Seriously this is great you just need like a few different bodies, small, medium and large to swap them to your liking. Makes sense since o3 is an expensive vtx, it's almost half the price of a drone.
Absolutely love this idea! Having one air unit and a spare instead of 6 different air units sitting around doing nothing would be amazing. I can only put one in the air at a time anyway.
The next fpv inovation is here "hot swap vtx". honestly this is the best idea. If bnf brands like flight or Geprc start using it, there could be an option to buy the drone with the "hot swap system". I think for this to really be used main stream it would have to be quick and easy, just sliding it onto rails that would be on the drone, and for the connector it could just be plugged in.
I haven't really seen modular drone builds, and I've always wondered why. This is exactly what I imagined. I've had this idea for a while, but never the tools or time to put it all together.
I haven’t gone digital yet, still rocking my HDO2’s. This concept might bring digital into my price range. Good one, mate. You are most definitely doing God’s work for us here.
Brilliant. I know the idea about removable O3 units was a concept talked about and implemented (not very well) before. An excellent concept which I'm surprised no one has taken further. I'm not sure but I think this is the first time a frame has been designed with that purpose in mind. Also there's a few good ideas there that can be used in other frames in general. Like the pockets for the silicone pads for example, which are more available, lighter and less expensive to buy then good quality battery pads. If the removable of the O3 housing can be done without removing the top plate would be great, which could be done by using press nuts in the top plate for a thread to screw the housing onto. I hope your video inspires more ingenuity and creativity.
That's freakin' brilliant... And this is what I love most about this hobby: the community, and sharing of ideas, and seeing all the cool amazing stuff guys like Scott are doing. Kudos! I myself can't seem to give up on the tilt-rotor design, working on Version 4 right now, with head-tracking and a gimbal; camera stays level thru rolls, and follows my motions for tilting up and down... Man I wish I could cut CF parts that easily!
Thanks for stopping by man and the kind words. Yeah my biggest reason for investing in tools is making stuff right away. I'm incredibly impatient with waiting for things haha.
Got one, kinda, for Walksnail. It's a 3D printed little box that fits all the gubbins in and attaches with a GoPro mount. Looks a bit like a GoPro Session with an antenna sticking out. I just added two extra plugs, one of the old red JSTs for power and an XH2.54 for RX/TX, because I didn't like the idea of unplugging the tiny WS plug all the time. Here in China you can buy those 3D printed cases for WS and DJI, no need to even grab a file from Thingiverse, but for O3 you can also get a CNC aluminium jobbie which also acts as a heatsink. Very cool stuff, your solution is much more elegant though. Speaking of modular, there's also a company making a 5 & 7" frame with quickly swappable arms, they stay together in a kind of X shape with motors and props still installed, and have all the little springy brass connectors for the ESCs. 3 minutes or less to go from 5" freestyle to 7" cruiser. The future may well be modular.
Oh, quick edit- Mine has a GoPro mount, but you can also get them with a Garmin bike computer type mount, just twist it in 90 degrees to lock, which makes it a bit lower profile.
That is such a good idea. I have been toying with the idea of putting an 03 air unit in a tpu mount but all the tpu mounts add a lot of weight. It would be on on my 7 inch quad and my 3 inch cinequad but a bit much for my old beta85x. However this idea is absolutely perfect. I think I will design a tpu mount to mount the shell to, to adipate it to suit my other drone. Awesome video 🔥🔥👌👌
I think that's an extremely relevant design. 03 air units are really expensive (for me anyway). I only own two quads, both diy builds. The 7" is analog and the 3.5" is digital with the 03AU and Goggles Integra. I've toyed with the idea of buying another 03AU for the 7" but have been dragging my feet due to cost and the 04AU might drop and if it's compatible with Integra, I might save up for one. Your solution is valid for a great many people. Thanks for creating content that I find interesting, informative, and entertaining. Happy flying amigo. 🫡 🍻
Really interesting design! I love that door stopper integration too. For commercial gigs I wouldn't consider swapping since you have to have backups anyway, but would be a great idea for hobbyists!
Wow the silicon door thingy is an awesome idea! Actually for a real freestyle frame could have side plates that adds extra protection around the o3 module. Great great idea man!
