World's Fastest FLYING RC Drift Car

[@NicholasRehm]

Thank you guys for all of your support! I hope you enjoy the 100% FREE set of instructions I put together to build your own: hackaday.io/project/191240-flying-rc-drift-car

[@NicholasRehm]

If only there were a little button you could press on my channel in return 👉🥺👈

[@alldeeplearning949]

Now this is seriously cool ...

[@C_P_B_C]

One Word: F-Zero

[@murrijuana2842]

​@@NicholasRehm kyosho already did this in 2016. Catch up.

[@Julian-cb1fl]

Absolutely genius creativity and engineering!

[@4b5urd.]

Tremendous amount of respect for releasing everything open source. For all the time and effort, blood, sweat, and tears( literally) you put into this and not trying to directly capitalize financially on this is amazing. I wouldnt be surprised if someone doesn't make a few minor adjustments, claim it as their own, and take it to market. You've got something special here. Thanks for sharing it with the world

[@Mattxjax45]

"Gps is too heavy" *straps a brick cellphone to it*

[@NicholasRehm]

Anything to explain away integrating another component in that cramped little fuselage lol

[@sanjikaneki6226]

@@NicholasRehm why not use one of those tiny modules?

[@SVGERichy]

😂 iflight makes some pretty small gps that he can fit on the top too

[@dogzer]

nothing raw power won't fix

[@SubZ3ro907]

I recommend a skyfly performance analyzer. I use it on my drag car. Super lightweight and very accurate.

[@thinkflight]

This is incredible....

[@NicholasRehm]

No u

[@tristanwegner]

Have you considered a jump button for short but high obstacle, that the lidar cannot catch in time?

[@NicholasRehm]

That'd be cool and easy to implement with another channel!

[@mikebergman1817]

Holy crap, that is an awesome idea.. This would be like integrating Mariokart into it..

[@mikebergman1817]

@@NicholasRehm I would absolutely love to see that!!

[@MaxImagination]

This was really inspiring to watch, Nicholas! Would be stoked to see a fleet of these in a race or something. Keep up the hard work! :)

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks, that's the goal!!

[@racefreak9488]

Kyosho Drone Racer Zephyr Force is the best next Thing available

[@RichardGilmoreDronetech]

They already race them. It's called FPV drone racing

[@racefreak9488]

@@RichardGilmoreDronetech Drone Racing and this is completly different ya Genius

[@TheTruthHz]

Or better yet, flying towards ruZZian trenches in Ukraine 💥

[@tristanwegner]

Really cool video, I especially liked how you thought about the mixed output in turns and showed the curves and the math.

[@picturelessboss6113]

This is great, loved your video. Saw this concept a few years back in the RC world when Kyosho released the Drone Racer but they didn't do a good job of marketing it and it never became popular. What I like about your version is the fact that the components are readily available and you can upgrade/update and add your own improvements to it as new stuff comes out. Great job man, keep up the good work.

[@NicholasRehm]

I hadn't seen the Kyosho before--adding more to your point of marketing lol. Thanks for the comment! I would love to see others build upgraded versions with their favorite components

[@tb_fpv4379]

You have to make it in to a landspeeder!!!!

[@PCBWay]

This is INSANE!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Thx so much for bringing us this.

[@cubbucca]

This looks ready for retail. The most sensible build I've seen you do.

[@brendansimons6811]

Looks like fun! I'd be surprised if someone didn't make this as a new RC toy

[@racefreak9488]

Kyosho Drone Racer Zephyr Force Just Without fpv

[@JackDaniels2535]

I already want to figure out how to shrink it to something you could use in a building.

[@adakalyoncu1913]

Dji avata my friend, dji avata

[@sakarrc5001]

Fascinating!!!! The only really fun and viable solution of thrusted quad.

[@ejowerks]

EPIC! Nice work, Nick!

[@marielizysurourcq]

Ten years ago, I pud an EDF on my quad and it worked but the quad was loosing 1m altitude when I activated the EDF and it was not going fast. I 'm happy to see your solution and I like it very much

[@abyssalblue3089]

I really appreciated your applied physics analysis and how you illustrated your solutions..Solid!

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks!!

[@andresmonagas7662]

I'm surprised by the carry weight it can hold. Looks really fun to fly, I kinda want one. It's amazing that you put all the files and code online so anyone can keep the R&D. I can't express with words how much I like your videos, keep em coming!!!

