0.4: Powering, Pairing, and Charging (JROTC ed.)

To power on the drone, insert the battery into the slot at the bottom of the drone. Hold the drone upside down with the red propellers away from you. Insert the battery with the notch facing up and closest to you. The LED should turn on, and you will hear a beep from the drone.

To power off the drone, there is no off switch. Simply grab the battery with your thumb and pointer finger, pulling firmly outward.

CoDrone EDU (JROTC ed.) comes with a multi-charger that can charge two batteries at once. Connect the USB-C end to the charger, and the USB end to a wall adapter or computer. While the battery is charging, a red LED will turn on. If the LED is blinking, there is no battery detected. When the battery is done charging, the LED will turn off. The battery will take about 60 minutes to charge fully.

Note: Although CoDrone EDU (JROTC ed.) may be a different color, all the information presented in this video still applies.

The controller needs to be powered on to pair to the drone. There are two ways you can power on the controller.

Powering Through USB

Powering through USB cable is the preferred method. The USB-C port is underneath the antenna on your controller. Connect the other end of the cable to a USB port on your computer.

If there is a battery installed while the controller is plugged in with the USB-C cable, the green LED will blink, indicating that it is charging. It will continue to blink while the controller is plugged in and on.

However! The controller will indicate that it is “charging”, with the green LED blinking, even if there is no battery inserted and the controller is powered through the USB-C cable.

Note: Press the Power button to switch from “Link” state to “Flight” state. If you see “Link” state, you are in programming mode and the controller will not work for flight control.

Powering with a Drone Battery

On the back of the controller (JROTC ed.), pinch the ends of the backplate and pull off the battery cover. Do not use any other batteries with the controller. If the USB-C cable is connected simultaneously with a battery

Your USB-C port on the controller (JROTC ed.) is used for programming, it is important to take care of the port and your cable. When connecting and disconnecting the cable, always grab the part of the cable closest to the port. Push and pull the cable straight in, and never wiggle it around. Always disconnect the cable when storing the controller.

To fly or program CoDrone EDU (JROTC ed.), the drone and controller must be paired together. Your drone and controller will already be paired out of the box. Check that your controller is paired to the drone by powering both on using the steps above.

If the drone and controller blink red with a message on the screen that says “Searching…”, your drone and controller are not paired.

Watch the video and follow along.

1. Power on the drone with a battery.
2. Power on the controller with batteries or a USB-C cable. If you are using a USB-C cable, press the power button until you no longer see the “LINK” state.
3. Press and hold the button underneath the CoDrone EDU (JROTC ed.) until the LEDs start blinking yellow.
4. Press and hold the “P” button on your controller for at least 3 seconds until you hear the controller make a sound.

Note: Although CoDrone EDU (JROTC ed.) may be a different color, all the information presented in this video still applies.

In this lesson, you learned:

• How to power on CoDrone EDU (JROTC ed.)
• How to power on the Smart Controller (JROTC ed.)
• How to charge CoDrone EDU (JROTC ed.) batteries
• How to pair the Smart Controller (JROTC ed.) with your drone

Now that you know the basics of powering your drone and controller, you are ready for your first flight. Move on to the next lesson to learn how to use your remote like a true pilot!