Safety and Site Rules

Overview

A drone plus a young learner is a different risk profile from a drone plus an engineer. This page is the shortest document in the whole tutorial set and the one that must be read first. None of it is optional.

Do not fly until an adult has read this page and the flying area has been checked. Every commercial block-coding drone in this category ships guards, an emergency stop and a mandatory adult-supervision rule; treat these as the price of admission, not as accessories.

Before every flight

1. Propeller guards fitted on all four motors, and checked for cracks.
2. Propellers intact — no nicks, no loose screws; a cracked propeller becomes a projectile.
3. Battery charged and secured — the pack must not be able to slide out in flight.
4. Flying area clear — no people inside the flying zone, no glass or loose objects at eye level.
5. Someone watching the drone, not the screen — one person flies, one person watches the aircraft. Never let the learner be both.

Hard limits

1. Altitude — keep the drone below head height for the first sessions; raise the limit only after the learner can land precisely.
2. Distance — keep the drone within a few metres and in direct sight; no flying behind furniture, through doorways or around corners.
3. Wind — do not fly outdoors in gusty conditions; the aircraft is light and the control link is short-range.
4. People — no flying over people, and no flying towards anyone’s face, including the pilot’s.

Emergency stop

1. What it is — a block, and a physical action, that stops the motors immediately. It exists so that “the drone is doing something unexpected” has a one-step answer.
2. Teach it first — before the first take-off, have the learner trigger the emergency stop on the ground until they can do it without looking.
3. Use it when — the drone drifts towards a person, climbs despite the command, or stops responding.

If something goes wrong

1. Drone drifts or climbs unexpectedly — trigger the emergency stop, then step back; do not try to catch it.
2. Control link lost — keep away from the aircraft and wait for it to land or drop; check the battery and the Wi-Fi connection afterwards.
3. Propeller hits something — stop the motors, disconnect the battery, and inspect the guards and props before the next flight.
4. Anything else — land, power down, and read the failure page of the relevant article before flying again.

Who must be present

1. A responsible adult for the whole session, within arm’s reach of the emergency stop.
2. The learner operates the blocks; the adult owns the safety decisions. This split is what makes the activity teachable and safe at the same time.
3. Local rules apply — check the regulations for your country and site. Rules on altitude, distance from people and registration vary, and they override anything written here.

Do not

1. Do not fly with damaged propellers, a swollen battery, or missing guards.
2. Do not fly in a room with a ceiling fan running, or with pets and toddlers in the flying zone.
3. Do not leave a powered drone unattended, even for a moment.
4. Do not let a learner “just try one more thing” after the battery warning.

Next

• Block Coding: Program the Drone with Blocks
• How blocks connect to the drone