这些天无人机(Drones)无处不在，所以你可能会想亲自试一试。除了，你究竟是如何驾驶无人机的？如果您一直想知道如何驾驶这些令人惊叹的飞行器之一，我们将从最基本的层面开始，并解释如何驾驶无人机，以便任何人都可以试一试。
什么是无人机？
当人们提到“无人机”时，他们是什么意思？这一点其实有些混乱。严格来说，任何无人驾驶飞行器都是“无人机”。有些是远程控制的，有些是自主的，或者两者兼而有之。这意味着无线电控制玩具在技术上也是无人机。
但是，在大多数人使用这个词的意义上，它指的是多旋翼飞行器，例如四旋翼、六旋翼和八旋翼。这就是我们在这里使用这个词的方式。
无人机如何飞行
多旋翼(Multirotor)无人机使用来自每个旋翼的推力来提升飞行器。转子成对工作，相互抵消扭矩。这意味着如果所有旋翼都以相同的速度旋转，无人机应该悬停在原地。
通过改变每个旋翼的相对速度，无人机可以俯仰、滚动和偏航。机载飞行控制器研究如何将这些命令转换为电机功率调整，以获得正确的运动。
陀螺仪(Gyroscopes)、高度锁定(Altitude Lock)、GPS和碰撞(Collision)传感器
除了弄清楚如何调整电机功率以实现横滚、俯仰和偏航之外，无人机还有其他方法可以让您更轻松地飞行。
所有现代人都有一个板载电子陀螺仪。该设备让无人机自动保持水平。如果没有陀螺仪，您还必须始终手动保持无人机水平！
许多无人机还有一个高度计，它告诉无人机它的高度是多少。这使得称为“高度锁定”的功能成为可能。使用高度锁定，无人机将继续悬停在您离开它的高度。
最后，更昂贵的无人机通常具有内置GPS单元。这告诉无人机它在地球(Earth)上的感知位置，让它在原地盘旋而不会来回漂移。
结合所有这三个功能，无人机可以自动保持其在 3D 空间中的位置。这使得即使是初学者也可以轻松飞行。不过，竞速无人机(racing drones)和低端玩具无人机很可能只有陀螺仪。这使它们更难飞行，但如果您正在寻找挑战，也会更有回报。
高端无人机也可能配备超声波碰撞传感器。这些传感器可以感应墙壁等物体，并在无人机坠毁前停止。在大多数情况下，并非所有飞行方向都会被覆盖。所以请注意传感器可以看到的位置。它们并非万无一失，因此最好不要依赖它们。
无人机法律和你
在您购买无人机之前，您应该查看您所在国家和地区的无人机法规。关于您可以在哪里飞行、您的无人机是否需要注册以及您是否需要获得地面飞行员执照等方面都有规定。我们不能在这里提供普遍的信息，因为每个国家、州和地方政府都有不同的规定。
学习基本控制
一些无人机使用屏幕上的智能手机控制进行飞行，但绝大多数无人机使用专用的物理控制器进行控制。如果您曾经使用过视频游戏控制器，那么当您第一次学习如何驾驶无人机时，您应该熟悉基本布局。
控制器两侧各有两个控制杆。一个用于左手拇指，一个用于右手拇指。控制器上可能还有其他按钮，但这些按钮因型号而异，因此请查阅您的无人机手册以了解它们的作用。
摇杆控制有两种标准布局，分别称为模式 2(Mode 2)和模式 1(Mode 1)。
模式 2(Mode 2)是迄今为止最受欢迎的。大多数无人机和无线电遥控飞行器都将配备模式 2(Mode 2)控制器，或者如果控制器同时支持两种模式，则控制器会切换到模式 2 。(Mode 2)
这是模式 2(Mode 2 )布局：
左摇杆控制油门和偏航。向上或向下推动操纵杆将向上或向下推动无人机。换句话说，您将获得或失去高度。即使您将手指从控制装置上移开，操纵杆也不会返回中心，但会保持在其油门位置。
向左或向右推动操纵杆将使无人机向左或向右转动。这意味着无人机的“鼻子”将指向不同的方向。
移动到右侧摇杆，向上或向下推动摇杆将使无人机上下俯仰。这意味着无人机将朝鼻子（向前）或尾部（向后）的方向移动。您推或拉俯仰控制的次数越多，无人机向前或向后飞行的速度就越快。
在右摇杆上向左或向右推动将使无人机向各个方向滚动。换句话说，它会横向移动。
这是模式 1( Mode 1 )布局：
我们仍然有油门、偏航、横滚和俯仰。然而，现在他们已经搬家了。发生的情况是油门和俯仰位置颠倒了，但横滚和偏航仍然在与模式 2(Mode 2)相同的位置。
请记住(Remember)，您可以以各种方式混合这些控制输入以产生不同的操作。例如，如果您将右摇杆推入模式 2(Mode 2)控制器的角落，您的无人机将沿对角线飞行。如果您结合偏航和滚动输入，您可以执行倾斜转弯。
飞行前
在你第一次学习如何驾驶无人机之前，你需要做一些准备工作。有关飞行前检查的说明以及如何准备好飞行，请参阅您的无人机手册。这通常包括插入电池、同步无人机和控制器，并确保没有可见的损坏或其他您可以肉眼发现的问题。
入门
在您飞行之前，值得考虑使用无人机模拟器来练习控制。有一些应用程序，带有模拟的屏幕控制。你也可以花一点钱买一个带有虚拟控制器(dummy controller)的电脑模拟器。无论哪种方式，练习飞行并习惯模拟器中的控制是最安全的学习方式。
或者，我们建议购买便宜的纳米无人机(nano drone)来练习手动飞行。控件完全相同，但您可以随意将它们粉碎，而不会因撞毁$2000 camera drone而流泪。
