My 10-year-old son is working on a science fair project from Science Buddies called "Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift." We purchased the drone kit (made of popsicle sticks) from Home Science Tools. We followed the directions precisely. We got all the propellers to spin in the correct direction. It is still too heavy to lift. We tried removing some of the electrical tape and cutting off some of the straws. Do you have any other suggestions as to how we can lighten the drone so that it will lift? Could the hot glue we applied be too heavy? Could we trim the popsicle sticks? Do we need to purchase more powerful motors?
We appreciate any advice you could provide.
Many thanks,
Jill
Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Moderators: AmyCowen, kgudger, bfinio, MadelineB, Moderators
Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Hello!
One suggestion to lighten the drone to lift is trimming the popsicle sticks. This will help reduce the drone's length and weight. You can also minimize any unnecessary materials that may contribute to the weight. For the hot glue, using less of it may also help with reducing the weight. You can use it sparingly where it is needed. More powerful motors can also help. It may be that the motors given in the kit are not strong enough to lift the drone; purchasing more powerful motors may help.
I hope this helps!
One suggestion to lighten the drone to lift is trimming the popsicle sticks. This will help reduce the drone's length and weight. You can also minimize any unnecessary materials that may contribute to the weight. For the hot glue, using less of it may also help with reducing the weight. You can use it sparingly where it is needed. More powerful motors can also help. It may be that the motors given in the kit are not strong enough to lift the drone; purchasing more powerful motors may help.
I hope this helps!
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bfinio
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Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Hi,
It sounds like you have already gone through some of the troubleshooting steps listed in the project's FAQ (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... weight#faq), but one that I have not seen mentioned in this thread yet - it is critically important that the dowels and straws are all parallel and you can slide the drone up and down easily by hand without it getting stuck. If the dowels aren't parallel or the straws aren't properly spaced and there's too much friction, then it doesn't matter how much lift the drone generates - it will still get stuck even if it's light enough.
Are you able to slide the drone up the dowels easily by hand? If you drop it, does it fall all the way back to the bottom without getting stuck?
It sounds like you have already gone through some of the troubleshooting steps listed in the project's FAQ (https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... weight#faq), but one that I have not seen mentioned in this thread yet - it is critically important that the dowels and straws are all parallel and you can slide the drone up and down easily by hand without it getting stuck. If the dowels aren't parallel or the straws aren't properly spaced and there's too much friction, then it doesn't matter how much lift the drone generates - it will still get stuck even if it's light enough.
Are you able to slide the drone up the dowels easily by hand? If you drop it, does it fall all the way back to the bottom without getting stuck?
Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Thank you for your reply. The drone moves up and down easily on the dowels. If we drop it, it falls all the way back to the bottom. I am surprised because we followed all the directions on the kit. Do you have any other suggestions? We so appreciate your help!
Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Thank you for your reply. I have ordered different motors, and I will try trimming the popsicle sticks and using less hot glue. After spending so much on the kit, it’s disappointing if the parts are the issue.
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bfinio
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Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Hi - unfortunately I am out of suggestions - could you post pictures of your drone and setup? That might help me spot something that I can't figure out just from your posts so far.
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bfinio
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Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Hi - this is in reply to the video you sent.
1. It's hard to tell, but from the video it looks like the dowels might not be perfectly parallel. It looks like they sort of drift apart/out of alignment as they get higher. I know you said the drone moves up and down easily on the dowels by hand, but what happens if you turn the drone on and try to hold the dowels in place so they are perfectly parallel? Does that help at all?
2. What happens if you remove the drone from the dowels entirely and turn it on? (be prepared to immediately disconnect the battery pack to prevent damage when the drone crashes). As shown in the slow-motion clip at the beginning of this video: https://youtu.be/Q-BluEJBHLw?si=xYuNAtzclsKQicfa the drones should lift off on their own. This may help determine if the issue is the dowel alignment.
3. How long have you been running the drone at this point? Drones drain batteries pretty quickly, so if you have been trying to get it to work for a while and running it a lot, it is worth trying fresh batteries.
I just attended a science fair a couple weeks ago where a student successfully used this kit, and we double checked with the supplier to make sure they didn't change out any of the parts (e.g. a different propeller, motor, or battery), so as far as we can tell there are not any widespread issues with parts in the kit itself. Let me know the answers to the questions above and we can continue to help you troubleshoot - sorry this has not been the smooth experience you were hoping for.
1. It's hard to tell, but from the video it looks like the dowels might not be perfectly parallel. It looks like they sort of drift apart/out of alignment as they get higher. I know you said the drone moves up and down easily on the dowels by hand, but what happens if you turn the drone on and try to hold the dowels in place so they are perfectly parallel? Does that help at all?
2. What happens if you remove the drone from the dowels entirely and turn it on? (be prepared to immediately disconnect the battery pack to prevent damage when the drone crashes). As shown in the slow-motion clip at the beginning of this video: https://youtu.be/Q-BluEJBHLw?si=xYuNAtzclsKQicfa the drones should lift off on their own. This may help determine if the issue is the dowel alignment.
3. How long have you been running the drone at this point? Drones drain batteries pretty quickly, so if you have been trying to get it to work for a while and running it a lot, it is worth trying fresh batteries.
