I try to develop a 3Dprintable micro drone for scouting, driven by low-tech software. I has to carry a light camera and go straight ahead as it is lauched by hand in the correct direction.
Any ideas are very welcomed!
Below my first studies:
And also the 3D model of my current studies:
231011bc HELI adjusted for model-DRAGONFLY.3dm (19.1 MB)
Looks really cool! But it could take you several years of work to actually get it to fly.
From its appearance, itâs clearly inspired by the S-64 Sky Crane that it strongly resembles, than a modern quadcopter that you could be confident would fly out of the box. I would think thereâs a niche market for a non flying scale model of the S-64. Theyâre quite special. That would be a much better use of your work.
There is one single advantage to your design, in only needing one engine . But the real Sky Crane (that actually have two Pratt and Whittneys) will have all kinds of flight surfaces, feathered blades and control systems and amazing tech to keep it in the air.
Getting drones to fly from scratch, without using standard designs, standard parts and standard control systems, is a hard problem. To do so, you must essentially re-invent powered flight from scratch.
Where are you putting the battery for starters?
What aeronautical control surfaces do you have available to keep it stable in the air, if youâve only got a single rotor, and tail rotor? I donât think youâll very easily be able to 3D print a fully articulated main rotor bearing, let alone one that lets you pitch / feather the blades.
Drone design is incredibly advanced now, but also quite mature, being over 10 years old. I strongly suspect thereâre solid engineering reasons why quadcopters or fixed wing designs are common place, and why drone copters do not resemble the Sky Crane, or even any helicopter at all. Have a watch of a few of Tom Stantonâs videos to see what it takes to get untested design to fly, let alone be controllable and air worthy.
Iâm not looking into skycrane design, that i know. I am looking into Micro and Nano Drones.
My execise shows how to take inspiration from large scale design and test micro designs.
You can see the 1 to 1 scale models inside the Rhino file attached.
I tested:
Thatâs great. But until you actually get it flying, what use is it for your stated goals?
Well, to create awareness obviously.
There are people out there that are more skilled than I am at making drones.
If many people will start to make drones and send them to conflict zones, or even donate the drones that they have, then lives will be saved.
Maybe someone will see my post and help me with the mechanics.
Hereâs another great Vizcom variation:
Whatâs the point of creating awareness about a drone design that will never fly, due to an obvious fundamental design flaw?
Wanting to help is fantastic. If thatâs what you want to do, talk to people who are actually there and ask them what they need. Then go run a charitable campaign to support them.
Cheap drones are a great idea. But drone air frames that are strong enough can even be made out of cardboard now. Aerodynamic drag is not important at drone scale. Iâm sure there are useful specific parts, e.g. brackets and fixings that 3D printing could be useful for. But it could be argued that 3D printing the main air frame, adds no advantage except rapid prototyping, and adds significant unnecessary extra mass and extra cost.
If you want to continue with this design (I think youâre infringing Erickson or Sikorskyâs designs, and are asking to get sued, so I recommend you donât). Then figure out what the required mass is (of the camera, controller, comms unit, battery, servos, motors and air frame) is, and what your intended flight time is, and post asking for a design review on some forums used by people who know what it takes to get untested drone designs to actually fly, or even aeronautical engineers. Even RC Helicopter pilots have an incredible amount of knowledge about this.
I am creating awareness about the wars!
I think that there are many skilled people right here on this forum .
And Rhino is the best tool for drone design.
3D printing adds massive advantage in the preliminary design phase:
You can send the model via the internet an people can 3D print and study further the details like wight in different materials. Also in late stage 3D printing allows manufacturing on site, with minimum of manual work.
It is difficult to manufacture Nano Drones out of cardboard, 3D printing works best for small details. Please see the youtube video about the Black Hornet in my first post.
My concept is different from most drones iâve seen so far because it doesnât use advanced software to work.
Oh, and I do ask questions to people that simulate micro drones. You can check the following link on the steam community:
Or check the game on the official website:
Bogdan, whatâs the goal here, and whatâs your deal? Do you even have any sort of plan beyond the sort of posts better suited to social media?
I am creating awareness about the wars!
