Drone Flyer

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

Introduction
Street artists and activists know that the location is as important as the message. It gives it a context, the opportunity to stand next to something belonging to a complete different world. The most daring locations are often very dangerous to access while some others are just impossible to reach. The main advantage of this experiment is that it represents the essence of a very obvious issue. People get it, and they wonder why no one has done it before. The most interesting part is that it can be used to stick images printed on their adhesive surfaces, especially on windows, so that the message is addressed directly to the person inside. And since most of the office towers have windows you can’t open or access from inside, chances are your message will stay there for a while.

Early prototyping
My first attempts to get a quadcopter to drop a sticker on a wall were not very successful. I initially tried with very lightweight toy quadcopters that have in consequence very low payload capacity. The second parameter is to manage to build a light structure for holding the sticker in place flexible enough to softly apply all the force of the inertia to the adhesive surface. I manage to find a good compromise with thin aluminium rods and soft mattress foam as bumpers.

The next stage of the experiment will involve a bigger quadcopter with a significant payload to allow for more advanced systems to be carried. I hope to create a mechanism that could stick several images in one go following the mechanism of a price tag gun.

The first learnings I can get from these early experiments are the followings. Drones are today completely under legislated which means that there are lots of opportunities to use them in scenarios that are legally blurry. Therefore they are a must in the toolbox of the activist. The other major insight this experiment has given me while describing it to activists is that in the field of activism, one-liners are good. When a tool is simple enough to be understood by most, it leaves more brain power to focus on the message. This was a struggle for me at the beginning of this project cause I thought that every tool needed to be quite advanced to contribute effectively to the activist goal, but in the end I understand that it is as important to revisit the essential issues you face in the field cause a simple solution could be right in front of your eyes.

Instructions
The drone was based on the following DJI F550 hexacopter kit: droneshop.biz

For the rest, all you need is a structure to hold the foam board. I used 2mm copper rods. 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.

Contact
You want to replicate this tool with the help of a streettoolbox contributor? You can contact us to talk about it at [mailto:info.streettoolbox@gmail.com info.streettoolbox@gmail.com]

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