Menu
Cart

KDE Direct News Releases — tech news

Everything You Need to Know About KDE Direct Folding Propellers

  You know what motors you’re using for your latest drone project. You’ve picked out your weather-proof ESCs. But which propellers will be holding up your rig? We’ve broken down everything you need to know about KDE Direct’s propeller blades so you can get right to flying. Folding Propellers Over Fixed Propellers Our idea for propeller blades over fixed propellers came out of the helicopter technology that was the predecessor to KDE Direct before the rise of drones in our industry. The performance benefit of folding propellers is the lead-lag operation of propellers (the same as on a helicopter), that...

Read more »

The Pacific Drone Challenge | Can a Drone Fly Across the Pacific?

Will 2018 be the year that an unmanned drone flies all the way across the Pacific Ocean? That’s the question the Pacific Drone Challenge seeks to answer. The new competition challenges pilots and scientists around the world to fly a UAV from Japan to the United States - the first of its kind. The requirements are simple: fly from Japan to the Silicon Valley in California on a nonstop, unfueled, and unmanned drone mission.

Read more »

OSU and KDE Direct Discover a New Way to Power Drones

Battery powered drones can fly for up to 60 minutes with specialized endurance systems, but most drones average around 20. Adding bigger batteries has traditionally been the method to try and increase flight-time, but the increased weight requires bigger motors, larger diameter propellers, and higher-power ESCs to lift them. This puts engineers and hobbyists alike wind up back where they started—without sufficient power to lift the drone. LiPo batteries, the highest-energy density power option readily available, create a similar challenge—it’s impossible to pack in more juice without increasing fire risks (volatility) or adding more weight. But what other options are there?

Read more »

What is an ESC and a UBEC? | Know The Basics

Let’s get geeky. In this article, we explain the differences between a UBEC and an ESC and the importance of both for your next custom drone or technical project.

Read more »