Im tinkering around this idea for some months. I would like some kind of toothpick design, with this cage on top. I think 3.5“ is the perfect base for something like this
Bro, I've been thinking up ways to make a swappable O3 air unit, and your idea is awesome. Probably aluminium housing would be good for crashes, as the camera is very vulnerable. Many of us who have fleets of quads, buying an O3 for each is expensive as hell
@@ScottTomlinson it’s a company called Spydr Cinematics. They are doing a naked GoPro+03 air unit that you can swap out between quads. It’s not out yet but it’s gonna be awesome to have that versatility for the naked GoPro
What a great idea. Sitting at my desk with the sound turned off, only kinda paying attention because I’m working. And I thought…but why…? UNTIL 7:18 mark in the video and I thought I bet he explained this in the first 30secs of the video…🤦🏻♂️ Love the idea that you can swap out the vtx easily. You can only fly one at a time anyways!
There are only two things to say: Great job! And why didn't I think of this myself? I could see this idea really taking off, pun intended. Could be sold as a 2'' + 3'' combo, or 2.5'' + 3.5'' combo, or any combination up to 7''. Buy the module with 1, 2, 3, 4 or more different-sized frames, for a tailored price. Each frame would have its own FC with its own PID tune for each size.
That's what I'm thinking too. Even if not this design, the takeaway is the concept. A big manufacturer could design and sell a whole series around the concept. They're selling drones without an O3 for cost reasons already so this isn't a big pivot.
This makes a ton of sense to me! The cost savings and the low deck design for good CG are both attractive. Great design! Would it make sense to soft-mount only the camera, so that you can tighten the screws that attach the air unit cage to the frame fully? They'll be less likely to come loose.
Those screws lock in tight. That's the great part about that BetaFPV cage. They have a blind thread in the nut. You can tighten it fully and it's the same every time. A drawback with only isolating the camera is the weight. Dampening becomes easier when there's a bit of mass.
Awesome O3 swaping system. We need more of these. Can you maybe show your updated black opal or whatever new design that flys forever? You commented somewhere that over the years youve improved the LR builds. Love your engineering and testing skills.
Looks well sweet, nice little craft ill be cutting one out if the files are made available, i have a 6s aio out of a iflight whoop i just destroyed but only got some small bits of sheet at the moment
great idea, what i thought was wouldnt it be better for center of mass and stuff like that to get rid of the top plate in the front area and fix that air unit cage to the bottom plate? i guess you would have to move the fc back a bit but it should be more compact and not sticking out so much to the top
My receiver sits in that front part. You loose all strength just removing the top plate in the front but you could definitely make a mono frame design though. That would work too.
This is ingenious! Thanks for sharing. I was playing with the happymodel mobul8 canopy for that matter but the pico canopy seems to be better suited for that purpose. This will be even more important with the hopefully upcoming o4 air unit with maybe even higher price this sort of thing is the only way forward from this point. I mean almost nobody buys a speperate GoPro for each and every quad! Right?
Very cool looking design! I dig it! What’s the thought process behind not mounting the cage to the bottom plate with the AIO further back? I have a similar spirit setup using a Catalyst Machine Works inspired 3D print design sandwiched between the top and bottom plates that holds an easily removable front carbon cage, rear top plate mounted AIO for really good resonance and top mounted CG toilet tank battery for proper handling. It’s far from perfect but has some really good designs incorporated. This design also has a brother with rear bottom plate mounted FC+ESC and top plate mounted arms that handles even better as the prop line and CG are basically at the same point.
I like symmetry. My rx also sits in that front bit but with a thicker bottom plate you probably could by changing the layout a bit. I like the added strength the traditional top plate/bottom plate gives you. It's actually quite small though and quite a tight fit already (130mm top plate, 15mm max standoff) My main design intention was no props in view at 0 (or even negative) cam angles.
Wow! Great idea…. I think you should come up with a creative name for the idea. It could be open source-ish. That way if someone has a specific drone model they can look up the version for theirs. And spread it to other vtx as well using the same name. Something like “basket case” or the like.
