Make Mini Drone (Simple and Cheap)....!

by SHAMSUDHEEN MARAKKAR

85K12548

Intro: Make Mini Drone (Simple and Cheap)....!

Hi Friends,

In this instructable, I am gonna share you the story how I managed to build a simple and cheap mini-drone my own. Everything started when I decided to shop a mini RC drone and one of my friends told me to build one instead of buying one.

I can explain you the entire build process in fewer steps. If you like my instructable, please do vote for me in the Make it Fly contest.

STEP 1: We Need a Frame....!

An important mechanical part of any drone is its frame. Everything including motors, battery, and circuitry are mounted on the frame.

I have tried a number of frames as you can see in the pictures, but no one worked well.

I mounted the motors, connected the propellers and connected the battery to the motors but none of the frames were stable.

STEP 2: Make a Good Frame.

Then I decided to make a frame myself.

I referred many websites regarding the parts of a drone and the importance of every part.

Studied more about the frame and the physics of a good frame. Studied about three rotor drones, four-rotor drones, and other multi-rotor drones. Finally decided to make a four-rotor drone.

A well designed and balanced frame should be symmetric about its center of gravity and its center of gravity(CG), the center of mass (CM) and the center of symmetry should coincide.

The weight of the frame should be as low as possible.

To make a frame, I collected many plastic pieces from trash and selected the one with the lowest weight.

  • Cut the piece of plastic without breaking.
  • Draw the shape of the frame as per dimension.
  • Make four holes for the motors as per the dimension of the motors.
  • Cut and remove the unwanted parts.
  • File the frame to perfection.
  • Do some final finishing works like sanding and filing the edges.

STEP 3: Get Some Motors and Propellers.

Now we need four motors and four propellers.

I shopped them online from eBay.in. You can buy this type of tiny motors for mini-drone from a local shop or from online platforms. And the propellers also.

The motor is rated at 3.7 V and it has high rpm.

The red or white wire is the positive one and the black one is negative.

STEP 4: Put Everything Together.

Now we have the frame, motors, and the propellers. And we have to put everything together.

  • Connect the motors to the frame.
  • Stick the motor wires on the frame using small pieces of insulating tape as shown in the pictures.
  • Then stick a double-sided sticker to the middle of the frame to place the battery and the circuitry.

STEP 5: First Test Flight.


Now the motors and the propellers are ready.

For the first flight, we need a 3.7 V 150 mAh battery also.

Then

  • Connect the positive wires of all the four motors together.
  • Connect the positive wires of all the four motors together.
  • Then connect the negative pin of the battery to the negative terminals of the motors.

The video I attached here shows the demonstration.

STEP 6: How to Communicate?

  • Now the flight system is ready.

Now how to communicate with the drone wirelessly?

Some of my options are

  • IR communication using IR remote and phototransistor receiver.
  • Bluetooth module.
  • 433 MHz RF module.

But I got some interesting stuff to work with.

STEP 7: Get Some Old Stuff.

I got an old flying toy and took out its circuitry and battery out.

This is an IR based system with IR remote control.

  1. Open the helicopter body.
  2. Remove the wires and take out the board and battery

STEP 8: Connect the Board to the Drone Frame.

We have the frame with motors and the board for control.

Now

  • Stick the board to the frame using double sided sticker tape.(place it in the exact center of the frame for a balanced flight).
  • Connect the motor wires to the motor connection of the board.

STEP 9: We Done...!

We are done.

Now we can control its flight using the IR remote controller.

I am a man with a little and limited knowledge in flying toys/objects, So comment your opinions or whatever if any.

In my next instructable, I will be presenting you a much-improved version of my mini-drone :)

If you like my instructable, please do vote me for the Make it fly contest.

Thank you :)

28 Comments

rocketnail16 5 years ago

My drone is not flying id copied ur steps only it is only rotating on ground .all the propellors are moving but it is not flying

aekshaya123 8 months ago

Did you conduct the propellors to it?

fournite13 1 year ago

How to connect IR communication using IR remote and phototransistor receiver

sdebn1172 5 years ago

How to connect the four motor with the motherboard?

sdebn1172 5 years ago

How to charge the battery by remote?

adarsh5508kumar 2 years ago

Replace the new battery or use chargeable batteries for your drones

Chandan KumarS2 5 years ago

Hi
I want to design a drone and i will follow your steps too ...... but plz tell me that the copter from which u had taken out that board ...... i dont want to take it out from any copter but i want to desing that particular board to use in the drone ...... plz tell me as soon as possible we together can try it also . Thank you

adarsh5508kumar 2 years ago

Use any of the following:

IR communication using IR remote and phototransistor receiver.

Bluetooth module.

433 MHz RF module.

frankuwora 3 years ago

How can I get the materials for a Drone

Builder1o1 3 years ago

You can either buy a drone and make the drone out of those parts. that is what I'm doing. or you order them I guess...

krin22071986 3 years ago

Sir I have a doubt, sir have we put 2 150mah batteries in a drone or a 1and how can I control them with wire or without wire
. Please solve my problem

AnantnagK 5 years ago

Sir we want to construct its remote controllers circuit or we can use other toys remote controller

Bistalbk 5 years ago

Sir I have bought 433mhz wireless transmitter and receiver what to do next

DavyL8 5 years ago

How much is the motors and the helicopter

matiman 5 years ago

I dont understand the first step and the second

Amalp15 6 years ago

How much is the overall cost?
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