Build. Fly. Code.
The drones the curriculum runs on.
Every DroneBlocks drone is built for education, not hobbyists: students assemble them, code them, and fly them. NDAA-compliant, US-made electronics, and one continuous flight path from an indoor trainer to an autonomous research platform.
One flight path. Every student.
Pick the rung that fits your classroom today, the same code and the same curriculum spine grow with the student all the way up. Start indoors with optical-flow hover, unlock full ROS 2 autonomy, and graduate to research-scale platforms.
Which rung fits?
Every DEXI runs a PX4 autopilot and a Raspberry Pi companion. What changes as you climb is positioning, autonomy, and how far the missions can go.
| DEXI‑3 | DEXI‑5 | DEXI‑10 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier | Hover Lab | Flight Deck | Vertical Innovation |
| Frame | 3″ 3D-print / CF | 5.5″ carbon-fiber enclosed | In development |
| Flight controller | DroneBlocks H743 | ARK Pi6X | In development |
| Companion | Pi CM5 | Pi CM4 | Pi 5 + HAT |
| Positioning | Indoor optical flow | Optical flow, in & out | In development |
| Autonomy | Sim + indoor | Full ROS 2 outdoor | Advanced |
| Best for | Indoor classrooms | Autonomy & CV | Research & industry |
Every drone on this page is one students build themselves.
Real drones, built for the classroom.
Not a toy and not a black box. Every DEXI is openable, fundable, and part of one flight path a student never outgrows.
Built to be opened
Open firmware and the full ROS 2 stack live on GitHub, read it, fork it, ship your own.
NDAA-compliant, US-made
Section 889 / 848 compliant with US-made electronics, federally fundable for schools and districts.
One platform, K through career
Start on a DEXI‑3 and add DEXI‑5 or DEXI‑10 when you're ready, same curriculum, same code, no re-buying into a new system.
PX4 and Linux
PX4 on the flight controller and a Raspberry Pi companion, professional autonomy hardware, not a toy.
The experiences.
DEXI is the spine, but DroneBlocks supports a full menu of flight and robotics experiences, each with its own curriculum on-ramp.
Drone Light Show
Choreograph illuminated swarms: coding, design, and performance in one project.
Crazyflie
The research-grade Tello successor (Bitcraze): tiny, open, and built for autonomy labs.
Unitree Go2
A four-legged quadruped, extend the same coding skills from the air to the ground.
Tello & FPV
Approachable Tello block coding and MultiGP-style FPV racing on FCC Part 15 gear.