This article will take you through the basic steps of building a drone from scratch. As expected, this can be an extremely complicated project, depending on the type of drone you want to build, and the materials necessary.
This article will take you through a general outline of what it looks like to make a DIY quad copter drone.. No one is saying it is going to be easy, but some people find that the end satisfaction is more than worth it!
So for this step-by-step guide, i have focused on showing you how to build a quad copter with pieces that you can buy separately:
Step 1: Making the Frame
No matter what your drone is going to be, it must have a frame. So, the first task is to make a frame. For this purpose, you can use different materials, such as metal, plastic, or wood. These materials will differ based on how sturdy you intend the drone to be.
If you select wood for the frame, find a wood board that is longer than 60 cm and about 25-30 mm thick. Cut up this board in such a way to get two laths which are 60cm long and 30mm wide. These two lengths are required to make the structure of your future quad.
Crossing these two laths you’ll make the X frame. Also, you will need a wooden sheet in order to make and add a rectangular piece in the central part of this frame. Its size should be 6×15 cm, and about 2mm thick.
Of course, you can use other dimensions if you like, but these will get you a pretty nice quad. To connect these parts, you will need nails and glue. In case you decide to go with metal or plastic, the dimensions are similar but the way you connect the laths together is going to be different.
Step 2: Propellers, Electronic Speed Controllers, and Motors
The ESCs (Electronic Speed Controllers), the motors, and the propellers are among the most important elements of a functional drone. So, you should get these components from an authorized store to ensure quality and reliability. They must be in accordance with the size of your drone, so bare this in mind when buying them. Do not be afraid to ask for assistance from someone at the store.
For the propellers, we suggest you buy the metal 9-inch props you can find at a very affordable price on the market. These are durable and won’t bend so easily if the drone hits something during flight. However, if you want better performance, it would be better to get carbon props.
And finally, you need to pick up some ESCs (Electronic Speed Controllers), if you don’t want 4 of these (keep in mind we’re talking about a quad here) you can buy the 4 in 1 controller.
Step 3: Assemble the Motors
The next thing you need to do is drill the holes in the frame for the motors, according to the distance between the screws holes on the motors. It would be good to make another hole that will allow the clip and shaft of the motor to move freely.
However, you may skip this action if the motors already came with mountings. Put the motor in the appropriate place and fix it to the frame using the screws and a screwdriver.
Step 4: Mount the Electronic Speed Controllers
After mounting the motors, you also have to mount the speed controllers. How will you do this? It is recommended to connect the speed controllers on the bottom side of the frame due to several reasons which involve the functionality of the drone. These reasons, among others, include that it will “unload” the upper side of the drone where other components should be added.
In order to fix the ESC very well to the frame, you need to use zip ties. This way, your ESCs are tied down and well secured while flying.
Step 5: Add the Landing Gear
This gear is an important part when landing your UAV because it significantly reduces the shock when the drone lands on a solid ground. It can be made in different ways, but you should be creative and make it in your own, unique way.
Here’s one idea: find a metal pipe (about 6 inches in diameter) and cut off (with the appropriate tools) 4 rings that will be 1-2 cm thick. Of course, the size of these rings should be in accordance with the general size of your drone. You can then use duct tape to fix these pieces to the frame.
If you don’t like this metal pipe idea, you can also use other materials that are flexible but strong, such as some new plastics, or anything that will reduce shock.
Step 6: Flight Controller
Every flying drone must have a control system. This electronic system allows a drone to be stable in the air while flying and processes all the shifts and changes in direction and the wind.
There are two options when it comes to this step:
First, and the easier option, is to buy a ready-to-use controller. With the second option being that you make it yourself.
If you want to make a controller yourself, you should opt for projects that best suits your needs. Do some more research, and examine the individuals features of each in more detail. It is very complicated to construct such a device and requires an expert drone technician. But if you are able, your drone will be the ultimate “do-it-yourself” aerial vehicle.
Step 7: Choosing a Right RC Tx-Rx (Wireless Remote Control System)
This is the remote control system that is needed to control a drone.
There are various available RC control systems nowadays, like Futaba, Spektrum, Turnigy, FlySky, and so on.
In addition to this system, you’ll also need a few channels for yaw, pitch, throttle, and roll, as well as the additional channels if you want to mount a camera control to your drone for some aerial photography.
Step 8: Mount the Flight Controller
Once you choose the particular flight controller that is best for your needs, you need to mount it. There are several ways to mount it. For instance, you can place it on the top of the frame in a certain direction, but you need to make sure that all the components are fixed well before calibrating your drone. For this purpose, you can also use the zip ties which were mentioned above.
It is recommended to put a small piece of sponge on the underside of the flight controller because it absorbs and reduces the vibrations from the motors. Thus, your drone will be more stable while flying, and stability is key to fly a drone.
Step 9: Connect the Open Pilot to Your Drone
The next thing you have to do is to configure and connect the flight controller to the electronic speed controllers.
Also, you have to connect it to the remote control. In order to see how to do this step, you will need to find an appropriate tutorial video on the web for the particular flight controller you have previously mounted.
Step 10: Check Out and Test Your Drone
Before you finally use your drone, you must be sure that everything works well. Therefore, you have to check out all the functions before the first flight. You can test the sensors as well as other components of your drone using the special OpenPilot GCS.
To make sure that everything works well, you need to take off the props and make a small experiment with the remote control. This ensures that you can test the drone without risking the potential of breaking it.
For this test, you should find a suitable place and try to move your drone within its control distance. Pay attention to the zip ties and cables to make sure that they are connected well. When everything is okay, your drone is ready to fly!
Be sure not to cut any corners in this step, it is imperative to test everything in detail before actually flying the drone. You would not want your drone’s first flight to be its last after all!
Step 11: Takeoff
This is the last (and dare I say, most important) step. Before taking off, the battery must be well connected and all the components must be fixed in place. For the test flight, you need to choose a location carefully, since this aircraft can cause serious damages and can be damaged as well. It is best to choose an open, flat area, so that you do not run the risk of damaging anything with your drone, or vice versa. Also, you will ensure that you can see your drone at all times
Place your quad on the ground, put it into operation, take the flight controller, and get started with your first flight. It’s recommended that you slowly throttle up your drone, and fly it at low altitude for the very first time. Thus, if it starts coming down out of control, the damage won’t be that significant.
If the drone starts drifting in one direction, you have to use the trims in order to make the necessary flight correction. Also, you should try out different PID values to see how your drone works in various inputs until you get exactly what you want.
In this article, I managed to briefly cover the pieces and the steps to make in order to build a drone from scratch, but you should consider learning more. What’s more, there are also many “intermediate steps” in addition to the basic steps we just described. It is simply the fact that due to the multitude of types of drones, component, programs, and accessories, that there are many ways to build a drone depending on the complexity of drone you are planning to make.
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