[@Kenton8332TV]

This is so cool it reminds me of the kyosho drone racer!! AWESOME WORK!!!

[@PaarthGuptaYT]

This is such a cool project! It gives me RCTestFlight ground-effect vehicle vibes.

[@RazShifrin]

I'm not sure if you understand this, but you just invented the best RC "thing" that was ever made!! This is brilliant!!!

[@Inertia888]

My Resin Printer has been fun, but in order to eliminate creative limitations, both a filament, and resin printer should be in the shop… Going to save for an FDM 3D Printer (been thinking about it - now I have the creative motivation I needed ;) Hopefully will be building my own version of this, during the 2024 season! Thanks for posting this, and say hi to Josh Bardwell & Blunty! They're the channel that showed me this project. Happy Flying!

[@rahuls7039]

Maybe, the only channel where I like the Ads... 🤩

[@suryakamalnd9888]

Amazing video bro

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks!

[@suryakamalnd9888]

@@NicholasRehm Welcome 😀

[@andrewpicard2476]

Nicholas Rehm Man, that is the most bizzare R/C idea i've yet to see AND I LOVE IT! I discovered your channel thru R/C test flight. You guys come up with some mind-bending ideas , thanks for the Brilliant code addition. I was watching Multiwii in the early days and really freaked out our elderly neighbours flying a Tri-Copter with LEDS flying like a madman thru the entire neighborhood all those years ago. Greatwork, My mind has been blown now!

[@fishfinder3583]

Love watching the hobby growing with great ideas like this 👍

[@rc-fannl7364]

Cool project, seems like a blast to drive/fly

[@bardenegri21]

Really eager to see where this type of drone goes. Been watching the ejowerks one since it came out. Glad more people are working on this and pushing it forward.

[@NicholasRehm]

Glad you knew about Erik's stuff already!

[@juanmohedano2216]

This looks so much fun to race against other people. Bigger laps than rc car, funnier and more flashy because of the drift, easyer to see and understand for spectators than quadcopter races, and i think the races could last longer than quadcopter's races

[@bluematter435]

my god i will build this so hard! thank you for making the files open.

[@hiddenchambers2922]

Wow amazing!! Thank you for sharing!!

[@licencetoswill]

this is an outstanding project, so much fun. good work on the code

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks so much!

[@Venom2238]

so awesome... love that project of yours.... good job :)

[@KentFPV]

Now waterproof it and make it a drone, car, and submarine! Haha, but for real I love this idea! Makes me want to buy one

[@NicholasRehm]

Waterproofing would be a fun side project--would give me the confidence to fly this thing over water haha

[@tobiasobermayr501]

the video shots of this thing looks amazing!

[@Mr8perezm]

Awesome invention. Thanks for sharing.

[@mrpicky1868]

nice to see someone actually doing quality projects on YT. PS try big side panels. will act as forward stabilizers

[@SubZ3ro907]

You are a genius, bro. Market these! RC lovers would definitely buy them. I want one so bad, lol.

[@isaacbrewer5616]

Dude is a low-key genius. Love your channel! Keep it up!

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@jeffb7788]

This reminds me of an rc hovercraft I once had. It “drifted” in a very similar fashion and was a lot of fun to drive. One downside was that it really only functioned well on smooth surfaces like a basketball court or the kitchen floor. This drift plane would be much more resilient to different terrains. Very cool idea, I think I just might have to build one

[@dmitrymaslov4458]

Great project and video!

[@yayayayya4731]

that changing functions for different throttle output? cool af

[@bluegoose8850]

I would love to build one of these but only have a 235x235 3d printer would you mind sharing the cad files as a .step or similar for some redesign?

[@NicholasRehm]

If you print at 75%, motor mounting holes will be 12mm and electronics mounting holes will be ~20mm, so you could run a 3" setup with smaller motors and 20mm fc stack

[@wizardbrand1]

This is so cool! I'm mostly into RC cars and trucks, but I would buy this for sure! I hope to see these on the market one day ! Nice work!

[@mmmmmmmmmmm10]

Love this, when i was flying drone fpv i wanted something like this as drones are very complicated to fly.

[@fonwoolridge]

Fantastic work.... and fair play for sharing it all open source too... keep up the great work!

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks a ton!

[@goldbornmusic2025]

Excellent upload well done, really inspiring 👍👍👍👍

[@KaliKavala]

At the beginning I was like what a dumb idea... But you made that video so interesting to watch and I am happy that I did not skip it. Thanks.

