LMAO @ drones. People are obsessed with this drone bullshit. One minute a drone is a bee the next it’s a person, now is a flying toy. Lmao! it’s just a Quadcopter
@Mick_Carson I agree. “Drone” sounds more ominous. Like “Mindless Drone”. Like it’s going to come after you Terminator style.
@Mick_Carson I would like to know what you define as a drone.
I define it as anything unmanned that can be remotely operated with autonomous or semi autonomous capabilities.
@Dave_S
Wrong. The word ‘drone’ has no definition. It means nothing at all. In the old English language this word didn’t even exist until late 1500 when missionaries and travelers around Europe became attracted by other people’s languages, particularly the Spanish, French, English and others who invaded, ruled and then abandoned the country long before the 1800’s. These guys observed and took a number of words that were not theirs and some were noted down because of their ignorance on or at what the words really meant.
The English were no different. They were definitely people who, as they invaded and ruled these places, had actually written in their notebooks words that sounded like a ’ war cry’, bold, strong and frightening, words they had no clear idea wtf they meant in a common sense way but they kept the words anyway and added them in their dictionaries as synonyms. Let’s start talking about Chelts, Irish and Scottish tribes and their dialects as an example. Even today, do you understand Irish accent?
And years later people lost touch with reality and decided to use the word ‘drone’ to name things other than just using it like it used to be, a word that was supposed to mean, indicate or use in a sentence as loud deep tone noise, e.g. the sound of loud piston engines used from 1900 to present - where small aircrafts still use advanced piston engines.They have mufflers these days but not in the early history of air aviation.
Even though the word ‘drone’ was hardly used in a sentence before the world became noisy, it was not really considered to be a word used often when speaking or writing and so it wasn’t a big deal because people in those days until the end of large piston engine and propellers military and passenger aircrafts were mostly saying, ‘Geez, those airplanes are really loud’, long before we were calling them aircrafts.
It was between 1930 and '34 a time when experiments on radio waves and the invention of the first two way communication systems that a team of military personnel were trying to use these two way systems as controllers of relays that in turn controlled palm sized battery motors fitter in a geared box similar to today’s radio controlled servos for models that they opted to make a bi-plane fly pilotless. But in the first experiments the plane/s had pilots in them as a safeguard in case the systems failed, they would manually override it and fly back. I can’t exactly remember when they successfully operated these planes without the pilots while doing tests in bomb dropping at test target. The whole trial was done within eye distance similar to the way we flew our RC models before the arrival of the camera and monitor screen.
During the tests, some illiterate dickheads had enough of these noisy planes and could have complained that the engines were ‘druning’ their ears off.
As the word ‘drone’ isn’t English in origin they must have though that the annoyed dickhead had called the plane ‘drone’ and this immediately became a catch-cry used to scare the enemy without them, or the enemy, knowing wtf does ‘drone’ mean, except those whose native language knew, the word was a dialect for druns (drums) a primitive war instrument like the shape of a mid tom-tom drum.
Since then most dialects have died out because of modernized language. I spend four years in Italy and Germany during my Uni years learning the origin of words
I found the Italian country bums, like the Hill Billies of California, had a high numbers of dialects - where the northerners spoke totally a different language than the southerners. These language we simply call dialects are the tongues of many tribes of the past, long before Rome and any cities after her ever existed. Can you just imagine the way these tribes lived and communicated?
As an example as a professor doing this research and find that dialects are still existent among many nations of poorly educated people, Europe is an old country and the high number of villages and tribes from iron age till 500 years ago had dialects that were mostly selected and corrected then translated and written in books that later became learning literature long before dictionaries ever existed.
But in the last 2 hundreds years and the arrival of higher schools and Universities, those scholars decided to create dictionaries to educate people to speak an official national language. But then, as always, they go around, listen to people, read their books, asked what an item is named and how do you say this or that and return home with a booty of infornation. It has always been like this, missionaries, explorers and travelers gone around the world had always brought back fascinating things, including words from their languages and knowledge.
