So when the great Governor of Florida decided that drones made in the communist country of china would no longer be used in government agencies that motivated the many intelligent minds and entrepreneurs in America to start looking at the drone industry.  And we have come a long way in 12 months.  With the supply chain of electronic chips disrupted it is now becoming more evident there needs to be a technology revolution in the US and it's happening. No longer can the US manufacturing base reley on Asia. and yes there are semiconductor fab plants being built in the U.S. today.  The hardest part to accept is the fact that both the dems and repubs sold out the us manufacturing base to china going back to billy, then bush,then obama, only to be brought to light by the American Made movement in 2016. Thank GOD 

Bla Bla Bla enough of that patriot gibber jabber

Bridge Inspections. that was our mission.   Build a drone that can fly in GPS denied environment and transmit data for inspection

The decision to restrict usage of China made drones was a good one.

This is a timeline of our drone development program. Sometimes you just have to do it yourself.

Getting started in drone operations is a pretty simple endeavor. It's so easy and inexpensive lots of people try their hand at opening a drone services business. One thing for sure the business is so new the opportunities are vast, that being creative can go a long way. We will also cover industry trends that are opening up new venues to use air drones for hire but the primary objective is to highlight the components of building a drone from the ground up, tailored for a specific use. This is important because there really isn't a one size fits all solution.

This post is about a complete solution, not the standard go buy a china made drone and do your best, but a development environment. Our business started with doing research and purchasing a drone we believed could pass muster for US operations. Drone services like video, imagery, and inspections. Our selected unit was advertised as data safe but in the end we wound up with a proprietary design that we were not able to modify. The 520e was sold to us as open architecture PX4 based but turned out to be a closed system not giving us access to develop it. Overall our intention to purchase 20 of these units ended with us happy to only have a few. What most people find is the drone they purchased can only use components developed for that specific unit and lots of time the same manufacture doesn't allow using the payload from one model on another, things like this are not only frustrating and costly there just dumb.

It's a learning process and a pretty difficult one at that, and on top of that we wanted to design and develop our airframes in-house with 3d printing technology. To break it down we had some basic requirements and then some specific ones.
1st. and most important it had to be open source and use no proprietary systems
2nd and the most important for this build was it needs to be able to operate in GPS denied
environments
3rd. US Made components or at least no china data links, or electronic components.
This is a difficult proposition primarily because of cost. This is temporary.

After a couple attempts we worked our way to this design. Also as a requirement was blade
guards, and as mentioned this had to be a in-house 3d printed frame. If you have any experience with 3d printing you understand the process requires alot of trial and error. Our
first attempt left us with an bulky and heavy airframe. The design was what we requested , it's just reality happens and you realize weight is a big factor and the main objective is flight time.
Technology will continue in battery design and weight/ performance will get better.

Body and Computer

US manufactured limits options especially on price but then again this is a airship and
quality control is essential.

Flight computer os is Ardupilot.
Mission planning and control center is Mission Planner

Prototype #1 is using MRO PIXRACER PRO

Prototype #2 is using the Modal PX4 controller

The MODAL VOXL Flight complete solution for a couple reasons. First the seeker development concept that puts all the essential elements in one component is just efficient and also getting 4g cellular option just makes it a real jump start on working in the GPS denied environment

Prototype #3 is using the Raspberry Pi computer with Navio2 autopilot

Builds in the beginning are using different controllers leaving the builds with the VOXL for testing with proven airships.

Recording this process will be highlights and of course miss=steps. The build process should start with detailed design review and
determining specifications of components but that would be the corporate process, this being a startup business it's all trial and error

Build #1 Rooster

Smaller and lighter using 4s battery this SEEKER is a real performer

Elements Battery

This is a commercial use drone build.
6s battery was the desired selection, I think it was to much for the first motors but not an issue with the new largers ones. Problem with 6s is they weigh 1lb., funny it was intended to use 2 for this application.