Bro I'm sold where I can get one. I loved the boomerang arms It reminds me of newbeedrone vivid and the antenna placement is the key. Make a TPU file for a self-powed buzzer
I need a 4" one . As this has been the best size for mx and drift car chase rig ..using 4s 21700 liions .. enough top speed and 10-15min plus flight times..
DJI one? They come with two whip antennas in the BetaFPV kit if you're keeping it small. This is utilitarian though. Not great for crashes being so exposed I guess.
very nice! can you shared the file?
Thanks mate. Link to the DXF files and notes are in the description.
@@ScottTomlinsonthanks mate! 😁
Now that's a beautiful design and excellent idea! Let's see which manufacturer is going to steal this first 😬
Seriously this is great you just need like a few different bodies, small, medium and large to swap them to your liking. Makes sense since o3 is an expensive vtx, it's almost half the price of a drone.
Absolutely love this idea! Having one air unit and a spare instead of 6 different air units sitting around doing nothing would be amazing. I can only put one in the air at a time anyway.
This is genius. I'm new to the hobby but I've been wondering why no one has done this yet
Your concepts are always very efficient stable and precise but designed not to crash. For confirmed veteran pilots only😁
Yeaaaah that's seems to be the trend I follow haha. I'll make a bombproof one one day. 😛
@@ScottTomlinson naah keep doing what you're doing you're making fancy aircrafts and we love it.
@@ScottTomlinson That's the one i need. Nose dive proof.
I like that the frame isn't necessarily tall like most. The swapable camera is neat too 👍
The next fpv inovation is here "hot swap vtx". honestly this is the best idea. If bnf brands like flight or Geprc start using it, there could be an option to buy the drone with the "hot swap system". I think for this to really be used main stream it would have to be quick and easy, just sliding it onto rails that would be on the drone, and for the connector it could just be plugged in.
I haven't really seen modular drone builds, and I've always wondered why. This is exactly what I imagined. I've had this idea for a while, but never the tools or time to put it all together.
This was what I thought as well. Modular makes sense tbh.
A great idea. -Hope to see manufacturers adopt this modularity for quads - will save me a lot of money.
This you can call an innovative in FPV likely from the last 5 years , i like the way and the new concept ❤
Excellent idea, O3's cost so much money. It's the dream to have just one and swap them :D
I haven’t gone digital yet, still rocking my HDO2’s.
This concept might bring digital into my price range.
Good one, mate. You are most definitely doing God’s work for us here.
I like the swop out idea, I can't be the only one that has to many O3 units just because I can't be arsed switching them over.
Brilliant. I know the idea about removable O3 units was a concept talked about and implemented (not very well) before. An excellent concept which I'm surprised no one has taken further. I'm not sure but I think this is the first time a frame has been designed with that purpose in mind. Also there's a few good ideas there that can be used in other frames in general. Like the pockets for the silicone pads for example, which are more available, lighter and less expensive to buy then good quality battery pads. If the removable of the O3 housing can be done without removing the top plate would be great, which could be done by using press nuts in the top plate for a thread to screw the housing onto. I hope your video inspires more ingenuity and creativity.
That's freakin' brilliant... And this is what I love most about this hobby: the community, and sharing of ideas, and seeing all the cool amazing stuff guys like Scott are doing. Kudos! I myself can't seem to give up on the tilt-rotor design, working on Version 4 right now, with head-tracking and a gimbal; camera stays level thru rolls, and follows my motions for tilting up and down... Man I wish I could cut CF parts that easily!
Thanks for stopping by man and the kind words. Yeah my biggest reason for investing in tools is making stuff right away. I'm incredibly impatient with waiting for things haha.
That kangaroo shot is surreal! Wicked cool drone.
haha he's my old mate. Thanks.
Great job! Both for the O3 housing and for filming the whole process.
great design! reminds me back in the day when I made a swappable gimbal on my big 11'' pixhawk drone
Very nice idea, and gorgeous design. Probably just a weekend project for you, but it looks more professional than most frames in the market haha
Appreciate that comment mate
Got one, kinda, for Walksnail. It's a 3D printed little box that fits all the gubbins in and attaches with a GoPro mount. Looks a bit like a GoPro Session with an antenna sticking out. I just added two extra plugs, one of the old red JSTs for power and an XH2.54 for RX/TX, because I didn't like the idea of unplugging the tiny WS plug all the time. Here in China you can buy those 3D printed cases for WS and DJI, no need to even grab a file from Thingiverse, but for O3 you can also get a CNC aluminium jobbie which also acts as a heatsink. Very cool stuff, your solution is much more elegant though. Speaking of modular, there's also a company making a 5 & 7" frame with quickly swappable arms, they stay together in a kind of X shape with motors and props still installed, and have all the little springy brass connectors for the ESCs. 3 minutes or less to go from 5" freestyle to 7" cruiser. The future may well be modular.
