Introduction: Firefly Pro - Fully 3d Printed Racing Drone
This is the all new Firefly Pro.Its a 250 size quad thats designed for the race track.
In this intractable you will find all necessary information to build the frame of the Firefly Pro.
You can find all STL files you'll need for this build on thingiverse:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1163884
Have fun building and flying the Firefly Pro.
Step 1: Hardware
To build the Firefly Pro you are going to need a few bits and bobs. Take some time to get everything shown on the picture below so you can build without a hassle.
Some of the screws aren't necessary in the exact length shown. Most of them can be a bit longer or even a little bit shorter. Its just a guideline so you know where to start.
Step 2: Main Frame
For the main frame you will need to print the parts shown on the picture.
Print the main frame with 28% infill. The sides and bumper are best printed with 50% infill.
However the bumper will be heavily penetrated in a crash so you better print a few spares.
Step 3: Getting Started
Take the bumper and start screwing in 4 M3x10MM screws. Next take the two M2x12MM screws and screw them in the two holes at the end. Take the lower plate and fasten it to the bumper.
Add two more M2x10MM screws into the holes for the sides. Now holding the side against the lower plate fasten all four M2 screws.
Step 4: Adding the Arms
Now to add arms to the Firefly Pro we need a few more printed parts.
Get everything ready thats shown on the picture.
Step 5:
Start by screwing in all four ESC mounts to the lower plates. Take four more M3x10MM and four M3x8MM screws.
Make sure you orient the ESC mount so the closed sides of the cable outlet is to the front and back to protect the cables.
Step 6: Capping It
Now fasten all four arms with four M3x10MM screws to the top plate and position it on top of the frame. Align the arms and start screwing in the top plate with the arms into the ESC mounts.
Finally fasten all the remaining screws and add the M3x22MM Stand offs with the four M3x6MM screws.
Step 7:
Add the camera plate by inserting the dampeners into the plate. This can be quiet fiddly.
A good way to insert them is to get something like nylon string, put it through the hole and around the dampener. Then gently pull the dampener trough while wiggeling a bit.

Participated in the
3D Printing Contest 2016

Participated in the
Make it Move Contest 2016
17 Comments
1 year ago
the link can't be opened, where can i download the STL files, this is really awesome
5 years ago
wut about the brushless motors?
6 years ago
hey men ! Really good tutorial... so you think it could support a gimbal without to much problems ?
Reply 6 years ago
It might support a small gimbal with a gopro on it but thats definitely not the intention for this frame. Its not a camera rig but more of a racing drone that should be as light as possible to be as fast as possible.
Reply 5 years ago
What about using just a Hero5 Session, do you think it would work "well"?
6 years ago
Hey man great tutorial! However, I am new to this whole drone world and am kind of confused. Where do all the electronic pieces go and how do i connect them? How would i figure this out?
6 years ago
i'm on a low budget roll at this point so i'm thinking of leaving out the camera in which case leaves the antenna. does this mean i need the integrated sd card slot
Reply 6 years ago
>I am not sure what you mean. If you don't want to fly fpv then you can leave out the fpv camera, the video transmitter and also the antenna. If you want to record your flight footage, you'll need a camera that records onto an sd card. However I am not sure if the footage will be very interesting since you are only flying in a very tight space around you.
Just build the copter without the fpv gear and see if you are having fun with it. You can still invest into the fpv stuff once you learned to fly line of sight and the progress to fpv.
6 years ago
Theree is a new version of the Flysky i6 remote which features 10 channels and some more goodies including s.bus!!
http://www.banggood.com/Flysky-FS-i6X-2_4GHz-10CH-...
