LED Drone Blades!

One of the longest episodes in the making; we turned our drones into the TRON bikes of the sky!
#FPVFREESTYLE
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FPV Freestyle Pilots / Hosts -
David Windestal [RCExplorer]
/ david windestal (rcexp...
Drew Camden [Le Drib]
/ ledribfpv
Joshua Bardwell [Knowitall]
/ joshuabardwell
Jeff Orta [VORT3X]
/ vort3xfpv
Alex Vanover [CaptainVanover]
/ @captainvanover
Paul Nurkkala [NURK FPV]
/ nurkfpv
Shawn Morrison [Let's Fly RC]
/ @letsflyrc
Production Team
Chad Kapper - Executive Producer
Drew Camden - Producer
Christian Kapper - Editor
MUSIC:
Robot Race
By: Senbei
www.premiumbea...
Something New
By: Joakim Karud
/ joakimkarud
Helix
By: Nightime Burnout
/ nightime-burnout
Serenity
By: Oxlo
/ oxlo-music
www.rotorriot.com

[@Lozoot2]

Remember kids, just like in computers, different LED colors provide different benefits: *Red* makes it go faster *Green* is more energy efficient *Blue* keeps it cooler And we don't talk about yellow

[@wongalahara8196]

Yellow is doom

[@RotorRiot]

😂

[@AfafPrinceOSH]

@@RotorRiot guys I guess the prop companies should come up with such optic fibre like material so that the lights would be placed at middle and internal light reflection would take it to the tip. In that way there won't be any vibration issues if there is. I hope my idea inspires u to inspire them to make such type props.

[@AfafPrinceOSH]

@@RotorRiot and to be more clear, the weight on the tip of the prop would reduce. If smallest led like smd led are at center along with battery, the holes or one side of optic fibre like opening on the prop are with the leds, and then multiple other ends can be placed at various distance in the props instead of putting more leds along the props. I hope u got my point. Doing such per blade, using smd leds at center or contact point of blade with hub, u can put multiple led, each having its own distanced output making multiple layer of lights on the prop

[@TheRcdood]

yellow is mellow

[@kdobson83]

Lmao at that ending with Josh eating it in the skateboard.

[@ulaB]

A few year ago: Add tiny pieces of tape so the props are balanced in all orientations. Now: Add LEDs, glue and whatnot. It'll work.

[@dronemoodbr]

AMAZING!!!!!!!!

[@matheusnascimento7527]

Você por aqui kkkk

[@matheusnascimento7527]

Sou escrito no seu canal

[@MarcosLimadrones]

Achei que era do do dronemodeliismo kkk

[@MarcosLimadrones]

Por um segundo achei que tava no canal errado kk

[@MCsCreations]

Fala, Rafael. 🖖😊

[@NicholasRehm]

This might be easier on something slightly bigger like 7-8". Another option would be clear props and an led mounted to the frame right next to the motor pointing up into the prop

[@Sircleanfpv]

That was also mine idea having leds at the frame lighting up clear props

[@RCRitterFPV]

yeah, I was thinking like CPU fan you project the LED onto the reactive blades. good use for prop guards.

[@thezorglub50]

yeah, i do think there is two ways to mass produce those. -The first one would be RGB engine shafts, like RGB fans, but that would induce using the housing of the engine as the shaft, reducing prop size, so you'd have to do this on a pretty big but lightweight quad, and maybe go with 4 blades to compensate the lost lift by the smaller blade radius. -The other one would be to mold the blade with the LED in them, but weight balancing would be really hard. if done correctly, a better iteration of the battery lug nut could the power source. a metal CNC piece with maybe a spring to keep the contact going could be a pretty good solution. Either way, you'd have to work with a prop manufacturer, and even an engine manufacturer for the first solution. I do think the injected LED system would be the most cost effective tho. Maybe DRL could place an order to theire prop manufacturer, so once they get the process right we could all cash in on those :D

[@fpvraver]

Yes that’s exactly what I was thinking just like they do fiber optic lighting you would have to make the propellers however they do that effect with fiber optic lights and cheap plastic. Then use an LED that sends a beam of light which would be carried throughout the entire propeller. The LED would go at the hub. With a focused beam projecting the light through the fiber optic channel that was cut into the propellers. This is just hypothetical because I have no idea how they create that fiber optic light affect in cheap plastic.