Tester Flight Computer

We wanted a performance flight computer and was able to stay true to US made with the MRO brand pixracer. This unit is fully supported by Ardupilot and PX4

Power Distribution

The testing versions use a standard Holybro PM07. it's available and cheep so it's a good tester, it's also compatible with the OS. This is a basic function board and we have canbus power modules for our seeker setups. The final builds will incorporate can-bus ESC and sensors. Testing is about vibration levels, response to inputs, determining performance and making mods to the airframe

Manufacture: 3d printing

The 3d printing was a requirement for us because it's efficient, generating units and making changes can happen in-house and the designs can be downloaded and reproduced anywhere in the world. Our 3d printer experience started with a very inexpensive large-scale printer, the experience can be found here. forumla.localad.com

Doing some calculations:

Our attempts to keep it US made lead us to KDEDirect to do some estimates, They have a
calculator, it's a starting point.

3.3 kg is 7.2 lbs, this should be a safe estimate for the drone with a 35mm camera payload. The estimated motors are a size
we tried on the first build and the motors cooked. Our testing is now done with 4015 size, they run cool but battery drain is a concern

We have been searching for a racer build and we think we found it. Firstly it had to be 3d printed and printed by the builder! Our build starts today, look for updates on the build

The Racer Drone is designed to be fast and precise. With a low profile at 50 degree flying angle, and fins that help direct the airflow, and force the drone fly where you point it  

The Frame has great flight characteristics with this setup, and the tmotor F80's will pull some serious G's 

The frame can be printed in most materials but for the arms I suggest a more stiff material like PLA. You could also consider printing in something more premium like a carbon fiber enhanced material 

The Frame Designer and link to the .stl 3d printer files. Cura settings to follow https://antoftdesign.gumroad.com/l/NGFlyf

It has to be 3d printed.
We will redesign and strengthen as we learn and fly. Materials, settings, and design. Modify and share, learn and have fun.

 Its fun to build, repair and fly. The only thing you need to buy is some screws, a battery strap and the suggested list of electronics.

We will link to the items we are using and testing.
Flight Controller and ESC
Motors and Props
FPV
Battery

Started printing files from the drone build

There are some tight angles so i went light just to remove defects. When it is determined in assembly what is critical I will buff of the rest

If I remember correctly these motors do 6s battery, thats the plan. Flight1 f7 controller and this esc

Case  Micro TX purchased  comes with 3 components

electronic board screws in this direction with antenna installed, connector soldered to location on board

Same 3d printed frame, plans purchased from ebay  https://www.ebay.com/itm/154361295585?ViewItem=&item=154361295585

The Printing process is not complicated but instructions for cura settings are learn as you go. I have a couple pictures of the settings https://forumla.localad.com/community/postid/403/

A large format printer is in order for the task. So far I think the prints are successful, I have had a couple motor mounts break from tripping over the drone and have also had the main frame warp from placing it on an uneven surfae in my garage in central Florida.  It still remains to be seen about the durability of this frame.  I'm just a builder thinking the concept is solid but learning as I go.  With everything. 

And let me tell you, this technology is indeed in the beginning stages and because the CCP has been the primary supplier quality and quantity are both short in supply.

That being said because i dont drink or smoke, dont have any friends, and seem to have to always have a challenge this drone company continues forward. Did I mention the Daytona Drone Club.

ser #2

The purpose of drone clubs and forums is to supplement information you need to make progress with your builds. Adding to the forum allows for builders to get relevant information in a timely fashion. 

Filtering out the useless screwtube videos of persons looking for their 1 minute of fame is a great start and pointing builders to current information has to be the most important part. Any posts older than 30 days are about useless, the online 
catalog older than 6 months should be automatically deleted

Kore carrier board yellow cube

40a hobbywing esc

brother hobby r7 4008-490kv motors

13in 3 blade props

6s battery to start

telemetry holybro v3  500mw

radio tx16s with ??  trying frsky  r xsr

Have moved into the software phase. 
open tx, mission planner, qground control

hit a big wall  issues getting the reciever working with the radio, Gps here3 not nowhere near working, had it then lost it. Getting tones but wont arm--lucky for me. Still a while to go to figure out mission planner setup

The spekworks kore carrier board has limited information or at least I cant find it yet.  The mission continues