as possible, that gives you longer flight time, faster speed and agility, and better durability (smaller mass, smaller impact).

Not to mention mini quad without gimbals can also produce stunning smooth footage with proper tuning.

Flight Time

Flight time is largely dependent on your flying style and how fast you fly. Also your choice of motor, propellers and LiPo battery also has a huge impact on flight time.

Many people mistake hover time with flight time. Hover time is more or less a constant value to a specific build, but flight time is can vary because it depends on how harsh you are on throttle.

Mini quad generally gives around 5 to 8 minutes flight time, and up to 15 mins of hover time.

FPV Goggles

Flying with FPV Goggles is probably why this hobby is so addictive. Quite a few FPV goggles on the market come with headtracking feature, but IMO it’s not for quadcopters but fixed wings. Head-tracking allows the onboard camera to turn left and right with the movement of your head. This is very useful on a fixed wing plane because it’s much harder to yaw than a multirotor.

“Follow me” feature on a mini quad

Standalone mini quad flight controllers don’t have “follow me” feature yet. This feature is normally only available on some consumer camera drones, such as the DJI Spark for example.

Flight controller software

Don’t worry about programming or coding, there is none involved in getting your quadcopter in the air nowadays. In most mini quad FC firmware, all the configurations can be done in nicely designed GUI’s.

What else to learn?

There is a learning curve in building a multicopter, but after you’ve built 1 or 2, things will get much easier. It requires some basic knowledge in electronics (like working out current, voltage, power, etc), good soldering skill, and being able to read basic wiring diagrams. You should be able to find the answers to your questions through Google, but in case you can’t feel free to ask in our multirotor forum.

I think you already have a good understanding of multicopters, building one shouldn’t be much of a problem for you. But like I said, this is your first build and you should keep it as simple as possible to avoid unnecessary issues. Getting it in the air and learn the basics of building a quadcopter is the key IMO.

Original link from: https://oscarliang.com/building-first-quadcopter-flying-drone/
Lean How to Fly PFV with Multirotors

We learned FPV flying (first person view) the hard way, crashes after crashes until we get it right. Later on I realized there are exercises beginners can do to gradually build up their skills and confidence. Also, there are also simple safety rules we should follow to avoid accidents and injury to ourselves and others.

In this article we will show you how to start and improve flying a drone in FPV (or multirotor if you prefer). If you are new to mini quad flying, make sure to check out our beginner’s guide first.

Before jumping straight into FPV flying and racing, make sure you know how to fly your quadcopter from line of sight (LOS) first! In case something happens during your FPV session (e.g. losing video transmission), you can still remove your FPV goggles and land your quad in a controlled manner.

There are many ways to learn FPV. This guide is mainly based on our personal experience. If you have any other good ideas or suggestion please let us know in the comment.

Safety Rules

Before we start, we would like to mention some of the basic safety rules about flying FPV.

·Learn about the local regulations regarding RC model flying and FPV, for example here are the rules for FPV in the UK

·Spotter – A person that can watch out for approaching people or animals, and warns the pilot of any potential hazards they might not be able to see in their FPV goggles or monitor. They can also keep an eye on your personal belonging while you are totally immersed in FPV. Also note, it is illegal to fly RC models in FPV without a spotter in some countries, so do your homework and use common sense

·Fly in big open areas, far away from crowd of people, traffic, property especially airports. Grassy fields will be preferable in the beginning, not only for softening any crashes you might have but also it helps prevent sand from getting into your motors

·Range test your radio and video system when you arrive in a new environment, find out if there is any signal dead spots or interference

·A 500g object free-falling from high altitude can cause some serious damage, especially one with spinning blades. Please be sensible and do not attempt anything dangerous, again just common sense

·Pre-flight: Always carry out a hover test, fly your multicopter around and make sure it reacts to your sticks accordingly. Make sure all of your systems are working

·Post-flight: Check your gear after each flight, including feeling the temperature of each motor and ESC with your hand after landing. One hot motor means either it is failing, or the propeller is grossly unbalanced or badly bashed. Two or more warmer motors on the same side mean that the craft is not correctly weighted and balanced. Also you should be able to keep your finger on the motor for a few seconds without burning yourself, if not, the motor is too hot.

Things you should know before learning FPV

Flight Modes: Self-Level and Acro Mode

It’s fine to start with Self-level mode at first as a beginner (aka horizon mode or angle mode), but eventually you would want to master acro mode as soon as your can. I can reassure you, it’s the ultimate flight mode for the most smooth and free FPV flying experience!

Check out this post about the differences between self-level mode and Acro mode.

If you are using self-level flight mode, make sure it’s tested and working beforehand. Setting up a buzzer (lost model alarm) activated via radio switch can be invaluable , and helps you find your aircraft if you crash into tall grass, a patch of forest or any hard to find places as you progress and start flying in more difficult areas.

Distance Estimation

It’s harder to judge an object’s distance when flying FPV rather than looking at something with your own eyes. This is due to the “fish eye” effect from FPV cameras, and the different field of view some camera lenses might have. That’s why when you start, you want to go slower, and gradually build up the ability to make better distance estimations.

Quadcopter Simulators for FPV

There are many RC simulators (sim) that support multicopter models, some are even designed specifically for quadcopter FPV racing. It could be a good idea for someone just starting to gain flying experience on one of those sim, getting used to stick movements, different flight modes and trying new maneuvers, before learning on the real thing. Although it’s not necessary, and one might not find it the most realistic experience, we do agree there are benefits to using a sim. One of those is not breaking your drone :)

Check out this post about FPV Simulators for Quadcopters.

Different Ways of Controlling TX sticks: Thumb, Pinch or Hybrid?

Here is a good discussion about the benefits of the different ways of holding the sticks of your radio transmitter: http://intofpv.com/t-stick-control-thumbs-only-or-pinching-with-thumb-and-index-finger

PID Tuning and RC Rate/Expo

It’s very important to learn how to have your quadcopter’s PID tuned for optimal flight performance. Also you should adjust Rate and Expo to suit your personal preference, which affects the precision of your stick controls.

FPV Flight Exercises

Some preparation before we start. For the following exercises, it’s best to have your FPV camera facing straight ahead if you are a beginner (no camera tilting). Some more advanced flyers tilt their cameras up so they can see the horizon while flying fast.

