Jump to main content

3D Print a Drone Frame

1
2
3
4
5
92 reviews

Abstract

Drones come in all shapes and sizes. In this engineering project you will design and 3D-print your own frame for a miniature drone.

Summary

Areas of Science
Difficulty
 
Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Access to a 3D printer or online 3D printing service required.
Cost
Average ($40 - $80)
Safety
No issues
Credits
Ben Finio, PhD, Science Buddies

LEGO® is a registered trademark of The LEGO Group.

Objective

Design and 3D-print the frame for a miniature drone.

Introduction

Drones come in all shapes and sizes. A quadcopter is a popular type of drone that has four propellers (Figure 1). Each propeller is driven by a motor. Drones have many other parts, like a battery for power and a circuit that helps steer the drone. Some drones also have a camera. Many drones have legs or landing gear that helps them land upright. All of these parts are held together by the drone's frame, also called the chassis (pronounced "chassee," the last "s" is silent).

A quadcopter flying in the air
Figure 1. A DJI Phantom, a popular type of consumer drone.

Drone frames can be made from many different materials. They can be made from metal, plastic, or materials like carbon fiber. Some people have even built drone frames using wood or building toys like LEGO®. However, in general, most drone frames serve the same purpose. They need to hold all the parts of the drone together. The frame should be lightweight so it does not weigh the drone down too much, but also strong so it does not bend too much as the drone flies, or break easily if the drone crashes. Some drone frames are a fixed size and shape, while others fold up to make the drone more compact for easy transport. Finally, many consumers might want a drone that looks cool, and the frame is an important part of the drone's appearance.

In this project, you will design your own frame for a miniature drone using a computer-aided design (CAD) program. You will make the frame using 3D printing, then add real motors and connect them to a battery so you can test the drone. You should follow the engineering design process to design, build, and test your drone frame. You can read more about the engineering design process in the Bibliography.

Terms and Concepts

Questions

Bibliography

Materials and Equipment Buy Kit

Recommended Project Supplies

Get the right supplies — selected and tested to work with this project.

View Kit

Disclaimer: Science Buddies participates in affiliate programs with Home Science Tools, Amazon.com, Carolina Biological, and Jameco Electronics. Proceeds from the affiliate programs help support Science Buddies, a 501(c)(3) public charity, and keep our resources free for everyone. Our top priority is student learning. If you have any comments (positive or negative) related to purchases you've made for science projects from recommendations on our site, please let us know. Write to us at scibuddy@sciencebuddies.org.

Experimental Procedure

  1. If you have not already, watch this video before you continue:
  2. Make a list of things to consider when designing your drone frame. For example:
    1. How will you attach the motors and wires to the frame? (Note: the motors in our materials list have a 6 mm diameter and are 15 mm long.)
    2. Will the frame have landing gear or legs?
    3. Will you try to make the frame thin and lightweight so it is not too heavy? Will the parts break if you make them too thin?
    4. What shape do you want the frame to be? What should it look like?
    5. Will your frame include a guide for vertical flight on a guide pole, or will your drone be free-flying? If you decide not to include a guide, you can always glue on a piece of straw later (see step 6).
  3. Design your frame in a CAD program like Tinkercad (Figure 2). You can start your own design from scratch, or you can copy and modify one of the designs from the Science Buddies Tinkercad page (drone frame 1, drone frame 2, drone frame 3). You might end up with multiple CAD files, so keep track of which is which (for example, include "version 1" in the filename).
    screenshot of a drone frame designed in Tinkercad
    Figure 2. A screenshot of a drone frame designed in Tinkercad.

  4. Carefully review your design before you continue. While the engineering design process is often iterative (meaning you might repeat some of the steps and re-design or re-build something), too much iteration with 3D printing can be time-consuming and expensive. If you are using an online 3D printing service, it might take days or weeks for your printed frame to arrive. If you have your own 3D printer, it might take several hours for your frame to print, but you do not want to waste lots of printer filament if you need to re-print the frame to correct mistakes.
  5. Print your frame (Figure 3) and complete any required post-processing. For example, depending on the type of printer used, you might need to clean or break off support material.
    1. Does your frame look like you thought it would, based on the CAD design?
    2. Does your frame feel sturdy enough if you try to gently squeeze it or bend it?

    Three different 3D printed drone frames.
    Figure 3. Several different 3D-printed drone frames.

  6. Follow the instructions in this video to assemble and test your drone, using your 3D-printed frame instead of popsicle sticks and straws (Figure 4). You can also follow the written instructions.
    1. Do all the parts fit together like you thought they would?
    2. Do you have any problems when assembling your drone?

    3D printed mini drone with propellers and motors attached
    Figure 4. Assembled mini drone with 3D-printed frame.

