Micro Drone Race Gates

thingiverse

These are components designed to create a modular kit for building drone racing gates specifically tailored for 100mm sized micro indoor drones. The lengthy frame section measures 12cm in length and is approximately the longest segment that can be constructed printing vertically without supports, thereby minimizing print time. The shorter frame section is 9cm long. Given the size constraints of 3D printing, the plan was to connect frame sections together using 180 degree (straight) joints, while four 90 degree corners are used in the square gate and eight 45 degree corners are used in the octagon gate. Through trial and error, a three-section square gate was found to be an optimal size for flying, being roughly three times the width of the quad, although it's certainly possible to fly through a much smaller gate. This requires twelve long frame sections, eight 180 degree corners, and four 90 degree corners. The octagon requires eight long frame sections and eight 45 degree corners, although you can make it larger by doubling up on sections. The image shows a gate with double short sections (2x9+2cm link = 20cm long) vertically and horizontally, so it's not a perfect octagon. The designs evolved to try and minimize printing time, but the parts for a single gate are likely to take a couple of days to print. The long frames take around ninety minutes, while the corners can be printed in about forty minutes. The prints have been tested on an old MakerBot 2X Replicator and a Ultimaker 3, with the Makerbot being the faster of the two.