[@NicholasRehm]

@@fpvraver sanding the surface of a clear prop would have a similar effect I think

On a next episode: Props that dispense glow in the dark aerosol to get light trails behind the quad :)

[@yeshuayeeyee7430]

Why not add a vape with a tank on it and hook it up to a solenoid

[@adrianantones4909]

Wha+a genius

[@mrtrendizzle]

You can already get electronic smoke bombs you can strap to the bottom of your drone then with a switch on your remote activate the smoke. If you use a neon or blacklight reactive compound you can place blacklights on the ground and as you fly over the lights your quad would leave a trail of glowing smoke.

[@blackflagfpv2474]

A spring switch like those in the old led yo-yo's would have been cool. That way they turn on only when the props are spinning.

[@jonaskoepcke8941]

Like a centrifugal clutch

[@adam6806]

Exact same thought I had. I had one of those yo yo's lol

[@tshirtfactory07]

Dude, I swear I had this same idea... with the motion sensor leds in the props

[@blackflagfpv2474]

@@tshirtfactory07 after watching this video, I saw an ad for mavic LED props

[@tshirtfactory07]

@@blackflagfpv2474 so its been done. This is going to be a "thing" moving forward

[@gadoravago]

I love the ending... Joshua pushes the skate monggo then .. ka blam!!! Bodied...!!! Got me laughing for 5 mins... I hope you’re fine Joshua...

[@likulakuku]

Firefly on the air... Wow.. good job, team..👍👍👍👍👍👍 ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@rmdcade1717]

1. Classic opening music 2. Mad Swede and Kapper in one timline, Nurk and Bubby in another 3. Gription 4. JB's kickflip 5. Ken Burns-tier documentary feel

[@corinnemuir1542]

Tearing from amazement. We are in the future, we must be so close to the singularity right now. Think how long ago DRL made spectator racing in a manner never before imagined. Now a collection of hobbyist can recreate the never before imagined by themselves. Also I often forget how small this fpv community is. For some reason it makes me care about you all that much more. It’s great seeing people “unpolished”. As someone in the comment section said, Let your dreams be your guide.

[@sanderpuhFPV]

Makes me wonder, what if yo uwere to add UV paint to the tips of the props, then add a UV LED to the arm which "charges" the UV paint. Has this been considered and tried as well?

[@triggermovies]

DAL made glow-in-the-dark props at some point. I still have a couple of glow-in-the-dark Cyclone T5045C sets (I think) laying around somewhere. I don't know if they still make those. Combine them with your idea and you have "infinte" glowing props :)

[@MCKFPV]

AMAZING!! I NEED THAT!!!!!

[@LetsFlyRC]

It would be cool if one of our prop manufacturers makes it better. :)

[@CameronKalegi]

@@LetsFlyRC Have a feeling a lot of 3d printers are buzzing with prototypes as we speak.

[@fpvraver]

I love this video guys !!!! This is not my first time watching it. It’s something about all of you coming together the camaraderie the teamwork I don’t know how to explain it but there’s something there!!

[@skyline9893]

I bet Gemfan will step in and make these props :-P

[@LetsFlyRC]

We hope they do. :)

[@AsikDrone]

@@LetsFlyRC so do I 🤘💀🤘

[@turtlefpv9621]

@@AsikDrone ikr

[@NOVUSuk]

Such a good idea 🚁💨

[@Gemfanhobby]

hahahahaha

[@didierneeferc]

this is so cool for the race scenery!

[@urbanrollerBA]

pure, devotion, dedication and passion !! so inspiring !!

[@Dad_K]

Drones meet RGB gaming. This is sick though, well done daddy Sean, Drew & David

[@Kabab]

It literally looks like a sim now. Awesome! Also, it seems we've replaced drib with Drew :-D

[@MeeKaaH]

you mean LeDrew? 😅

[@Pile_of_carbon]

Excellent tinkering skills by Sean! That looked SO good! Flying rave party right there.

[@Booster388]

Wow you guys that awesome

[@KoryFPV]

Very fun episode. JB at the end was gold lol

[@RADERFPV]

Put an on/off switch on those bad boys, and let's get 'em sku'd up!!! When can we order them?!? Don't even worry about prop performance, we don't care - this is for getting some awesome "props in view" shots and some cool chase footage. We want them!!!

[@ORBinatus]

Sharing challenges enhances the success - good job!