7 years ago
I updated the recommended parts for this build and any build in general:
The motors for your build should have between 2300kv and 2800kv there are a lot of choices out there and its like most of the things in the RC world you have to decide how much money you want to spend.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__91632__MultiStar_V_Spec_2205_2350KV_Multi_Rotor_Motor_CW_15LAM_.html
http://www.banggood.com/DYS-BE1806-2300KV-Brushless-Motor-Black-Edition-for-Multicopters-p-946416.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/One-Pair-DYS-SE2205-2300KV-3-5S-Brushless-Motor-CW-CCW-for-FPV-Racing-p-1043442.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/Emax-RS2205-2600KV-RS-2205-2600KV-Racing-Edition-CWCCW-Brushless-Motor-for-FPV-Multicopters-p-1041930.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
You will also need ESCs (electronic speed controllers). I recommend going for the xm20a from DYS or similar.
http://www.banggood.com/DYS-XM-Seris-XM20A-BLHeli-mini-20A-ESC-For-High-KV-Power-Electronic-Speed-Controller-p-1021885.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
as flightcontroller you'll have a broad variety of choices. You could use a cc3d and then flash beta flight on it which is very cheap, You could also take a look at one of the newer FCs which have integrated OSD (on screen display) and/or video transmitters.
You better make your own decision there.
Different flavours of Flight controllers:
http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-Racer-250-Drone-Spare-Part-CC3D-Flight-Controller-With-Flexiport-p-1012630.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/LUX-32-bit-Processor-Flight-Controller-Support-PPM-or-Serial-RX-For-Multirotor-Racing-p-1060964.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/Upgrade-NAZE32-SP-Racing-F3-Flight-Control-6-DOF-10-DOF-for-Milticopter-p-1010232.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
Integrated SD-Card Slot to record flight data:
http://www.banggood.com/F3-Mini-Flight-Controller-STM32F303-With-MicroSD-Card-Slot-for-Multirotor-Racing-p-1055207.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
Integrated OSD:
http://www.banggood.com/Emax-Skyline32OSD-Skyline32-Acro-Flight-Controller-with-OSD-p-1045070.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
As PDB (power distribution board) I like the Matek PDB with integrated Lipo warner (Low voltage warner) which also is switchable by the transmitter if you can't find the quad after a crash.
http://www.banggood.com/Matek-LED-POWER-HUB-5in1-V3-Power-Supply-Board-BEC-5V-12v-Low-Voltage-Alarm-Tracker-p-1019353.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
As camera take the 700tvl fatshark camera (because of the size)
http://www.banggood.com/Fatshark-600TVL-CMOS-V1-Fixed-Mount-FPV-Camera-NTSC-PAL-p-917920.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
I tested a few other cams in similar size and all of them had a very dark picture.
If you choose an FC without video transmitter you can get one of these. They are very small and work great for me (these are also very cheap).
http://www.banggood.com/Upgrade-TX5828-40CH-5_8G-600MW-RP-SMA-Female-FPV-Transmitter-p-1022653.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-TS5840-Upgraded-40CH-5_8G-200mW-Wireless-AV-Transmitter-TX-for-FPV-Multicopter-p-1033810.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/Skyzone-FPV-TS5813S-5_8G-25mW-40CH-Mini-AV-Wireless-Transmitter-For-Mini-Multicopter-QAV250-p-1021364.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
If you want an OSD the micro minimOSD is a very versatile choice. You can monitor your batterie voltage, receiver reception and many more.