I just attended a science fair a couple weeks ago where a student successfully used this kit, and we double checked with the supplier to make sure they didn't change out any of the parts (e.g. a different propeller, motor, or battery), so as far as we can tell there are not any widespread issues with parts in the kit itself. Let me know the answers to the questions above and we can continue to help you troubleshoot - sorry this has not been the smooth experience you were hoping for.
Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Thank you so much for these tips.
1). He did make sure the dowels were parallel.
2). It did not work off the dowel. It seems like the motors are not powerful enough.
3). We will try the fresh batteries, although we didn’t run it a lot.
If we cannot get it to work, do you have any other recommendations for experiments involving drones? My son wrote a report about drones for the project, so we were hoping to keep the same topic. I think there may be ways to test speed and payload using store-bought drones.
Thank you again for all the time and attention you have devoted to our project!
1). He did make sure the dowels were parallel.
2). It did not work off the dowel. It seems like the motors are not powerful enough.
3). We will try the fresh batteries, although we didn’t run it a lot.
If we cannot get it to work, do you have any other recommendations for experiments involving drones? My son wrote a report about drones for the project, so we were hoping to keep the same topic. I think there may be ways to test speed and payload using store-bought drones.
Thank you again for all the time and attention you have devoted to our project!
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bfinio
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Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Hi,
I'm really sorry that you cannot get this to work. I built many of these drones myself using all the exact same parts (I'm the guy who wrote all the projects and made all the videos for Science Buddies). Many times when our users say they can't get it to work, there is something very obviously wrong (like they used a TON of glue and tape), but I cannot see anything like that from what you've sent.
A last-ditch idea to get this to work would be to use a higher voltage on the motors with a bigger battery pack. For example search for "6xAA" battery holder on Amazon (just to confirm - you are currently using a 4xAA holder, correct?): https://www.amazon.com/s?k=6+x+AA+battery+holder. Technically this exceeds the motor's voltage rating and might burn them out/things might get hot, so please be careful. But it could be worth a shot if all else has failed.
One more thing I do want to confirm before trying that - I know you said you have all the propellers on the right way, but have you checked to make sure you feel air blowing *down* if you hold your hand under each one of the motors individually? Just want to make sure you don't have a single motor wired backwards - meaning the propeller is on the right way, but spinning the wrong way since the motor wire are reversed. The propellers spin too fast for me to tell which way they're going in the video.
As for projects with store-bought drones, we do have a couple on our site:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ttery-life
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... drone-race
It isn't live yet, but we also plan to write an abbreviated project called "What's the Best Way to Shoot Down a Drone?" based on this video:
https://youtu.be/SrGENEXocJU?si=fMQm1i0HxGdXTPug
You can get really small cheap toy drones for around $20 - obviously you would not want to go smashing hundred or thousand dollar drones for a science project!
I'm really sorry that you cannot get this to work. I built many of these drones myself using all the exact same parts (I'm the guy who wrote all the projects and made all the videos for Science Buddies). Many times when our users say they can't get it to work, there is something very obviously wrong (like they used a TON of glue and tape), but I cannot see anything like that from what you've sent.
A last-ditch idea to get this to work would be to use a higher voltage on the motors with a bigger battery pack. For example search for "6xAA" battery holder on Amazon (just to confirm - you are currently using a 4xAA holder, correct?): https://www.amazon.com/s?k=6+x+AA+battery+holder. Technically this exceeds the motor's voltage rating and might burn them out/things might get hot, so please be careful. But it could be worth a shot if all else has failed.
One more thing I do want to confirm before trying that - I know you said you have all the propellers on the right way, but have you checked to make sure you feel air blowing *down* if you hold your hand under each one of the motors individually? Just want to make sure you don't have a single motor wired backwards - meaning the propeller is on the right way, but spinning the wrong way since the motor wire are reversed. The propellers spin too fast for me to tell which way they're going in the video.
As for projects with store-bought drones, we do have a couple on our site:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ttery-life
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... drone-race
It isn't live yet, but we also plan to write an abbreviated project called "What's the Best Way to Shoot Down a Drone?" based on this video:
https://youtu.be/SrGENEXocJU?si=fMQm1i0HxGdXTPug
You can get really small cheap toy drones for around $20 - obviously you would not want to go smashing hundred or thousand dollar drones for a science project!
Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Thank you for these ideas! I ordered the 6-battery pack. My husband tested the propellers, and they are correct. The only thing we can think of is too much glue, so we will start over this weekend and try using less glue. We have had great success with other projects on this site, so it must be something we are doing wrong. I will send you another video if we are able to reassemble it this weekend. Thanks so much!
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bfinio
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Re: Science Buddies Build a Simple Drone and Test How Much It Can Lift
Hi - based on the pictures you sent, I don't *think* you used too much glue - the drone should have some extra lift capacity, so a little extra glue shouldn't hurt, but at this point it may be worth trying rebuilding a lighter drone. Another option would be to cut the popsicle sticks shorter to shave off some weight. You can also try gently lifting the wires near the drone so they aren't weighing it down too much. Please keep in touch and let us know how it goes!