But they were or were not sure what some words as well as phrases really meant, so they simply guessed it meant whatever they thought it meant. You’d be surprised if you did this tedious research and found out how the hell a word mean something when it was not a word that was supposed to mean what they thought it meant. The same goes with ‘drone’. In the English version, no one knows for certain what it means because according to the Oxford Universities big wigs the word ‘drone’ originated from other countries such as Germany, Dutch, etc., as ‘dran’, ‘drun’, ‘dronen’, ‘drohnen’, which were originally dialects but they didn’t necessarily mean they were anything like what we have thought they meant, not even related to noise, bees, pilotless aircrafts and bullshit. The words ‘drun’, ‘dronen’, etc., were probably used in a sentence or conversation to indicate a person being ‘drun’ that they kept in their vocabulary and years later (around 1000 AD) with tribes and castles conflicts and wars, captured enemies and women the dialected tongue from the captured people and that of the invaders may have blent in and instead of saying ‘drun’ they somehow added a ‘k’ or an ‘n’ to become ‘drunk’ or ‘drunhen’, hence this part that ‘drunk’ is a man of the bottle and a man who lives on the labor of the others; a parasitic loafer in those days, whereas these days it is known as a bludger who hates work, drinks and lives on welfare (unfortunately they’re now on drugs too). Even so, certainly it is not a drone. The word ‘drone’ is and will be part of a sentence or conversation like ‘That jackhammer is so loud and is droning our conversation. Let’s move to a quieter are so we can hear ourselves’. But many intelligent people don’t bother using the word ‘drone’ in this example. They simply say: ‘That jackhammer is too noisy to hear you well. Let’s move somewhere quieter’. If you Googled ‘drone’ you will find quite a number of bullshit in any website associated with the meaning of ‘drone’, which whatever they say ‘drone’ is or means is a load of fucking bullshit that make no sense whatsoever. Anything they say what ‘drone’ means or what the definition is, are a load of cow manure. The word is just a word and according to the Oxford Universities dictionaries it clearly states that it is a word used to describe a noisy event. It has got absolutely nothing to do with anything else. And the synonyms under ‘drone’, such as ‘whir’, ‘buzz’, ‘humm’, ‘rumble’, ’ murmur’, etc., are also bullshit because each word are not even associated with each other. Each means something unrelated to the others. For example, how can ‘drone’, which is used to describe a loud and annoying noise, e.g. jackhammer, be a related to ‘whir’, which is used to describe a different type of sound, e.g. a ‘whirring’ electric saw or ‘whirring’ turbine engine or chainsaw? The two words ‘drone’ and ‘whir’ or ‘whirr’ are two words used in a sentence or conversation to describe different sounds and are no way related and neither are synonyms to each other. They’re chalk and cheese. The same with ‘buzz’. This word has no relation with ‘drone’ or ‘whir’, a totally different meaning where ‘buzz’ is used in a sentence or conversation to describe the sound made by flying insects or even telling someone to ‘buzz’ off. Can you tell someone to ‘drone’ or ‘whir’ off? No. It doesn’t make sense at all. The same with the word ‘hum’ or ‘humm’. Everyone, except the very illiterates know what ‘hum’ is, everyone knows that ‘hum’ is a noise made by the throat with the mouth closed and therefore other sounds that resemble a ‘hum’ or ‘humming’ is described as 'hum’and this has nothing to do with ‘drone’, ‘whir’ or ‘buzz’, but the other synonym of ‘drone’, the word ‘rumble’, how the heck can this word be a synonym of ‘drone’ when ‘rumble’ is mostly a word we use to describe a vibration, a tremor or shock of something that is not ‘droning’? It’s getting confusing isn’t it? Neither of these synonyms under the word ‘drone’ are related, nor to each others because each has its own meaning and each is used in a sentence or conversation unrelated. The word ‘drone’ is nothing but a word used in a sentence or conversation. It’s not a a bullshit male bee. The bee already has a name, Bee. It’s not a person either. If it’s a person named drone because it live on the labor of the others then how can a drone be a Bee? If it is a male bee then why is that only this supposedly stingless bee be named a drone and not other insects such as wasps and hornets? If bees are drones, how come Quadcopters and Multirotors are called drones? I mean, if ‘drone’ is an expression used to describe a loud low tone noise how can it be used to call anything else a drone? In fact, how does it sound when you read the title above - DIY Drones? Does that mean do it yourself whir, do it yourself buzz, do it yourself humm, do it yourself rumble? Or is it do it yourself bee, do it yourself person who lives on the labor of others? In fact, so many definition given on this ‘drone’ word, it is certainly either a confusion or the work of ignorant illiterates who have no idea wtf they doing when it comes to words and their meanings, forget about this definition bullshit. A word either means something or nothing. If ‘drone’ is a noise, a loud sound, htf can it also mean a human, a bee, an aircraft, a fucking rc toy? Does that make any sense? Certainly it is either because of language barrier between the English nationalities and those non nationalities but speak English is causing the language to be destroyed as they change or add different words to complete a sentence, whether it is proper English or grammar and then expect other people to translate it themselves to get an idea on what the sentence meant, without bothering with replying and correcting their poor grammar or spelling. For example, in text and subtitles on TV for deaf people I have noticed several times when watching TV with a partially deaf friend that in the subtitles of a film I read, ‘HELICOPTER WHIR OVERHEAD’. The subtitles are wrong and it did make me question