Girls In Flight: Our CoDrone EDU Review

This review of CoDrone EDU was written by Hollis Rhodes, Sophie Duncan, Harper Rhodes, Evie Colpo, Abby Durbin and Ava Williams, engineering students at Kammerer Middle School.

“We are writing this because we’ve worked with the CoDrones since 2024 and want to share what we’ve learned, as well as some likes and dislikes,” they said.

As for me, I thought the best person to review them is the audience that would actually use them! Thanks to the six students at Kammerer Middle School (and their teacher Victor Darrigrandi) for working with me to put together this guide. I personally learned so much about pain points in the classroom, what qualities are most important to students in a drone, and what’s different about STEM drones versus other drones, like camera drones! Please read on, courtesy of these awesome guest writers!

When you were in school, did you fly drones? Code them? Well we have! We’ve been using a brand of drones called CoDrones to teach students. We do competitions, coding, blind flying and so much more.

Drones are becoming more useful and exciting in day-to-day life. Thunder Over Louisville has replaced about ⅓ of their firework shows with drones. Theme park drone shows like Walt Disney World’s “Disney Dreams That Soar” show have wowed entertainment fans and has a new drone show as well.

Beyond drone shows, there are delivery drones, mapping drones, search and rescue drones, first response drones and so much more.

Then there are drones for sports too, like FPV drone racing and drone soccer. The CoDrones are the official drones used in the Rec Foundation/ Aerial Competition.

We’re in middle school, but it’s clear drones are the future for all sorts of careers — and CoDrones have been key in preparing us for them. That said, CoDrones aren’t perfect.

Here’s our review of CoDrones, and how we think they might get more people involved with drones. 

-Abby Durbin

Unboxing and first impressions

The CoDrones are designed for competitions and schools, which is evident in the design.

The propellers are color-coded, (red in the front, black in the back) which makes it easy to tell what direction you are flying in. The propellers are also easy to take off and put back on, which proves to be very useful when we have issues with them. There is also a propeller guard.

The drone is durable and can withstand being flown into many different materials without being broken. The drone also comes with a light on the top. The different colored lights can be used to distinguish two teams/drones that are flying in the same field at the same time.

The drone is small and lightweight. The dimensions of the drone are 5.45in x 5.45in. And their weight is 54.8 grams or 1.93 ounces. Coming in at $215 per drone, they are more expensive than most indoor drones, but are designed for classroom use. 

When we first got the CoDrones, one of the first things we noticed was how easy it was to set them up. All you had to do was put a battery in the drone, put two AA batteries in the controller, then turn both the controller and the drone on. Since these drones come paired with their controllers using RF, the initial set-up time takes about a minute. Switching out controllers is also fairly easy. The new controller will give you instructions on how to pair itself with the drone by simply holding down two buttons.

With all of our CoDrones set-up, getting the drones ready for flight is easier than ever. Classrooms that are using the DJI Tello know how frustrating it can be to connect multiple drones that use WiFi.  The RF connection on the CoDrones allows for multiple drones to fly at the same time without worrying about connecting controllers to the wrong drone.  In short, CoDrones are efficient and are fit for classroom use. 

-Sophie Duncan

Features and functionality: flight and control

In addition to the standard features of landing, flying, taking off, etc., CoDrones can do cool tricks, enabled by features to help it fly better.

For example, if you press and hold down R1 and move the right joystick up or down, you can make it flip. Or, you can trim it by using the arrow buttons toward the bottom of the controller. You can also make an emergency stop when you press L1 and pull down the left joystick, which will have all four propellers stop working and cause the drone to immediately drop (only meant for emergencies).

There are ways to make the drone light change color by pressing R1 till it changes the color you want. Their ability to do things outside of just flying make the CoDrones quite entertaining. 

–Harper Rhodes

Features and functionality: programming and sensors

CoDrones are easy and hard to program at the same time. On one hand, it is really easy to use the coding website, but there were some issues. For example, the coding blocks say “move forward 2 seconds” yet when we code, we were used to coding the DJI Tello and saying “move forward 5 inches.” So each time we ran our code with the CoDrones, it seemed like it went to a different place every time, even though we were lining it up the same.

Then we went to a school, Bowen Elementary, to teach younger students how to fly the drones, and we did some coding. We did not know if this was going to work, but when we tried it we were pleasantly surprised. The drones actually coded pretty easily. We believe this is because we had the colored launch pads (those launch pads come included with the drone kit) underneath the drones to show the kids where we were trying to go. Evidently the sensors on the drones can detect the color of the pads, thus making it easier for the drone to land in about the same spot on the table or floor each time.

-Hollis Rhodes

Educational value

The CoDrones have made it clear how our studies carry over to jobs and other opportunities in the future. Some jobs that include working with drones are photographers, firefighters, roofers, lineworker, drone pilots, delivery drivers, surveyors, transportation planners and miners.

CoDrones have helped prepare us for the job market due to the fact they are both easy to control — and easy to teach other students with. CoDrones clearly give kids a head start — which could lead to hundreds of job opportunities. 

I’ve been using drones since last year, and I can say that there are good and bad qualities with the CoDrones.

All in all, they all help in the classroom, and most students love them. When we went to Bowen Elementary, we asked everyone what their favorite part was and if they liked it. Every student whom we taught said they liked it and had fun.  

-Evie Colpo

Pros and cons of CoDrone

Pros:

• Fast connection between the drone and the controller
• Good battery life compared to most drones (7-8 minute flight time) 
• Easy to fix drift
• Lightweight and small 
• Sensors for coding
• Easy to fly for the first time
• Durable

Cons:

• Hard to code
• Drift 
• No camera on the drone (so don’t plan on using it to take pictures)
• Propellers sometimes stop working randomly
• It flies up without being controlled sometimes (usually a low battery issue)
• Sensitive drone (it won’t fly too low to the ground )

–Ava Williams

CoDrone: is it worth it?

CoDrones have pros and cons, including that they can be overly sensitive (con), but are lightweight and small (pro). Perhaps the biggest pro? They have educational value and help to prepare students for future careers.

Coding is fun, but can be difficult because they measure in seconds instead of feet or inches. The controls are simple to learn and teach to others.

This was our review of the CoDrones. So what do you think — would you want to fly them? Leave a comment below!

– Abby Durbin

Thanks to the students at Kammerer Middle School in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as their teacher Victor Darrigrandi for spending months reviewing this drone — and sharing their first-person takes with other Drone Girl readers!

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