Drones Explained | Drone Glossary

Drones Explained | Drone Glossary Of Terms And Words

Drones can be a confusing topic and often people can be put off by complicated terminology. This ‘Drones Explained’ guide aims to help you get up and flying as easy as possible. If you want to skip the technical terms and just check out the best drones on the market then head over to our Drone Directory.

Drone

GPS

Global Positioning Systems keep track of of the drones position using satellites

Return to home

Return to home is a one press function that uses GPS to land it where it took off

Glonass

Glonass has less satellite coverage than GPS but improved accuracy and can be used in tandem with GPS for extended satellite coverage.

UAV

A UAV is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and his widely covers all remote controlled aircraft.

Autonomous

When an aircraft is flying using tracking or pre-defined flight paths without the aid of human intervention over remote control.

FPV

FPV short for First Person View is achieved by using the camera’s view to fly the aircraft.

LiPo

Short for Lithium Polymer is a type of battery.

Payload

A payload is anything carried by the drone that isn’t required, this can be anything from a camera to a parcel

Gyroscope

The gyroscope records its position in 3D spaces and keeps the unit level whilst flying.

RTF

RTF means ‘Ready To Fly’ and refers to a drone package that includes all equipment required to fly.

Accelerometer

An Accelerometer is a component used to measure speed and direction.

Bind

Binding is the process of connecting two devices together, this term is commonly used to describe connecting a controller to a drone.

Quadcopter

A quadcopter is a four bladed aircraft and the most common type available

Brushless Motors

Higher power to weight ratio, increased speed, and electronic control over traditional brushed motors.

Camera

4K video

4K is 3840 x 2160 pixels

2K

2K is 2048 × 1080 pixels

HD video

HD video is 1280 x 720 pixels

Full HD (1080p)

Full HD is 1920 x 1080 pixels

Gimbal

The gimbal is the component of the drone that keeps the camera steady and footage looking smooth.

2-axis

Stabilises pitch and roll movements

3-axis

Stabilises pitch, roll and yaw movements

Pitch

Pitch is the up and down movement of the gimbal

Roll

Roll is horizontal twisting movement of the gimbal, this keeps it level