THE QUESTION
Can you build a reconnaissance drone at home that stays in the air for hours and carries its own BLE scanning antennas?
See it on a simulated missionOFFENSIVE LAB / FLYRECON · R&D IN PROGRESS
A reconnaissance drone,designed and printed in the lab.
Can you build a drone at home that stays up for hours and scans the radio world around it?
FlyRecon is chasing the answer. The RM500 is its first iteration, and every one of its parts is here in 3D.
R&D in progress · RM500 v0.1
Drag to rotate
Every iteration goes further. This one comes apart before your eyes.
- Wheelbase
- 500mm
- Propellers
- 260mm
- Printed parts
- 25
- Solid PETG
- ≤ 929g
- Battery
- 4S5200 mAh
- Printer
- 246mm
motor to opposite motor
T1045II, 93.6 mm tip clearance
13 designs + a test coupon
upper bound, 100% infill
Tattu G-Tech 35C, XT60
build cube, every part fits
THE PROJECT
One question, one drone.
FlyRecon moves in iterations, each one designed, printed and tested in the lab. The RM500 is where it starts.
Endurance
Aim for hours in the air. Mass, battery and propeller efficiency are the levers of every iteration.
Reconnaissance
Onboard BLE scanning antennas log every device in range, straight from the sky.
Built in the lab
A PETG frame printed on a 246 mm printer, off-the-shelf electronics, assembled by hand.
Roadmap
FlyRecon · 2026| 01DesignComplete Blender model: 159 objects, 25 parts, zero interference | Done |
| 02Print and assembly14 print-ready STLs, the drilling coupon first | In preparation |
| 03Scanning payloadBLE antennas and in-flight logging | R&D |
| 04EnduranceHours of flight per sortie | Goal |
MISSION PREVIEW
Hours in the air, mapping the radio landscape.
A simulated survey flight: the drone follows its waypoints, listens for BLE devices and logs every detection. Pick a pattern, place your own waypoints, speed up time.
Simulation · illustrative data
100 m
Drag to pan · Ctrl + scroll to zoom
Flight pattern
- Flight time
- 00:00:00
- Distance
- 0.0 km
- BLE devices logged
- 0
- Area covered
- 0%
Latest detections
- Waiting for the first device…
ANATOMY · 159 OBJECTS FROM THE BLENDER FILE
The drone, layer by layer.
Scroll on: the fasteners come out first, then the canopy, the electronics and finally the structure.
- 01
Fasteners
76 screws, 44 lock nuts, 118 washers and 8 standoffs, all off the shelf. No printed threads: every hole is a clearance hole, Ø3.4 for M3 and Ø4.5 for M4.
- M4×35
- M3×8
- M3×25
- M3×30
- M3×50 F/F
- 02
Faceted canopy
An open shell with 2.4 mm walls, held by four M3×16. It lifts off on its own to reach every connector of the flight controller.
- P08
- 03
Electronics and propulsion
Pixhawk 6C Mini on 2 mm foam, M10 GPS on a mast (underside at 110 mm), RP3 receiver and its antennas. At the tips, four AIR2216II KV920 motors and their 20 A ESCs on cradles.
- P07
- P09
- P10
- P11
- P12
- P13
- 04
Structure
Each arm is clamped between the lower plate and the deck by four M4×35, under a red clamp. The battery tray hangs 50 mm below the plate and the legs bolt under the arms.
- P01
- P02
- P03 ×4
- P04 ×4
- P05
- P06 ×4
SUBSYSTEMS
Five systems, one frame.
The rest of the drone turns to glass. Hover a part to name it, click to open it in the inspector.
Structure
Two 180 mm octagonal plates sandwich the four truss arms. The triangular cut-outs leave members at least 6 mm thick.
- Plates P01 / P02
- 180 × 180 × 4
- Root screws
- 16 × M4×35
- Root (arm frame)
- 72 and 94; ±10
- Printed threads
- None
Propulsion
Holybro AIR2216II KV920 motors on 4 mm plates at the arm tips, BLHeli S 20 A ESCs on ventilated cradles 170 mm from the centre. The blue discs are the volumes swept by the propellers.
- Opposite motors
- 500 mm
- Prop tip clearance
- 93.6 mm
- Motor pattern
- 19 / 16 mm
- Motor screws
- 4 × M3×8
Avionics
The Pixhawk 6C Mini sits under the canopy, arrow towards +X. The M10 V2 GPS rides on a mast, the RP3 V2 receiver and its two T antennas sit at the rear left.
- Flight controller
- 54.3 × 39 × 17.5
- GPS, Ø52.2 cradle
- Ø51 × 18.5
- GPS underside
- Z 110 mm
- RP3 receiver
- 22 × 13 × 4
Power
The Tattu 5200 mAh 4S slides lengthwise under the lower plate, strapped to the P05 tray. A PM06 V2 module replaces both the PM02 and the distribution board, on insulating standoffs.
