Programming the Tello Drone using Swift — Part 1
In this article we will explore how to write a simple iOS app in Swift to allow control of the Tello Quadcopter.
UPDATE: I’ve published a more polished version of this program on the Apple App Store. Check it out — download FlightPlan! for free.
The Tello Drone
Tello is a mini drone equipped with a HD camera that is manufactured by Ryze Robotics and includes a flight controller with DJI smarts. It is a great drone to learn to fly on as you can use it indoors and because it is so light (80 grams), crashing is fairly painless if you have the prop guards on. I have crashed mine (a lot) and the worst that has happened is that a propeller came off, which is easy to replace. It is also relatively inexpensive.
You can manually control it using either an app (iOS or Android) on your phone, or a combination of the app and a dedicated Bluetooth remote. Either works fine. If you do get the Bluetooth remote be careful of not moving out of Bluetooth range of your phone while you are flying the drone.
Tello Specifications
- Weight: Approximately 80 g…
