Building My 3D Printed Sub 250g FPV Drone

I'm finally building my 3D printed sub 250g FPV Drone. I had to make some adjustments after I got the electronics and other parts, but I think it turned out pretty good.
The SketchUp and STL files for the frame can be downloaded here:
drive.google.com/drive/folder...

[@sarthak5925]

Cool stuff, im also planning on making the same build but with 1806 motors without any FPV gear. Ordered all the parts, should arrive in the next 40 days ;_; anyways thanks for the inspiration, cheers !

[@BitsOfInterest]

I used 1407 because I was trying to keep it as light as possible. Would've gone 1306 or 13## if most of them weren't so badly rated. With 1806 you can probably run 4 inch props. They may be a little too much for 3 inch, but just check the specs. They'll recommend prop sizes to use. Edit: I was also trying to fit in as large/heavy a battery as possible for longer flight times. If you go to a 3S/650 or 4S/450 you can add some weight somewhere else. It's all a tradeoff...

[@sarthak5925]

@@BitsOfInterest yup, the goal is to run 4 inch tri blade props plus i have a lot of 3s 1000mAh batteries lying aound maybe ill give them a try, thanks for the input :)

[@BitsOfInterest]

I don't know If sub 250g is part of your plan, but if it is you're probably adding 10-20g going with 1806 and another 10-20g using a 3S/1000 instead of the 3S/850 in this video. Since you're not planning on FPV you could chop off the front and back of the frame and just keep the area around the stack in the center. I've also been thinking about a new design for the arms; connect the front and back motors so you end up with one trapezoid shaped arm on each side that holds 2 motors. If you run props out there is very little chance you'll get stuck in a tree since it can't be sucked in on the side.

[@BitsOfInterest]

You probably already built your quad, but in case you haven't I made a video about how I would go about designing the frame ;) kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWm7mouiopuifc0

[@christianbaccay5852]

What did you use ESC?

[@jkdronevideo4946]

Cool! HAve u flown it? where is the vid? :)

[@BitsOfInterest]

Yeah... About that... I underestimated the software setup part that comes after you can power it on... I couldn't get my radio to find the receiver. Had to switch a wire because the diagram for my flight controller is wrong. Had to solder another wire to a grain of sand size spot on the receiver. Receiver is in the wrong mode and refuses to switch when I press the button. I put it on "the healing bench" so that it magically fixes itself when I'm not looking, LOL 😋 I did get a new receiver so I'm ready to try again... In the mean time I did model my backyard in DRL Sim, so I've been flying it virtually so to speak...

[@markokusec8297]

Very cool video! Can you please list the parts you used on the drone? I am a beginner in this field so it would help me a lot. Also, it's been a while since this video was created :) so if you have any tips to watch out for when assembling a drone! Cheers!

[@BitsOfInterest]

Thanks! First thing I'd do is buy a reasonable radio for +/- $100 and download an FPV simulator like DRL Sim so you can see how you like learning to fly. Remember smooth is fast :p You'd have to look up how to make it work as a controller on your PC, but it prepares you for what you'll be doing later also; fiddling with settings in hard to understand menus ;) Note that the type of radio you buy can lock you in to the transmitters you need later. Regarding the build, you'll need to decide what you want it to do. Do you want to go fast (100 mph+) for a few minutes or do you want to go smooth for 10-20 minutes? This will determine the motors/props/ESC/battery. You'll make the opposite choice depending on what you're going for; more aggressive prop angle, high KV motors, high Amp ESC, batteries with crazy discharge rates to go fast and the opposite to go long and smooth. Sub 250g (obviously) you have to make almost every choice based on how much weight it adds. I figured for 3 inch props you'll need 13## or 14## motors (the product page will tell you), I got 1407's low KV to go long and smooth. because it's low KV I didn't need a ridiculous ESC so I could get the cheaper all in one stacks with ESC and flight controller. I needed to go with the mini stacks (20mm hole spacing) because the regular ones were too heavy. A few grams here and there is going to make or break your build if you aim for sub 250g. For the assembly all you need is all the product information with diagrams right in front of you and a good soldering iron that allows you to set the temperature. I got an X-Tronic 3020 from Amazon that looked like the cheap but good option at the time. Edit: of course you'll need some extra wires and screws to put it all together, but hopefully that speaks for itself ;)

[@markokusec8297]

@@BitsOfInterest Wow! Thank you very much for such a quick and detailed reply. It helped me a lot! Can I contact you when I make a list of components to see if it's compatible with this drone?

[@BitsOfInterest]

I haven't looked at drone parts since I bought mine and made the video a few years ago, so I have no idea what's available today. Things change faster than in PC components 😜 I'd recommend hanging out in Joshua Bardwell's community on KZbin if you have questions about different parts. I watched a lot of his videos to make my own shopping list and the step by step videos on how to build and setup a DIY drone. If you're planning to 3D print the frame from the SketchUp file I shared in the description you can compare the measurements of the parts you want to buy to the file or make your own adjustments before you print it. I designed it for standard parts back then, but I don't know if/what changed over the last few years. PS first you'll need to watch some reviews for radio controllers and buy that 😉 You'll need one anyway, you can use it as a controller on your PC (as long as the one you pick supports that) and if you find learning to fly is not for you (it's not that easy) you didn't spend even more money on something you can't use 👍 Also it's better to have you first 100 crashes in a simulator than having to repair your drone all the time 😁

[@markokusec8297]

​ @BitsOfInterest Thank you for your reply! I would like to use the 3D-printed frame and buy all the parts, but I'm unsure which parts fit this drone. Of course, the total weight should be up to 250g. Does your drone fly well? What material do you recommend for this model? I have heard that PETG and PP are competitive in this area. Thanks again!

[@BitsOfInterest]

If the electronics have 20mm hole spacing and the motors 12mm you don't have to change anything and you can print it. I didn't experiment with different filaments; I use the PLA+ I have for everything I print :p Mine doesn't fly because the transmitter is broken and I haven't found time to fix it. Also I'm relearning how to fly in the simulator in Mode 2 instead of how I started with Mode 1. I also want to build an FPV wing one day (I tried a wing sim) and I realized Mode 2 is superior for that. A wing doesn't have a rudder so you can just set the throttle and steer the wing with your right stick.