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Build · Fly · Code

Get Started
With Hopper

Four steps from box to first flight. Do them in order and the first flight goes the way it should.

Assembled Hopper drone with propeller guards

Start here

Do these four things first

01

Charge batteries

All three batteries to full. They ship partially charged on purpose, because that is the ideal state for battery storage.

 02

Build your Hopper

Your Hopper ships unassembled. Build Essentials walks you through it, part by part, on the platform and on the Resources page, open to everyone.

 03

Check firmware

Firmware 2.0.6 is a major flight control improvement. Hoppers ship on the latest build, so this is a quick confirmation before your first flight.

 04

Fly indoors

Open floor, nothing overhead, ten feet of clearance around you at minimum.

Skipping step 03 is the single most common reason a first flight disappoints. Checking takes seconds, and the update itself about five minutes.

Unboxing

What's in your kit

Airframe parts

  • Airframe and feet
  • Printed circuit board
  • Motor A x2
  • Motor C x2
  • Body panels x5
  • Propellers x4
  • Propeller guards x4

Spares

  • Motor A x2
  • Motor C x2
  • Propeller A x2
  • Propeller C x2
  • Propeller guards x4

Tools

  • T3 screwdriver
  • Motor tool
  • Propeller tool
  • Tweezers
  • Safety glasses
  • Screws x20

Accessories

  • Carry and storage case
  • Hopper controller
  • Hopper battery x3
  • Multi-battery charger and cable
  • AAA batteries x2

Lay everything out before you start. The tools are sized for these parts, so use the ones in the box rather than your own.

Step 01

Charge all three batteries

  1. Plug the multi-battery charger into an outlet with a USB block.
  2. Seat each battery so the contacts on the battery line up with the pins inside the charging dock. The pins are on the dock, and the battery is the side that receives them.
  3. Charge all three to full before your first flight. The battery itself gives no charge indication, so go by the dock light.

The indicator light on the dock is red while a battery is charging and turns green when that battery is full. Do this first, because it runs in the background while you build.

Charging dock with three batteries, indicator lights red
Dock light red Charging
Charging dock with three batteries, indicator lights green
Dock light green Fully charged

Step 02

Build your Hopper

Build is the first verb of Build Fly Code. Your students will do this too, so the guide is built to be followed by a beginner with no prior experience.

  • Build Essentials is narrated and chaptered, so you can jump to the part you are on.
  • Each chapter loops, so you can leave it running while your hands are busy.
  • It is on the Build Fly Code platform, and open to everyone on the Resources page at ftw-robotics.ai/resources, no sign in needed.
  • Stuck on a step? Ask Grace, our AI assistant. She is on every page and knows the build.

Set aside 90 minutes or more for a first build. It gets much faster after that.

Already assembled and only need the propellers and guards installed? Go straight to Build Essentials chapter 14, Propeller Install, which covers correct orientation, then chapter 15, Propeller Guards.

Build Essentials player with chapter list
Build Essentials Chaptered video on the platform

Step 03

Check your firmware, update if needed

2.0.6 is the current build, and Hoppers ship on the latest firmware available at the time they leave us. The one case worth checking is a drone that sat unopened for a while after delivery, because we may have released a newer build since. Confirm the installed version after assembly and run the update if it is not already 2.0.6.

  • The updater shows the installed version before you commit to anything, so checking costs nothing.
  • You do not need a fully built drone. Connecting a battery to the printed circuit board powers it up, which is enough to check the version and update.
  • The update is free and takes about five minutes per drone.
  • You need the FTW Fly app and a fully charged battery in the Hopper.

Watch it done end to end: youtube.com/watch?v=shwY5lQiaEc

FTW Fly firmware update screen
FTW Fly The flight screen. The gear is bottom right.

Open the updater

Four taps from the flight screen to pairing mode.

FTW Fly firmware update screen
1 Tap the gear, then Update Firmware.
FTW Fly firmware update screen
2 Choose Hopper, not Controller.
FTW Fly firmware update screen
3 Choose Update Firmware.
FTW Fly firmware update screen
4 Hopper must be in pairing mode, shown by flashing green lights. No battery in yet: install one. Battery in and flashing green: tap Next. Battery in and solid green: it is connected to something else, so disconnect it there first.

