Building a DIY 3D Printed FPV Race Quad

This video is sponsored by PCBWay:
For high quality and fast PCB & CNC manufacturing visit: www.pcbway.com/
Huge thanks to ​⁠‪@PeterSripol‬ for helping me out with this!
Peters Channel: / @petersripol
Signup for a free Onshape Account: Onshape.pro/MichaelRechtin
Patreon: / michaelrechtin
CAD for this project: cad.onshape.com/documents/281...
STL's: makerworld.com/en/models/236234
Learn more about Formlabs and the Form 3+ here: formlabs.com/company/innovato...
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Hardware List: (Affiliate Links)
Motors: amzn.to/4c5N0SW
Flight Controller: amzn.to/43eu3ZS
DJI O3: amzn.to/431EGiR
2mm Bullet Connector: amzn.to/3In6B3l
LEDs: amzn.to/3uV63hX
Props: amzn.to/3IpEkc9
4s 1300mah Batteries: amzn.to/436hHmL
M4x12 Bolt: amzn.to/3T6co23
FPV Equipment (Other products may be able to be substituted):
RC Controller: amzn.to/3VbpZYy
FPV Goggles: DJI FPV Goggles V2
Links to stuff I use (affiliate links):
Bambu Lab X1C: shrsl.com/29zix-2yn7-1cwx9
Creality K1 Max: amzn.to/3uTuXy0
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Creality Wash Station: amzn.to/3S1NTBi

[@Rulusto]

Just a fair warning, never put your FPV goggles down with the lenses facing up. Especially on a sunny day, the sun can damage or destroy the screens because of the lenses. Also one material i can recommend for this frame, lightweigh PP (polypropylene) filament, it's really durable for it's weight.

[@stickboyfpv4742]

Thats ppe😊 same thing aunt jomomma bottles are made out of😜

[@Hood.Housekeeping]

And never buy dji because you have to register all your personal data to China and constantly check in. If you do not the drone won’t work. Your basically renting the ability for China to spy on everyone with the ability to fly a pretty drone

[@PeterSripol]

Ok print another and let’s try for 200mph 😂

[@michaelrechtin]

Why stop there? The world record is only 224mph….

[@Lenevor]

@@michaelrechtin “only” 💀

[@m14srv]

The closer you get to the world record the More it looks like a rocket where the middle is a lifting body 😂

[@Skepticof]

Please make a cinelifter version that can carry a dslr. Please please please​@michaelrechtin

[@NicholasRehm]

4-minutes repair is pretty sick. Makes me wonder if there's any official drone assembly speed runs for you to beat haha

[@mastermaker666]

I think I speak for more than just myself when I say that we would really love is a printed drone built for range and duration, something that would be genuinely usable as a tool(inspection, overview of area etc.) while also being cheap and easy to repair....

[@butcher]

Yeah but carbon won't break, so don't need to be repared, also lighter, simpler. 3D printed drone doesn't make sense at all. I've done it four years ago, as I said, pointless :)

[@peterklemenc6194]

@@butcher Anything will absolutely brake upon impact....having the ability to quick-print and swap for cheap is the future.

[@definingslawek4731]

@@peterklemenc6194 I see you don't have experience with fpv drones. Carbon frames are really cheap and buying spare arms is also very cheap. They don't regularly break on impact and it takes QUITE the beating to actually get them to break. My last frame took probably over 30 impacts before breaking. Then it's just a matter of swapping the arm. 3d printing a fpv drone frame is just not a practical project. Granted Michael was doing it for fun/ for the project and that's great.

[@Code2CraftCreations]

@@definingslawek4731 I can print a carbon fiber nylon frame for cents on the dollar. I have no clue what you are trying to get at. Granted this is all under consideration that you have a 3D printer that can print high quality engineering parts. Also you control the design when you 3D print one and I can quite easily scale it up and make a bigger one.

[@Argosh]

​@@definingslawek4731let me blow your mind... The first drones, the one that literally started this hobby, were often 3d printed. You absolutely can do it.

[@fangthewarrior]

The fact the arms are 3D printed and made of PLA actually might be the best thing about this design. Intended or not it gives the overall structure a consistent and easy to replace point of failure. A sacrificial part, cheap to make and easy to replace. All while still being rigid in flight! Awesome!

[@Oddman1980]

This is something I learned when I tried replacing plastic control arms on RC trucks with aluminum. I just ended up finding the next breakable thing, and it was harder to replace.

[@raymondelder5004]

You should try printing the arms out of polypropylene, it's not rigid like carbon fibre but still has some stiffness. I printed a drone out of it and crashed it many times... no frames broken!

[@genjitsu7448]

Nice project. I am still relatively new to FPV drones and some of the fun of the hobby is the building and in your case here, designing parts. I do like the look of the arms, the skeletonizing for weight and strength that was applied to it is very cool.