this, how is it possible that a helicopter is whirring overhead when we know very well that a helicopter rotors do not whir at all, more like a blop, blop, blop sound that ‘drones’ the air. As we know that ‘whir’ is a sharp pitched sound of high speed rotating machines like electric saws, turbine engines, chain saws, electric drill, etc., we can also mimic the ‘whirring’ sounds, it certainly doesn’t even sound any closer to a helicopter main or tail rotor sound. So, how did these illiterates ever come across the idea that a helicopter whirs overhead when it doesn’t? Maybe ‘helicopter drones overhead’, yes but not whir. Recently I googled ‘drone’ and was dumfounder at the results of my search. In ‘drone’, more synonyms have been added, none of them makes any sense but it does show how ignorant whoever added them is. Also, in the same result of my search a link showing pictures of ‘drones’, I am not at liberty to say how fucking ignorant can people be to call all those Quadcopters and Multirotors ‘drones’, including those bastard weapon of mass destructions, the Predators. How can those killers be called drones when the word means a bee, a person and whatever other bullshit they are calling drone these days. Absolutely bullshit from illiterate assholes who haven’t got the slightest idea what this word really means. It’s gone out of control because of their mentality; their obsession, their ignorance in deciding to use a senseless word to name gadgets, insects and even people ‘drones’ and then associate ‘drone’ with other words as synonyms and have the cheek of even daring to assume these are definitions. No wonder the English is fucked. How did they assume that ‘drone’ is a spacecraft, a toy, a bee and a person, a weapon of mass destructions? Easy. You just listen and learn the work of illiterates, the very illiterates who call themselves University educated professors and maestros. Yet they have recently added more bullshit synonyms that make no sense at all, not one bit. But you’re happy to follow them because they’re professors, they’re the Gods of Literature. Ha! and then there is the unmanned ‘drone’ lol. From the meaning of loud tone noise to the naming of a male bee to a person who lives on the labor of others, naming RC Quadcopters and Multirotors, to naming weapons of mass destructions and the naming of UAVs as drones. The list of made-up bullshit ‘drones’ is hard to comprehend. Such ignorance in my opinion.
@Michael_Thomason
Okay, Michael I paragraph it but it would be much longer.
@Mick_Carson Jebus dude, wall-o-text.
I asked what it meant to you, not what the dictionary says or when the word appeared in the English language. I already know these things.
“Wrong. The word ‘drone’ has no definition. It means nothing at all…”
Right off the bat I must correct you. It means something to this community(hence the name, “DIY Drones”) and those around the globe who are developing with autonomous and/or semi autonomous flying robots. Words are given meaning by those who use them. As a words use becomes socially accepted, you see more people use the new use.(Quick and easy example: the word “cool”)
In 1935 the United Kingdom began using a radio controlled plane for target practice(DH82 Queen Bee) crew would refer to it as ‘drone’. It stuck. Just like when people say “let me google that”.
Now for an anecdote: A few years ago I spoke with a retired WWII pilot for the US Air Force. He told me that when the US was developing their own target practice aircraft, they referred to them as drones because it sounded more masculine than the UK’s “Queen Bee”.
“In fact, how does it sound when you read the title above - DIY Drones?..”
So after sifting through this ugly wall of text, I have one question which will determine if I and others of the community should even consider taking you serious:
What is it you hope to achieve by coming into a community group called “DIY Drones” and telling the tinkerers, hobbyists, scientists, and entrepreneurs that they are wrong for calling a flying robot a ‘drone’?
But, really what is a drone? That’s the question. If drone is a bee how can it be an aerial vehicles.
If a drone is weapon of mass destruction, how can it be a person who lives on the labor of others? In fact how can you call a multitude of things one word, drone? I will answer that for you.
It’s because the English language is going to the dogs. Simple as that. Everything that is named or called a drone is a drone. Soon even dogs armed with bombs sent into the enemy will be called drones. It’s a fact that humans are being mentally destroyed by this technology that is designed for wars.
Imagine what ISIS thinks about this, send a hundreds drones loaded with a C4 each into an US infantry and blow them up. Trying to shoot them down would be futile as they can be flown low and fast and if they get shot those C4 can cause some nasty injuries or death, paralyzing an entire infantry.
It all started with a simple rc Quadcopter and now these gadgets are being named drones because they’re now weapons of mass destructions. No? You wait and see what they will use them for. Give it some more time.
It’s got nothing to do with community groups. It’s more to do with using a word that mean nothing but an expression to explain a kind of noise. But you guys are obsessed with this drone. It makes me wonder if you’re really intelligent.
And I believe you didn’t even bother reading my wall of text but you do spend a couple of hours reading a fictional book, yes?
Real men are open minded and intelligent. Those who think they know everything know because they have been taught that way.
Why don’t you call Quadcopters Whirries or Hummers? No because that sounds girly, not scary, sounds gay. Call them drones and everybody turns they heads. Why? Because since the Yankee military completed those Middle East bombing missions using that grey pilotless aircraft called Predator and later out of their mentality they called it drone, everyone now is obsessed with this drone bullshit and then Quadcopters and Multirotors names were exchanged for drone.