http://www.banggood.com/CC3D-Flight-Controller-Mini-OP-OSD-For-FPV-Multicopter-p-1009911.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
Additional parts will be
video goggles,
(This is a hole category in itself but I will leave a few links here)
FIRST CATEGORY: (from expensive to less expensive, and also from better resolution to worse resolution)
http://www.banggood.com/Fatshark-Fat-Shark-Dominator-HD-V2-FPV-Goggles-Video-Glasses-Headset-p-1008009.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/Fatshark-Dominator-V3-FPV-Video-Goggles-Glasses-WVGA-720p-HDMI-800X480-p-1000597.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/Fatshark-Fat-Shark-Attitude-V3-FPV-Goggles-Video-Glasses-Headset-Support-3D-p-1008008.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/FatShark-Fat-Shark-Teleporter-V5-FPV-Goggles-5_8G-7CH-Video-Glasses-Headset-p-1041414.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
SECOND CATEGORY: (Mono-Display-Goggles same order as before)
http://www.banggood.com/Skyzone-SJ-V01-5_8G-40CH-FPV-Goggles-7-Inch-1280x800-HD-Video-Glasses-with-HDMI-Input-p-1041124.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-Goggles-One-5-Inch-5_8G-40CH-Raceband-HD-1080p-72-Degree-HDMI-FPV-Goggles-Video-Glasses-p-1043694.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-EV800-5-Inches-800x480-FPV-Goggles-5_8G-40CH-Raceband-Auto-Searching-Build-In-Battery-p-1053357.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/KDS-Kylin-Vision-64CH-5_8G-Full-Band-FPV-Goggles-5-Inch-VR-Headset-with-Battery-p-1053030.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-VR-007-5_8G-40CH-HD-FPV-Goggles-Video-Glasses-4_3-Inch-With-7_4V-800mAh-Battery-p-960761.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
Things that matter with FPV goggles are FOV(Field of view (higher is better but stay between 30 and 50 degrees for the best flying experience)) and screen resolution (higher is better of cause) and the price.
battery straps,
http://www.banggood.com/10pcs-DUPU-Li-Po-Battery-Fixation-Magic-Tape-Straps-For-RC-Model-p-1040351.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
LiPos,
Get a few 3s Lipos if you are a beginner, but not to many you will be flying 4s sooner as you think. Also do not buy LiPos with a C-Rating lower than 40C.
LiPo charger,
http://www.banggood.com/SkyRC-IMAX-B6-Digital-RC-AC-Lipo-Li-polymer-Battery-Balance-Charger-p-912239.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
FPV antennas
http://www.banggood.com/AOMWAY-5_8G-3dBi-RP-SMA-Male-Four-Lobe-RHCP-VTxVRx-FPV-Antenna-p-978264.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
(Make sure the connector fits your video transmitter (RP-SMA/SMA))
A rule of thumb is don't take the cheapest stuff and start by imitating other fpv pilots.
This is much information for one comment but if you want to build a quadcopter some reading and learning is involved. With the list of products I recommended you have a good starting point for your first build.
If you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask.
Happy flying
7 years ago
Thank you for sharing. I am very impressed. After all these hardware information it would be a big help if you could complete (advice) the knowledge gaps to setup the firefly parts to a ready to fly drone. I guess I am not the only one who is very attracted by your kit but lacks the access to make it fly.
7 years ago
Very nicely designed! I know you have a version of this with carbon fiber tubes, and this one is fully 3D printable. Which one would you recommend?
7 years ago
Also, what size were the rubber dampeners? Could you provide a link to where you got them? Thanks!
Reply 7 years ago
I personally got these
http://www.banggood.com/Eachine-Racer-250-RC-Drone-Spare-Part-Anti-vibration-Plate-With-Damping-Balls-p-1010223.html?p=BQ31181713038201505L
7 years ago
What would I need in regards to a remote and a reciever to controll the 'copter?
Reply 7 years ago
You will need at least 5 channels to control the copter. There are many different options out there. If you are buying one, most of the time a receiver is included in the package. The cheapest Transmitter I know of is this one
http://www.banggood.com/FlySky-FS-i6-2_4G-6CH-AFHD...
its a 6 channel radio and actually really good for the money you pay.
A step up would be this one http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-FlySky-Upgrade-...
its a 10 channel transmitter and can be flashed with open source firmware which makes it pretty versatile.
Another step up is the Taranis
http://www.banggood.com/FrSky-2_4G-ACCST-Taranis-X...
many people are using it and it has a lot of features that the other transmitters in this list don't have, like voice feedback and different transmitting protocols for faster response time.
I have to admit I am no expert with radio controls and you can better transmitters then the ones above. However I think that they are the best transmitters you can find in the prize range they are. All of the are cheap for what they can which is always a big point for me.
7 years ago
what kind of motor and other equipment would you need for the drone to be ready to fly?