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FPV Racing Drone

FPV drone hero image

Custom-designed FPV quadcopter focused on [speed / endurance / maneuverability / low cost / etc.].

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Overview

Project Type: Personal Engineering Project Duration: [Month Year – Month Year] Role: Mechanical / Electrical / Firmware / Systems Engineering Status: [Completed / In Progress]

I designed and assembled a custom FPV quadcopter with the goal of [primary engineering objective].

The project involved selecting and integrating the propulsion system, flight controller, radio system, video transmission system, battery, and frame while configuring the aircraft in Betaflight.

Completed drone

Key Specifications

Parameter Specification
Frame [Frame model / size]
Motors [Motor model]
Propellers [Propeller specification]
Flight Controller [FC]
ESC [ESC]
Radio [ELRS / receiver]
Video System [Analog / DJI / Walksnail / HDZero]
Battery [LiPo specification]
AUW [XX g]
Flight Time [XX min]
Firmware [Betaflight version]

System Architecture

FPV drone system diagram

The aircraft consists of five primary subsystems:

  • Propulsion: Motors, ESC, propellers, and battery
  • Flight control: Flight controller and IMU
  • Radio control: Transmitter and ELRS receiver
  • Video: Camera, VTX, and FPV goggles
  • Power distribution: Battery, regulators, and protected power rails

Electrical Architecture

Battery
   │
   ├──► ESC ──► Motors
   │
   └──► Power Regulation
             │
             ├──► Flight Controller
             ├──► Receiver
             ├──► Camera
             └──► VTX

Design Goals

The primary design requirements were:

  1. [Requirement]
  2. [Requirement]
  3. [Requirement]
  4. [Requirement]

Engineering Constraints

  • [Weight constraint]
  • [Budget constraint]
  • [Battery constraint]
  • [Physical packaging constraint]
  • [Radio/video range requirement]
  • [Manufacturing or component availability constraint]

Component Selection

Motors & Propulsion

Motor and propeller assembly

I selected [motor] based on:

  • [KV / voltage compatibility]
  • [Thrust requirement]
  • [Current consumption]
  • [Weight]
  • [Efficiency]

The resulting propulsion system provides approximately [XX g] of maximum thrust per motor, giving a theoretical thrust-to-weight ratio of approximately [X.X:1].

Flight Controller & ESC

Flight controller wiring

The flight controller uses [FC model] paired with [ESC model].

Important considerations included:

  • [UART availability]
  • [Gyroscope]
  • [ESC protocol]
  • [Current sensing]
  • [Firmware compatibility]
  • [Physical mounting]

Radio System

ELRS receiver installation

The aircraft uses ExpressLRS for the control link.

I selected this system because [reason].

The receiver communicates with the flight controller through [CRSF / UART / etc.].

Video System

FPV camera and VTX

The video system consists of:

Camera → VTX → Antenna → FPV Goggles

Key considerations included:

  • [Resolution]
  • [Latency]
  • [Transmission power]
  • [Antenna placement]
  • [Power requirements]
  • [Interference]

Mechanical Design

Frame CAD / assembly

The frame was designed around [X-inch] propellers and a [X × X mm] motor mounting pattern.

Packaging

A major mechanical constraint was fitting the electronics into the limited volume between the frame plates.

Electronics packaging

The final arrangement prioritized:

  • Low center of gravity
  • Protected electronics
  • Short wiring paths
  • Accessible USB ports
  • Antenna clearance
  • Camera visibility

CAD / Design Work

CAD model

The aircraft was modeled in SolidWorks to verify:

  • Component clearance
  • Motor placement
  • Camera angle
  • Battery positioning
  • Fastener access
  • Propeller clearance

Design Files

Firmware & Configuration

Betaflight configuration

The flight controller runs Betaflight [VERSION].

Configuration

Important configuration parameters included:

Flight Controller: [MODEL]
Firmware: [VERSION]
Receiver Protocol: [CRSF]
ESC Protocol: [DShot]
Motor Output: [SETTING]
PID Profile: [PROFILE]
Rates: [RATE PROFILE]

Control Setup

The transmitter was configured with:

  • Arm switch
  • Flight-mode switch
  • Beeper
  • Turtle mode
  • [Other functions]

Problems & Debugging

Problem 1 — [Problem Title]

Symptom: [What happened]

Initial hypothesis: [What you initially thought was wrong]

Investigation: [Tests performed]

Root cause: [Actual cause]

Solution: [What you changed]

Debugging photo

Problem 2 — [Problem Title]

Symptom: [Description]

Root cause: [Description]

Solution: [Description]

Iterations

Version comparison

The design went through [X] major iterations.

Version Major Change Result
V1 [Change] [Result]
V2 [Change] [Result]
V3 [Change] [Result]

The most significant improvement came from [design change], which resulted in [measurable improvement].

Testing

Flight Testing

Test Result
Hover stability [Result]
Maximum throttle [Result]
Flight time [Result]
Range [Result]
Maximum speed [Result]
Motor temperature [Result]

Flight testing

Performance

Flight Time: [XX min] Maximum Speed: [XX mph] AUW: [XXX g] Thrust-to-Weight: [X.X:1]

Final Result

Final FPV drone

The completed aircraft achieved [primary objective] while maintaining [important secondary characteristic].

The final configuration weighs [XXX g] and achieves approximately [performance metric].

What I Learned

This project gave me practical experience with:

  • BLDC motor systems
  • LiPo battery systems
  • ESCs and motor control
  • Embedded flight controllers
  • UART / serial communication
  • RF systems
  • Video transmission
  • CAD and mechanical packaging
  • Electrical troubleshooting
  • Firmware configuration
  • System-level integration

Future Improvements

If I were to continue development, I would investigate:

  • [Improvement 1] — [reason]
  • [Improvement 2] — [reason]
  • [Improvement 3] — [reason]

The most promising improvement would be [improvement], which could potentially improve [performance metric].

Media

Build Photos

Frame assembly

Electronics installation

Final wiring

Flight Video

▶ Watch flight footage

Technologies & Skills

SolidWorks · Betaflight · ExpressLRS · BLDC Motors · ESCs · LiPo Batteries · CAD · Embedded Systems · RF · Electrical Debugging · Systems Integration

Project Files

File Description
CAD SolidWorks models
Firmware Config Betaflight configuration
Photos Project photography
Videos Flight footage
Repository Source/project files

Author: [Your Name] Portfolio: [PORTFOLIO_URL] GitHub: [GITHUB_URL]