Always make sure that you have enough space to recover from error, and that the area is clear of people, animals or any other thing that may be harmed or damaged. Also make sure that the craft is far enough from yourself and your spotter.

Switch on self-level mode (horizon or angle mode).

Use some kind of marking, or tree as reference to help you identify position and distance.

1. Takeoff, Hover and Landing:

·Main goal: Practice throttle/altitude control.

·Sub-goals: Control drifting using roll and pitch

·Setup: Mark off about a 1m x 1m area to stay within

·Description:

1.Takeoff and stay at 1-2 meters high for a few seconds while keeping within the marked area, then slowly come down to the ground and land

2.Make sure the takeoff and landing is soft and gradual

3.Don’t cut your throttle too rapidly, make smooth adjustments. Hard landing can cause damage to your multirotor

2. Flying Out and Back:

·Goal: Practice forward flying, yaw turns, speed control, altitude control.

·Description:

1.Take off and stay at about at 1 to 2 meters high

2.Fly forward by pushing pitch stick forward, for maybe 20 meters or so. Keep your altitude constant at all time by adjusting throttle

3.Start to slow down by pulling the pitch stick towards you, and come to a stop

4.Turn around left or right using Yaw, accelerate again (pitch forward) to fly back to where you took off, slow down and turn around

5.Repeat!

6.You can increase speed and distance as you progress. Feel free to use roll as well to level your craft while making turns with yaw

3. Square Pattern Turns:

·Main Goal:

·More turn practice and making corrections to your path after turns

·Getting used to flying in a bigger area

·Setup: Square off about 50m x 50m and mark it with a white ribbon or any thing else you think is right and visible

·Description:

1.Fly along the sides of the square while trying to keep a constant altitude and pace

2.Switch between clockwise and counter-clockwise directions

4. Circling a pole or tree while constantly facing it:

·Main Goal: Practicing yaw, roll and throttle control combined

·Description:

·Circle a pole or a tree while continuously making roll, yaw and throttle adjustments to keep a constant distance from the tree and maintain altitude

·Keep the object as centered in your view as possible

5. Firgure-8 around 2 poles or trees:

·Main goal: Gain much better coordination between both hands, you should be able to control all 4 axis better at the same time: throttle, yaw, pitch and roll

·Description:

1.Fly in figure-8 while trying to maintain constant altitude

2.It’s easier to have the 2 poles further away, it can be shortened later as you progress

3.Try to turn around as smooth as you can

4.You should begin to have some fun flying FPV

6. Sharp Turns:

·Main goal: Ability to make accurate sharp turns. This enables you to avoid some crashes. Sharp turns are also an effective way of braking.

·Description:

·Fly towards one side of a pole or tree with some speed, and turn 180 degrees of yaw axis in a fast manner

·You will need to use roll and pitch to help keep the aircraft level and stable, as well as fight some of the momentum

7. Fly through a Tight Gap or Air Gate:

·Main goal: Practice fast flying combined with fine stick control

·Setup: Place one air gate in the middle of a long field. Start with a large gate and work your way down to smaller and more difficult gates/gaps

·Description:

·Starting at one end of the field, above the height of the gate, fly towards the gate and descend slowly to the height of the gate

·Increase altitude once you’ve passed through the gate. Sharp turn and repeat

Having Trouble Learning to Fly FPV?

It’s normal for FPV beginners to struggle at first. Luckily we wrote an article about how to improve FPV flying skills quicker.

Few last words:

Fly safe, be responsible, sensible and use common sense. More importantly, have fun!

If you want more help with your multirotor journey, or just love to share knowledge and help others feel free to join our Facebook group “Multicopters international” and our Multirotor forum “intoFPV.com”.

Original link from: https://oscarliang.com/learn-flying-fpv-multirotors/#more-9499
Mini Quad FC Firmware

MINI QUAD FC FIRMWARE
In this article we will briefly explain the different flight controller firmware options available for mini quad (FPV Racing Drones). We will take a look at the background of these FC firmware, as well as what they were intended to do.

Many of these firmware have the ability to fly fixed wing aircraft as well as other UAV’s (unmanned aerial vehicles). Some even can stabilize ground vehicles and robots, but we are going to stay focused on how they relate to mini quads for now.

Check out this guide about flight controllers.

The List of FC Firmware for Mini Quad

These Mini Quad FC firmware are covered in this article.

·Baseflight

·Cleanflight

·Betaflight

·iNav

·Raceflight

·KISS

·OpenPilot

·LibrePilot

·TauLabs

·dRonin

Baseflight

Baseflight was one of the very first widely used 32-bit FC firmware based off of the 8-bit Multiwii flight controller firmware. Today, Baseflight is not being updated and is widely considered to be an outdated/dead firmware. Despite all the controversy surrounding the software author, TimeCop, Baseflight did help bring us to some of the greatest software we use today, and is worth noting in my opinion.

·Baseflight GitHub
Cleanflight

Forked (branching out) from Baseflight, came Cleanflight aiming to be a “clean code” version of its predecessor for easier maintainability and future development. It quickly became a widely used and dependable flight control software and still is today. Since its beginning, Cleanflight has been forked into Betaflight and iNav. Many new features were added and tested from those, and merged back into Cleanflight to create Cleanflight 2.0 for a great well rounded firmware. Cleanflight has a broad flight controller targets support and a good following, definitely a solid firmware.

·Cleanflight GitHub

·Baseflight VS Cleanflight, History and Comparison (2015)

Betaflight

Betaflight was forked from Cleanflight to focus on the leading edge of new features and flight performance available for mini quads, hence the name Beta-flight. Today, this is probably the most widely used flight control software out there, and for good reason. It supports a very wide target range, a default tune flies very well and it is packed with features for serious racers, acro/freestyle pilots and beginners alike. It remains open-source, has a great following of contributors and is updated regularly. Betaflight is my own personal favorite and I very confidently recommend you give it a try if you haven’t already.

