I CNC'd a Drone

Setup:
-Turnigy 4240 530kv motors
-15x5.5 Carbon fibre props
-T-motor F55A 4in1 ESC
-Omnibus F4 V6 Flight Controller
-Frsky X8R Receiver
-Bn-880 GPS module
-2x 3s 5000mah (wired in series for 6s)
CAD files: www.thingiverse.com/thing:408...

[@TimStation]

Heres a summary of info that wasn't included in the video: - No you didn't read the name of this channel wrong, this is my second channel. - The flight controller runs iNav firmware for the GPS capabilities. - FDM 'carbon fibre' 3D printing is still far weaker than actual carbon fibre, but good luck. - The drone cost approximately £270 (approx $350), not including the carbon fibre sheet, multiple broken cnc bits, radio receiver and 3D printer filament and one set of batteries. - I won't sell kits as it takes a lot of time to manfacture, and there are many cheap kits available. - I don't sell racing drone kits anymore due to a lack of interest and lack of income. - Yes I will probably collaborate with Tom Stanton at somepoint if he wants to.

[@thomasschoonwater3390]

I'm glad you're going to collaborate with Tom, I think you and Tom will make a fantastic duo

[@Internetprolet1312]

Hey I was wondering where you get the carbon plates from and what thickness you used for your racing drones?

[@Ron-nq6ft]

Tim Station what software are you using on the flight controller ?

[@corneliusgruss]

at 1:08 you can see the arms are angled slightly up. Why did you design the drone this way?

[@TimStation]

@@Internetprolet1312 I bought it in bulk from a Chinese manufacturer. There are many out there on Alibaba. They were made from 1.5mm and 3mm thick sheets.

[@linecraftman3907]

You really look like Tom Stanton. You even have a similar name!

[@TheEviling]

maybe he also 3D printed a full size version of himself :)

[@jankarsch4935]

Deepfake oviously, he even deepfaked the shed :D

[@macswanton9622]

That's obviously where the similarity ends

[@0calvin]

I thought I was experiencing the Mandela Effect and had either mis-remembered his name or been transported to an alternate reality.

[@elijahr6261]

I think you will find that the CNC dust is actually magic powder.

[@felixbaum2180]

Tom said that Tim makes "lOw QuAlItY cOnTeNt". wtf, this is great...

[@csours]

Maybe "Lesser Effort Content" would be a better description.

[@calebsherman886]

Please Collab with Tom Stanton, he's really cool and does similar stuff to you.

[@WillProwse]

Such a clean design. Good job. Looks great.

[@TimStation]

Thanks Will!

[@mjetdevelopment]

Haha I will probably like this channel more than your primary channel if it continues with such videos.

[@par5endos562]

I didn't expect to be Sketchup shamed when I got here... :P Looking forward to more build-centric videos.

[@mark675]

Tim station LMAO

[@federicosagun4615]

Well done. Your design is so simple and clean but yet it's beautiful to look at. No wires all clean. That's the frame I want.

[@LeeviMarkkula]

What a fantastic project! Would love to see a more detailed tutorial video on the electronic and programming side of this build up. 5/5 will try this one day!

[@aerialdroneworksinc.3566]

This is amazing of all the types of new built you made it look easy

[@gideoncarleton1720]

oh my gosh!! i used sketchup when i was like 12-14 to just have fun making stuff! really helped me get down the basics and the learning curve for fusion 360 was easy after that.

[@openlink9958]

You love to see it A channel using the metric system so that you have a clue of what he is talking about

[@Oxicnarf1]

I really love your channel, you're like a Mk 2 Tom Stanton

[@afbennett3038]

Tom, you’re a bloody legend

[@sam2b77]

Hi, Tom. Thanks for the parts on thingiverse! It is exactly what I needed to replace my current frame that has plastic arms and have too much flex for the flight controller to handle for quality flight.

[@Daniel-qr2cy]

Love the frame. Trying to finish my tarot 650, but loving your frame much more.