作为初学者学习如何驾驶无人机的诀窍是慢慢开始，并在继续掌握一件事之前努力掌握一件事。这是我们建议的练习顺序：
- 起飞然后降落，直到您感到自信为止。
- 接下来，练习简单地悬停在一个地方。
- 然后，学会偏航。在保持悬停的同时使无人机原位转动。
- 用你的鼻子指出，练习俯仰和滚动。
- 现在，练习俯仰悬停，然后俯仰俯仰和滚动。由于您面对无人机，因此这些控件在此处显示为“反转”。
- 在你对所有这些动作充满信心后，尝试结合你所学的顺时针和逆时针飞行。
- 最后，练习八字形飞行。
不要太着急！练习(Practice)，练习，练习！最终你的协调性和肌肉记忆力会变得足够好，以至于你可以不假思索地飞行。玩得开心！
How to Fly a Drone for Total Beginners
Drones are everywhere these days, so you might be tempted to try your hand at flying one yourself. Except, how exactly do you fly a drone? If you’ve been wondering how to pilot one of these amazing flying machines, we’re going to start at the most basic level and explain how to fly a drone so that anyone can give it a go.
What Counts as a Drone?
When people refer to “drones” what do they mean? There’s actually some confusion on this. Strictly, any unmanned craft is a “drone”. Some are controlled remotely, some are autonomous or are a combination of both. This means that radio-controlled toys are technically also drones.
However, in the sense that most people use the word, it refers to multi-rotor aircraft such as quadcopters, hexacopters and octocopters. That’s how we’ll use the word here.
How Drones Fly
Multirotor drones fly using thrust from each rotor to lift the craft. The rotors work in pairs, countering the torque of one another. Which means that if all rotors are spinning at the same speed, the drone should hover in place.
By varying the relative speeds of each rotor, the drone can pitch, roll and yaw. The onboard flight controller works out how to translate those commands into motor power adjustments to get the right movement.
Gyroscopes, Altitude Lock, GPS and Collision Sensors
Apart from figuring out how to adjust motor power to achieve roll, pitch and yaw there are other ways in which drones make flying easier for you.
All modern have an onboard electronic gyroscope. This device lets the drone automatically remain level. Without a gyro you’d also have to manually keep the drone level at all times!
Many drones also have an altimeter, which tells the drone what it’s altitude is. This makes a feature known as “altitude lock” possible. With an altitude lock, the drone will continue to hover at the height you left it.
