Overview

This build started with the idea of making a toothpick but with a nicer camera: the Runcam split 3 nano. It uses a frame I designed, loosely inspired by the Pickle-NG toothpick frame.

Frame

I liked the Pickle-NG 102mm design, but I wanted something a bit beefier, since I'm a crappy pilot, so I kept their idea of using just 3 screws for each motor but added some more reinforcement, as well as a spot to mount the vtx so it could use the frame as a heat sink. I cut the frame myself (see photos) on a Bantam Othermill Pro using 3mm 3000k CFRP. It ended up weighing 10g. The canopy was one of the Pickle-NG canopies printed in white TPU.

Rest of the build

I used the HGLRC 16x16 stack, and a HGLRC Nano vtx, plus the FrSky XM+. The Split 3 was mounted inelegantly but effectively using zip ties.

Challenges

Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Working on a toothpick is difficult, mainly because of fitting everything in the small space in the right orientation with safe prop clearance that allows access to the USB port and the Split3 SD card, and of course all the buttons for the vtx, XM+ and Split3. Not to mention keeping all the antennas out of the way of the props. Anyway, every time I fixed a problem, another problem came up. The props are extremely close to the wiring, which means I had to use a bunch of zipties to keep them from chopping up my work.

The video below shows the first flight. Sorry it's not longer but I didn't have a lot of time...