Need tips on getting this to fly properly

Question

Learning the basic concepts. Yet to use a receiver and remote. Using a 3.7 v coreless motor, lipo battery and thermocol for the frame.

I figured out how to connect the motors so that diagonally opposite motors have same direction rotation and adjacent motors have opposite rotation. Also learnt how to arrange the propellers. I learnt that L goes for CW and R for CCW. Main thing is if arranged properly it will push air down.

In first attempt the frame was bulky and probably blocking the wind from being pushed down. Also it was bit heavier. It was sliding on the floor - almost lifting.

In second attempt it does visibly rise up and float in the air. Keeping it tied down by some threads on four sides.

However it flips over if not tied down.

I don't think flip over is due to motor or propellor arrangement. Studied that aspect I think adequately.

Will it not flip over if I use a receiver and remote?

Is it flipping over because the speed to the motors is full and not controlled? Will a receiver detect and adjust speed of each motor?

Will it be better if I weigh down the drone somewhat using enough light weights?

What frame is recommended for a 3.7 v coreless motor with 4.5 mm propellers?

R

Answer 1

That sounds like you don't have a flight controller. You won't be able to fly a quadcopter without electronic stabilisation of some sort. The basic configuration is not naturally stable.

An analogy is trying to balance a stick vertically on its end. You need some kind of active control to keep it balanced, and shorter sticks need faster reflexes. Most people can balance a broom, but not a pen. Most drones are so small that human reflexes are too slow and you need electronic stabilisation.

A full size helicopter is large enough to be flown without assistance (although they are not easy to fly!), and model helicopters can be flown with a fly-bar for basic aerodynamic stabilisation, but quadcopters only became possible about 10 years ago when micro accelerometers were mass-produced for the Nintendo Wii and cell phone tilt sensors.

To continue the analogy, you are currently trying to balance a pen upright with no way to adjust it when it starts to fall. If you add a receiver, it's like trying to balance the pen on your finger - you would need superhuman reflexes. A flight controller uses accelerometers to detect motion and adjust the motor speeds to keep the drone stable. The flight controller also calculates the channel mixing, so that throttle affects all motors equally while a 'pitch forward' command increases power to the rear motors and decreases power to the front motors.

There are a few flight controllers that would be suitable for you, look for the ones with built-in brushed ESCs. Some have a receiver built-in too, because at that scale every gram counts.

Answer 2

Found that there is a tilt because of the hanging wire connecting to the motors. Will remove the wire and replace with lighter smaller wire connecting battery to motors. Maybe flip over will be gone then. Will also pursue with receiver after that