·Betaflight GitHub

·What Looptime Should I use

·Betaflight Airmode

·PID Tuning with Blackbox in Betaflight

iNav

INav, as the name implies, is geared more towards navigation and autonomous features such as flying Waypoint missions and Return to Home (RTH) functions. It forks from Cleanflight also and benefits itself with an open source code, good range of target support, and regular updates as well. If you are interested in more of that UAV/Drone style of flight, this is definitely an option to explore.

·iNav GitHub

Raceflight

Originally forked from Betaflight/Cleanflight, Raceflight focuses on pure racing and acro flight as well as being oriented around F4 flight controllers. Since its creation, Raceflight changed to closed source development and after some controversy, which is irrelevant to this article, the developers released Raceflight One with their Revolt flight controller and claim it is now completely free of any GPL (general public licence) open source code. Raceflight is well known for its smoothness, but be aware of its narrow target support and get the right flight controller.

·GitHub

·Raceflight Overview (2016)

KISS

Keep It Super Simple, is the concept used here. KISS was developed by Flyduino, which has been making multirotor components since 2011. It is a proprietary firmware (closed source) and somewhat dependant on hardware interfacing (a lot like Apple products). The KISS gear and software are widely used and dependable, as well as being kept up to date fairly well with where the hobby is progressing (closed-source development is slower than open-source).

The KISS GUI is much simplified compared to the Betaflight or Cleanflight GUI, leaving one of the quicker setup/configuration processes to get airborne. But the lack of options in its GUI can sometimes be more difficult to adjust problematic configurations. With that said KISS is one of best flying firmware out there for racing and acrobatic flying with unique characteristics. Many top pilots fly KISS and recommend KISS builds.

·KISS Homepage

·KISS FC Review

OpenPilot

One of the earliest open source FC firmware development for multirotors which influenced some major progressions in flight control firmware options. OpenPilot was discontinued and replaced by LibrePilot in 2015, but it is another firmware worth noting for what has become of its code.

LibrePilot

LibrePilot, forked from OpenPilot, focuses on research and development for use in many, many different applications, even robotics . While not as popular in the mini quad community, nor having support for as many hardware targets as other firmware in this list, it does show recent updates has a reliable team of developers and remains open source.

·LibrePilot website

TauLabs

TauLabs, another fork of OpenPilot focusing on autopilot UAV oriented research and development. Targeting professionals, researchers and and students alike, the project not only reaches out to major researchers, but offers an entry level platform with fast and easy setup/configuration for any group who has use for UAV’s in their research. Again there is a limited target supports and a smaller following with mini quadcopters. But in my opinion I see this as a great “learning” firmware for a student project or trying something experimental with agricultural, air quality or whatever your brain can think up.

·TauLabs GitHub

dRonin

Last, but certainly not the least in this list is dRonin. Its name says it all. With regular updates, open source, and a development team seeking to improve racing and acro flying performance, I see great potential here. They have developed an auto-tune mode that can custom tune PID’s specific to your mini-quad build, as well as having the very quick and easy setup/configuration wizard. Its only downfall would be the somewhat limited supported FC targets, but it is a sophisticated list of flight controllers with great reviews.

·dRonin GitHub

Wrap up

As with most things related to the multirotor hobby, everything is relative and connected to a learning curve. Firmware will play a big role in what your mini-quad will be capable of doing, what features it will have, and which flight controller you should use to get the most out of it.

Do your homework (you’re doing well if you have read this article) ;) and figure out what exactly you want to be able to do with your quadcopter.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-fc-firmware/
Parts and Equipment You will need for Drone Racing

As your first build, I strongly recommend building a 5″ mini quad because it’s the most versatile platform you can get for flying acro and racing. It’s efficient yet power to carry a HD camera, and it’s much easier to build than smaller quadcopters.

Here are a few posts I strongly recommend reading first.

·How to build a quadcopter – It explains the construction of a quadcopter in general

·250 Mini quad parts list – It goes into extreme detail in each component of a mini quad, and what the latest products are

·FPV Glossary – You can look up acronyms in this table

[diagram of quadcopter anatomy]

An FPV racing quadcopter consists of the following parts:

·Quadcopter Frame (how to choose mini quad frame)

·4 x Motors (how to choose mini quad motor)

·4 x Props (Propellers) – 2x CCW and 2x CW rotations (how to choose propeller)

·4 x ESCs – Electronics Speed Controller (how to choose ESC)

·FC – Flight Controller (how to choose flight controller)

·LiPo Battery (how to choose LiPo battery)

·FPV Camera (how to choose FPV camera)

·FPV OSD (how to choose OSD)

Additionally you will also need the following equipment to fly your quadcopter in FPV:

·Radio transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX)

·Video Transmitter (VTX) and Receiver (VRX) (how to choose VTX)

·FPV antennas (how to choose FPV antenna)

·FPV Goggles or Monitor (how to choose FPV goggles)

·LiPo Charger (how to choose LiPo charger)

·Multirotor Building Tools

·Optional: HD Camera for recording flight footage, such as Xiaomi Yi, GoPro, Runcam 3, or Mobius

Choosing parts can be tough in your first build. If you are not sure, it’s best to buy gear that a lot of people are using, so you can look up information and get answers to your questions easier.

One important advice, buy spare! Especially props (propellers). Crashing is inevitable so you will break quite a few props. It also doesn’t hurt to have spare batteries, motors and ESCs if you want to avoid waiting around for replacement parts.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-racing-guide/
What is Drone Racing?

Drone Racing is a sport where remote-piloted drones are racing together in a course at up to 100MPH. (The fastest drone can reach over 140MPH max)

It doesn’t matter if you are piloting or just watching the drone race, anyone who takes it seriously would put on a pair of video goggles to watch from the aircraft’s perspective.

Welcome to the world of FPV (First Person View).

Flying a quadcopter in FPV is the most surreal experience I ever had personally. You can go anywhere in a 3D space, what you can do is totally up to your imagination.

Drone racing is like a video game, except it’s real. There is no “reset button”, and you could damage your mini quad in a crash. It’s the adrenaline rush that makes it an exciting experience.

You will be building and repairing you own quadcopters, choose parts and upgrades to fly faster. You can also tune it to fly the way you want. Everything is highly customizable.

The Mini Quad FPV hobby is one of the most friendly communities I have ever experienced. Everybody helps each other out, meet, fly and race regularly together and just have fun!