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks for sticking through it to see all the fun engineering

[@JimSimFtw]

So glad i found your channel. keep it up man!

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks!!

[@hmc2797]

너무 멋찐 영상입니다. ^^

[@MozzaBallBill]

Nicholas, thank you for bringing me such amazing content. I love that you are so encouraging to your viewers to get going on our own projects and try to beat your designs. When i think about GOATS, i think of Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, & Nicholas Rehm

[@NicholasRehm]

GOAT comment

[@R.B_B]

One good addition to your projects, including this. Is the new radio from radiomaster MT12 they has a gyro sensor accessories for the radio

[@Venaloid]

This is my favorite quad copter configuration ever.

[@gyrogearloose1345]

Cheers Nicholas! Everything you make and do is fascinating and very impressive. Just keep on doing it man!

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks a lot, will do😄

[@highwaltage]

lol another bit of oldschool cool! lol. the pusher prop 5 motor drone, 3 ch control and lidar is definitely a game changing addition.

[@Dorff_Meister]

There is awesome and then there is this. Amazing work!

[@sixtofive]

That is really cool! Looks fun too.

[@RunThatRC]

Looks like soo much fun. That's awesome!

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks!!

[@baxrok2.]

Incredible. Well done and congratulations.

[@fpv-teacher]

You just made my dream come true, I hope for a bnf version to be available soon

[@dillpickle7633]

Great work! Those irregular lines in your prints are caused by instability in the print bed. You can greatly improve print quality by PID tuning your print bed.

[@silverXnoise]

I’ve been working on dRehmflight for the last several weeks. I’ve fried a Teensy, I thought I fried my ESC but evidently those things are pretty hardy. I also encountered a set of fan blades running at several thousand RPM, and they will indeed happily slice your fingers into shreds. I have no particular interest in RC hobbies, but have thoroughly enjoyed the engineering and appreciate the incredibly detailed documentation and work that you’ve put into this. My end goal is to develop a heavy-lift cinema drone and implement some of the dRehmflight functions and features into other motor and sensor control systems. Thanks for all the fun!

[@NicholasRehm]

Awesome! Remember to test, test, test until you fully understand how the system works. Keep those fingers safe

[@jurrione]

That looks like fun. I will wait for the noiseless version though.

[@winder6]

I could see this really going somewhere like becoming something like DRL in the future. Great job

[@animishaalagappa2327]

I recently got my hands on a teensy 4 Looking forward to fly-ving one soone😊

[@NicholasRehm]

Awesome!!

[@animishaalagappa2327]

@@NicholasRehm okay, the altitude hold is next level (also, i burnt my first teensy accidentally while i was high on beer xD), thinking of making an indoor drone with altitude hold similar to IZI... but the coding might be a little different.. is it possible to add a temp value to an aux ch on the teensy linked to an aux channel on a tx16s? what would be different on the stock DRehm flight code?? i aint a coding person, but i know a few basics thanks to my college's 1st semester (aeronautical engg)...

[@meirdeaph]

Thats frickin awesome!

[@robertparenton7470]

Thank You! From Frisco, TX

[@NicholasRehm]

Cheers!

[@Maccaroney]

I love this! I need one. I would buy one right now.

[@Brian-S]

This is so cool and I just bought another teensy 4 while they were available I think this is the next project

[@NicholasRehm]

Sweeeet!

[@6b796c65]

Wow so rad… that could be a viable product. Could you put a couple cameras facing down to hold position and gauge speed alike also helping it turn with out drift? It could have a drift mode for expert mode.

[@NicholasRehm]

Erik has been experimenting with that idea and is getting pretty good results

[@wildcat650power]

Super cool, I would love one of these. ❤

[@AuroraCypher]

Amazing ! Another great project sir

[@fuglong]

Thank you!! This is so cool

[@pawanv86]

Fantastic work!! I wonder what would happen if the lidar gets blocked 😜

absolut perfect, this is insparation for all the Car/ Drone Pilots.......thumbs up👍👍💯

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@xymaryai8283]

11:24 i thought you said "destructions" and got a wave of nostalgia

[@vikingsofvintageaudio7470]

This will be a very commercially viable product soon! Good job!

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks!