[@MANTA_FPV]

Thanks for persevere and finally bringing out this episode 👍🏻

[@kennyFF033]

This could be the single biggest thing to hit quads in years... I love lights.

[@marinedevildog94]

Epic. You brought velocidrone into the real world and it looks amazing

[@wynnfpv]

Such a cool episode guys! One of the greatest RR videos!!

[@thecreaturefpv9295]

Now that's some perseverance

[@filiped7298]

This is what the hobby is all about!! 💪Looking forward to see a production version on the shelves. 🙌🙌

[@remotecontrolaholic]

Incredible effort but I'd say it was worth it. Can't wait for manufacturers to build on this idea!

[@PruskersChannel]

Cool! I have an idea for another solution: Magnet on the beam and 3 modules (consisting of flat induction coil, smd cap, smd led) glued to each blade.

[@evilc2048]

Exactly. Putting a battery in each prop is the dumb way to do it, just make an inductive circuit and power the LEDs from the main battery. Like a wireless charger

[@daxdadog]

I was thinking the same, except with parts molded into the blade, and a circuit that switches on different color LEDs as the RPMs increase. The faster the coils zip by the magnets, the higher the voltage generated.

[@terranovarain6570]

What i was thinking also

[@marc_frank]

the cannel Strange Parts has a video on wireless leds

[@CockroachSlidy]

You can get same effect with UV leds mounted on arms and photoluminescent paint on props. Why over complicate things?

[@OpaFPV]

Great workmanship Shawn!! Shawn for the win!

[@ImperialArmour]

That was so cool, glad you guys decided to revive the project!

[@HLMAX]

Approach the design the hard way. Get some UV LEDs and mount them on the arm around the motor. Just use various color fluorescent paint on a regular clear prop. A couple of spots of fluorescent paint on the prop should give your the same effect.

[@LegacyStudio]

Never doubt Shawn. That's the lesson here.

[@shortlytall7926]

I'd buy a few sets of those, I love me some bling

[@walesfly3r29]

Absolutely fantastic guys. All the persevering paid off. And great to see David back too. Legend. 💪🏻🤛🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@Alexscottart]

Mad Props to Shawn for getting it done!

[@tossico4202]

very amazing, never seen anything more beautiful and collaborative!!👏🏻👏🏻

[@hateeternalmaver]

After watching it - the shots really looked unique. It changed the whole feel to the situation of our "little monsters" flying around. I can totally see this being welcomed with wide open arms on the mass-/ or mainstream market... Amazing work, as always guys. I also liked the "60-Minute" style presentation. Good to see that your production's professionalism is *still* evolving on such a high level. 👏👏👏

[@orfilms1597]

Crazy how much work this project is. Seems so simple.

[@gutrali]

@drib Took a look at some of the still frames. Knowing the shutter speed, I am pretty sure you can count spirals and know prop RPM. I cant wait until we have a line of 16 LEDs and you are writing words and cartoons on the "Prop Circles" as you fly. Well done by all!! ..I love the electronics and physics aspect of this. Its so important we surround ourselves with people who think in new and creative ways. Please keep trying things like this..... Make your advancements open source and allowed to be resold so we can all advance them along with you. We should not rely on mass manufacturers --- we should continue to innovate so we are always on the forefront and able to manufacture our own replacement parts ALWAYS!!!

[@SpikeJonesTheCr0oked]

Wow so much clever... this needs to happen.

[@RufftaMan]

@@SpikeJonesTheCr0oked this has already happened a long time ago with rc helicopters. Different images for top and bottom of the prop too. It‘s just much harder at this smaller scale with higher rpm.

[@gutrali]

@@RufftaMan agreed. We would need to first perfect our own prop manufacturing. Imagine when we get to the point, all these techs evolve , you can feed in shredded soda bottles and product packaging of the right plastic type, our machine pressure molds the props for us, then another gizmo w a spare prop motor is hooked up to flight accelerometers so that it can detect how the prop is or is not in balance, so we can file off a little plastic there. At that point we just need a smaller mold that holds our LED arrays and the wires in a core before putting that in the bigger prop mold. This shit is gonna happen some day. We will manufacturer a lot more things ourselves

[@DstruX]

Awesome. Looks sick!! Also, best kick-flip ever. Lol

[@LtRyanPYT]

The future is NOW. We didn't know we would be where we are with this hobby 5 years ago... not even 2 years ago did we know.

