Clone DJI Phantom APM Drone

75% Complete

Winter 2014

• Complete custom drone build using a clone DJI Phantom frame

• ArduPilot Mega GPS Flight controller

• 3 Axis gimbal stabilized action camera

• FPV video feed

• Electronics

• Model Building

Consumer drone technology has advanced so much since 2014 that it doesn't make sense to put any more time into this drone build.

I thought that it was pretty cool to be able to build a DJI looking drone for significantly less money. Building a drone like this from scratch required a deceptively large amount of planning.

Programming the APM flight controller and tuning the PID loops was very dangerous at the time. The drone had a tendency to fly off during the tuning process and the large, sharp carbon fiber blades chopped up anything in their path. Ultimately, the fear of injuring someone led me to shelve this project before I all the kinks were worked out.

I really underestimated how hard it would be to get APM tuned. In retrospect, I would have started with a less ambitious APM drone for my first quad build.