Recently I acquired a micro quadrotor, a Hubsan X4, and while learning to fly it, I became brazen and crashed it hard into the ground. Unfortunately it hit the ground very hard (inverted and full throttle) and in the process, broke. This revealed the rather poor design of the frame which broke in the two places shown above. While it was designed to separate in the event of an impact, it places all of the stress on the upper frame which caused it to break.
Instead of finding a replacement frame and risk it breaking once again, I’ve decided to design and build an entirely new frame. To maintain the low weight and increase the strength and durability of the new frame, a switch in materials was needed. Since I have had a lot of experience with carbon fiber construction due to my interaction with the human powered vehicle team, the choice was made to build a new frame from carbon fiber and aluminum. The resulting design is shown below. The plan is to put together the frame starting tomorrow.
No. 47 Design 