A programmable drone: the UAV that flies your code

Programmable drone vs toy drone

A toy drone only flies by remote; the student watches. A programmable drone takes commands like a computer: the student writes steps such as “climb 1 metre, turn 90°, go forward, land” and sees the result in the air. When there's a bug the drone doesn't fly as expected — finding and fixing it is the learning.

• Manual flight by controller and autonomous flight by code on the same drone
• Programs that decide from sensor data (conditions, loops, variables)
• Every flight is logged so students can analyse the result

How is it programmed?

Coding happens in the browser at app.robonhub.com. Beginners start with Blockly blocks and move to Python in the same project when ready. The real-drone link currently runs from a computer with a small companion app. To try it without a drone, use the demo.robonhub.com simulator.

Hardware: why ESP32-S3 and under 250 g?

CORE's flight controller and firmware are developed in Türkiye by our own team. The ESP32-S3 (dual-core, 240 MHz) with dual IMU, barometer and compass keeps flight stable; the optional optical flow + ToF module adds indoor position hold. The sub-250 g frame and propeller guards were chosen for classroom use.

• 6 flight modes, including auto take-off and landing
• Expandable electronics board for add-on modules
• VISION kit: 2 MP camera for image processing and object tracking

What students learn with a programmable UAV

Flight is cross-disciplinary: thrust and balance are physics, routes and angles are maths, sensors and motors are electronics, flight logic is software. Students never ask “where will I use this?” — they use it all in one flight.