Oh, quick edit- Mine has a GoPro mount, but you can also get them with a Garmin bike computer type mount, just twist it in 90 degrees to lock, which makes it a bit lower profile.
Great design. Really good to see someone doing this sort of innovative design and testing.
That is such a good idea. I have been toying with the idea of putting an 03 air unit in a tpu mount but all the tpu mounts add a lot of weight. It would be on on my 7 inch quad and my 3 inch cinequad but a bit much for my old beta85x. However this idea is absolutely perfect. I think I will design a tpu mount to mount the shell to, to adipate it to suit my other drone. Awesome video 🔥🔥👌👌
I just bought the pico 20 and you have no idea how happy you just made me. I was so insecure about starting with a cina or a freestyle😮
Pure genius idea to be able to move the 03 unit so easily. Patent your idea before this becomes the newest thing in FPV.
Haha, I'd love to see it become an option. I'm just showcasing the concept.
I think that's an extremely relevant design. 03 air units are really expensive (for me anyway). I only own two quads, both diy builds. The 7" is analog and the 3.5" is digital with the 03AU and Goggles Integra. I've toyed with the idea of buying another 03AU for the 7" but have been dragging my feet due to cost and the 04AU might drop and if it's compatible with Integra, I might save up for one. Your solution is valid for a great many people. Thanks for creating content that I find interesting, informative, and entertaining. Happy flying amigo. 🫡 🍻
I love the idea. I wish I knew how to edit files because a 7 inch version would be amazing. I think it would look so cool.
That's really cool. I like the ability to swap O3. 👍
Really interesting design! I love that door stopper integration too. For commercial gigs I wouldn't consider swapping since you have to have backups anyway, but would be a great idea for hobbyists!
Good call! In a professional setting pulling apart drones on set doesn't instil confidence either right haha.
@@ScottTomlinson 😂😂 "give me 10 minutes to rebuild this drone real quick - no, this is normal I swear"
Nice work like the looks of it hopefully making some sheet myself soon to cnc looks sweet
This was a great video, very cool frame.
I was so hoping that cool smiley face would be in the file.... Awesome frame
I can add that file if you wanted it. It does weaken the top plate (Not that I've had an issue with it)
Wow!! love your idea man!! keep that coming!! good luck!!
Wow the silicon door thingy is an awesome idea! Actually for a real freestyle frame could have side plates that adds extra protection around the o3 module. Great great idea man!
You totally could enclose it by adding a bit of extra beef! Lots of possibilities around the concept.
Maaaan, I frickin love this concept!
I'd like to build one too!
Bro, them are some sick looking quads and 😅 of course, you have a pet roo as well. Love ya work 🤙🏼
Im tinkering around this idea for some months. I would like some kind of toothpick design, with this cage on top. I think 3.5“ is the perfect base for something like this
Very cool project! I’d been thinking about something along similar lines myself
Bro, I've been thinking up ways to make a swappable O3 air unit, and your idea is awesome. Probably aluminium housing would be good for crashes, as the camera is very vulnerable.
Many of us who have fleets of quads, buying an O3 for each is expensive as hell
This is awesome! I know of one company already doing this and I think it’s a great idea!
Oh cool, which one?
@@ScottTomlinson it’s a company called Spydr Cinematics. They are doing a naked GoPro+03 air unit that you can swap out between quads. It’s not out yet but it’s gonna be awesome to have that versatility for the naked GoPro
What a great idea.
Sitting at my desk with the sound turned off, only kinda paying attention because I’m working. And I thought…but why…? UNTIL 7:18 mark in the video and I thought I bet he explained this in the first 30secs of the video…🤦🏻♂️
Love the idea that you can swap out the vtx easily. You can only fly one at a time anyways!