Finally, more expensive drones often have a built-in GPS unit. This tells the drone its perceived position on Earth, letting it hover in place without drifting back and forth.
Combining all three of these features lets a drone automatically maintain its position in 3D space. This makes it easy to fly even for beginners. However, racing drones and low-end toy drones are likely to only have a gyro. This makes them much harder to fly, but also more rewarding if you’re looking for a challenge.
High-end drones are also likely to have ultrasonic collision sensors. These sensors can sense objects such as walls and stop the drone before it crashes. Not every direction of flight will be covered in most cases. So do take note of where the sensors can see. They are not foolproof, so it’s best not to rely on them.
Drone Laws and You
Before you even buy a drone, you should review the drone regulations for your country and region. There are rules about where you may fly, whether your drone needs to be registered and whether you need to obtain a ground pilot’s license. We can’t provide universal information here, because every country, state and local government has different rules.
Learning the Basic Controls
Some drones are flown using on-screen smartphone controls, but the vast majority are controlled using a dedicated physical controller. If you’ve ever used a video game controller, the basic layout should be familiar to you when you first learn how to fly a drone.
There are two control sticks on either side of the controller. One for your left thumb and one for the right. There may be additional buttons on the controller, but these differ from one model to the next, so consult your drone’s manual to learn what they do.
There are two standard layouts for stick controls, known as Mode 2 and Mode 1 respectively.
Mode 2 is by far the most popular. Most drones and radio controlled craft will ship with a Mode 2 controller or with the controller switched to Mode 2 if it supports both modes.
This is a Mode 2 layout:
The left stick controls the throttle and yaw. Pushing the stick up or down will throttle the drone up or down. In other words, you’ll gain or lose altitude. The stick does not return to center, but will remain at its throttle position, even if you take your finger off the control.
Pushing the stick left or right will turn the drone left or right. Meaning that the “nose” of the drone will point in a different direction.
Moving to the right stick, pushing the stick up or down will make the drone pitch up or down. This means that the drone will move in the direction of the nose (stick forward) or the tail (stick backward). The more you push or pull on the pitch control, the faster the drone will fly forwards or backwards.
Pushing left or right on the right stick will make the drone roll in each respective direction. In other words, it will move sideways.
This is a Mode 1 layout:
We still have throttle, yaw, roll and pitch. However, now they’ve moved. What’s happened is that throttle and pitch have reversed position, but roll and yaw are still in the same place as with Mode 2.
Remember that you can mix these control inputs in various ways to produce different maneuvers. For example, if you push the right stick into the corners of a Mode 2 controller, your drone will fly diagonally. If you combine yaw and roll inputs, you can perform banking turns.
Before You Fly
Before you first learn how to fly a drone, you’ll need to do some prep work. Consult your drone’s manual for instructions on preflight checks and how to get it ready to fly. This will usually involve inserting batteries, syncing the drone and controller and making sure there’s no visible damage or other problems you can spot by eye.
Getting Started
Before you fly, it’s worth considering a drone simulator to practice the controls. There are some apps, with simulated on-screen controls. You can also spend a bit of money and buy a computer simulator that actually comes with a dummy controller. Either way, practicing flight and getting used to the controls in a simulator is the safest way to learn.
Alternatively, we recommend buying a cheap nano drone to practice manual flight. The controls are exactly the same, but you can smash these up with abandon without the tears that come from crashing your $2000 camera drone.
The trick to learning how to fly a drone as a beginner is to start slow and work on mastering one thing before moving on to the next. This is our suggested practice sequence:
- Take off and then land until you feel confident.
- Next, practice simply hovering in one spot.
- Then, learn to yaw. Make the drone turn in place while maintaining your hover.
- With the nose pointed out from you, practice pitch and roll.
- Now, practice a nose-in hover and then nose-in pitch and roll. Here those controls appear “reversed” since you’re facing the drone.
- After you feel confident with all these maneuvers, try combining what you’ve learned by flying in clockwise and counterclockwise circles.
- Finally, practice flying in a figure-eight pattern.
Don’t be too hasty! Practice, practice, practice! Eventually your coordination and muscle memory will become good enough that you can fly without thinking about it. Have fun!