[@ashtondavies2311]

Love the dedication to a project and the persistence from the whole team to make it work.

[@jana171]

OMG i love this project, i literally have tons of ideas on this mind boggling challenge.. I shall not rest until i have this for a drone of my own... SO cool !

[@jonaskoepcke8941]

You have made a great job. I thought, when you get a prop producer to allow you to place the led's in the mold before they fill it with plastic so that the led's are inside the transparent props. That way the led's will probably never come loose.

[@shanwillpinto9183]

Freaking looks like a video game🔥

[@greatwavefan397]

Next is adding a non-invasive VR UI so you can check the drone status mid-flight.

[@wrstew1272]

The Swede strikes again! The guy is fabulous!! What a crew! Helicopter blades have been doing this for a long time, but weight is not such an issue. Night flying is so great to see, you actually can see exactly what the coupter is doing without goggles. Gates at night, uh.........challenge

[@randymulhern1290]

Congrats on a coming thru with that project, it was worth it.

[@Quincypoo11]

I love this channel

[@kamdozer]

That was unreal! Just like Windestal said it - like a simulator. Plus the video has that old Rotor riot video vibe :) Loved it.

[@MCsCreations]

EPIC, guys! Fantastic job!!! 😃 Stay safe there, everybody! 🖖😊

[@NeoIsrafil]

Ooh! This is gonna make races SO much cooler! Dude... these need to be used by EVERY league! Imagine all the drones having their own color, youd know exactly what racer was where! Embed a fiberoptic cable into the rotors, have the LED and battery in the center, thatll keep the important parts from having a lot of centrifugal force and fiberoptics can handle the forces. You might be able to even just have the LED Below the motor and have the fiberoptic cables routed down to there and passing over it. Itd route the light to the outside of the prop as the fiber passes over the LED. You could also nix the batteries and use the rotation of the motor and magnets fixed beneath it and small coils on the prop to power it. You'd lose just a little power on the battery because you're driving a dynamo at that point, but it might be worth it. Hopefully my ideas help you, if they do and you manufacture it and get rich....hook me up? Lol. Its ok... I'm sure youll never think of me again but still, if you did thatd be super cool.

[@FlyingPenguinDrones]

HAHAHAHAHA that ending with JB had me dying LMFAOOO nice editing Christian 😂😂😂

[@air-headedaviator1805]

Sirs you don’t know what you’ve done, I’m literally gonna go bankrupt trying to build these at various sizes

[@fizzymart00]

DO A KICK FLIP HAD ME DEAD at the end

[@BubbyFPV]

Ik me too lolol

[@swissfreek]

3:26 “you think that’s pretty good?” “mmm, no ” 😂 God I miss David’s antics

[@dantecusolito8513]

I wonder if you put an induction loop instead of the batteries could you power the leds from the motor coils? It would probably be a lot cheaper and maybe make it possible for mass production.

[@Silpheedx]

Frikin awesome! Well done! Love this new mini doc editing style your going with.

[@JohnFSmitheugene]

Very cool! It’s been almost 2 years now since some Asian company manufactured LED props for the DJI Mavic and Phantom product lines. I also fly DJI drones for photography; I was doing that for a while before I discovered FPV. Anyway, I bought a set and delighted my grandkids with the glowing “circles” in the sky. I think that those props each had 4 or 5 LEDs underneath the one of the prop blades on each motor. The props spin so fast that “persistence of vision” makes it look like solid circles where each motor is located. Very cool stuff.

[@SacredMilkOG]

Man, I need some of these :) Awesome job guys, that's some good teamwork and problem solving. I love that. 👍✌ (You guys are the best. That Eric Andre "We'll Be Right Back!" was spot on 😂)

[@Harrisenhowes]

incredible work guys! now to perfect it and sell it to the masses!!!

[@danielsaltvick]

This is hella epic. Thumbs up for the build and hype in this video.

[@tanmay______]

I like this documentary style editing! The color grading looks nice too

[@chriscottell6854]

Excellent, I'll definitely get these when there ready n released to buy. Great work guys n thanku. Its a brighter future.

[@shadowofchaos8932]

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW! Really does look sweet.

[@JoshWithrow]

There are alot of ideas for accessories that I think are total nonsense, and mostly aesthetic. But I can think of practical applications for these if the few shortcomings can be engineered. I already have a few ideas, and I'm sure they're things you guys have already thought about. Great job! Looking forward to this one coming to fruition!

