Drones are used in many industries like farming, military, aerospace, movies, and security. 3D printing is a helpful tool for making drones. It’s good for improving the design and strength of drones. You can use it to quickly make models or even full drones. Whether it’s a tiny drone, a portable one, or a radio-controlled one, 3D printing can bring different ideas to life.
This article talks about the connection between 3D printing and drones. You can find a list of the top 10 drone projects made with 3D printing and get tips for printing your own drone. It’s easy for anyone to do, and you can get great results with our 3D printers!
Does a 3D-printed drone match the efficiency of a conventional drone?
Drones and 3D printing are a great team! Drones are useful in many areas because they can reach places that are hard for people to get to. But, good-quality drones can be expensive, and sometimes they may not have all the features you need or have too many unnecessary ones.
Here’s where 3D printing comes in. It lets you make your own customized drone that fits your needs, and it’s cheaper and faster than traditional methods. You can create drones that are small, big, or even faster. So, using 3D printing for your drone project is a smart choice.
Even if you don’t use 3D printing for the whole drone, you can still use it for making prototypes. Now, let’s check out some cool projects with 3D printed drones!
Top 10 of 3D Printed Drone Projects
1. The 3D printed drone project of the Marine Corp
When they didn’t want to use it anymore, they searched for a different solution. They thought, if the drone is cheaper, they’d feel better about using it. The solution they found was 3D printing. Making a drone with 3D printing is not only cheaper but also quick to put together. Using this method, the whole system they planned to use only costs $615, while one Raven drone alone costs $30,000.
This 3D printed drone project shows that additive manufacturing is useful in many areas. Even the Marine Corp wants to 3D print their drone. It also proves that these kinds of drones are reliable.
2. CargoCopter 3D printed drones: the future of delivery
People are asking for more delivery services. Lately, we’ve been hearing about drones being used for deliveries. Now, it’s a reality with the CargoCopter, a drone made entirely with 3D printing. This drone can carry up to 5 kg and fly at a speed of 150 km/h. It’s a fast and efficient drone designed for delivering goods over long distances.
The researchers at KU Leuven are using 3D printing to quickly make prototypes. This helps them make changes to the drone’s design over the years until they created the CargoCopter. This drone project might become the new way we deliver goods in the future!
3. 3D printed drone to save lives during disaster relief
Yuki Ogasawara and Ryo Kumeda created this quadcopter drone using 3D printing. They got the idea after the earthquake in Japan in 2011.
During that disaster, about 16,000 people died, and 2,500 were missing. The aim of this 3D printed drone is to fly into dangerous areas after a catastrophe, like an earthquake, to find survivors. These drones can help emergency services by providing real-time images, making the search process faster and more efficient.
4. UVify and their 3D printed racing drones using autonomous technology
UVify is an American tech company that focuses on racing drones, robotics, and artificial intelligence systems. They want to make drones with First Person View (FPV) for the e-sport world. One of their 3D printed drones is called Draco. UVify’s drones are used by professionals in different competitions.
They care a lot about how the drones look and how fast they are. The drones need to be efficient. UVify is working to create a ready-to-use drone, specifically designed for the professional drone racing market.
Robert Cheek, from UVify, mentioned, “We use 3D Printing in our work: we create a new version almost every week using 3D printing for prototypes.”
They use 3D printing for both making prototypes and producing the drones. This helps them get their drones quickly and ensures a high-quality final product.
5. Earth observation with a 3D printed drone
Svarmi is a company from Iceland that specializes in providing drone services for tasks like remote sensing and earth observation. Their clients include architects, engineers, researchers, and anyone who needs aerial images.
Because Svarmi’s drone development is driven by their clients’ needs, they use 3D printing to have the freedom to customize their drones according to customer requirements. Traditional manufacturing methods are too slow and expensive for them. They need to create something quickly, sometimes within a week or two. After adding new sensors to their drones, they test them with customers, adjust requirements if necessary, and may refine the design or sensor selection.
These 3D printed quadcopters are the result of a challenging and innovative project by two mechanical engineers. They used an online 3D printing service and mentioned that 3D printing helped them save 40% of the time in their product development process.
6. A 3D printed drone for rescuing missions
The PackDrone, a 3D printed quadcopter, is the creation of Przemyslaw Mariusz Kornatowski, a Swiss-based doctoral assistant.
Designed for rescue missions, this quadcopter can deliver essential supplies like water, food, or first aid equipment to people stranded after a disaster. Additive manufacturing played a crucial role in creating many parts of this drone. Its unique feature is its folding design, specifically crafted to be safe and easily packed into a backpack by rescue teams.
7. 3D robotics and My Mini Factory create 3D printed drones
3D Robotics and My Mini Factory joined forces to create drones, and one of their models is called Iris+. You have the option to download all the technical STL files, which include intricate 3D details. Subsequently, you can 3D print these files at home using your own 3D printer or employ a 3D printing service like Sculpteo.
8. Jarriquez and their 3D printed drone
In the military and rescue sectors, using drones allows access to places where humans may face challenges. This objective is central to the 3D printed drone developed by Jarriquez.
This drone, created through 3D printing, can navigate with minimal human guidance. It’s an unmanned aerial vehicle capable of generating high-quality 3D maps and venturing into hazardous areas. The choice of 3D printing for their project was driven by its quick and cost-effective ability to turn a CAD model into a tangible object within a few days.
Mathieu Agostinucci from the Jarriquez team explained, “Our solution integrated a LIDAR sensor that could have been used for many different devices. Attaching it to the body of the drone in the proper way was essential for the feature to work. 3D printing gave us the possibility to do it in a record time and at a very reasonable price.”
9. 3D printed drone, created only using 3D printing and laser cutting technology
In most cases, 3D printed drone projects involve using additive manufacturing for prototypes and some components of the final product.
In this particular project, the goal was to construct a traditional quadrotor drone using exclusively 3D printing and laser cutting. They 3D printed the arms, motor mounts, and all parts of the drone. The success of this project demonstrates the versatility of 3D printing, highlighting that almost anything can be created with 3D printers. The drone is exceptionally lightweight, showcasing the capability of 3D printing materials and technologies. Additionally, the project underscores the precision and accuracy of laser cutting technology.
10. Blue Robotics and their underwater 3D printed drones
Blue Robotics, the company behind underwater drones, embarked on an ambitious project by initiating a GPS-guided solar-powered robotic boat journey from Los Angeles to Hawaii.
Rusty Jehangir, the founder of Blue Robotics, noted, “The industry of Marine Robotics has stifled innovation by keeping the mechanics and technology expensive. With 3D printing, people are able to prototype and final manufacture parts inexpensively and quickly. That’s why we chose Sculpteo!”
Utilizing additive manufacturing allows for the creation of small batches of parts for the final product, something challenging with traditional manufacturing methods. The underwater drone project is quite demanding, requiring the final product to be durable, lightweight, and prepared for a unique journey.