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-racing-guide/
Where to Install Capacitors in a Mini Quad?

First of all, it’s extremely important to understand the polarity of a capacitor, which leg is positive (+) and which is negative (-). If you make a mistake, the capacitor won’t work or even explode! The shorter leg indicates negative, as well as the negative strip labelling on the body.

There are normally 3 places you would place your capacitors (only need to place caps in one of these places).

1. On the PDB, where XT60 pig tail is soldered to.

2. On the PDB, where ESC power leads are soldered to.

3. Or on the ESC power terminals (the best locations IMO)

The best place to solder your capacitors would be on the ESC power terminal pads (3rd way). The closer your capacitor is to the source of the noise, the more effective they are. However you’ll need to solder a capacitors for each ESC, small ones would do fine such as 330uF (4 caps in total).

But if size is a problem you can alternatively solder 1 or 2 big ones on the PDB (e.g. 1x1000uF or multiple 470uF), but it might be less effective as the caps are further away from the noise sources. However I use this way on a couple of quads and they both work great.

Make sure to cut the legs as short as possible so you get minimum ESR, these leads don’t conduct high current very well. If you want longer length, you could use thicker wires (e.g. 20awg) to connect the roots of these leads, and it actually doesn’t seem to increase ESR.

Low ESR Capacitor Choices

Capacitors rated for 25V should be enough for most cases, but if you want extra safety you can consider 35V, because voltage spikes might sometimes reach higher than 25V.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/capacitors-mini-quad/
How to use VTX(VIDEO TRANSMITTER) properly

Prevent ESC voltage spikes

When motors are changing speed, it causes fluctuations in voltage level. With modern ESC these days and powerful “active braking” features, this can cause serious voltage spikes in your power. These voltage spikes might blow your VTX and other FPV components.

Some people try to resolve this by adding large low ESR capacitors to their ESC’s or PDB. Or more effectively against noise in voltage, a LC filter along with a voltage regulator is often used to power VTX and other FPV gear.

VTX antenna and Carbon Fibre frame

Try to avoid letting VTX grounds (antenna ground) making contact with carbon frame. Because if any live wire touched the frame (CF is conductive!), it could potentially fry your VTX. Also it could back feed noise and causes a number of issues with VTX overheating due to resistance.

Protect your VTX

I fly aggressively and crash often, and typically the video transmitter bares the brunt of the crash. The components are exposed to damage and are connected to antennas or coax that get snagged on limbs and ripped off. So a lot of people use an coax extension cable and fix one end on the frame, which removes the stress on the VTX connector when crash.

VTX Recommendation

Check out our latest pick of top 5 VTX for mini quad.

Here is a whole list of VTX that are available for mini quad.

Created Apr 2016

Updated Apr 2017 – Added “digital fpv system”, “smart audio and telemetry feature”, “10 bands, 80 channels”,

When it comes to quality of the footage, such as colour, contrast, wide dynamic range, sharpness etc, these have very little to do with your VTX but your FPV camera. So paying extra money for a high end VTX isn’t going to dramatically improve your image quality.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/choose-video-transmitter-fpv-mini-quad/
How Does FPV System Work

FPV systems are actually very simple. Sure there are a lot of product options with different spec and features, but the connections are more or less the same. A basic FPV system includes these core components:

FPV Camera => Video Transmitter (VTX)=> Video Receiver (VRX) => FPV Goggles or Monitor

The camera is mounted on the front of a quadcopter, so the pilot can see what the quad sees.

Live footage is then sent wirelessly from the video transmitter, and picked up by a video receiver on the ground. And finally the video is displayed either on a monitor or FPV Goggles.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-guide/
What should I pay attention on flying about the safety?

Safety is most important, please read these safety tips and keep them in mind.
General
•          Do not race in a public place without taking steps to ensure that people will not accidentally walk out onto the course during a race.
•          Never fly near or above people or animals. If the multicopter fails, it becomes a falling brick.
•          Never fly whilst you are intoxicated.
•          Do not fly in a public place where people might inadvertently walk out onto the course.
•          LiPo Cells
•          Be very careful with LiPo cells.
•          Do not charge them inside the house and do not leave them unattended whilst charging.
•          Always check for signs of damage after a crash. Be aware that a damaged cell can spontaneously ignite in a spectacular fashion.
•          Never use a damaged LiPo cell. Dispose of it safely and properly.
•          Props
•          Props can cause very serious injuries. Even very small props hurt.
•          Disengage the battery immediately after picking up the multicopter.
•          Do not try to catch a multicopter in mid-air.
But the attention tips we provided is not comprehensive, you can't be too careful to fly in the sky, and we take no responsibility for any loss, injury, bankruptcy or divorce that may result from its use.

Building Your First Mini Quad after Flying a RTF Drone

A visitor asked me for advice how to start building a quadcopter after flying with a RTF (pre-built) drone. The flying experience and basic understanding with RC and FPV he has had will definitely help him with this first racing mini quad build. The path he should take could be different from a complete beginner’s.
Here are the original questions from him:

I am currently flying a pre-built Parrot Bebop drone and now want something more exciting. I am planning on getting into this hobby full force. I have been researching for weeks, but some things are still unclear. Can you please guide me in the right direction on my first build?

1.I want to start with a “sporty” quadcopter or hexacopter. I found some 250mm and 290mm carbon fiber frames on ebay that look very cool. Is that big enough without being too big?

2.I want a racing quad but I am spoiled by the Bebop video quality so I will need to be able to mount a gopro camera with gimbals for flying and racing

3.I need something with over 10 minutes flight time

4.I want to get a FPV goggles as well, with head tracking feature

5.I want to have “follow me” feature if possible

I have been able to find most of the parts online. But most are vague as to how well they will all work together. I’m comfortable with a soldering iron and decent at coding, but how technical will I have to be to put this all together? I can’t imagine what is involved in programming a flight controller and what additional tools am I going to have to buy to get into this?

