Today we’re looking at a few fun hacks, although they are perhaps a bit ill-advised. What’s the craziest thing you could strap to a quadrotor? Rockets? Lasers? Turns out… they’ve both been done already.
First up is [Ramicaza’s] firework launching quadrotor. The drone is stabilized using the ArduPilot Mega 2.6, and it carries a pair of “rockets” which are ignited by a pair of steel elements. An ATtiny analyzes the auxiliary radio channel’s PWM signal which controls the relays that power the elements. He’s tested it high up in the sky, so he’s actually being pretty safe about it.
Next is [JLaservideo’s] laser quadrotor. He’s taken a RC controller of a cheap toy to add wireless capabilities to his Arduino Uno. He’s re-routed the original RC toy’s motor wires to an input on the Arduino which in turn activates a 5V relay that powers the 1W laser. It looks awesome thanks to the bright beam — we just really hope he’s wearing proper eye protection, as a laser of that power can do some serious damage to your retinas!
Stick around after the break to see both quadrotors in action!