[@MrNams]

Impressive build

[@dividingbyzerofpv6748]

Hi Tom. Helluva CNC you got there. I recently got up and running with my own CNC router mill. Learning how to cut CF and jot break bits has been an experience. I also cut under water, I actually cycle my water through a fultraion setup so my CF waste os captured and easily disposed of. The secret to my CNC bathtub is the toilet bowl overflow system(also similar to aquariums that use sump type filters). My method requires me to fixture the panels and machine with tabs. Seems most of the folks out there use a tape/crazyglue and spoil board method but then they are generating dust. I have already built several micros of my own design on up to very large tube frame 10-12inch builds. Currently in the design process for a possible 22inch monstrosity that will be running on 12s4p 18650 packs and 5215 300kv motors. Already having a ton of success using 18650 on everthing from 3in micros on up to Xclass with 6s2p packs running together for 6s4p. 18min flying time on 400kv 13in with 12000mah cruising 40mph the entire time is my best so far. Soon will have my Xclass running 8s4p. I learned with one of my builds that tube clamps and tube arms can suck for aligning all the screws/clamps if you use a bottom and top plate to sandwhich all the clamps.

[@jake.]

For the propeller mounts, you should probably use locking nuts to prevent them from ever coming off

[@AndrewDanne]

Love your work. Inspiring.

[@trey1531]

I have designed drones from aluminum, cutting them out by hand like you. I really like your design of your heavy lift drone! It seems nice and simple.

[@sky173]

Great video. Love to see a 'how-to' guide on building this.

[@PilotX82]

Dude I’m not much into big x class style drones but I do like this heavy lift idea. Very cool. Can’t wait to see the first lift or launch from it. Sub’d!

[@mannythehunter]

Awesome!! Added to my list of projects! Now to send the wife off somewhere so I can get building! Thanks

[@JustBarran]

dude this is amazing

[@christiansprojects-cgmanuf1426]

Great build, awesome! If you want to boost up the flight time (efficiency) oy your quad, use slower turning motors with bigger props. I had great success with Tarot 5008 Motors and 18 Inch props. They are a bit more expensiv but not much! This configuration will give you over 3Kg of thrust per motor and much higher efficiency. The bigger the prop, the better the efficiency at given thrust. Also, the Tarot motors have the t-mount hole pattern and are even 25g lighter than your turnigy ones.

[@coskuarsiray]

seems like modern art to me!

[@VoltageGuy2000]

Haha looks so similar to the heavy-lift one I built on my channel! Great work!

[@libertyauto]

I know very little about FPV flying. You would be the perfect person to learn about that from, if you were so inclined. Thanks for the video and your second channel.

[@auxchar]

Working on putting together a Lowrider 3 CNC right now, will have to put this on the list of things to try with it. 👍

[@xccarbon2568]

good job tim

[@benjefferson8609]

Looks awesome! Also, thank you for taking your health into account and milling your carbon fiber in water.

[@nikhilgante313]

Looks amazing! Could you post links to the electronics in the description for those of us who want to build their own?

[@Woodyhlr]

I was literally typing a comment on the other video asking about this drone when you mentioned your second channel lol

[@lolandypanda]

for such a big drone KV is quite high, I would recommend change motors to something like tarot 4108/380KV or 4114/320KV. It will definitely increase flight time and improve overall efficiency. In my setup, I was using 6A/4S with an 800mm frame. With all the equipment the weight was about 3kg. It allows about 30 mins of narrow flight time. FC was a custom one but based on Linux+Ardupilot...

[@rasmus9311]

When i first read the channel name i thought i had gotten his name wrong the whole time

[@tomhall2632]

No Way I'm at UH second year Aerospace, just built my own racing drone over christmas! Nice vid keep up the innovation.

[@3rd_Millennium_Engineering]

Hey "Tim Station"! Thank you yet another great video. Your work is truly inspiring! By the way, there is a guy called Tom ...something or other ... who looks a little bit like you! ha ha

[@harrywood6502]

Didn't we learn from the last decade that letting people chose names and things doesn't go well. You end up with things like Boaty McBoatface and that other thing that begins with B that I shan't mention. And now Tom Stanton is Timothy Stopping Place.

[@johannnorris6350]

I love your Helicopter in the background just like mine

[@ClementsProjects]

Nice job ! Thanks for sharing :)

[@adventuresofmatt8877]

Very useful and informative

[@RyeOnHam]

Have you considered high-strength Aluminum or Titanium fasteners? I worked aircraft structures for 24 years. Lots of options out there.

[@undersky596]

Gods you're good!

[@MadazzaMusik]

Brilliantly inspirational😉👍

[@harkinsaquatics]

Cant wait to make my own

[@Reth_Hard]

For a moment, I thought KZbin unsubscribed me from my most favorite channels, again... lol

[@IbrahimKhan-kb2px]

I don’t know why but I was really happy to be the 50th subscriber.