Learning the basics

I strongly recommend you to go through my guide on getting into mini quad and FPV first, these guides will explain most of the basics you need in order to build you first quadcopter:

·Getting into Mini Quad

·Basics of FPV system

The Choice of Frame Size

Between quadcopter and hexacopter, I think quadcopter is a much better choice if this is your first build, A quadcopter is a more versatile platform, great for racing, freestyle or aerial photography. It’s cheaper, easier to build and maintain since it’s using 2 fewer motors and ESC. If you are looking at compact form factor that delivers good efficiency, 5″ frames would be the best choice. (180mm to 220mm frames that can fit 5″ propellers are called 5″ frames, check this mini quad frame guide for more detail).

You can use bigger frames with larger propellers, but you won’t get as many component options as 5″ because it’s the main stream right now. Here is my mini quad parts list.

Camera Gimbal?

Although you can carry a camera gimbal on a mini quad, I would not recommend it.

I tried putting a 3-axis camera gimbal on a mini quad, the result looked great. However the mini quad didn’t fly very well due to the extra weight, and flight time was very short (about 5 mins). If you want a proper aerial filming platform it’s better to build a bigger 450 quadcopter, or just buy a DJI drone to avoid headaches.

For a mini quad you want to keep it as light as possible, that gives you longer flight time, faster speed and agility, and better durability (smaller mass, smaller impact).

Not to mention mini quad without gimbals can also produce stunning smooth footage with proper tuning.

Flight Time

Flight time is largely dependent on your flying style and how fast you fly. Also your choice of motor, propellers and LiPo battery also has a huge impact on flight time.

Many people mistake hover time with flight time. Hover time is more or less a constant value to a specific build, but flight time is can vary because it depends on how harsh you are on throttle.

Mini quad generally gives around 5 to 8 minutes flight time, and up to 15 mins of hover time.

FPV Goggles

Flying with FPV Goggles is probably why this hobby is so addictive. Quite a few FPV goggles on the market come with headtracking feature, but IMO it’s not for quadcopters but fixed wings. Head-tracking allows the onboard camera to turn left and right with the movement of your head. This is very useful on a fixed wing plane because it’s much harder to yaw than a multirotor.

“Follow me” feature on a mini quad

Standalone mini quad flight controllers don’t have “follow me” feature yet. This feature is normally only available on some consumer camera drones, such as the DJI Spark for example.

Flight controller software

Don’t worry about programming or coding, there is none involved in getting your quadcopter in the air nowadays. In most mini quad FC firmware, all the configurations can be done in nicely designed GUI’s.

What else to learn?

There is a learning curve in building a multicopter, but after you’ve built 1 or 2, things will get much easier. It requires some basic knowledge in electronics (like working out current, voltage, power, etc), good soldering skill, and being able to read basic wiring diagrams. You should be able to find the answers to your questions through Google, but in case you can’t feel free to ask in our multirotor forum.

I think you already have a good understanding of multicopters, building one shouldn’t be much of a problem for you. But like I said, this is your first build and you should keep it as simple as possible to avoid unnecessary issues. Getting it in the air and learn the basics of building a quadcopter is the key IMO.

Original link from: https://oscarliang.com/building-first-quadcopter-flying-drone/
Lean How to Fly PFV with Multirotors

We learned FPV flying (first person view) the hard way, crashes after crashes until we get it right. Later on I realized there are exercises beginners can do to gradually build up their skills and confidence. Also, there are also simple safety rules we should follow to avoid accidents and injury to ourselves and others.

In this article we will show you how to start and improve flying a drone in FPV (or multirotor if you prefer). If you are new to mini quad flying, make sure to check out our beginner’s guide first.

Before jumping straight into FPV flying and racing, make sure you know how to fly your quadcopter from line of sight (LOS) first! In case something happens during your FPV session (e.g. losing video transmission), you can still remove your FPV goggles and land your quad in a controlled manner.

There are many ways to learn FPV. This guide is mainly based on our personal experience. If you have any other good ideas or suggestion please let us know in the comment.

Safety Rules

Before we start, we would like to mention some of the basic safety rules about flying FPV.

·Learn about the local regulations regarding RC model flying and FPV, for example here are the rules for FPV in the UK

·Spotter – A person that can watch out for approaching people or animals, and warns the pilot of any potential hazards they might not be able to see in their FPV goggles or monitor. They can also keep an eye on your personal belonging while you are totally immersed in FPV. Also note, it is illegal to fly RC models in FPV without a spotter in some countries, so do your homework and use common sense

·Fly in big open areas, far away from crowd of people, traffic, property especially airports. Grassy fields will be preferable in the beginning, not only for softening any crashes you might have but also it helps prevent sand from getting into your motors

·Range test your radio and video system when you arrive in a new environment, find out if there is any signal dead spots or interference

·A 500g object free-falling from high altitude can cause some serious damage, especially one with spinning blades. Please be sensible and do not attempt anything dangerous, again just common sense

·Pre-flight: Always carry out a hover test, fly your multicopter around and make sure it reacts to your sticks accordingly. Make sure all of your systems are working

·Post-flight: Check your gear after each flight, including feeling the temperature of each motor and ESC with your hand after landing. One hot motor means either it is failing, or the propeller is grossly unbalanced or badly bashed. Two or more warmer motors on the same side mean that the craft is not correctly weighted and balanced. Also you should be able to keep your finger on the motor for a few seconds without burning yourself, if not, the motor is too hot.

Things you should know before learning FPV

Flight Modes: Self-Level and Acro Mode

It’s fine to start with Self-level mode at first as a beginner (aka horizon mode or angle mode), but eventually you would want to master acro mode as soon as your can. I can reassure you, it’s the ultimate flight mode for the most smooth and free FPV flying experience!

Check out this post about the differences between self-level mode and Acro mode.

If you are using self-level flight mode, make sure it’s tested and working beforehand. Setting up a buzzer (lost model alarm) activated via radio switch can be invaluable , and helps you find your aircraft if you crash into tall grass, a patch of forest or any hard to find places as you progress and start flying in more difficult areas.

Distance Estimation

It’s harder to judge an object’s distance when flying FPV rather than looking at something with your own eyes. This is due to the “fish eye” effect from FPV cameras, and the different field of view some camera lenses might have. That’s why when you start, you want to go slower, and gradually build up the ability to make better distance estimations.

