Blogs

Hi everyone, I am the maker of the very first LEGO drone which I initially used an APM flight controller.  Later I got with my friend Nick and we made our first Kickstarter with a full sized drone. But since then the FAA started requiring registration and for kids it was a little too much. Also since then there has been a lot of other LEGO based mini quads. The problems with all the ones I have seen so far was they were all brushed motors, 1-2 min flight times and worse, barely flew.

So I got with my friend Nick again and we 3D printed some motor mounts to handle brushless motors and made our own much better and more powerful design, we went all out, it's not a cheap little brushed motor toy like the others.  We used bigger motors and these are 6500KV brushless.  A NAZE 32 FC, Loaded with the latest cleanflight firmware.  This one is able to perform flips and and can do ACRO modes in case you want to carry FPV. In the video you can see how well ours flies.  We are also creating a plug and play FPV camera that will connect directly into the FC.  We also tuned it and will be supplying the PIDs for everyone to download.

Here is a pic of it flying

As you can see for LEGO based we went all out ;-)

I personally especially hope Randy and Chris Anderson like it, they both have kept so many of us makers inspired.

You can visit the Kickstarter and get more info on it.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1762962374/lego-brick-mini-drone-digital-sky-mini

• NAZE32 flight controller with Loaded with Cleanflight and capable of 3 modes, Angle/Horizon and Acro.
  We use an advanced flight controller based on NAZE32, the same style flight controller that continues to win races and freestyle events today.  This flight controller supports easy modes like Angle mode that gives the beginner super stable and level flying.  Then for the most advanced flyer we have preset the flight controller to support Horizon mode, this is a intermediate mode that allows flips and rolls yet still has stability.  As you get more advanced at your flying you can change our settings to support full Acro and do FPV flying.
  
• Powerful Brushless motors and ESCs
  We use powerful 6500KV Brushless motors.  Brushless motors are used in high end quadcopter racers and professional photography quadcopters. Brushless motors are why our LEGO® Mini drone costs a little more but we wanted to give our LEGO® Mini enough power to fly fast, perform acrobatics like flips safely and yet have complete stability in our beginner modes.  Brushless motors give you all that and more.  Also these brushless motors and ESC's will give you enough power so that you can later create your own design and fly more bricks than what you get with the kit.
  
• 6 Channel Spektrum Transmitter.
  Spektrum is The Leader in Spread Spectrum Technology. We selected Spektrum Transmitter because of its accuracy and 6 channels.   This gives you a higher end accuracy for performing acrobatics and stability, this is essential in any good flying quadcopter.  Not only that but this transmitter can be used on other models you build in the future too and can last you years and with 6 channels it can grow as you grow.
  
• Long Lasting 400mAh 2S Battery
  What does this mean to you?  Well first it gives you longer battery life with more than other mini quads. Most other mini quads use 1S, or Single Cell batteries, ours has 2 cells.   Why? Well we set out to design a kit that can grow with you. Let's say you want to add a FPV camera in the future to fly thru the house.  Well our 2S battery has enough power to run a small micro FPV camera.
  
• ProTuned 
  The makers at Brickdrones.com have spent countless hours and crashes professionally tuned the flight controller with 2 modes, beginner(Angle) and expert(Horizon) to work with the Spektrum transmitter, motors and props that come with the kit.  This means that once built it should fly fantastic.  If you want to fly FPV and race your Digital Sky Mini you can use Cleanflight to allow Acro flight (Advanced).  We will continue to tweak the flight controller and post the settings on our web site.
  
  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1762962374/lego-brick-mini-drone-digital-sky-mini