How is that for ignorance? Isn’t that what you’d call an obsessive compulsive disorder?
Why can’t you simply title DIY Quadcopters, why title it as DIY Drone?
@Mick_Carson “Why can’t you simply title DIY Quadcopters, why title it as DIY Drone?”
I think you do not understand the technology behind the flight control boards we use like the APM and the Pixhawk and the code that has gone into it from the community. The global DIY Drone community is not just quadcopters/multirotors. Admittedly they get the most buzz(pun) because they have a ‘wow’ factor to them. The same control boards can be mounted in fixed wing craft, aquatic, and land vehicles. There are subsets of this community who develop code for these areas. “Drone” is sort of a ‘sexy’ catch all for all of these implementations.
“Imagine what ISIS thinks about this, send a hundreds drones loaded with a C4 each into an US infantry…”
“It all started with a simple rc Quadcopter and now these gadgets are being named drones because they’re now weapons of mass destructions. No? You wait and see what they will use them for. Give it some more time.”
Model aviation(so you don’t get confused, that is an umbrella term that includes RC aircraft) has been around for over 80 years, longer than the our Federal Aviation Administration. Over those years, there have been zero incidents of an RC craft used for invoking terror attacks within the US. Is it plausible? Absolutely, but you are more likely to have someone park a bicycle in a crowded area packed with explosives than you would a quadcopter/fixed wing(bicycle is way cheaper). Should we ban all bicycles because they could be used as a WMD? Should we ban all forks because their use may make people fat? 
Come on man.
@Dave_S
Lol. I could write another wall of text and another. I don’t think you’re the one who do not get nor picture what I was talking about, what I meant in terms of using one word that is used to mean a dozen of other things. But you do think I am the one who is at fault here, you do try to correct me with the nonsense that drone has many definitions, is this or that, without a hint of doubt on how can a Quadcopter (and I don’t care what sophisticated circuitry of motherboards it has, whether it is a robot or droid) be called a senseless name such as drone and then call a vagrant who lives on the labor of others also a drone, or call a stingless bee a drone but not calling other male insects such as wasps and hornets drones, or call UAVs and FPVs drones. I mean you must be either on drugs, unintelligent or ignorant to think all this is related to drone when this word is nothing more that a senseless word used in a sentence or conversation to describe a type of sound. Calling something a drone is like using any words in a dictionary that are used in sentences and conversations, words like want, take, listen, eat, sound, live, go, pay, turn and so on, or to express a noisy environment, e.g. whir, drone, blast, loud, explosions, in fact words we use in our everyday sentences and conversations.
Why don’t you call these supposesly sophisticated technologies - droids? At least I have no idea what droid means but certainly it’s not a word that means a bee, a man or a Quadcopter, hell no.
Quadcopters and Multirotors already have their names and calling them drones no matter how sophisticated they are is calling a baby a man. Have you ever said to a mother, ‘How is your man today?’ instead of saying, ‘How is your baby today?’ What do you think a mother will think when you asked her how was her man? She will certainly think you were talking about her husband and not her baby.
The same when you say to your friends, live or online, 'My drone is very fast and… blah blah blah. And your friends thinking you meant a bee or a person say 'What’s a drone? And your answer will be a Quadcopter. And, among the confusion, they will say 'Why didn’t you say Quadcopter in the first?
And so, your interest and obsession in calling a Quadcopter a senseless name has earned a fraction of guilt and embarrassment because of the sheep factor, not the ‘wow’ factor but the sheep, where one calls something a drone, the other thinks is good, sounds mean, nasty, scary, heck, it sounds like a weapon of mass destruction, evil… why not call it drone then? And therefore the mentality, the obsession in relation to these multi bladed aerial rc gadgets being called drones has reached plague proportion and now everyone is influenced, like drug addicts are obsessed with drugs.
Does that make people intelligent? Nah! Not ever smart. Just ignorant copycats, er… I should say sheep instead because as a kid and a farmers son we had sheep in the 70’s and I watched them day by day. You have no idea how they behave, what one does the other follow.
I could go on and on, I see no point starting another essay, another wall of text. I will probably get more negatives than responses from intelligent people. But, where are the intelligent people I used to know? Hard to find these days.
It’s a wonder the English language is going to the dogs. How is it possible that one word can mean more than a dozen other words through the bullshit definition? In fact why is there any definition in a word, it amazed me. A word either means what it is supposed to mean or it is a senseless word that means nothing more than one meaning. But, go figure, go…
Mick, I wish you best of luck in your bat shit ramblings on a community board for drone enthusiasts. You have demonstrated you incapable of having a rational conversation with. Peace.
@Michael_Thomason Wow! You must be able to type at like 9000+ words per minute! You practically wrote a book here HAHA!