DIY (Drone It Yourself) Kit v1.0

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The DIY (Drone It Yourself) v1.0 kit offers you the opportunity to turn any object into a drone (or technically, an UAV). The kit consists of multiple parts that are easy to assemble and can be attached to a wide range of different objects.

For more advanced uses, you can take the original designs and alter the kit by making your own custom clamps or add-ons as needed.

The plastic parts have been 3D printed in ABS. The control unit contains a receiver, four ESCs, a bluetooth module and an Flight Controller. I've provided a list of the hardware and electronic parts I've been using, but feel free to try your own combination.

Watch a video of the kit in action below or continue to the next step.

Step 1: The 3D Parts

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Lets start with an overview of all the 3D printed parts.
I recommend printing them in ABS or something similarly strong and durable. I printed them in ABS with a fill of around 50% and a rectangular mesh, but I think printing them with slightly more fill might be better. It will not increase the weight that much (all the printed parts are pretty light) and might increase the strength quite a bit.

Inside the DIY_files.zip file you will find:
* The orignal SolidWorks files
* STL files that are ready to be printed
* Renders of all the 3D files to get an idea of what they look like – please note they are all rendered at different scales.

For the basic kit, you will need the following parts:

4 x motor_mount – the part that holds the motor
4 x clamp.stl – the main body of the clamp
4 x clamp_bar.stl – the small block that forms the other end of the clamp
4 x bolt_handle.stl – a
1 x box_top.stl
1 x box_bottom.stl

Optionally you can also print the extender.stl file 4 times. This extender can be used to create a bit of extra space between to propellors to prevent them from hitting each other. I have used these in the kit you see in the photos as well.

Continue to the next step for the nuts, bolts and washers needed.

DIY_files.zip

Love the exposure that Drones are getting! I race FPV pretty much every weekend. I'm not saying I'm good at it, but it's such a blast! I currently have the ImmersionRC Vortex and have no complaints, it is fast, and very versatile.http://www.xtremefpv.com

Elegantly done!

I have a 3d printer and would like to build my own drone. Anyone have suggestions for a good website where I can buy all the electronics needed? I will print all my drone body parts.

Hello Javi, thanks for the interesting project. I am building one. One note about your hardware list - you need m6 bolts to go with the m6 nuts on the clamps (not m4, as listed) and 60mm is NOT long enough to close the clamp as shown in your images... maybe 75mm? So far so good. I changed the print orientation of the clamps to improve their overall strength. The small Z-axis cross-sections looked like they might be too weak in the original model orientation. The changed direction also uses a lot less support.

What was the cost of the following please?4 x Motor1 x Propeller kit (2 times left and 2 times right rotating)1 x Propeller accessory pack4 x ESC (electronic speed controller)1 x Radio receiver (with a minimum of four channels)1 x Flight Controller

Okay, after some link clicking and googling - a bit under $300 (Including battery & charger)?Would it be possible to build a similar thing for under $100 (without 3D printed parts)?I would need?4 Motors2 Left propellers2 Right propellers4 ESCs1 Radio Receiver1 Radio Transmitter1 Flight Controller1 Battery1 ChargerAm I missing anything?Can you suggest cheaper items to make this total under $100?Thanks!

I don't have a 3d printer so can somebody recommend one that is not super expensive

Also check out 3D printing hubs around you, in St. Louis (where I am) there's plenty of them. Many college students will list themselves as a a "hub" and although they're really just some guy with a printer trying to pay off student loans, they're usually good to work with and give you a good price. And finally the best option besides buying your own printer is to find your local hackerspace, check Meetup.com and search your area for one, they usually have a 3D printer and they might even let you use it for free! Hope that helps!

braytonlarson I'm right across the river(Granite City,IL).Do you have anyone in particular you can personally recommend?Thank You!

Arch Reactor is a great hackerspace. They have a laser cutter, 3D printer, and a small CNC. They're great people who always are happy to help out and there are usually people there every tuesday and sunday afternoon. I'd reccomend going to one of their Laser Nights, held monthly, where you can meet some people and learn how to use the laser cutter. There's more information on their website ( http://archreactor.org/ ) and their schedule for main meetings is on meetup ( http://www.meetup.com/Arch-Reactor-Hackerspace/ )

Also building one isn't to bad of an idea. There plenty of instructables on it and with a little bit (actually more like a ton) of work you can make a decent entry level printer for cheap.

The cube <a href="http://cubify.com/" rel="nofollow">http://cubify.com</a> starts at around $1,000. It's a good choice for beginners due to its ease of use and intuitive design program.If you consider yourself more technologically advanced, dx.com has some 'make your own' kits to look into. <a href="http://dx.com/p/heacent-3dp02-3d-printer-assembly-kit-238922#.UtbUC_RDuSo" rel="nofollow">http://dx.com/p/heacent-3dp02-3d-printer-assembly-kit-238922#.UtbUC_RDuSo</a>

First of all, great project and i cant wait to do it myself. And secondly, what bluetooth module did you use?

geniale

All drones that fly over my property without my consent will be shut down.No exceptions.