I think that there are many skilled people right here on this forum .
Skilled people, who arenât capable of reading the news on-line for themselves?
wight in different materials
Weighing the air frame, without knowing how strong it needs to be, before you have any idea what the mass of the battery, motors, sensors, controller, servos, comms and camera are, is a classic case of premature optimization.
manufacturing on site, with minimum of manual work.
If your plan requires them to assemble your product from a kit, you need to talk to potential customers or end-users first.
doesnât use advanced software
Advanced open source software thatâs proven to keep drones in the air is freely available.
Dear James,
My goal is to share information and lean new things.
To answer your questions:
Also, please have a look at my research on drone components.
and flight modes:
Very interesting thankyou. Youâll learn by far the most, and will understand the basic constraints much better, by building a real drone for yourself, that flies successfully, even if you have to buy an off the shelf kit.
To understand the customer specific constraints (e.g. FPV in a war zone), you have to talk to your customers or do market research.
Interesting, thanks. Iâll have a look into DIY drones.
At this moment Iâm asking questions and showing the main concept: Small, Simple, Unidirectional
And gather feedback.
Perhapse in the Rhino file, the dragonfly model could be the closest.
200mm in Length and 88mm propeller Radius.
Do you know any DIY drones that look similar to this one?
Iâve only got a casual interest in them, but ever since they became called Drones, instead of RC Helicopters, Iâve only ever seen off the shelf âhelicopterâ drones (i.e. not fixed wing) with multiple main rotors.
20 or 30 years ago (when âdroneâ was a verb, meaning to make an annoying repetitive noise, and/or to never stop talking) there were entire catalogues full of RC Helicopters, all of which have the same basic design as this one (single main rotor and a tail rotor). They were always quite pricey, like over ÂŁ500, and you could easily spend ÂŁ1000. They had a reputation of requiring even more skill to fly than an RC Plane. I think some of them even had small petrol engines, like the first model planes. I assumed at the time, the price was because the main rotor mechanism is very intricate, and does the same thing most passenger carrying helicopter rotors do: gimballs, and even featherâs the pitch of the blades as well.
Before I even start to consider the ethics about making further posts in a public forum, that may actually help the opposite side in a conflict to the one I support myself, I have good news.
8 years ago, the palm-sized Black Hornets reportedly cost nearly $200,000 each. Thatâs a lucrative market if you can build something that works and sell a few (think what the rest of the world could achieve with miltary budgets)
As Iâve already said: This is a great idea. But getting it to actually fly is a hard problem.
The bad news is, unsurprisingly as the company that invented them was bought for $136 million, the general concept is robustly defended by patents, which still have some 8-10 years yet before they expire.
Hi James,
I usually think about saving lives. This can only benefit the good no?
You mention costs, I think: Open-Source is the way!
Now my question: Whoâs doing the Flappy Bird computer programming with Hold Altitude for smartphone? 
On BluetoothâŚ
Interesting idea, I guess, but how will supplying drones to war zones save lives? You may have the best intentions but what happens when someone straps a bomb on this thing and kills people with it? Seems like it would be the opposite of what you hoped for. Look at what the world did with Alfred Nobelâs invention of dynamite. Wasnât too long before dynamite was being dropped from biplanes and people were dying.
DanBayn,
This is a very light drone of maybe 60grams.
And it should be tuned at maximum performance. It wonât fly with any extra load.
Black Hornet achieves stable flight by having a long string attached to its belly.
About the artilery shell i was showing an example of how small drones can fight tanks.
If you watch the video you will see that the damage is done only to essetial mechanical parts of the turret.
My drone cannot carry any shells or anything else as extra load.
I am trying to desig technology similar to the Black Hornet. - and that drone is not a wepon.
I am trying to desig technology similar to the Black Hornet. - and that drone is not a wepon.
Well the good news is, by the time you get it working, the Black Hornet patents will have expired.
I donât need Black Hornet patents because I have a fundamentally different concept of design.
While the Black Hornet is packed with software for complex air maneuvers, my drone is driven only by a few software instructions. This makes it an entirely different product, cost efficient in both prototyping and production.
Cost efficiency is one of the main characteristics of a particular design.