[@gadgetmerc]

Best kick flip EVER!

[@moonranger3570]

It's unreal, it really does look like a simulator, WOW

[@ulwur]

First of all. One like just for David! Then I'm thinking a RGB led mounted close to the hub, shining light into a clear prop, acting as a light pipe. To get circles just nick the prop to let the light escspe

[@joshuasterling2144]

Yeah, clear blades would basically do it...

[@FredMF]

hmmm, iam no electrical engineer, so i have this silly thought that there is a motor near by, that has plenty of electricity, and the stators generate electric fields, that push the motor bell, are these magnetic fields large enough to reach the props? and if yes, cant you harvest the power of the field with some diodes ?

[@sp00nesis]

the aluminum bell redirects/blocks the electromagnetic field generated. Also, if the stators did generate electromagnetic field that far out, by nature that would be very inefficient. That all said, THIS THIS THIS!!! That IMO as well, would be the way to approach the whole thing; aftermarket bells with integrated small connector pads or whatever for the specially designed props with EMBEDDED tiny LEDs. You'd have the additional fun thing of being able to have different brightness and/or colors directly/physically from the motor RPMs. Where's Mr. Steele?! ;)

[@TheBoatPirate]

@@sp00nesis not with rotor riot! they burnt that bridge a couple years ago.

[@MarcusLetric]

How about a tiny generator built in the prop? I guess the spin of props would give it enough momentum...

[@youser23]

nice! reminds me of doing this 12 years ago with EPP1045 - the only available cw/ccw prop/size usable for drones on the entire RC market back then.

[@sixtofive]

I'm glad you guys didn't give up on this project, the end result looked really cool!

[@paulnorrie5170]

I've just got the gem fan led props yesterday. Can't wait to try them and get some footage from insta360 go.

[@KaossFPV]

That is the most amazing thing i have ever seen 😮 Absolutley sick

[@mallikarjunse]

Thanks for bringing David! 🔥

[@BenRyherd]

These are really cool, really makes them look like the DRL promotional images. Some other options might include RC heli night tail blades (though it'd probably take a ~8" prop to be able to get pre-made ones. It'd also be super cool if you could drive the LED's off either the EM coming off the motor itself, or if you could put a stationary magnet or two on the arm to basically make it a generator. You could also run radial contacts on the motor bell to pull power from the main battery, though this would be finicky. You could also make rings of LED's or EL wire in the quad frame and just have it "look right-ish" from a distance.

[@casper01]

Amazing effort lads, much respect. 👍

[@MrMiXxa]

Those lights on the drones look fantastic..👍👍👍

[@masanchez1992]

Been waiting for this episodes lol

[@dividingbyzerofpv6748]

Okay I need these in my life. 3.5 to 7inch please. Wish we could get the spinning display effect that can do messages.

[@diegomsta]

And Joshua Bardwel broke an arm!! Nice props fun, nice video.!!

[@rustyalford6286]

And suddenly all of the UFO sightings are explained. lol

[@arcturusastro895]

2:33 yay the music from liftoff!!

[@jessefpv9217]

This is the best thing I've seen from this channel in a year.. lol

[@TheBoatPirate]

this is the ONLY thing since Steele left

[@theflyingsandalrc]

Those are just awesome! I hope someone makes these an actual product, they'd be the hottest thing

[@oliveraborn9383]

I used to have a little flywheel toy that would launch like 100 feet in the air, and had lights on it like those. I can remember flying FPV around it, and it was so cool. Well done!

[@fpvdreams2996]

Should've given it straight to Sean, he gets everything done. They look awesome too.

[@eddiepfund]

That ending was remarkable.

[@griffinhabermehl9312]

The “We’ll be right back” had me dead 💀

[@olivermerritt701]

Such a great video! There was such a want to watch more

[@Busbil75]

Congrats making a supercool project! 🤙😃👍

[@StevenDinmore]

Great video. I enjoyed it very much keep up posting such interesting videos. Will be back to watch more in the future

[@dividingbyzerofpv6748]

Brilliant solution doing a counter balance with the floppy prop

[@oliveraborn9383]

Awesome!

[@warwas_fpv]

AMAZING!!!! THAT'S A GOOD IDEA !!!!

[@1baggy0dodo4u]

10:30 best kickflip ever!

[@senpaisimon_]

Now that Was a Real rollercoaster of emotions 😂