Project Overview
An Airframe Tuned Like an Instrument
A survey crew needed a mapping drone to haul LiDAR through gusty canyon winds — rigid enough for clean point clouds, light enough for 40-minute flights. Stock frames flexed badly at the gimbal mount.
We printed arms and body in carbon-filled nylon, milled motor and gimbal mounts from 6061 aluminum, and ran three resonance revisions in eleven days. Sensor vibration hit single digits on flight one.
Challenge
Stiffness Versus Endurance
Each added gram steals flight time, yet a bending arm smears the LiDAR map. Revision one flew long but mapped poorly; revision two mapped well but flew short.
Approach
Print Fast, Test, Repeat
With arms printing overnight, three rib layouts flew within five days — then we kept the winner and machined just the hardpoints. The hybrid build nailed both goals.
Gallery
Build Snapshots
"Flight hardware arrives true and on schedule, every batch. That reliability lets us plan surveys months out."
Marcus Tran — Lead Mechanical Engineer
