OK, fun aside.... it's a drone for kids.
After my fun picking up a DJI Mini 3 Pro, I realised I had another drone to work with, or perhaps dust off. Back at the start of the pandemic, I did what many people did. Out of concern my frequent flyer points would end up worthless I cashed them in. In exchange for my points I became the proud owner of a DJI/RYZE Tello (it's actually made by RYZE but uses some DJI smarts). After a bad firmware update what feels like a lifetime ago, I mothballed the Tello and, well, forgot about it.
Feeling newly motivated I decided to see if I could resurrect the drone. I was fortunate enough to find a forum post where someone had a similar issue to me and another person in the forum had worked out the Tello's secret handshake to force a firmware re-flash. Re-flashing the firmware required removing the battery and here is where I hit the first problem. Over its time in storage my Tello battery had swelled to the point I couldn't remove it from the drone. 5 minutes of peeling off the Tello's case and forcibly prying the battery out with a screwdriver, I was one step closer. A quick amazon purchase for a new battery and it was time to call it a day.
Once the replacement battery arrived I was able to appreciate just how much the old one had swollen.
In short order I had re-flashed the firmware and it was time to create the ultimate kids drone.
I already had a relatively comprehensive kit for the Tello, I had the official GameSir T1d control (effectively a Playstation DualShock clone made specifically to work with the Tello), I had a WiFi extender to boost the Tello's range. Everything was housed in a neat case (my wife tells me I'm obsessed with having complete kits and a case to store them in.... She's 100% spot on).
So I got onto kit building. I dusted off an old phone to dedicate to the Tello, I found the perfect candidate in an old Nokia 7 Plus. It's an otherwise great phone that I feel bad dedicating to a single purpose, except for the fact that I broke it. While performing a battery replacement a number of months back I accidentally knocked the proximity sensor off the mainboard. Everything still works except the screen stays on in your pocket or while being held up to your face. A minor inconvenience back in the days of phones with buttons, a complete usability nightmare in the era of touch-screens.
Next up was software... The standard Tello app is OK, but we have access to the BRILLIANT Tello FPV app. I'm in no-way associated with this app but I can't praise it enough. If you have a Tello and don't have this app go check it out. There's a version for both Android and iOS.
Standard Tello app above, Tello FPV below. Just the difference in usage of available screen real estate makes the Tello FPV app a far more enjoyable experience.
Bit by bit this kit is looking more complete, but we need a little safety. My son is 7 (at the time of this writing) and tends to be a bit of a wrecking ball at the best of times. Put him in control of a flying device furnished with spinning blades and you're asking to have a bad day. Luckily Tello FPV comes to the rescue. The app supports the pairing of a Master and Student controller so I'm able to take control while he's flying. I gave my son the T1d with phone attached, so he has the full experience and for myself I picked up a generic bluetooth controller and we're good to go. In the past month this arrangement has saved the drone countless times. Saved it from trees, saved it from getting stuck on the roof, even saved it hitting my head.
And now we fast forward to today..... Just this week I've put the finishing touches on the kit. My son 7 and daughter 9 only ever want to fly the drone if their sibling is already flying the drone. This has led to a fair few fights over who used the most battery and frustration over having to wait for the battery to charge. A quick Amazon order for an extra 3 batteries has fixed that up. Each gets to use 2 complete batteries so there's no complaining. I grabbed a 4 bay charger to round this out and now we're looking good.
Next we have to deal with a seemingly endless number of indoor crashes. In particular my kids would love to:
- Get too close to the ceiling so the draft of the propellers would cause the Tello to get "stuck" to the roof and crash
- Take doorways too aggressively and crash into the door frame (often getting the edge of the door-frame between the prop guards)
- Drift towards walls without correction, often leading to another crash
These are to be expected and as far as I'm concerned are part of the learning process. Unfortunately all these crashes meant the original propellers were getting fatigued to the point they would fly off under load and I was getting concerned for the Tello's longevity. Another Amazon order and 24 hours later a bag of replacement props and a full cage for the Tello arrived on my door step.
I'm still not 100% happy with this unfortunately. The cage is great, however the generic after-market props I ordered are brittle and crappy. Every single crash snaps a prop right now. I'm not enthused by the price of the official props but I guess you get what you pay for, so next time I'll order the real deal.
And that's it! My kids are still getting a hang of things, they crash, they make mistakes, they're learning how to be responsible, they're learning how to change propellers (still Dad's job however!). I'm really happy with the outcome so far and I'm hopeful I can keep the Tello alive long enough for the kids to eventually grow out of it.