Flashing green means pairing mode. Solid green means Hopper is already connected to a controller, the app, or another device, and it will not appear in the pairing list until that connection is dropped.

Pair with your Hopper

The app scans, lists the drone by serial, then connects in two stages.

FTW Fly firmware update screen
5 The app scans for nearby drones.
FTW Fly firmware update screen
6 Tap your Hopper when it appears. Match the serial to the one on the bottom body panel, or on the circuit board itself. Leave the panel sticker where it ships so the number stays easy to read.
FTW Fly firmware update screen
7 Pairing, then getting firmware. Wait for both, then tap Next.

If nothing appears on the pairing screen, move the drone and your device closer together and tap the green refresh.

If you would rather not keep moving the drone, raise Connection Sensitivity. The app default is 65 percent and you can increase it as needed, up to 100.

  • Go back to Settings, then Preferences.
  • Drag Connection Sensitivity up, then return to the updater and refresh.
  • Reset to Default in the top right puts everything back.
FTW Fly preferences screen with connection sensitivity slider
Preferences Connection Sensitivity and Joystick Sensitivity

Choose the build and run it

The installed version is shown at the top. Pick 2.0.6.

FTW Fly firmware update screen
8 The installed version is at the top. Select 2.0.6.
FTW Fly firmware update screen
9 Tap Update Firmware and leave the drone alone.
FTW Fly firmware update screen
10 Both stages check off when the transfer finishes.
FTW Fly firmware update screen
Done The app confirms the transfer. The drone handles the rest on its own.

What the drone does next

  • Hopper takes the update and shuts off. No lights, no motors, nothing for roughly 20 to 30 seconds. It looks dead. It is writing the new software, so leave it alone and do not pull the battery.
  • It then comes back on with a fast red flash. That is your signal the new firmware is on the drone.
  • Pull the battery to shut it off, set Hopper on the floor, and put the battery back in.
  • From here you can either confirm the version by walking back through Update Firmware, or just take off and start flying.

Repeat for every drone. Firmware lives on the drone, not in the app, so each one needs its own update.

Step 04

Fly indoors

  1. If you have not already, peel the red sticker off the camera lens.
  2. Set Hopper on its launch and landing pad, level and still, then insert a fully charged battery.
  3. About half a second after the battery clicks in, Hopper powers up and runs a full system calibration. It takes its readings and sets ground level from wherever it is sitting, so it needs to be resting on the pad before that starts, the same place it takes off from and lands. The motors spinning is part of calibration, not a separate test.
  4. That half second is enough to work with. If it is easier to hold the drone while you seat the battery, hold the airframe from underneath with one hand, click the battery in with the other, and set it down on the pad as you go. Just have it down and still before the propellers start.
  5. To fly manually, put two AAA batteries in the controller and close the door.
  6. Hold the controller near the Hopper and press 1 to pair.

Calibration also tells you the motors are healthy. If any motor spins slower than the others or does not spin at all, do not take off. Check that motor before anything else. Two things to look at: the connector at the board, which can be disconnected or only partially seated and sitting at an angle instead of flat, and the wires where they enter the motor from underneath, which can be broken or pulled loose.

Hopper camera lens with the red protective sticker still on it
Camera lens The red sticker comes off before you fly

This is the camera lens. It sits on the underside of the printed circuit board, pointing down, either straight down at 90 degrees or at a 45 degree bird’s eye angle. The red tab is a protective sticker from manufacturing that sits directly over the lens. It should already be off. If it is still there, peel it away before flying.

The controller sleeps after 30 seconds. Any button wakes it.

Reading your hardware

Light guides

Hopper

The light guides are the two chest lights on the front of the drone, what most people call Hopper’s eyes.

Flashing green
Ready
Ready and waiting for a connection.
Solid green
Connected
Connected and ready to fly.
Flashing red and green
Not ready
Not ready for takeoff, and not a battery warning. Restart Hopper: flat surface, battery out, battery in. Crash detection shows the same red and green flash until you reset. After a crash, check the drone before flying again.
Hopper light guides showing green
Flashing green Ready. Green, off, green, off.
Hopper light guides solid green with the amber secondary lit
Solid green Connected. A second amber light comes on beside each eye.
Hopper light guides showing red
Red Alternates with green when Hopper is not ready.