[@coletrick1781]

do you think 3 lift props would be better and have the 3rd line up center with the rear for less turbulence to the rear push prop

[@aldocosta1220]

Que da hora esse seu projeto. Muito interessante e que velocidade , meus Parabéns pelo projeto e excelente trabalho.Mas, não desista, é assim mesmo, é errando que se aprende; com o tempo você consegue descobrir e fazer um ajuste mais calibrado, de forma que consiga atingir às manobras que você quer fazer. Mas, continue criando essas maravilhas

[@randomstatements8034]

Nice! I'm still wondering how you were able to stabilise the video in your spinning drone video. Can anybody help out?

[@NicholasRehm]

A bearing and subscribe sign

[@randomstatements8034]

@@NicholasRehm how did you get power to the camera, also do you think an active stabilisation system for the camera is feasible

[@snapo1750]

This loooks soooo fun :-) would be cool to have on the remote a knob that you can turn to fix the default height... Also how far can this lidar meassure?

[@NicholasRehm]

About 30ft, but I wouldn’t try flying with it above 15ft

[@greg0063]

This is really great, it would really get people into the hobby. It will also only be a matter of time until a flight controller, height sensor, and software are available as a package. Then whatever cool frame to build or buy. It would be a little bigger than a 5 inch drone so you don't have to be a microsurgeon to build it. What a great concept!

[@NicholasRehm]

This is only the beginning!

[@akathisia]

Impressive. And so cool! What a fun idea.

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks!!

[@haphazard1342]

A couple thoughts. For propulsion, I think it would be a nice symmetry to have both forward and backward acceleration accomplished with the same technique of integrating the pitch angle and pusher motor speed. This way, you can benefit from the lift motors when accelerating from a stop, and from the motor mount airfoils when braking. This would also seriously help the stalling effect you ran into on your speed runs. Worth the effort to command reverse on the additional ESC. It would also be cool to see even more bank integration in turns. However, the more you bank the more error is introduced in your height estimate since the sensor is pointed further from vertical. Are there any single axis scanning LiDAR sensors you could use to allow picking the "true down" measurement? If not, how difficult would it be to mount the sensor on a servo to always point down? This would be most impactful for high speed maneuvers in tight spaces where there are side obstacles. Also interested to see how much control you could get with one additional axis to set the desired height. I guess that depends on the effective range of the height sensor being large enough, but with GPS you could transition the altimeter from ground mode to fly mode and have a really controllable plane too. Very reminiscent of Daniel's ground effect projects.

[@marian-gabriel9518]

Sensor fusion is your answer. Accelerometers tell you your "true" down. Normalize the axes and fuse it to your LIDAR to compensate the bank angle. No need for servos or anything else. Just mind your filtering :p

[@haphazard1342]

@@marian-gabriel9518 That's a fine suggestion but suffers from the same issue as the current implementation: if these are obstacles or significant terrain variation to the sides, the LiDAR sensor will report the distance to those obstacles instead of the distance to the ground directly below the vehicle. Imagine this extreme scenario: you are flying this vehicle towards the edge of a cliff and, upon realizing it, make a rapid banked turn to avoid flying off the edge. Even if you manage to stay on the cliff and not go over, when you are in the middle of the steep banked turn the LiDAR sensor could be pointing over the edge. The sensor would read the entire cliff height as your distance from the ground. Accounting for bank angle with a fixed sensor is only suitable for small bank angles. As the angle increases, you have to assume a smoother and more uniform ground surface, or add operating height for safety, otherwise the sensor may not read obstacles directly underneath the vehicle while in a banked turn.

[@marian-gabriel9518]

@@haphazard1342 Yeap, but putting servos on that thing is not the best idea either. Weight and complexity. Can break easily. Better off to put two LIDAR sensors, one of each side at a 45° angle to the belly one...and use the accel to measure which one is pointing "more down". No moving parts, no lag till you get them pointed. The bad part is it's more expensive. EDIT: Also the LIDAR should also have a bit of a wide area where it measures...But if it's not wide enough to cover the amount of bank angle and choose the measured points along the accel. down vector, then use two, as I said above. Or make the width the sensor can see through, wider by making the body of the thing transparent on the area of the body of the craft where the sensor sits. Depends on how that LIDAR HW is implemented... EDIT II: With this (and assuming enough processing power to run three LIDARs) you can monitor all of them and make an obstacle avoidance mechanism, where you only choose the distance along the accel down vector for your altitude correction, and the rest of the LIDAR directions for banking away from obstacles. (Also I should add that I'm assuming a scanning LIDAR not a single point range finder kind)

[@haphazard1342]

@@marian-gabriel9518 Yes, that would also be an improvement. You could interpolate between the measured values for the sensors that bound "true down". However, seeing the size of the LiDAR module I think a servo would still be more compact. The speed of response does not have to be instant, because the craft cannot bank instantly. A standard gyro control loop would be plenty fast, and direct mounting the LiDAR module on a servo horn is not too complicated.

