Tiny DIY FPV Drone

With today’s access to electronics, tools, and 3D printing (or popsicle sticks) you can easily create your own FPV micro drone for around $50 — as demonstrated by YouTuber Max Imagination. You'll also need a lot of tenacity. Max’s little quadcopter uses an Arduino Pro Mini and an MPU6050 as its flight controller, and takes RC signals via an nRF24L01 radio module.

The mini aerial vehicle has a control range of around 50 meters, and can fly for a couple of minutes with the camera mounted. The cost is listed at $45, plus or minus $10, which will depend on what you have available, and what kind of shipping you demand for parts that are needed.

Besides electronics, perhaps the most interesting feature of this drone is that the frame can be constructed from popsicle sticks (and a wooden match or two). Max provides a cutting template for his drone frame, along with other information in the video description. So in theory you could put one together this way as well. Alternatively, a print file for it is available for purchase if you so prefer.

While an entertaining build, if you just want a drone to fly, you would likely be better off simply buying one. As shown starting at around 12:10, there was a significant amount of troubleshooting involved, including adding an EMF shield and replacing the motors. Max constructed the transmitter based on a video by Emilostuff, which certainly added to the time required. Still, it has to be satisfying to get something like this flying after so much effort!