iFlight iX3 140mm 3in Build

thingiverse

I set out to design a 3in FPV quadcopter capable of performing like my 5in builds, while staying within the FAA's 250 gram "toy" designation. I built this rig on the bottom plate of a frame available on Amazon and the all up weight, including a 4S 650mAh Lipo battery from Genstattu, is 211 grams. Here are the parts I designed and printed in SainSmart semi-flexible TPU to make this build robustly functional. I created a camera mount that press fits with the common vtx/cam AIO FPV solutions, featuring a 10 degree tilt adjustment, which I secured by supergluing the walls of the cam to the part for extra stability. There's also a mount for the Furious FrSky Rx that fits on a 20mm x 20mm flight controller stack. Lastly, there's a battery pad to super glue to the bottom of the frame to ensure a flush interface with the battery. These designs were made with flexible filament in mind, and PLA, ABS, or other rigid materials may not yield good results without adjustments. For this reason, I've provided STEP files so you can modify these parts using your favorite CAD software. UPDATE: During flight, my ESC desynced and I fell 40ft onto concrete, which damaged the lens of my camera/vtx module. Fortunately, I had a spare Eachine EF-01 camera/vtx module, so I designed a new mount for its geometry, consisting of two parts that are superglued together for easy printing. Along with this change, I upgraded to Tornado T1 1407 3600KV motors, which deliver much greater thrust while being slightly heavier. This set up now weighs 213.9g, well under the FAA's limit and achieving great performance in flight.