Very cool and all in one place article Thanks!!!

http://rc-drones-review.toptenreviews.com/

Simple and awesome idea

Jasper van Loenen hello! You can help get your set of drone?

This DIY Drone kit look pretty cool. Me myself i wish i could get one but i do not own a 3D printer and i cannon get the parts that are used in this. I wish i could get them but in your early'er reply's to comments that say you do not sell them is quite disappointing! I have been trying to learn how to build one out of house hold items but i cannot find a motor that is small enough and light weight enough , cheap enough to work for my own needs. If you can send me a link to a webpage that sells small, cheap motors i would really appreciate it! (also i checked out your website and clicked the link to the website that sells the motors i couldn't find the price)

great design, how long can it fly for?

Excellent work!! whats max altitude? and the weight can handle?

This looks tailormade for a summer camp project!

excellent I will be printing this soon, thanks for sharing

Hey cool idea!!! Great design!!!

IT really is a cordless phone.

this is awesome!

how much the total cost of each drone (motors, battery..etc? what kind of 3d printer do you recommend? can you buy the clamps from hardware store? I like the idea of attaching it to any object. was the drone able to fly missions autonomously since you are using autopilot

But my parts were printed on an Up! printer in ABS. Someone else printed them for me, as I do not own my own printer. I would recommend ABS over PLA because it has better UV and temperature resistance. Might not be needed, but for something thats going to fly around its better to be safe than sorry. The clamps can't be bough from a hardware store, as they are my design and you need to print them yourself ;) I'm not using an autopilot but OpenPilot, which is an opensource project. At this point I can't use GPS and such, but I guess you can use a different controller that can.

Hello sir, Is there any way you can make a video showing us how you assembled the entire drone (I mean connecting the parts and putting them all together). I will be using this for my project. in college.

Jasper, Very cool, nice work! Is there anything you would change about the design? Do you like the sizing on the motors, propellers and speed control? Thanks.

how much are the total costs of this project?

How much did all the parts cost together? This would be an awesome gift for my friend.

what is the longest flight time you get with this setup?

How long does it fly for?

Make a youtube channel and attach these to more things please... I want to see the silver case fly

how about the servos (motors), did you 3d print these from scratch? I did not see a printing file for it. or you bought them from Hobbyking?

Great design and brilliant execution... Congratulations!!

Congrats on winning the grand prize! How about using your kit to turn the 3DR quad into a done? ;)

Very nice. You going to sell the kits? :-)

No, sorry.

I'd like to purchase one of these kits. How do i do so?

Sorry, I do not sell them. Feel free to download the files and make your own though!

And voted 4 you!

Thank you!

Great work! I've got two questions: How long did your quad approx. fly with your setups (bike rim, phone,... )? What was your expirience with the kk board? Cause this v2.0 should have more or less the same features like the cc3d for half the price... http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=24723&aff=588847

I haven't flown it extensively (yet) as this was part of my graduation and I couldn't really take it outside during the exhibition. I have hardly any experience with the KK board. I actually bought it while waiting for the CC3D to be released, and apart from trying to hover it a bit off the floor I never got to fly it. I think it's a simple but proven board though.

This is a cool inscrutable but the fact that they are buying a pre made kit and this is how to assemble your kit is a bit of shame, because you seem very good at explaining but you explained how to make your kit and nothing more. I must say though, i do like the idea of attaching it to anything,if it were a hexacopter that had a it of redundancy i would attach it to a tablet computer, but as a quad i would be too afraid a motor fails and it crashes, i think the biggest failure points in the design are the wire joints, you have made this to be very flexible, but metal will only bend so many times before it fatigues and snaps especially solder joins like the motor windings.

Jared, not Jered, sorry.

He Jered, thanks for your comment. I just want to stress that I'm not selling anything, I'm giving away the designs for my kit for free. I don't expect a lot of people to fully follow my instructable from beginning to end. My intention is to show some techniques I used, which might also be useful for others. For instance, someone already responded that he is going to make a case like mine. It won't be for a drone, but he liked the way I built it. Others might find my way of making a clamp that lets you connect things at different orientations interesting (you can connect the clamp in different ways, while the motor ca still point upwards). I'm not sure about your point concerning the wire joints. There is no real tention on any part of the wire, When moving the motors around you get the flexibility from the cable, which will not break as long as you don't force it into weird sharp corners. It like, I don't know... moving your phone around while it's still plugged into the power outlet: as long as you don't walk away with it or step on the cable, the connections will be fine. Again, my instructable is mostly meant to show different parts of the design which might be useful to others.