[@matrick1356]

I think tom is missing the point of having a second cha- *cough cough* I mean tim station has such a wonderful and in-depth channel!

[@air-headedaviator1805]

Huh you have your own race drone. Neat!

[@jstagzsr]

holy shit.... are we just gonna not talk about the absolutely massive cnc mill behind you?? look at the size of that z stepper!! and the size of the main motor.. holy shit.. how have i never seen that before??

[@AdrianoCasemiro]

I see it has Inav on the flight controller. Writing this question before finish watching the video, do you mind posting your configuration, flight modes and some particular advice on such a big quad? Specially on the PID tuning methodology. Is it too much to ask about telemetry related Opentx Lua scripts? Thanks again, love the channel.

[@dempa3]

Very interesting! Thanks for this video! Would be curious to see a more in depth "how to cnc cut carbon fiber frame" and "how to design a quadcopter frame". Are you running arducopter or iNav on the flight controller? What is the weight of the frame itself (with and without the legs)?

[@nikhilgovula2646]

He's running iNav

[@AxelsDIY]

This is a really nice quadcopter! Is it running INAV firmware or something else to get the GPS return to home function? Also, have you considered using Li-ion batteries (18650 cells) instead? I know you made a video about it some time ago, this kind of drone is the perfect application for that. Would give even longer flight time.

[@raven_fpv]

Hey Tom! Thank you so much for doing this video! I am in the process of building a Tarot 600mm drone. I am happy you went into detail with this video! I have also subed to this channel. Can you link your iNav settings for this FC?? Dump then copy and paste them here or something? I think the other trouble I'm having is the throttle on my QX7. I guess ill have to tighten up the screw to make the gimbal rest at 1500 instead of leaving is loose like when you fly rc planes.

[@AntonKhrapov]

Great work! How do you align the motors on round arms though, so they are pointed the right way?

[@Zanosern]

It's so stable

[@ahaveland]

Really nice and clean design. Would be interesting to compare flight times with longer propellers and perhaps lower kv motors.

[@TimStation]

as I mainly built it for weight lifting, after flying for 12mins with 3kg onboard, the esc/motors were warm to the touch. So I haven't considered longer props. But without payload everything comes down cold, so larger prop flight time would be interesting to test. Thanks!

[@ahaveland]

@@TimStation You're welcome Tom. I bought a CF H500 quad with pixhawk back in 2014 and lengthened the arms to make it an H700 as I wanted to increase range. Would have liked to try 18" props but couldn't find any over 14" then. Unfortunately drone laws in Hungary and lack of funds and time have made it difficult to experiment further, so I'm hoping you might take this on and plot the results... Cheers!

[@Alistratov1971]

Your skill is really cool! Hello from Russia!

[@joemontgomery6658]

I love the name

[@JusticeFPV]

Nice TSX900

[@LowPriceEdition]

Something I was wondering, motor arms are pretty much tuning forks, is there a clever way to attach wire and/or a thin rod between motor arms such that the vibration coupling damped the harmonics of the individual arms. Simplest, I thought, would be to connect the end of each motor arm to the adjacent motor arms with a tight wire.

[@thomasradke7477]

Hello Tom. I only recently discovered your excellent series of videos and am filling these boring Covid-19 days with your demonstrations. In this video you gave an analysis of the various weights of the components and potential payload. That this drone can carry. I have ben contemplating the idea of a helium balloon type of space frame that could be designed with just enough structure to support the motors/propellers and let the helium filled soft structure filled with sufficient gas to off set the various components and potential payload. Additionally, have you ever considered a helium balloon attached to the batteries which could be tethered (such as 3 thin hollow rods) below a drone in such a manner to stay stable relative to the drone and supply enough lift to offset the battery weight?

[@caspermaster-com]

Omg, i want to have you on my team in an future apocalypse

[@spokehedz]

I think the tiny ones are more fun, but they are both good.

[@WalterBurton]

I ❤ old SketchUp!

[@alienmoondudes8071]

Can you make a video about your journey going to university, projects you've done, and what you are doing now?

[@matrick1356]

"-google sketchup-" *OH GO OH NO*

[@rubiconnn]

As someone who doesn't do 3d design, what's so bad about sketchup? Is it like the Windows Movie Maker or iMovie of 3D design?

[@nickheyer]

@@rubiconnn Yeah, it's a small step up from TinkerCAD and a step below Fusion360. Window's 3D Builder is on par with sketchup lol.

