I have completed what I think is the smallest tinywhoop/raceable drone in the world as of September 2019. If you find a smaller whoop, let me know.
I have no issue with anyone using anything of mine as inspiration or even recreation, although mentioning me if you post something about it would be much appreciated, as I would like to do to Oscar Liang, whose Angry Oskie inspired me to build this, and I used a modified version of his frame. Here is his link: https://oscarliang.com/angry-oskie-smallest-brushless-micro-quad-build/
I have printed out the frame parts in PLA, and intend to machine frame out of POM when I have time.
Feel free to ask questions/request help or files (I will upload to thingiverse edventually) in the comments.
11/7/20 So I completely forgot about publishing this, but the end result was what I believe to be a record breaking quad that, yes, could successfully fly for 2 or so minutes, but it just wasn't powerful enough to be much fun, so I'm going to take it apart for parts later today. I think it's downfall was the weight from the stack on 35mm props. The photos with the red props were the final version, with vtx mounted on the bottom, and the photo with green props was from Oscar. Originally I was going to mill out the frame in POM for strength instead of printing it, but converting the mesh file for milling was a pain and I gave up.
Photos
Part List
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i have an idea.
your quad, the props still have room between them. you could close them up 2mm or 3mm. that would make the frame much smaller and now you can break your own record.
Here is the list of my build.
smallest frame you could find ( it should weigh 1gram ) or your frame should do.
betafpv 1s board with built-in RX. 2grams
namelessRC VTX with shortened antenna 0.9gram
runcam nano 3 1.3gram
motors: use the smallest motors. about 6-7 grams
camera holder: 0.5gram.
propellers: 1gram for all 4
total weight: 15 gram dry + 7 gram battery = 22 gram
The smallest quad, the lightest quad, and the most powerful 06xx motor setup anyone's ever had.
Good idea ? 👍
That would be slightly lighter than this current build iirc, but the lightest quad is actually 16.8g with much better flight times and ducts as shown by Kakolukia in another comment here. I've pretty much decided to not pursue low size anymore because of the poor flight characteristcs, but by all means you can try it!
how is 16.8g lighter than 15g ?
The smallest motors i want to fly are 08xx, so i'm not going to build it. that's why i gave the list for anyone who wants to try.
And i gave you the list because it seems you want to build the smallest quad. but i guess it's not the case anymore..
welcome to my club, the " not to build quads you don't want to fly " club.
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Sweet build! But i'm afraid i have to debunk your claim for the smallest raceable drone...
Let's just shamelessly show off my own creation i finished and released in february... :D
The difference is very little though. Its a 45mm wheelbase, 70 by 70mm frame including shrouds.
Only way i can tell my frame is smaller is because my propellers are nearly touching eachother (1mm distance between eachother):D
https://rotorbuilds.com/build/21761
We NEED smaller propellers, and lighter electronics... I'd love to go even smaller but its genuinly technically impossible for now.
Technically, isn't mine smaller because it's much shorter and it appears your frame requires the use of your prop guards? :)
Anyway, thats a really impressive build you did, I'm surprised it flies with all that plastic!
I suppose our biggest issue is with props right now, I'm pretty sure we lose a lot of efficiency as we go down in size, and I was having issues getting everything together in such a small space without prop wash hitting things like the frame, battery, and even stack. I'm now thinking about the possibilities of putting a mob6 fc sideways in a whoop, it should be way lighter than my stack of vtx, esc, fc, and rx, since all of that is in one board...
I solved the prop wash issue by using a pushprop setup while keeping a comfortable distance between the fc and the propellers to allow good airflow. That indeed makes my frame taller. Frame weighs about 5 grams including camera mount, so weight is not really an issue :-D
I have been thinking. Could propellers be designed in such a way that they can be smaller while still giving a thrust that is comparable to 31 mm props? There should be a way, i'm sure.. Although im not an aeronautical engineer.
3D printing smaller propellers is out of the question i think. Thats just not possible..
Hmm, I could be totally wrong but I think my frame was something like 2 grams? It does have the drawbacks of airflow and prop protection though. I don't really think there's a way to make propellers much smaller and keep efficiency, which is our largest issue it seems. We certainly can't print props with typical FDM printers, although it could be possible on high end SLA printers or similar... Either way though, I think injection molding will work much better, even if it's more expensive.
there's a 16x16 aio board from Jhemcu that just came in stock at pyrodrone. i ordered 3 lol.. should be killer for a super light nano build!