[@HenryJaeger-cx4xd]

Do you think you can post a video of the electronics assembly and programming with the controller and goggles? I am looking to build one of the drones but I am not a pro when it comes to drone electronics. This would be great!

[@MR_NoBoDY469]

please continue your 100mph RC car project..

[@DreadCell-Productions]

I agree!

[@jspikeball123]

yep looking forward to updates on that

[@Stojce_]

real

[@getacookie4458]

PLEASE

[@DanielJohnFPV]

Works surprisingly well! With a bit more though into motor choice and battery size, you'd have a really viable drone! The DJI OSD thing is a super common bug/annoyance - it's pretty easy to fix

[@thinkflight]

I am convinced. Downloading files now.

[@kingnothingfpv2303]

This guy literally flies in real "Straw Bale" track from Liftoff :))))

[@ItsEwan]

Also the files are amazing I have had no trouble assembling the printed parts

[@superz12095]

You should move the 03 to the front so when you are flipped upside down you can see

[@first-thoughtgiver-of-will2456]

i bet you could tune around the resonance points with varied thickness foam or neoprene on the motor mount

[@MCsCreations]

Brilliant work, Michael! Really well done!!! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@maxsioulas7794]

Thanks for vid, just got my a bambu lab p1s and loving it and im building your stuff

[@BatiBat0o]

Just subscribed to your channel. I've always wanted an FPV and since I recently got a 3d printer, we'll why not. Thanks alot

[@ChrisTuttle]

Why didn’t you reverse the direction you insert and mount the arms from below? It seems if they slot in vertically from the top, the motor lift direction could possibly pull the arms out. Thanks for the video!

[@migueldias1873]

Absurdly good content man, congrats!

[@woutervossebeld4664]

I love the idea of designing your own quad frame. And I have a couple notes. Pla is probably a better choice for the arms than cf nylon, its quite a bit stiffer. Also strength and vibration analysis aren't very accurate for 3d printed plastic since 3d prints are hollow and layer adhesion plays a role. They are useful for identifying weak spots though!

[@JudeMakes]

One Tip, DONT LEAVE YOUR GOGOLES TOWARDS THE SUN. All in All an amazing video. Keep it up

[@Antsmith21]

Great work I love the frame and I’m gonna print it!!

[@OP-nj3wy]

Thank you !

[@philip_fletcher]

Brilliant! What are the chances of getting this sub 250g?

[@choahjinhuay]

Nice to see Peter doing some flying stuff again!

[@thecoffeejesus]

This is the dopest thing I've ever seen on this app

[@kibbycabbit]

I want to add something about 3D printing. Have you tried post printing by doing annealing? It’ll help layer by layer bonding. Check your filament manufacturer for instructions by putting your prints in oven with specific temperature and how long. Congrats on over 100mph!

[@33rdframe]

Pretty cool design. I want to challenge you to a race woth my 3D printed Cinema drone😂

[@danielpas368]

I seen cnc kitchen did a video recently on extra strength with a stacked layers, maybe worth looking into that, might add a little extra strength to get out of crashes with almost no damage.

[@fpvkevlar8101]

Great video bro.

[@DrLesterTheSmith]

This is cool. Since you are in Ohio, you should bring this to MRRF this summer. Also, I'd love to see how it flies with all CF Nylon or CF PET.

[@jakeknapke1506]

The green screen was a huge addition to this channel. Excited to see what other videos you can speak over top of

[@DSdvdDS]

Dang, you are doing collab videos with Peter. Keep up the great videos!

[@jj_0]

It`s nice, as someone who is currently experimenting with custom 3D printed whoop frames, that I`m not the only one still trying this out. :D

[@tysk5729]

I wasnt planning to subscribe to you, But than you started handing out free drone stl's❤

[@aberodriguez4149]

Impressive !!!

[@benm3403]

Hi Micheal! Really enjoyed your video. I'd like to learn more about the vibrational analysis you did and the theory behind it on the motor arms. Do you suggest any resources for this? Thanks!!

[@ValRC1]

Looks pretty awesome! I wonder if it would've survived those crashes if the arms were also made from cf-nylon

[@mety_twister431]

Man, big thumbs up, It really flies great, there are some vibrations but nothing crazy. Also just a tip, it looks like you could fit some bigger props on there, like 5,5inch or maybe even 6"? you can try it out to and get more drag and efficiency😃

[@divingfalconfpv4602]

Yea if front & rear prop tips don't hit each other it could

[@Toonj00]

i tried today with 6 inch props and they fits great

[@AsgardStudios]

Very cool!