Quadcopter Simulators for FPV

There are many RC simulators (sim) that support multicopter models, some are even designed specifically for quadcopter FPV racing. It could be a good idea for someone just starting to gain flying experience on one of those sim, getting used to stick movements, different flight modes and trying new maneuvers, before learning on the real thing. Although it’s not necessary, and one might not find it the most realistic experience, we do agree there are benefits to using a sim. One of those is not breaking your drone :)

Check out this post about FPV Simulators for Quadcopters.

Different Ways of Controlling TX sticks: Thumb, Pinch or Hybrid?

Here is a good discussion about the benefits of the different ways of holding the sticks of your radio transmitter: http://intofpv.com/t-stick-control-thumbs-only-or-pinching-with-thumb-and-index-finger

PID Tuning and RC Rate/Expo

It’s very important to learn how to have your quadcopter’s PID tuned for optimal flight performance. Also you should adjust Rate and Expo to suit your personal preference, which affects the precision of your stick controls.

FPV Flight Exercises

Some preparation before we start. For the following exercises, it’s best to have your FPV camera facing straight ahead if you are a beginner (no camera tilting). Some more advanced flyers tilt their cameras up so they can see the horizon while flying fast.

Always make sure that you have enough space to recover from error, and that the area is clear of people, animals or any other thing that may be harmed or damaged. Also make sure that the craft is far enough from yourself and your spotter.

Switch on self-level mode (horizon or angle mode).

Use some kind of marking, or tree as reference to help you identify position and distance.

1. Takeoff, Hover and Landing:

·Main goal: Practice throttle/altitude control.

·Sub-goals: Control drifting using roll and pitch

·Setup: Mark off about a 1m x 1m area to stay within

·Description:

1.Takeoff and stay at 1-2 meters high for a few seconds while keeping within the marked area, then slowly come down to the ground and land

2.Make sure the takeoff and landing is soft and gradual

3.Don’t cut your throttle too rapidly, make smooth adjustments. Hard landing can cause damage to your multirotor

2. Flying Out and Back:

·Goal: Practice forward flying, yaw turns, speed control, altitude control.

·Description:

1.Take off and stay at about at 1 to 2 meters high

2.Fly forward by pushing pitch stick forward, for maybe 20 meters or so. Keep your altitude constant at all time by adjusting throttle

3.Start to slow down by pulling the pitch stick towards you, and come to a stop

4.Turn around left or right using Yaw, accelerate again (pitch forward) to fly back to where you took off, slow down and turn around

5.Repeat!

6.You can increase speed and distance as you progress. Feel free to use roll as well to level your craft while making turns with yaw

3. Square Pattern Turns:

·Main Goal:

·More turn practice and making corrections to your path after turns

·Getting used to flying in a bigger area

·Setup: Square off about 50m x 50m and mark it with a white ribbon or any thing else you think is right and visible

·Description:

1.Fly along the sides of the square while trying to keep a constant altitude and pace

2.Switch between clockwise and counter-clockwise directions

4. Circling a pole or tree while constantly facing it:

·Main Goal: Practicing yaw, roll and throttle control combined

·Description:

·Circle a pole or a tree while continuously making roll, yaw and throttle adjustments to keep a constant distance from the tree and maintain altitude

·Keep the object as centered in your view as possible

5. Firgure-8 around 2 poles or trees:

·Main goal: Gain much better coordination between both hands, you should be able to control all 4 axis better at the same time: throttle, yaw, pitch and roll

·Description:

1.Fly in figure-8 while trying to maintain constant altitude

2.It’s easier to have the 2 poles further away, it can be shortened later as you progress

3.Try to turn around as smooth as you can

4.You should begin to have some fun flying FPV

6. Sharp Turns:

·Main goal: Ability to make accurate sharp turns. This enables you to avoid some crashes. Sharp turns are also an effective way of braking.

·Description:

·Fly towards one side of a pole or tree with some speed, and turn 180 degrees of yaw axis in a fast manner

·You will need to use roll and pitch to help keep the aircraft level and stable, as well as fight some of the momentum

7. Fly through a Tight Gap or Air Gate:

·Main goal: Practice fast flying combined with fine stick control

·Setup: Place one air gate in the middle of a long field. Start with a large gate and work your way down to smaller and more difficult gates/gaps

·Description:

·Starting at one end of the field, above the height of the gate, fly towards the gate and descend slowly to the height of the gate

·Increase altitude once you’ve passed through the gate. Sharp turn and repeat

Having Trouble Learning to Fly FPV?

It’s normal for FPV beginners to struggle at first. Luckily we wrote an article about how to improve FPV flying skills quicker.

Few last words:

Fly safe, be responsible, sensible and use common sense. More importantly, have fun!

If you want more help with your multirotor journey, or just love to share knowledge and help others feel free to join our Facebook group “Multicopters international” and our Multirotor forum “intoFPV.com”.

Original link from: https://oscarliang.com/learn-flying-fpv-multirotors/#more-9499
Mini Quad FC Firmware

MINI QUAD FC FIRMWARE
In this article we will briefly explain the different flight controller firmware options available for mini quad (FPV Racing Drones). We will take a look at the background of these FC firmware, as well as what they were intended to do.

Many of these firmware have the ability to fly fixed wing aircraft as well as other UAV’s (unmanned aerial vehicles). Some even can stabilize ground vehicles and robots, but we are going to stay focused on how they relate to mini quads for now.

Check out this guide about flight controllers.

The List of FC Firmware for Mini Quad

These Mini Quad FC firmware are covered in this article.

·Baseflight

·Cleanflight

·Betaflight

·iNav

·Raceflight

·KISS

·OpenPilot

·LibrePilot

·TauLabs

·dRonin

Baseflight

Baseflight was one of the very first widely used 32-bit FC firmware based off of the 8-bit Multiwii flight controller firmware. Today, Baseflight is not being updated and is widely considered to be an outdated/dead firmware. Despite all the controversy surrounding the software author, TimeCop, Baseflight did help bring us to some of the greatest software we use today, and is worth noting in my opinion.