There are only two things to say: Great job! And why didn't I think of this myself? I could see this idea really taking off, pun intended. Could be sold as a 2'' + 3'' combo, or 2.5'' + 3.5'' combo, or any combination up to 7''. Buy the module with 1, 2, 3, 4 or more different-sized frames, for a tailored price. Each frame would have its own FC with its own PID tune for each size.
That's what I'm thinking too. Even if not this design, the takeaway is the concept. A big manufacturer could design and sell a whole series around the concept. They're selling drones without an O3 for cost reasons already so this isn't a big pivot.
Great content. love those battery pad replacement stickies.
Just discovered your channel and I’m already hooked. 🙌 Subscribed right away! Looking forward to more amazing content. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for checking it out and the sub.
fantastic idea - been thinking about this. Would be really interested in adapting some kind of quick-release plate for even faster O3 swapping
On slightly bigger frames where you could add a bit of weight that would be the go I think too.
This makes a ton of sense to me! The cost savings and the low deck design for good CG are both attractive. Great design! Would it make sense to soft-mount only the camera, so that you can tighten the screws that attach the air unit cage to the frame fully? They'll be less likely to come loose.
Those screws lock in tight. That's the great part about that BetaFPV cage. They have a blind thread in the nut. You can tighten it fully and it's the same every time. A drawback with only isolating the camera is the weight. Dampening becomes easier when there's a bit of mass.
thats a awsome drone if there would be like a kit to buy i probably would buy it. its awsome to swap out the o3 unit so easy i really like that.
Dope af video mate! she's a little beast.
Cheers man! You can fly it now haha
So cool keep it up I love this kind of innovation in the hobby
Wow. I don't know how I've missed your channel up to now. FANTASTIC design and build. I've subbed. Really great channel. Happy flying amigo. 🫡 🍻
You too buddy!
Beautiful drone mate, i would love to be able to build a custom one day, and i know on what channel to look out for tips 😉
Amazing work Scott! This setup would be nice on your 6" long range too. :)
If props in view wasn't a concern This would be great for the UL builds.
Wow what a cool design and idea nice work !
This is super cool mate - drone building on steroids! Colour me frickin' impressed! 🙌❤
Thanks champ!
Awesome O3 swaping system.
We need more of these.
Can you maybe show your updated black opal or whatever new design that flys forever? You commented somewhere that over the years youve improved the LR builds.
Love your engineering and testing skills.
Cheers Chris, I'll try get some new stuff up relating to this soon.
Awesome idea! I wish I have such skills to build one. Subbed!
That’s a nice build u did there custom frame
Oh this is epic man! Love this idea ✌
I'm here just for the epic video and cool designs! Well done mate!
Appreciate it mate
Looks well sweet, nice little craft ill be cutting one out if the files are made available, i have a 6s aio out of a iflight whoop i just destroyed but only got some small bits of sheet at the moment
Sounds perfect, I'll get them up shortly, just need to write up a few words to explain some aspects.
great idea,
what i thought was wouldnt it be better for center of mass and stuff like that to get rid of the top plate in the front area and fix that air unit cage to the bottom plate? i guess you would have to move the fc back a bit but it should be more compact and not sticking out so much to the top
My receiver sits in that front part. You loose all strength just removing the top plate in the front but you could definitely make a mono frame design though. That would work too.
Wow I really thought this was a bigger channel. You deserve more subs!
Thanks mate
This is ingenious! Thanks for sharing. I was playing with the happymodel mobul8 canopy for that matter but the pico canopy seems to be better suited for that purpose. This will be even more important with the hopefully upcoming o4 air unit with maybe even higher price this sort of thing is the only way forward from this point. I mean almost nobody buys a speperate GoPro for each and every quad! Right?
You're right! Back in the day GoPro was the FPV camera too, we might be coming full circle with future DJI gear haha
slick design.
looks promising!
Super sweet idea. Great job!
WOW New in this world!! nice video!!
Great idea. Great watch!
Very cool looking design! I dig it!
What’s the thought process behind not mounting the cage to the bottom plate with the AIO further back?