[@junuhunuproductions]

Interesting! You inspired me to build another drone😯😉. Question, was your drone frame cnc in the past profitable? What lessons did you learn from that experience?

[@mickeyg.c.1654]

Cool Tom!

[@MrAJWorks]

Great👍👍👍

[@boydriver2978]

That's a cracking shed, thought it was the tardis until I realised ehat the set up might be. Tiled flor no less. Good for you, veryimpressed with your set up, what CNC machine is that please?

[@VladislavKurashov]

I recommend You protect the ceramic gps antenna. It scratches very easily and becomes less sensitive.

[@daylen577]

This actually looks awesome. What is roughly the total cost for all the materials used?

[@brandonsprague7098]

You should make a video about adding optical flow sensing to it! GPS drift correction is okay, but optical flow is where it's at.

[@AndreBandarra1]

ahaha, best channel name ever, I'm in at about sub 1000. xD

[@shaneblacklord3313]

Hi Tim! Does this have collision detections yet? It looks amazing!!!

[@tiagocarvalhosa5849]

I actually did it too for my PAP project at school.

[@EuanTodd]

3:04 tom... sounds like a challenge 😆

[@weekendproductions3161]

i like the second channel! how are regulations for drones in the uk (afaik in austria everything heavier than 250g needs some special license)?

[@bmpowellicio]

Yes, here too. We register online and take a simple test at the UK Civil Aviation Authority website. Takes about 20 minutes if you've read around the subject over the years, a bit more if you are new to the hobby.

[@AfshAd]

amazing . i have one question ! why have you choose Bn-880 GPS module instead of other gps like radio link etc

[@deltadrone]

Nice build!! What wire did you use to extend the motor wires to the ESC?

[@siberx4]

This drone sounds pretty quiet, and has a fairly pleasant (low-pitched) sound character. Do you have any more information on the sound level, motor RPM when idling, etc? Or is the quiet-seeming drone just microphone post-processing magic?

[@mechatronicsdude453]

Nice video 'Tim'. what firmare do you use for this? I believe Betaflight doesn't have a return to home like yours (has a very basic one). Are you using Inav?

[@quinnfoster4671]

Soon my esk8 projects will be complete enough for my to get an FPV quad. I have a Oculus Rift VR setup I want to try to use as a FPV headset.

[@rorymatheson8583]

Racing quads can make 10kg of thrust, but weight around 600-800

[@peeejayz]

Waddup tim!

[@thatguyblue4811]

Okay I’ve got to find someone with a CNC machine. This is pretty much exactly the project that I’ve been wanting to do only with FPV and a drop mechanism added.

[@akgadget]

Did you used betaflight to programing the flight controller..?

[@IainMace]

Tom, at 5:35 you explained how a wing could block the thrust if it was under the prop. I'm curious about this - is the thrust not created by air being accelerated by the props. How does the downstream airflow affect the thrust or is it more an issue of the airflow being redirected and therefore causing stability issues?

[@TimStation]

Yes thrust is created by accelerating air. However, if it hits a wing below, it'll change direction, therefore accelerating in a different direction. It's essentially the net acceleration of the air that determines thrust. Similar to if you were on a sail boat and pointed a fan at the sail.

[@slano8850]

Nice built mate...I wonder where I can purchase the frame

[@Juli-ky7oh]

Did you drill through the Propeller? I don't quite get how the shaft doesn't fit at first, but then the hole seems to have widened.

[@xandervanbellinghen9089]

hello tim, I would really like to buy a drone but I have no experience with making / flying a drone. Is this the right way to start? What would you recommend ?

[@SandroFPV]

Hey, I'm building this setup at the moment and I'm having some issues with the motor acceleration on throttle blips. Did you change Motor timing/Rampup power in the ESC settings?

[@raymondmucklow3793]

Always wanted to build my own drone.

[@p2e2t2]

I was wondering, helicopter blades are long and straight so have more lift at the end Would it not be better to have them wing or propeller shape ? I might be wrong

[@andrewwmitchell]

Helicopter blades are straight when they're stationary but each blade is rotated slightly around their long axis so the blades present an angle of attack to the air to produce essentially the same effect as described in this video. I'm sure there will be a KZbin video explaining this further.

[@WereBettaThanU]

curious if you could print those prop adapters out of TPU if they would add any dampening?

[@handikawahyu5538]

This is cool..

[@lequithoisqtt1574]

I can see u use omnibus f4 FC. May be Omnibus f4 support 6s Batt? I never try this before