[@marian-gabriel9518]

@@haphazard1342 Sure, you can do that, but you have to keep in mind that the sensor mounted on the servo still has to be both protected, so inside the fuselage, if you will, and also have a sufficient cutout in that fuselage to allow it to move and "see" and at that point you are exactly describing a scanning LIDAR which is already integrated as a standalone package, that's my rationale behind it...and it gives you potentially a larger viewing area or field of view, is faster (so you can use more filtering and get more accurate measurements). For a simple, approach your idea is the easiest and fastest to implement, mine is more expensive and involved, but I still think, purely from a performance and cost/benefit viewpoint, that it's better to go to an actual (meaning scanning) LIDAR, but at this point it's just a matter of preference/ cost and ease of implementation. EDIT: I like how this discussion feels like a HARA/FMEA engineering meeting :)))

[@drewbrit10]

Great job Nick! Reminds me of Captain Falcon's race car, the Blue Falcon

[@NicholasRehm]

Hahaha I can see it too

[@aviatoFPV]

This is just incredible. After printing a boat, I'm now working on a printed glider. After that I'm building this drone :')

[@wilgarcia1]

that's pretty cool. I wish more people would add trust motors to their drones. maybe a set of counter rotating ones.

[@israelignaciomirelesmaria3009]

1:03 Is this flying or just a good trick?

[@NicholasRehm]

Yea that's a real RC! kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJ3Von2ml9ynr80 Pretty sure theirs is a regular tricopter with throttle control for up/down, and they control the ducted thrusters with a slider on their airplane radio

[@azertyQ]

Rear motor needs a downward tilt so that it'll be level at high speeds. Also for the speed tracking, could you integrate your throttle input?

[@nic.h]

Adding a downwards tilt to the rear motor will introduce a torque, it would constantly be having to fight it and compensate with the front propellers

[@tiagotiagot]

I would expect it would be pretty hard to keep the calculated speed value from drifting due to wind, drag etc

[@TacticalCastle]

Sir, this is awesome!

[@EpicentrodoConhecimento]

Parabéns vc me inspirou a conhecer mais sobre esse assunto 😊😊

[@craigbu7755]

That thing is awesome,I hope somebody picks up on this idea,I'd buy one 👍

[@tiagotiagot]

Would it blow the budget too much to add two additional lidars, one at 45 degrees forward and one straight ahead, to take care of avoiding collisions and steep inclines at high speeds? And are there lidar modules with doppler that you could use for the 45 degree one to have it double as a speedometer to help figure out how soon it needs to react to the angled and fwd distances?

[@scottmclaughlin1410]

I'd like to try having the spars the vertical motors are on tilt for pitch change to introduce additional thrust maybe even a slight airfoil to the shape that would move into ideal angle for the direction chosen

[@MZ-nw7wz]

This is SO COOL!

[@AKDayzplays]

if you put a servo on the speed motor to make a angle when the drone flying i think u can reach more speed , if the speed motor change the angle with the drone and the other 4 motors i think go more faster

[@alexbaxter934]

its a real life snow speeder...nice job!

[@henribennettlepel1895]

It would be interesting to see how it sounds and handle's with a toroidal prop on the bottom motors

[@d4ro]

excellent fun design!!!

[@mr.Celsius]

this needs to be sold comertinaly

[@BuckeyeStormsProductions]

This is really cool! I could imagine RC and eventually full-sized racing leagues built around rhis type of aerial, "drift car." Pod racing, here we come!

[@NicholasRehm]

That would be awesome

[@andrew-729]

@@NicholasRehm Any reason why we can't scale this to carry a human with current battery tech? Electric cars have the batteries and lidar sensors needed...I feel like this negates a whole bunch of issues cars have now like rubber tires, weather making crashes etc. But yea, I want to race these in a league or something!! So my drone flys with a 23ms lag, would it be possible to fly one over the internet? How about a race of them?