- Nominal battery
- 133 × 45 × 33.5
- Battery mass
- 436.5 g
- Bay clearance (max)
- 22 · 3 · 4.5
- PM06 pattern
- 30.5 mm
Landing gear
Four angled legs, bolted under each arm with two M3×25 and finished with a 1 mm adhesive pad. They print lying on their side.
- Ground to battery tray
- 30 mm
- Fixing per leg
- 2 × M3×25
- Print envelope
- 66 × 88 × 30
- Position on the arm
- radial 128; ±9
Hover the drone to identify a part.
PRINT-READY STL · 14 FILES IN MILLIMETRES
Printed parts.
Thirteen designs and a test coupon, each shown as its exact STL mesh on a 10 mm grid. Open a part to section it, see its mesh or lay it on the print bed.
Lower plate
180 × 180 × 4 mm
- Volume
- 103.05 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 130.9 g
- Triangles
- 12,632
Electronics deck
180 × 180 × 4 mm
- Volume
- 111.89 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 142.1 g
- Triangles
- 14,096
Truss arm
215 × 46 × 14 mm
- Volume
- 72.95 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 92.7 g
- Triangles
- 9,064
Red root clamp
42 × 38 × 2.5 mm
- Volume
- 3.30 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 4.2 g
- Triangles
- 2,302
Battery tray
182 × 78 × 8.5 mm
- Volume
- 52.68 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 66.9 g
- Triangles
- 3,892
Angled leg
66 × 88 × 30 mm
- Volume
- 18.52 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 23.5 g
- Triangles
- 1,300
ESC cradle
40 × 34 × 9 mm
- Volume
- 4.30 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 5.5 g
- Triangles
- 3,470
Faceted open canopy
108 × 82 × 37 mm
- Volume
- 35.97 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 45.7 g
- Triangles
- 7,362
GPS mast
30 × 84 × 32 mm
- Volume
- 14.26 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 18.1 g
- Triangles
- 2,336
GPS cradle, 51 mm
58 × 58 × 9 mm
- Volume
- 10.48 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 13.3 g
- Triangles
- 5,782
RP3 cradle
48 × 24 × 10 mm
- Volume
- 3.76 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 4.8 g
- Triangles
- 3,382
Horizontal antenna mount
30 × 14 × 19.5 mm
- Volume
- 1.62 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 2.1 g
- Triangles
- 1,072
Vertical antenna mount
16 × 14 × 46 mm
- Volume
- 1.63 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 2.1 g
- Triangles
- 1,016
Motor hole test coupon
72 × 40 × 4 mm
- Volume
- 10.98 cm³
- Solid PETG
- 14.0 g
- Triangles
- 4,566
BUILD · 246 × 246 × 246 MM PRINTER · PETG
From coupon to frame.
Fourteen print-ready STLs, all inside the build cube of a 246 mm printer. Calibrate on a coupon, validate one arm, then print the frame.
01
T01 coupon
Calibrate the printer on a 72 × 40 × 4 mm coupon: Ø3.2 to Ø4.5 holes and the 19 / 16 mm motor pattern.
02
A first P03 arm
215 × 46 × 14 mm, the largest part of the drone. It locks the dimensions before the set of four.
03
The full frame
25 parts in total. P06 and P09 print on their side, the P08 canopy with its roof supports.
Off-the-shelf fasteners
fastener_positions.csv| Function | Screw | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| Arm roots | M4×35 socket head | 16 |
| Motors | M3×8 socket head | 16 |
| Legs | M3×25 socket head | 8 |
| ESC cradles | M3×30 socket head | 8 |
| Battery tray, top and bottom | M3×10 socket head | 8 |
| Canopy | M3×16 socket head | 4 |
| GPS mast | M3×16 socket head | 2 |
| GPS cradle | M3×16 countersunk | 2 |
| RP3 cradle | M3×20 socket head | 2 |
| Antenna mounts | M3×14 socket head | 2 |
| PM06, on nylon standoffs | M3×6 + M3×4 nylon | 8 |
Checks
geometry reports| Closed mesheszero non-manifold edges, one body per part | 14 / 14 | Validated |
| Interferenceparts, components, fasteners, propeller discs | 0 | Validated |
| Largest partthe P03 arm inside the 246 mm cube | 215 mm | Validated |
| Prop tip clearancebetween adjacent discs | 93.6 mm | Validated |
Hardware bag
- screws
- 76
- lock nuts
- 44
- washers
- 118
- standoffs
- 8
FlyRecon is in active R&D.
The next iteration is taking shape in the lab: printing, the BLE scanning payload, then the push for endurance.