How To Build A Drone

This article was written by Jack Brown from mydronelab.com

Unmanned aerial vehicles have been around for decades, but they have achieved the greatest popularity in recent years with small commercial drones. The new so-called FPV (first person view) technology gave us a unique experience of flying and the advancement of GPS systems in drones opened a whole new world for passionate individuals.

Of course, drones are not the only RC flying devices on the market, but their agile multi-rotors and their capability to take amazing photos and record stunning videos during flight made them the most popular. That’s why commercial drones are in great demand nowadays, but have you ever wondered how to build a DIY drone from scratch?

Today, there is a wide range of drones on the market, and they differ in size, design, and properties. You just need to visit some popular online stores where the drones are being sold and find some ready to use a model that best suits you, according to its features and price.

Most people will simply buy a drone. On the other side, people who like do it yourself projects may enjoy building these devices from scratch. If you also like this craft, you can buy drone kits and enjoy piecing them together like a Lego puzzle.

The real challenge is to construct a drone from scratch without using a special kit. This is a complicated project, as you would have to find the necessary pieces and imagine the drone structure yourself. So what do you say? Are you up for this task?

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 quadcopter drone, and hopefully this will help you to understand whether you truly want to take on this project. No one is saying it is going to be easy, but some people find that the end satisfaction is more than worth it!

BASIC PARTS YOU NEED

Before you start to make this DIY drone, you need to know which components are needed to build it; if you want it to fly, of course.

• Here is a basic list of the components you’ll need in order to build yourself a drone:

• Frame: there are two possibilities when it comes to a frame for your drone. You can make it yourself or buy it in an online store. If you decide to build it yourself, the project is not that difficult, but you’ll need some engineering knowledge and knowledge of the materials you are going to use. For instance, you can use metal (something light), plastic, or even wood slats. If you opt for a wooden frame, you’ll need a wood board which is about 2.5 cm thick.
  Motors: For an ordinary quad, you will need 4 motors in total, but an octocopter requires eight motors to fly. The recommendation is to use brushless motors – they are lighter on the battery and, unless you are an engineer who completely understands how a motor works, these pieces should be bought from a store.
  ESCs or electronic speed control: these are also essential pieces of your drone as they are in charge of delivering power to the motors. Again, their number depends on the number of arms your drone is going to have.

• Propellers: When looking for the propellers, you must find the ones that match the frame of your drone. Pay attention to materials – you won’t find wooden propellers, but you must make sure the ones you choose are a good fit.

• Connectors: You will need 3.5 mm connectors to weld the motors and ESCs, as well as 4.5 mm connectors for the power distribution board.
  The power distribution board – this board connects the electronic speed controls to the battery.

• Batteries: When purchasing the batteries for your drone, you need to consider the capacity of a battery and its type. The most used batteries for this purpose are Li-Po batteries and their power differs.

• Battery monitor: This is not an elementary item, but the monitor is quite useful in warning you when the batteries are close to finishing. This way you don’t risk having the drone remain out of juice in the air, over a pond. A battery monitor ensures that your aerial vehicle won’t die in the most inopportune place.

• Mounting pad: It reduces the vibrations, and thus improves the flight. This one is very useful especially if you are trying to take pictures or videos with your DIY drone.

• Controller: This device shares the power and commands the motors at the same time.

• RC receiver: Of course, if you have a transmitter (which is usually with you), you’ll also have a receiver mounted on the drone.

• Camera: If you want to take aerial photos and record the surroundings while flying your drone, you will need a camera. The best cameras are those that can take the quality 4K videos, but everyone will find one according to their needs. For high-quality aerial photography and videography, you might also need a gimbal for the camera.

• USB key: This is necessary to save the photos and videos.

• Aside from the above-mentioned parts, you will also need AWG silicone wires, a battery charger, Servo lead wire cables, zip ties, 3M command strips, thread locking compounds, etc. In addition to these components, you can also embed other accessories to your drone and make it more advanced.