[@Erowens98]

The ease of replacing components is definitely a huge advantage to 3d Printing. I think it more than makes up for the lower durability.

[@lordjeffery10]

carbon rarely breaks and is quite cheap (~$45) for its durability. It shouldn't need to be consumable. Almost like planned obsolescence.

[@Erowens98]

@@lordjeffery10 depends on how often you crash. Also $45 is a lot of money for some people, and way more than the dollar a printed part costs.

[@ErikThiart]

Would love to print this drone !

[@kieren7763]

Ive designed and printed alot of drone frames i have narrowed it down to a pretty good design its basically an x frame the arms have a triangle profile they dont have to be overly thick and i design tubular holes through the arms so i can slide carbon firbe rods or tubes in there so its basically a printed frame with a skeleton inside you can also run lower infill as the carbon keeps it stiff i think you could shave alot of weight doing it that way

[@neko_striker]

Best crossover

[@BalooG-rq9mu]

Peter!

[@autonoob]

Nice to see. I thought 3d printed frames were weak and heavy. Might try this, a new cf arm takes two months to arrive :/ Here’s a thought, what about each arm is two separate pieces with the layers in 90 degrees to each other when combined. Better strength?

[@reinekewf7987]

i building fpv racing planes with a pan and tilt cam and back driven holow dual inline holow shaft counter rotating props. this means i have one motor and 2 counter rotating props on one driveshaft connected over a gearbox thats transfers the rotation over a inner drive shaft and a outer drive shaft. i fly only with analog video becauase it is more relyable as digital even the qualitiy is less optimal and degrades over distance but it will never cut out without any signs. i have a special reciver that is able to pickup the signal over 5km with decent quality

[@DanteEhome]

So cool.

[@TwixZavier]

Awesome Video! I wanted to ask tbough if there are any (cheaper) alternatives to the DJI controller for people who arent using the expensive dji camera aswell?

[@mandofpv1043]

🙌🏻i will try it🔥

[@riendutoutrtx]

We want the 100 mph rc car pls!!

[@DreadCell-Productions]

Me too!

[@Wilso94]

awesome stuff! just printed mine in PLA, I'm going to do another one in PLA CF or PETG CF, which would you recommend? Thanks mate!

[@traveling.down.the.road56]

I’m a complete amateur with drones, but want to learn more and get better at flying them. What is the range for this drone before you lose signal, and does it auto return when the signal is lost? You earned my subscription.

[@Embassy_of_Jupiter]

It's kinda nice that the arms break, probably protects all the other components

[@OP-nj3wy]

Hello, very interesting project and impressive result ! I would like to build one, however I cant find the flight contrôler reference in the parts list, it is missing. Could you help and add it? Thank you, and looking forward to build and enjoy flying your design.

[@hiddesluijs2007]

hi, i've never flown a drone ever. could you make a video of how to set everithing up? including soldering?

[@antoniopezzella2174]

Awesome

[@michaelchadwick3405]

What's the take on using aero filament from bambu labs for building drones? Do we want something more rigid like pla+?

[@damianwyczakowski2491]

Beautifull!!!!!

[@Creative_Electronics]

Nice video :)

[@lynnwilliam]

Can you see if you can make a drone that can fly for over 60 minutes? Try and break a world record for endurance

[@fpvmello3069]

Nice Man New subscriber 🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻

[@buildpws]

Great design! Do you think it could be build with less than 250gr? Are there some equivalent parts to make it cheaper as well that would you recommend?

[@akshaysfpvandmtb2696]

Looks very cool!! How much does it weigh??

[@akozhukhovskiy]

@michaelrechtin, please get some information about RC-plane from this video. Motors, wingspan and etc. Looks very cool, I want to assemble same plane.

[@ameliabuns4058]

You should try printing it out of HTN-cf or cf pet

[@Schradermusic]

Where the hell did you find an O3 for 200?

[@justinedwards6073]

I'm thinking about making my very first phone I can't wait to try this out

[@802Garage]

So cool! Just had to leave a comment.

[@peter360adventures9]

Awesome.

[@ulightme]

you seem to have a really good understanding of designing a 3d printed drone frame that can actually stand up to carbon fiber frames we all fly with. do you think you can make one that would put the props out of the camera view? like a dead cat design? subed and curious

[@YourComputerExpert]

Are goggles absolutely required or would a video feed on a screen also do? Was thinking of making this to shoot footage while hiking with friends and such, but don't really want to bring goggles with me as well. Or are there better DIY 3D printed drones for this type of application? Also, do you recommend making all the parts out of Nylon?

[@DronePH-2024]

WOW NICE HAPPY FLYING👍👍👍

[@qcrock]

What is the weight the drone fully assembled?

