FPV Competition Drone
A fully custom FPV drone developed from scratch as team lead of a 6-member UAV team. Every component — from the carbon fiber frame to the 3D-printed motor mounts — was designed, fabricated, and tuned in-house.
Key Highlights
- ✦2026 TSA Safari Rescue competition
- ✦Built two identical quadcopters for redundancy
- ✦TBS Source One V5 carbon fiber frames
- ✦T-Motor F7 flight controllers with Betaflight firmware
- ✦EMAX ECO II 2207 brushless motors on 5-inch props
- ✦Custom 3D-printed A-frame landing gear in PLA
- ✦XT60 power connectors hand-soldered
- ✦Claw mechanism for animal retrieval task
Project Info
Role
Team Lead · Primary Pilot · Systems Engineer
Timeline
Sept 2023 — March 2024
The Challenge
The 2026 TSA Safari Rescue event requires teams to pilot FPV quadcopters through an obstacle course, locate simulated animals, and retrieve them using a custom claw mechanism. Two identical drones were built for redundancy — ensuring competition-day reliability regardless of pre-flight damage.
Design & Engineering
Both quadcopters are built on TBS Source One V5 carbon fiber frames, powered by T-Motor F7 flight controllers running Betaflight firmware, and driven by EMAX ECO II 2207 brushless motors on 5-inch props. PID tuning was iterated across dozens of test flights to achieve stable, responsive control through the obstacle course.
Build Process
Assembly involved precision soldering of ESC stacks, motor leads, and XT60 power connectors — all hand-soldered to minimize weight and failure points. Custom 3D-printed A-frame landing gear was designed in PLA to provide stable ground clearance for the claw retrieval mechanism.
Competition & Outcome
Both drones were completed and flown at the 2026 TSA Safari Rescue competition. Building two redundant platforms ensured the team had a competition-ready aircraft regardless of pre-flight incidents — a direct lesson learned from the 2024 season.
Project Gallery
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