I have a similar spirit setup using a Catalyst Machine Works inspired 3D print design sandwiched between the top and bottom plates that holds an easily removable front carbon cage, rear top plate mounted AIO for really good resonance and top mounted CG toilet tank battery for proper handling. It’s far from perfect but has some really good designs incorporated. This design also has a brother with rear bottom plate mounted FC+ESC and top plate mounted arms that handles even better as the prop line and CG are basically at the same point.
I like symmetry. My rx also sits in that front bit but with a thicker bottom plate you probably could by changing the layout a bit. I like the added strength the traditional top plate/bottom plate gives you. It's actually quite small though and quite a tight fit already (130mm top plate, 15mm max standoff) My main design intention was no props in view at 0 (or even negative) cam angles.
This is so cool Scotty
Thanks man! Appreciate the comment.
Excellent design...... nice one mate 🔥 🔥
Wow! Great idea…. I think you should come up with a creative name for the idea. It could be open source-ish. That way if someone has a specific drone model they can look up the version for theirs. And spread it to other vtx as well using the same name. Something like “basket case” or the like.
Cool thoughts! I'm sure if the concept gains traction the community will coin a good term. Basket Case is fun haha
Great video, nice flying, awesome product. What type of CNC bit do you use to cut the Carbon fiber plates with?
Just diamond cut carbide burr end mills. Same as what's used for PCB milling etc.
@@ScottTomlinson Great, thank you. I have a bunch of different bits, was hoping not having to get some special carbon cutting bits :)
Great video
Great build
Great idea
Thanks mate! Cheers
Please make concept upgrade for dji avata like this project
Thats actually sick given how expensive the O3 is and how much the upcoming O4 will inevitably cost
This is awesome! Looks sick 🔥🙌
Scott can you design a ultralite 6 or 5 inch that uses the Pavo cage , please
Amazing idea!
Damn! Has been a hot minute since the last Black Opal Labs RnD video 🍆
Slick hot swap system, but I’m mainly here for the epic video 💪
Appreciate the comment dude! Crazy they still let you have internet in prison.
good evening. like, that is unusual drone,catch ya later-Scott~
Scott can you do a 5 or 6 inch long range ultralite. you have to add in that cool smiley face
Keep up thd good work...dr quads tried something like this but never got it quite worked out...cam you sell the soecs so i can get one cut?
DXF files are in the description mate. Just make sure you read the notes with it.
nice video supper well done
do you have good info for carbon milling on cnc
what carbon do you use what milling speed ?
I touch on the CNC aspect a bit in my proximity drone video (about 2 years back on my channel) Might be worth a look.
Very cool concept. !
Really cool project dude
and now where do we order? very nice work and intelligent design
It's open source. Files are in the description. Easier to get it cut locally to where you are.
Very cool bro! I wanna get one this week and build a freestyle version. Also what type of cnc machine was that?
Thanks mate! It's a custom one I designed and built years back. It's actually in my proximity speed drone video from a couple years ago too.
Bro I'm sold where I can get one. I loved the boomerang arms It reminds me of newbeedrone vivid and the antenna placement is the key. Make a TPU file for a self-powed buzzer
Thanks mate. Files are in the description.
What a great idea.
I need a 4" one . As this has been the best size for mx and drift car chase rig ..using 4s 21700 liions .. enough top speed and 10-15min plus flight times..
The only thing I don't like is the antenna placement. Aside from that, it's brilliant.
DJI one? They come with two whip antennas in the BetaFPV kit if you're keeping it small. This is utilitarian though. Not great for crashes being so exposed I guess.
@@ScottTomlinson maybe try to angle it slightly, perhaps a very light enclosure or protector of some kind.
pure Genius
This is brilliant!
That is a tasty build
Probably asked and answered but how much for a kit? And would it be possible to add m2 20x20 stack mounts?
I don't offer the kits sorry mate, the files are there for you to download and source the parts yourself however.
@ well I will have to do some searching to see who can get this done for me, thanks for your hard work man!
Amazing masterpiece 🤩
can cineape 25 be mutated with this Frame, and can this Frame o3 use walksnail Avatar hd pro?
It has different mounting for the O3
so fresh
🔥🔥🔥 I need that too
🙌
nice job
pretty cool!