[@thiagocolombari8117]

Hey there Michael, are the modal and FEA analyses applicable to 3D printed parts? Given that they were made layer by layer and are not 100% solid (unless you used 100% infil), as opposed to injection molded or cnc machined parts

[@woutervossebeld4664]

Even with 100% infill layer adhesion would play a role. FEA is still useful for identifying weak points though!

[@justinedwards6073]

Did you change motor orientation? Or did you solder the wire around for the upper left motor to go to the bottom right of the ECB of the speedy we're the one is located?

[@adili9427]

How much did this cost overall?

[@user-tc4ts7wg4m]

can you please add the total cost

[@gustavsvensson6877]

Would love to see a 100usd drone!! Wanna get into the hobby but 200usd to "experiment" with is a bit much!!

[@BloqsToys]

Hey can I get some help? I’m building this now lol, and I just tried hookkg up the 03 air unit, and it decided to die. Tried plugging it in to test power up, and it let out the magic smoke. Double checked all my connections and everything seemed good. But it fried the F405 stack. Got any ideas? Motors and some other components still on the way, but yeah I soldered that up and it failed. Also it feels like Km missing something, wouldn’t you need a receiver for it to communicate with controller, or does the 03 flight unit take care if that?

[@MoeDefinitely901]

I've been waiting on the day to see a 3d printed fpv drone. This deserves a trillion views.

[@WKfpv]

Well my first FPV drone was 3D printed and it was back in 2015, I still keep the frame on a shelf.

[@MoeDefinitely901]

@@WKfpv wow. I'm new to fpv and behind I see. I thought I would've seen more 3d printed stuff with the rabbit hole I've gone down. 7 months and this is the first I've seen 🤯

[@literally_not_kevin]

What FC board did you use?

[@Code2CraftCreations]

Alright I am going to try to build one. I was at first going to try to use my oculus but it looks like the feed would lag to much. I am sure I could make an app and improve it directly but I really don't want to spend that much time on software. I'll go with all nylon carbon fiber and I am going to switch it up and use a HDZero cam and vtx controller for it as well as a BETAFPV controller. Also I only have m3's and m5's and I think I'll adjust the holes to m5. The HDzero VTX doesn't have a housing like the DJI so I will just have to make one similar. The HDZero is slightly smaller which is good because I can just make a housing that would be the dimensions of the DJI and fit it inside. I will have to adjust camera mount as well. Thanks for your hard work on this. Going to be fun building it all out!

[@woutervossebeld4664]

Nylon, even cf nylon will be less stiff than pla, I'd suggest pla for that reason. Nylon might be more impact resistant though.

[@samehmostafauk6975]

thanks for making the video the problem i have is the price of the DJI O3 Air Unit its about £300 can you recommend something cheaper please

[@SadPanda449]

Which heat inserts do you use?

[@xntumrfo9ivrnwf]

Can we put pellet guns on quads/planes and do air-to-air combat? Like that TV shows where home made robots battle it out

[@RoboArc]

Working on an A2A combat drone atm 🙃 eventually I'll put some AI on it for target recognition. Doing optics rn 😋

[@mehmeh533]

Deal of the Century!!!!!!!! (It's a movie kids - check the drone scene)

[@Rocketboy737_]

This is awesome gonna build one for my self. What would you recommend a cheep FPV system, also please include a parts list and any future tunes

[@KnetiKFPV]

analog systems are the cheapest

[@marktsarenko3943]

Dude just buy a carbon fiber frame, spend $30 more and make a lighter and better drone

[@Rocketboy737_]

But I have a 3D printer and nothing better to do soooooo I’m gona stick with this option thanks anyway

[@marktsarenko3943]

@@Rocketboy737_ please don’t be a fool, your gonna hate your life

[@Rocketboy737_]

Well no difference then but I will probs do both

[@LuxGamer16]

You not taking the battery out immediately after the last crash gave me anxiety 😅 vtx in general get REALLY hot after a minute

[@GamingwithJacob-db9gw]

How did you connect the controller to the drone

[@user-sd7gr9xh5d]

hey you know for the first 3d printed drone can you send me the stl files for the drone and motors pls

[@Kiwikiwi124]

where did you get the capacitor?

[@diggsit69]

What’s the total weight of just the Frame? An you need to improve the arms strength so they don’t break as easy! I do like the Simplicity of this frame an it’s design, good job! 😉

[@benjaminreifenrath9498]

how much could that drone lift?

[@StewardsNotes]

Dope.

[@meanman6992]

Would a very thin skin on those arms cause less turbulence?

[@ItsEwan]

Sorry to ask but could you do a more in-depth electronic review(I have printed all of the parts but just can’t justify spending the best part of £400 on this) it is the best one out there though

[@burtonrider316]

hey the motors you used are currently unavailable. could you make a suggestion for another motor?