What do you print with your 3D printer?

[DJ Wes]

I have owned a 3D printer before I owned a drone. I bought my 3D printer not knowing exactly what I wanted to print. I just wanted to learn about this new technology and its possibilities. It wasn’t until after I owned a drone that I began to make good use of it.

I have identified a number of ways apply 3D printing to my drones. However, I’ve seen only occasional postings in these forums about drone-related 3D printing. Therefore, I want to show some of the applications I have found where my 3D printing hobby overlaps with my drone hobby. Maybe some of these pictures will inspire you to look into 3D printing. Or maybe, some of you can show us some other drone-related applications of 3D printing.

Battery terminal protectors – I use these mainly when I travel.

Lens holders for DJI Racing Goggles – I use these to hold magnifiers so that I can focus on the display.

Removable LED mount

Leg extensions – Helps when launching from tall grass.

Motor protectors – I use these mainly when traveling.

Propeller guard

Phone shroud and “cheese plate” – This is my flying setup. I use the “cheese plate” in place of a phone for extra grip. The shroud works with the Freewell mount and my iPhone.

Phantom 3 Standard battery stand

Phantom 3 Standard camera mounting board and attaching pins – I printed this after a slight mishap.

Phantom 3 Standard joystick extensions – I like the feel of these much better than the naked sticks.

 

[Thomas B]

Excellent work! You should be selling them as a vendor here.

 

[Deleted member 3792]

I don’t have one my self, but I was looking for someone who had for a couple of days ago. I found a 3D community at Facebook who were willing to help me with the printing of theese landing skids/handle grip for Mavic. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3609840

 

[Thoren]

Search yeggi.com using your favorite drone and get designs from multiple 3D sites including thingyverse.

 

[Smokieflies]

Our local libraries in Akron and Cleveland have 3d printers that people can use to print items. We only pay for material costs or time, depending on how intensive the print job is.
Curious if you are willing to share your codes for the items your print?

 

[DJ Wes]

Our local libraries in Akron and Cleveland have 3d printers that people can use to print items. We only pay for material costs or time, depending on how intensive the print job is.
Curious if you are willing to share your codes for the items your print?

Most of the items I show can be downloaded from thingiverse. A few are my own design. You should go to thingiverse (or yeggi) and do a search for your drone and the item you want to print. You'll be surprised at what you can find.

 

[Smokieflies]

Thanks, I will check that out. I know there is a large community out there sharing 3d print designs. The Library offers classes that my wife and I would like to take, but they always do them on evenings we are working. Maybe one of these days. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Dougal McBear]

I have owned a 3D printer before I owned a drone. I bought my 3D printer not knowing exactly what I wanted to print. I just wanted to learn about this new technology and its possibilities. It wasn’t until after I owned a drone that I began to make good use of it.

I have identified a number of ways apply 3D printing to my drones. However, I’ve seen only occasional postings in these forums about drone-related 3D printing. Therefore, I want to show some of the applications I have found where my 3D printing hobby overlaps with my drone hobby. Maybe some of these pictures will inspire you to look into 3D printing. Or maybe, some of you can show us some other drone-related applications of 3D printing.

Battery terminal protectors – I use these mainly when I travel.
View attachment 84892
Lens holders for DJI Racing Goggles – I use these to hold magnifiers so that I can focus on the display.
View attachment 84893
Removable LED mount
View attachment 84894
Leg extensions – Helps when launching from tall grass.
View attachment 84895
Motor protectors – I use these mainly when traveling.
View attachment 84896
Propeller guard
View attachment 84897
Phone shroud and “cheese plate” – This is my flying setup. I use the “cheese plate” in place of a phone for extra grip. The shroud works with the Freewell mount and my iPhone.
View attachment 84898
Phantom 3 Standard battery stand
View attachment 84899
Phantom 3 Standard camera mounting board and attaching pins – I printed this after a slight mishap.
View attachment 84900
Phantom 3 Standard joystick extensions – I like the feel of these much better than the naked sticks.
View attachment 84901

Thanks! This is what this forum is all about. Good helpful ideas and advice.

 

[GerdS]

I am actually optimising Ximmerse Visor X goggles for outdoor usage with drones. The main benefit of these goggles is that they work with any app and don't require VR support. So these are actually the only goggles which will work with Mavic Mini and the DJI Fly app, too.
But their main disadvantage is the lack of protection against disturbing sunlight, which can enter from both sides as well as from the top around the front mirror.
So I have designed sun shields for both sides and the front mirror which can be easily attached and also removed for transport.
In total the shield set consists of 5 parts which are 3D printed with PETG.
For tomorrow I am planning to upload them at Thingiverse.

 

[EyesWideShut]

I am actually optimising Ximmerse Visor X goggles for outdoor usage with drones. The main benefit of these goggles is that they work with any app and don't require VR support. So these are actually the only goggles which will work with Mavic Mini and the DJI Fly app, too.
But their main disadvantage is the lack of protection against disturbing sunlight, which can enter from both sides as well as from the top around the front mirror.
So I have designed sun shields for both sides and the front mirror which can be easily attached and also removed for transport.
In total the shield set consists of 5 parts which are 3D printed with PETG.
For tomorrow I am planning to upload them at Thingiverse.

Hi @GerdS
It's 5 months later. How are the Ximmerse Visor X goggles working for you now? I normally use the FC buttons to start/stop video and stills also to actual or stop RTH if needed but can you access the phone display to tap on some options such as switching to map display or to cine mode etc?? Or do you have to set up RTH and distance options before putting in the headset? Thanks, Bill

 

[Johnmcl7]

I don't have a 3D printer myself but I have a friend who always brings something he's printed for me and some of it is amazing. In particular I was impressed with a lightsaber which was made up of several different parts which all mechanically interlocked together, although obviously the device itself wasn't functional it was a good demonstration of the functional use of the technology.

 

[GerdS]

Hi @GerdS
It's 5 months later. How are the Ximmerse Visor X goggles working for you now? I normally use the FC buttons to start/stop video and stills also to actual or stop RTH if needed but can you access the phone display to tap on some options such as switching to map display or to cine mode etc?? Or do you have to set up RTH and distance options before putting in the headset? Thanks, Bill

Still there is no other serious option for flying the Mini with goggles, so I am still using them, latest just yesterday. Have done some optimisation to the shieldings meanwhile. For operating the Fly app I am using a one-handed Bluetooth controller which allows positioning a cursor onto the items on screen, mainly for changing flight mode or acknowledging restricted area warnings.