A fast red flash with no green is different. That is Hopper coming back up after a firmware update, and it is normal. See step 03.

Controller

Flashing green
Waiting
Waiting for a connection.
Solid green
Connected
Connected to Hopper.
Flashing red
30 percent
Hopper's battery is at 30 percent.
Solid red
10 percent
Hopper's battery is at 10 percent. Land now.
Hopper controller with the FTW badge lit green
Green Flashing while waiting, solid once connected.
Hopper controller with the FTW badge lit red
Red Flashing at 30 percent, solid at 10 percent.

The controller reports the drone's battery, not its own.

Flying

Flight controls

Hopper controller with the two sticks labelled
Controller Left stick altitude and yaw, right stick pitch and roll

Left stick

Altitude
Up and down to climb or descend.
Yaw
Left and right to rotate in place.

Right stick

Pitch
Up and down to fly forward or backward.
Roll
Left and right to move sideways.

The center button takes off to a hover at about three feet. Press it again to land and shut down all four motors.

Your apps

FTW Fly and FTW Code

FTW Fly

Firmware · Camera · Piloting

FTW Fly is the hub for everything Hopper. Firmware updates, the live camera feed, and app-based piloting if you want it.

  • Tap the chainlink to scan for and connect to your Hopper's Bluetooth signal.
  • To turn on the video feed, tap Start Video. Connect to Hopper's Wi-Fi network through your device settings, then come back to FTW Fly and tap I Am Connected.
  • You do not need a Bluetooth connection to use the camera.
  • The feed is not limited to phones and tablets. Connect a computer to Hopper's Wi-Fi network, open http://192.168.2.1/ in a browser, and the live view plays there. On iPad, iPhone, or Android, use the FTW Fly app.
  • We recommend the controller for the best manual flying experience.
Still frame from Hopper's downward camera feed
Live feed Hopper's downward camera, streamed in a browser
FTW Fly running on an iPad with the camera feed and on screen controls
FTW Fly on iPad Connected, feed live, battery and controls on screen

FTW Code

Blocks · JavaScript · Autonomy

Block-based programming that gets students flying autonomous routines fast, with a JavaScript view alongside the blocks when they are ready for it.

  • Open FTW Code on your iPad or go to ftwcode.ai.
  • Insert a charged battery, then tap the drone icon and select Search.
  • Match the serial on Hopper's bottom body panel to the one on screen, then Connect.
  • You are connected when the button changes to Disconnect and the battery level appears.
FTW Code with a Hopper connected, showing battery level and a disconnect button
Connected Serial, battery level, and a Disconnect button
A block program that takes off, flies a square, and lands
A first program Take off, fly a square, hover, land

Your curriculum

Build Fly Code platform

If your order came with an access code, redeem it at ftw-robotics.ai/platform to open Build Essentials, the lesson library, Hopper Quest, Part 107 prep, and competition materials. Not every Hopper order includes one. If yours did not and you want access, get in touch.

  • Register once, then sign in with your email and password.
  • Ask Grace is built in. Grace is our AI assistant, built by FTW, and she knows the hardware, the build, and the curriculum. She can pull in a team member whenever you need one.
Build Fly Code sign in page with Ask Grace beside it
Sign in Redeem a code, or ask Grace before you have one
Essentials section of the platform
Essentials Build, Fly, Code and Disassemble, with the narrated build
Industry Pathways section of the platform
Industry Pathways Emergency Response, Package Delivery, Precision Agriculture, Search and Rescue, Site Inspection
Hopper Quest section of the platform
Hopper Quest Get started guide and lesson sequence for younger students
FTW Part 107 section of the platform
FTW Part 107 Airspace, maintenance, and weather lessons
Compete section of the platform
Compete Season resources, official rules, and competition scoring
Leaderboard section of the platform
Leaderboard School profile, teams, events, and the national board
Legacy Activities section of the platform
Legacy Activities Filter by section, content type, and standards
Support Videos section of the platform
Support Videos Motor replacement, propeller install, firmware, and more