MicroFPV Quadcopter

I built and flew a micro quadcopter powered by brushed DC motors and a lightweight 1S LiPo battery, equipped with an FPV (First Person View) camera system. The FPV feed was streamed and recorded through a mobile phone app, enabling real-time piloting. This was my first end-to-end quadcopter build, serving as a gateway into the domain of micro UAVs after my exposure to aerial robotics subsystems at IISc Bangalore.

Key Features & Implementation:

• Airframe: Micro quadcopter frame with brushed DC motors (coreless motors optimized for low weight and agility).

• Power: Single-cell (1S) LiPo battery powering both motors and camera.

• Camera & FPV: Lightweight analog FPV camera module transmitting video feed to a phone app via an external receiver.

• Control: Standard micro quad flight controller, configured for stabilized flight modes.

• Flight Characteristics: Highly agile due to low mass, but limited by short battery life and power constraints.

Lessons Learned:

• Battery Limitations: A 1S LiPo provided only ~4 minutes of flight, demonstrating the impracticality of small-capacity packs for sustained operations.

• Reference Frames: FPV flying required adapting to the camera’s onboard perspective rather than line-of-sight, significantly changing piloting dynamics.

• Hover Instability: The drone exhibited drift during hover, requiring manual trim/biasing and constant pilot input.

• Micro UAV Trade-offs: While highly portable and inexpensive, micro drones highlight the balance between endurance, stability, and payload capacity in UAV design.

Why This Project Matters:
Although relatively simple compared to larger UAV builds, this project gave me a practical introduction to FPV piloting and the constraints of micro UAV platforms. It reinforced core concepts such as flight stability, power management, and perspective control, while also giving me hands-on experience with the unique challenges of sub-250g UAVs: a category with significant regulatory and research relevance.

Next Steps Would Be To:

• Experiment with higher-capacity batteries or 2S LiPo upgrades for extended flight times.

• Add a lightweight optical flow sensor or barometer to improve hover stability.

• Explore digital FPV systems for higher-quality, lower-latency video streaming.

• Modify the platform for indoor swarm robotics experiments, where size and agility are advantages.