·Baseflight GitHub
Cleanflight

Forked (branching out) from Baseflight, came Cleanflight aiming to be a “clean code” version of its predecessor for easier maintainability and future development. It quickly became a widely used and dependable flight control software and still is today. Since its beginning, Cleanflight has been forked into Betaflight and iNav. Many new features were added and tested from those, and merged back into Cleanflight to create Cleanflight 2.0 for a great well rounded firmware. Cleanflight has a broad flight controller targets support and a good following, definitely a solid firmware.

·Cleanflight GitHub

·Baseflight VS Cleanflight, History and Comparison (2015)

Betaflight

Betaflight was forked from Cleanflight to focus on the leading edge of new features and flight performance available for mini quads, hence the name Beta-flight. Today, this is probably the most widely used flight control software out there, and for good reason. It supports a very wide target range, a default tune flies very well and it is packed with features for serious racers, acro/freestyle pilots and beginners alike. It remains open-source, has a great following of contributors and is updated regularly. Betaflight is my own personal favorite and I very confidently recommend you give it a try if you haven’t already.

·Betaflight GitHub

·What Looptime Should I use

·Betaflight Airmode

·PID Tuning with Blackbox in Betaflight

iNav

INav, as the name implies, is geared more towards navigation and autonomous features such as flying Waypoint missions and Return to Home (RTH) functions. It forks from Cleanflight also and benefits itself with an open source code, good range of target support, and regular updates as well. If you are interested in more of that UAV/Drone style of flight, this is definitely an option to explore.

·iNav GitHub

Raceflight

Originally forked from Betaflight/Cleanflight, Raceflight focuses on pure racing and acro flight as well as being oriented around F4 flight controllers. Since its creation, Raceflight changed to closed source development and after some controversy, which is irrelevant to this article, the developers released Raceflight One with their Revolt flight controller and claim it is now completely free of any GPL (general public licence) open source code. Raceflight is well known for its smoothness, but be aware of its narrow target support and get the right flight controller.

·GitHub

·Raceflight Overview (2016)

KISS

Keep It Super Simple, is the concept used here. KISS was developed by Flyduino, which has been making multirotor components since 2011. It is a proprietary firmware (closed source) and somewhat dependant on hardware interfacing (a lot like Apple products). The KISS gear and software are widely used and dependable, as well as being kept up to date fairly well with where the hobby is progressing (closed-source development is slower than open-source).

The KISS GUI is much simplified compared to the Betaflight or Cleanflight GUI, leaving one of the quicker setup/configuration processes to get airborne. But the lack of options in its GUI can sometimes be more difficult to adjust problematic configurations. With that said KISS is one of best flying firmware out there for racing and acrobatic flying with unique characteristics. Many top pilots fly KISS and recommend KISS builds.

·KISS Homepage

·KISS FC Review

OpenPilot

One of the earliest open source FC firmware development for multirotors which influenced some major progressions in flight control firmware options. OpenPilot was discontinued and replaced by LibrePilot in 2015, but it is another firmware worth noting for what has become of its code.

LibrePilot

LibrePilot, forked from OpenPilot, focuses on research and development for use in many, many different applications, even robotics . While not as popular in the mini quad community, nor having support for as many hardware targets as other firmware in this list, it does show recent updates has a reliable team of developers and remains open source.

·LibrePilot website

TauLabs

TauLabs, another fork of OpenPilot focusing on autopilot UAV oriented research and development. Targeting professionals, researchers and and students alike, the project not only reaches out to major researchers, but offers an entry level platform with fast and easy setup/configuration for any group who has use for UAV’s in their research. Again there is a limited target supports and a smaller following with mini quadcopters. But in my opinion I see this as a great “learning” firmware for a student project or trying something experimental with agricultural, air quality or whatever your brain can think up.

·TauLabs GitHub

dRonin

Last, but certainly not the least in this list is dRonin. Its name says it all. With regular updates, open source, and a development team seeking to improve racing and acro flying performance, I see great potential here. They have developed an auto-tune mode that can custom tune PID’s specific to your mini-quad build, as well as having the very quick and easy setup/configuration wizard. Its only downfall would be the somewhat limited supported FC targets, but it is a sophisticated list of flight controllers with great reviews.

·dRonin GitHub

Wrap up

As with most things related to the multirotor hobby, everything is relative and connected to a learning curve. Firmware will play a big role in what your mini-quad will be capable of doing, what features it will have, and which flight controller you should use to get the most out of it.

Do your homework (you’re doing well if you have read this article) ;) and figure out what exactly you want to be able to do with your quadcopter.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-fc-firmware/
Parts and Equipment You will need for Drone Racing

As your first build, I strongly recommend building a 5″ mini quad because it’s the most versatile platform you can get for flying acro and racing. It’s efficient yet power to carry a HD camera, and it’s much easier to build than smaller quadcopters.

Here are a few posts I strongly recommend reading first.

·How to build a quadcopter – It explains the construction of a quadcopter in general

·250 Mini quad parts list – It goes into extreme detail in each component of a mini quad, and what the latest products are

·FPV Glossary – You can look up acronyms in this table

[diagram of quadcopter anatomy]

An FPV racing quadcopter consists of the following parts:

·Quadcopter Frame (how to choose mini quad frame)

·4 x Motors (how to choose mini quad motor)

·4 x Props (Propellers) – 2x CCW and 2x CW rotations (how to choose propeller)

·4 x ESCs – Electronics Speed Controller (how to choose ESC)

·FC – Flight Controller (how to choose flight controller)

·LiPo Battery (how to choose LiPo battery)

·FPV Camera (how to choose FPV camera)

·FPV OSD (how to choose OSD)

Additionally you will also need the following equipment to fly your quadcopter in FPV:

·Radio transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX)

·Video Transmitter (VTX) and Receiver (VRX) (how to choose VTX)

·FPV antennas (how to choose FPV antenna)

·FPV Goggles or Monitor (how to choose FPV goggles)

·LiPo Charger (how to choose LiPo charger)

·Multirotor Building Tools

·Optional: HD Camera for recording flight footage, such as Xiaomi Yi, GoPro, Runcam 3, or Mobius

Choosing parts can be tough in your first build. If you are not sure, it’s best to buy gear that a lot of people are using, so you can look up information and get answers to your questions easier.

