Drone Flyer

To help you understand this Instructables, I've sketched everything in 3D using Gravity Sketch.

Drone Flyer is simply a drone-delivered flying sticker. Street artists and activists know that the location of your poster is as important as its message. Drone flyer allows you to stick your message on any surface -- the more inaccessible the surface the more permanent the message.

- A drone

- copper rods

- foam board

- some spare foam

- elastic bands

- double-sided tape

- duct tape

Bonus: a 3d printer to make it a bit cleaner

My setup:

The drone was based on the following DJI F550 hexacopter kit: droneshop.biz (£320)

2mm Copper Rod (ebay, £10 for 4 meters)

Foam board (ebay A3, 5mm, £6)

Spare foam (scavenged from an old mattress)

Duct tape (£2), double-sided tape (£1.5), elastic blands (£1)

So let's recap: Drone = £320 | Hack = £20.5 (max!)

For the structure to hold the foam board, I used 2mm copper rods because they were easy to work with. This can be swapped for anything similar. Then you simply need to add elastic bands on the edges of the board to hold tight your poster during the flight.

I used a few centimeters of double sided tape on the poster itself to make sure it transfers effectively to the surface of the wall. If you have problems, you can use a soft material between the copper wires and the board to softer the impact and even the pressure.

I 3d printed a few parts to make the whole build a bit sturdier but as long as it does the job, duct tape is your best friend. Make sure you get enough flight time to safely land before your lipo batteries are empty. The extra weight really reduces the flight time. In the end, my F550 was able to fly with the extra 700g of payload for about 5min with a 4S 2200mA battery.

Time for your maiden flight. Print your poster and slide it between the foam board and the elastic bands.

Make sure you fly in a safe area first to see if everything hold well together and if the structure doesn't interfere with the propellers.

Adjusting the amount of foam is important to get a good bounce off the wall without smashing the structure.

Take your time to get it right, it's gonna be pretty important not to f**k up once you're flying in front of the president's window.

Ok so now should have a pretty reliable solution. Time to go put that message on someone's window.

Remember to always be safe and responsible and all that stuff. We're not responsible for your actions.

Please share your experience or alternative mods of this Instructables, it's always cool to see what you guys come up with.

This project is part of streettoolbox.com, a list of new diy tools for activism.

All the 3d sketches were made with Gravity Sketch (iPad version), and then uploaded to Sketchfab. More info on www.gravitysketch.com

Thanks for watching and enjoy your drone flyer.

Pierre