  7. Test your drone! Turn on the motors and observe what happens when the drone flies. After your drone lands, inspect the frame for damage.
    1. Did any parts of the drone fall off?
    2. Did the frame break anywhere?
  8. Based on your answers to the questions in steps 5–7, think about how you could change your frame's design to improve it. Make a list of the changes and improvements you want to make. For example, maybe it was too hard to attach the motors, and you need to change the size or shape of the motor attachment points. Maybe your drone was too heavy to lift off, and you need to make the frame lighter. Or maybe your frame was too thin and broke easily, so you need to make it sturdier.
  9. Make a copy of your CAD design and save it with a new name (for example, include "version 2"). Make changes to your design using the list you wrote in step 8.
  10. If you have the time and budget, you can print and test a second (or even a third) version of your frame. If you do not have the time and budget to print more than one frame, then for your project you can still show "version 2" of your CAD file and explain how the changes you made would improve the frame.
icon scientific method

Ask an Expert

Do you have specific questions about your science project? Our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.

Global Connections

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) are a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

This project explores topics key to Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

Variations

  • Can you 3D-print working propellers for your mini drone?
  • If you want to build a larger, fully functional drone, see the Build Your Own RC Drone project.

Careers

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

Career Profile
Have you watched "The Transformers" cartoon series or seen the "Transformers" movies? Both shows are about how good and evil robots fight each other and the humans who get in the middle. Many TV shows and movies show robots and humans interacting with each other. While this is, at present, fantasy, in real life robots play a helpful role. Robots do jobs that can be dangerous for humans. For example, some robots defuse landmines in war-stricken countries; others work in harsh environments like… Read more
Career Profile
You've probably heard the expression "build a better mousetrap." Industrial engineers are the people who figure out how to do things better. They find ways that are smarter, faster, safer, and easier, so that companies become more efficient, productive, and profitable, and employees have work environments that are safer and more rewarding. You might think from their name that industrial engineers just work for big manufacturing companies, but they are employed in a wide range of industries,… Read more
Career Profile
Mechanical engineers are part of your everyday life, designing the spoon you used to eat your breakfast, your breakfast's packaging, the flip-top cap on your toothpaste tube, the zipper on your jacket, the car, bike, or bus you took to school, the chair you sat in, the door handle you grasped and the hinges it opened on, and the ballpoint pen you used to take your test. Virtually every object that you see around you has passed through the hands of a mechanical engineer. Consequently, their… Read more
Career Profile
Humans have always longed to fly and to make other things fly, both through the air and into outer space—aerospace engineers are the people that make those dreams come true. They design, build, and test vehicles like airplanes, helicopters, balloons, rockets, missiles, satellites, and spacecraft. Read more
Career Profile
Machinists and tool and die makers set up and operate machine tools to make custom metal parts, instruments and tools. These tools and parts go into machines that are needed to help keep factories and machines running smoothly. A machinist may read drawings or blueprints to set up and operate machine tools. A machinist can monitor machine tools but also can work with their hands to shape parts to specific measurements. A tool and die maker can create and fix metal forms that make metal or… Read more
Career Profile
An industrial production manager is like the leader of a team that makes things in a factory. They plan and organize how things will be made, make sure everyone knows what to do, and check that everything is working correctly. They also make sure the things being made are good quality and safe. If there are any problems, they figure out how to fix them so that production can keep going smoothly. It's a bit like being the captain of a sports team, but instead of playing games, they help make… Read more

Contact Us

If you have purchased a kit for this project from Science Buddies, we are pleased to answer your questions.

In your email, please follow these instructions:
  1. What is your Science Buddies kit order number?
  2. Please describe how you need help as thoroughly as possible:

    Examples

    Good Question I'm trying to do Experimental Procedure step #5, "Scrape the insulation from the wire. . ." How do I know when I've scraped enough?
    Good Question I'm at Experimental Procedure step #7, "Move the magnet back and forth . . ." and the LED is not lighting up.
    Bad Question I don't understand the instructions. Help!
    Good Question I am purchasing my materials. Can I substitute a 1N34 diode for the 1N25 diode called for in the material list?
    Bad Question Can I use a different part?

Contact Us

News Feed on This Topic

 
, ,

Cite This Page

General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.

MLA Style

Finio, Ben. "3D Print a Drone Frame." Science Buddies, 15 Feb. 2024, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Robotics_p041/robotics/3D-print-drone-frame. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

APA Style

Finio, B. (2024, February 15). 3D Print a Drone Frame. Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Robotics_p041/robotics/3D-print-drone-frame


Last edit date: 2024-02-15
Top
We use cookies and those of third party providers to deliver the best possible web experience and to compile statistics.
By continuing and using the site, including the landing page, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
OK, got it
Free science fair projects.