XL-RCM 28.0 XPANDER : 180mm foldable compact FPV racing drone

This is outdoor FPV multirotor flight platform (180mm racing drone chassis), rigid and compact design in its category : XL-RCM 28.0 XPANDER

The design was inspired by previous by my previous foldable quadcopter size frame which is the "XL-RCM 8.0 XYPHER" with slightly bigger airframe to accommodate 180 size multirotor parts and 1806 type motors.  Design aim to make a portable size racer that can be easily transported inside small tupperware plastic, small boxes and inside a pouch or medium size pockets.  Highly innovative in design and looks aerodynamic too. Project started late 2015 and completed by February 2016 but the electronics installation was never completed due to insufficient budget and lack of time to put attention to it since i have other important hobbies  i need to work on.  The XPANDER frame was donated to other FPV builder which turned into a drone racer by mid 2016. 

On the XPANDER chassis: All rotor are are fully foldable with front pair of rotor arm have higher off-set motor mount to allow more compact folding size.  Front of the frame have special 1/4 size lens mounting to hold the FPV CMOS camera module.  The mid frame include cavity to fit almost any of today electronics boards for multirotors such as small receiver, flight controllers (CC3D, SP RACING, NAZE32 and etc) and also extra space to cram small mini 5.8ghz video transmitter (25~600mw).   Rotor arm have placeholder for 180~200 racer size ESC (Simonk/BLheli) and motor mounting screw size that fit any 1806 motor type from 180mm size racer category. Each rotor arm is held by M4 type long screw shaft and bolts.  Battery are to be mounted below the belly by DIY straps or velcro..it means there no proper battery bay since most drone racer size battery are in various shape an sizes which ideally best to mount via improvised DIY straps or velcro.

Specification & requirements:

1. Will fit 180~200 size quad/drone racer electronics such as SBUS/PPM type radio receiver, CC3D, SP RACING and NAZE32 size flight controller and flat small size 5.8ghz video transmitter (25~600mw) module.
2. Li-po battery to be mounted below the chassis via DIY straps or velcro recommended size between 2s~3s  1000~1200mah 20~30c.
3. Some plugs, screws and wires need to be cut or removed to tightly fit into the frame.
4. Support mounting mini FPV CMOS type camera with 2.5mm type lens.
5. Uses 4x M4 size long threaded screws and bolts to hold the rotor arm in place and pivot around the chassis.
6. Need good soldering skills to install the electronics especially ESCs and 1806 size motors.
7. Proficient in installing electronics/hardware base on FPV drone/quad racing platform.

Complete assembly parts:

Blow-out parts:

Folded configuration:

How to:

Fitting the electronics into the frame will need a lot of work and bunch of fine soldering skills especially for power wiring connected to ESC and brushless motor. Because its so compact you will need to remove any plugs, surplus wirings and etc if necessary to get it fit perfectly and at the same time reduce weight as much as possible.  This is where pure modders put their skills into it.  Most of the electronics build for 180~200 size drone racer will fit nicely inside the the chassis mid cavity without problem as mentioned earlier. There's not much glue-ing needed since most chassis assembly are snapped in place using long M4 screws and bolts. 

Please refer to the gallery folder for images reference/manual once done download the zip file and extraction.  Set your 3D printed to more denser printing material for robust and rigid product output.  If you are new into FPV multirotor installation and need extra guidance and knowledge you can find info at RCGROUPS.com multirotor/drone community forum here (Click Here).

Gallery | Download STL file for 3D printing

Your shopping list to buy parts to build the above model:

1. Radio set/combo:
   • FrSky 2.4G ACCST Taranis X9D Plus Transmitter With X8R Receiver
   • FrSky ACCST Taranis X9D PLUS 16CH 2.4GHz Transmitter with X8R
2. Radio receiver
   • FrSky XSR 2.4GHz 16CH ACCST Receiver S-Bus CPPM Output Support X9D X9E X9DP X12S X Series
   • FrSky X4R-SB 2.4G 16CH ACCST Telemetry Receiver Naked
   • iRangeX RS802 2.4G 8CH S.BUS Dual Antenna Mini Receiver Compatible Frsky
   ESC:
   • Eachine Assassin 180 Spare Part 12A 3S ESC For Assassin 180
   • KingKong 12A ESC 5V/3A UBEC Programmer Adapter ESC Extended Wire Combo For FPV Multicopter
3. Motors CW/CCW:
   • Eachine Assassin 180 Drone Spare Part 1806 2300KV Brushless Motor CW/CCW
4. Propellers:
   • Eachine Direct Drive 4045 4x4.5 ABS Propeller CW CCW Black for Assassin 180 QAV180 QAV210
   • Eachine Direct Drive 4045 4x4.5 ABS Propeller CW CCW Red for Assassin 180 QAV180 QAV210
5. Camera (FPV):
   • RunCam Owl 700TVL Night Vision Starlight FPV Camera 0.0001 Lux FOV 150
6. Flight controller:
   • OpenPilot CC3D Atom Mini CC3D FPV Flight Controller CC3D EVO
   • F3 EVO Cleanflight Flight Controller for Multirotor Racing w/ 4G MicroSD
   Video transmitter:
   • Skyzone Upgrade TS5828S 40CH 5.8G 600MW RP-SMA Female FPV Transmitter
   • Skyzone Upgrade TS5823S 40CH 5.8G 200MW AV Transmitter Module RP-SMA Female
   • Skyzone TS58400 5.8G 400mW 32CH AV Transmitter Module
   • Boscam FPV 5.8G 200mW AV Wireless Transmitter TS351
   • Boscam FT953 5.8G 400mw 32CH Mini FPV AV Transmitter
7. Video receiver/FPV LCD/FPV video goggle:
   • Boscam GS923 FPV 5.8G 32CH Div AIO Wireless Video Glasses Without DVR
   • Fatshark Dominator V3 FPV Video Goggles Glasses WVGA 720p HDMI 800X480
   • Fatshark Fat Shark Dominator HD V2 FPV Goggles Video Glasses Headset
   • Skyzone SKY02 SKY02S V3 5.8G 40CH AIO 3D FPV Goggles Only Video Glasses Headset
   • Skyzone V2 5.8G 40CH FPV Goggles With Raceband Video Glasses Headset
   • Skyzone SKY-700D FPV 5.8G 32CH Diversity 7 Inch TFT Monitor DVR
   • Skyzone HD02 40CH 5.8G 7 Inch 1024x600 HD FPV Monitor HDMI With/Without DVR Build in Battery
8. Battery:
   • ZOP Power 3S 11.1V 1000MAH 20C Lipo Battery JST Plug