Micro-drone swarm as a light display
The LSwarm Mk.1 is a cheap open-source microdrone platform for making drone swarms. Instead of GPS, it uses UWB frequencies to communicate with ground anchors (see LS Anchor) for positioning. To fabricate these drones yourself, see the bill of materials below and follow the instructions.
Also, its all open sourced under the GNU GPL license! (do what you will with the code and designs but make sure to keep it open-source! :D)
TLDR: yes and no, mostly no but sometimes yes.
In the US, flying more than one drone by yourself outside is technically not legal without a permit, but flying indoors (or under some netting outside) is perfectly allowed, so make sure you understand this before buying or assembling any components.
If you live outside of the US, your restrictions will be different so make sure to check with your local government.
| Quantity | Components | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Brushed DC Motors | ~$9.68 | here |
| 5 | 1s 450mAh BT2.0 Batteries | ~$11.21 | here |
| 1 | 1s BT2.0 Charger | ~18.18 | here |
| 5 | 2.4G Wifi Antenna | ~$3.52 | here |
| 5 | BMP581 (hand solder) | ~$20.34 | here |
| 5 | LSM6DSRTR (hand solder) | ~$17.33 | here |
| 5 | Mk.1 PCBs | ~$125 (with shipping, cost can vary widely however) | Download repo, extract fabrication files, and fabricate through JLCPCB (complete instructions for this may come soon) |
Total cost: $218.49
Cost per drone: $41.76
| Quantity | Components | Price | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | Brushed DC Motors | ~$54.88 | here |
| 20 | 1s 450mAh BT2.0 Batteries | ~$61.82 | here |
| 2 | 1s BT2.0 Charger | ~$36.36 | here |
| 20 | 2.4G Wifi Antenna | ~$14.08 | here |
| 20 | BMP581 (hand solder) | ~$74.76 | here |
| 20 | LSM6DSRTR (hand solder) | ~$60.13 | here |
| 20 | Mk.1 PCBs | ~$200 (with shipping, cost can vary widely however) | Download repo, extract fabrication files, and fabricate through JLCPCB (complete instructions for this may come soon) |
Total cost: $562.95
Cost per drone: $25.40
- Raspberry PI Zero 2 W or equivalent (or just a computer/laptop)
- UWB Anchors (LS Anchor or equivalent UWB module (must have wifi))
- Hot-air reflow station or SMD hot plate
- Solder paste for SMD components
- Tweezers for SMD components
- Soldering iron + solder
- Wire strippers/cutters
- Zipties, tape, or velcro straps
- Hot glue + hot glue gun
- Apply solder paste onto the smd joints for the BMP581 and LSM6DSRTR.
- Carefully align the components and place using tweezers
- Use a hot-air gun (preferred over smd hot plate to not mess up any other components) on high heat to quickly heat up the solder paste (prolonged heat may damage components)
- Fit motors into mounting holes (make sure they are aligned properly on all sides) use wire strippers to cut and solder on motor wires. Apply hot glue or equivalent to the motors to keep them in place.
- Use wire strippers to cut and solder on battery connector wires to PCB.
- Attach battery with velcro, zipties, or tape.
- Plug in battery and flash software with the USB-C port.
