Meet Nixel: The Little Adventure Bot Joining Nix Drones

There’s a new member of the Nix Drones crew. He doesn’t need a passport, he doesn’t complain about the weather, and so far he hasn’t asked for diesel money. Meet Nixel, the Nix Drones Adventure Bot. 🤖🧡 Nixel is a small black, graphite and NIX-orange drone character who’ll be popping up around NixDrones.com, joining the drones, campervan journeys, mountain-bike rides, photography and general technological tinkering that make up the Nix world. And yes, I’ve become strangely attached to him already.

Nixel started with a simple idea.

NixDrones.com already has its own look and personality, but I wanted something that could represent the slightly more playful side of it. Something instantly recognisable that could appear around the website without turning the whole thing into a cartoon theme park.

The result was this little chap.

Nixel is officially the Nix Drones Adventure Bot.

He’s part drone, part robot and part travelling companion, dressed appropriately in the same dark graphite and orange colours that run throughout Nix Drones.

Think of him as the tiny digital crew member who somehow manages to be involved in everything.

The great thing about Nixel is that he isn’t tied to one particular part of the site. Nix Drones has always grown around three main flavours of adventure.

🚁 SKY — This is Nixel’s natural habitat. Drone flying, aerial photography, flight logs, landscapes and the view from several hundred feet up. I suspect he’ll be particularly interested whenever Nemesis, Zoom, Sneaker or Twitch are heading skywards.

🚐 ROAD — Nixel will also be coming along for the ride with Vanilla, my campervan. Road trips, campsites, strange overnight stops, European adventures and those occasions when a short trip somehow turns into an expedition. He won’t take up much room in the van, which is fortunate.

🚵 TRAIL — And then there’s the mountain biking. Nixel will be appearing around the TRAIL side of Nix Drones too, following rides with Torque, route maps, ride statistics and adventures around the trails. Whether he actually pedals remains under investigation.

I didn’t want Nixel simply stuck in the corner of the website as another bit of branding.

The idea is that he gradually becomes a recurring character.

You might find him pointing something out, introducing a feature, appearing alongside an interesting statistic or quietly occupying a corner of a Story.

He may even turn up when something goes slightly wrong.

Given the amount of experimenting I do with drones, websites, tracking systems, APIs and assorted technology, he should have plenty of work.

NixDrones.com has changed enormously.

What started primarily as somewhere to show drone photography has gradually become a record of adventures involving flying, travelling, cycling, photography and technology.

I like the fact that Nixel reflects that.

He isn’t supposed to make the site childish. He’s there to give it another small layer of character.

The main photographs, films, journeys and stories remain the stars of the show.

Nixel is simply the little bloke wandering around backstage with an orange toolbox.

This is where things could become particularly interesting.

Because Nixel has been designed as a reusable character, there’s no reason he has to remain completely static forever.

Eventually he could blink. Hover. Wave. Look towards something on the screen. Whizz into view when a new adventure appears.

Perhaps he could even react differently depending on whether you’re exploring SKY, ROAD or TRAIL.

Nothing enormous or intrusive. The aim would be subtle little moments that make the website feel alive without slowing it down or getting in the way.

A tiny bit of digital theatre.

So that’s Nixel.

Another slightly unexpected addition to the ever-growing Nix universe.

From drone flights and mountain-bike trails to campervan journeys and whatever technological rabbit hole I disappear down next, you’ll probably start spotting him around the place.

Keep an eye out.

Nixel has officially joined the crew. 🧡

NIX DRONES — SKY • ROAD • TRAIL