One important advice, buy spare! Especially props (propellers). Crashing is inevitable so you will break quite a few props. It also doesn’t hurt to have spare batteries, motors and ESCs if you want to avoid waiting around for replacement parts.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-racing-guide/
What is Drone Racing?

Drone Racing is a sport where remote-piloted drones are racing together in a course at up to 100MPH. (The fastest drone can reach over 140MPH max)

It doesn’t matter if you are piloting or just watching the drone race, anyone who takes it seriously would put on a pair of video goggles to watch from the aircraft’s perspective.

Welcome to the world of FPV (First Person View).

Flying a quadcopter in FPV is the most surreal experience I ever had personally. You can go anywhere in a 3D space, what you can do is totally up to your imagination.

Drone racing is like a video game, except it’s real. There is no “reset button”, and you could damage your mini quad in a crash. It’s the adrenaline rush that makes it an exciting experience.

You will be building and repairing you own quadcopters, choose parts and upgrades to fly faster. You can also tune it to fly the way you want. Everything is highly customizable.

The Mini Quad FPV hobby is one of the most friendly communities I have ever experienced. Everybody helps each other out, meet, fly and race regularly together and just have fun!

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-racing-guide/
Where to Install Capacitors in a Mini Quad?

First of all, it’s extremely important to understand the polarity of a capacitor, which leg is positive (+) and which is negative (-). If you make a mistake, the capacitor won’t work or even explode! The shorter leg indicates negative, as well as the negative strip labelling on the body.

There are normally 3 places you would place your capacitors (only need to place caps in one of these places).

1. On the PDB, where XT60 pig tail is soldered to.

2. On the PDB, where ESC power leads are soldered to.

3. Or on the ESC power terminals (the best locations IMO)

The best place to solder your capacitors would be on the ESC power terminal pads (3rd way). The closer your capacitor is to the source of the noise, the more effective they are. However you’ll need to solder a capacitors for each ESC, small ones would do fine such as 330uF (4 caps in total).

But if size is a problem you can alternatively solder 1 or 2 big ones on the PDB (e.g. 1x1000uF or multiple 470uF), but it might be less effective as the caps are further away from the noise sources. However I use this way on a couple of quads and they both work great.

Make sure to cut the legs as short as possible so you get minimum ESR, these leads don’t conduct high current very well. If you want longer length, you could use thicker wires (e.g. 20awg) to connect the roots of these leads, and it actually doesn’t seem to increase ESR.

Low ESR Capacitor Choices

Capacitors rated for 25V should be enough for most cases, but if you want extra safety you can consider 35V, because voltage spikes might sometimes reach higher than 25V.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/capacitors-mini-quad/
How to use VTX(VIDEO TRANSMITTER) properly

Prevent ESC voltage spikes

When motors are changing speed, it causes fluctuations in voltage level. With modern ESC these days and powerful “active braking” features, this can cause serious voltage spikes in your power. These voltage spikes might blow your VTX and other FPV components.

Some people try to resolve this by adding large low ESR capacitors to their ESC’s or PDB. Or more effectively against noise in voltage, a LC filter along with a voltage regulator is often used to power VTX and other FPV gear.

VTX antenna and Carbon Fibre frame

Try to avoid letting VTX grounds (antenna ground) making contact with carbon frame. Because if any live wire touched the frame (CF is conductive!), it could potentially fry your VTX. Also it could back feed noise and causes a number of issues with VTX overheating due to resistance.

Protect your VTX

I fly aggressively and crash often, and typically the video transmitter bares the brunt of the crash. The components are exposed to damage and are connected to antennas or coax that get snagged on limbs and ripped off. So a lot of people use an coax extension cable and fix one end on the frame, which removes the stress on the VTX connector when crash.

VTX Recommendation

Check out our latest pick of top 5 VTX for mini quad.

Here is a whole list of VTX that are available for mini quad.

Created Apr 2016

Updated Apr 2017 – Added “digital fpv system”, “smart audio and telemetry feature”, “10 bands, 80 channels”,

When it comes to quality of the footage, such as colour, contrast, wide dynamic range, sharpness etc, these have very little to do with your VTX but your FPV camera. So paying extra money for a high end VTX isn’t going to dramatically improve your image quality.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/choose-video-transmitter-fpv-mini-quad/
How Does FPV System Work

FPV systems are actually very simple. Sure there are a lot of product options with different spec and features, but the connections are more or less the same. A basic FPV system includes these core components:

FPV Camera => Video Transmitter (VTX)=> Video Receiver (VRX) => FPV Goggles or Monitor

The camera is mounted on the front of a quadcopter, so the pilot can see what the quad sees.

Live footage is then sent wirelessly from the video transmitter, and picked up by a video receiver on the ground. And finally the video is displayed either on a monitor or FPV Goggles.

Orginal Link from Oscarliang: https://oscarliang.com/fpv-guide/
What should I pay attention on flying about the safety?

Safety is most important, please read these safety tips and keep them in mind.
General
•          Do not race in a public place without taking steps to ensure that people will not accidentally walk out onto the course during a race.
•          Never fly near or above people or animals. If the multicopter fails, it becomes a falling brick.
•          Never fly whilst you are intoxicated.
•          Do not fly in a public place where people might inadvertently walk out onto the course.
•          LiPo Cells
•          Be very careful with LiPo cells.
•          Do not charge them inside the house and do not leave them unattended whilst charging.
•          Always check for signs of damage after a crash. Be aware that a damaged cell can spontaneously ignite in a spectacular fashion.
•          Never use a damaged LiPo cell. Dispose of it safely and properly.
•          Props
•          Props can cause very serious injuries. Even very small props hurt.
•          Disengage the battery immediately after picking up the multicopter.
•          Do not try to catch a multicopter in mid-air.
But the attention tips we provided is not comprehensive, you can't be too careful to fly in the sky, and we take no responsibility for any loss, injury, bankruptcy or divorce that may result from its use.

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Building Your First Mini Quad after Flying a RTF Drone

Lean How to Fly PFV with Multirotors

Mini Quad FC Firmware

Parts and Equipment You will need for Drone Racing

What is Drone Racing?

Where to Install Capacitors in a Mini Quad?

How to use VTX(VIDEO TRANSMITTER) properly

How Does FPV System Work

What should I pay attention on flying about the safety?