4 layers95 × 95 mm
Cube motherboard
willem-pennings/balancing-cube
A cube that balances itself in a corner or edge using reaction wheels
52 parts1.1kGPL-3.0
2 layers100 × 70 mm
DIY quadrocopter
nimishcoder1232/QuadcopterI want to make a drone that is completely autonomous, with my own flight computer. I will not use any drone control software; rather, I will make it all. The code from scratch, to learn as much as I can.
- Size
- 100 × 70 mm
- Copper layers
- 2
- Thickness
- 1.6 mm
- Parts
- 20
- Nets
- 43
- Pads
- 102
- Tracks, vias
- 180, 12
- Routed
- Yes
- KiCad
- KiCad 9.0 (file 20241229)
- Created
- 15 Jun 2026
- Updated
- 29 Jun 2026
Overview
DIY quadrocopter is an open-source printed circuit board by nimishcoder1232, from the nimishcoder1232/Quadcopter repository on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board of 100 × 70 mm with 20 parts on 43 nets, routed with 180 tracks and 12 vias.
It is built around the ESP32-S3-DEVKITC-1-N8 and BMI270. Its parts include 11 connectors, 4 ICs, 3 resistors and 2 capacitors. It belongs with the ESP32 boards of this library.
Main components
2README
README.mdDIY-Quad-Copter
I want to make a drone that is completely autonomous, with my own flight computer. I will not use any drone control software; rather, I will make it all. The code from scratch, to learn as much as I can.
For the outpost submission, I will request S teir, rather than A teir. My reasons are following:
- Custom Flight Control Software
The drone's flight software is entirely custom and has been developed from scratch by me. Unlike drones that rely on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) flight control software such as Betaflight or similar systems, this project requires the development of a complete flight control stack, including sensor fusion, state estimation, and stabilization algorithms.
Developing this software has required extensive research into control systems, quaternion-based orientation estimation, complementary filters, and drone dynamics. Additionally, I anticipate multiple iterations and redesigns of the software before achieving reliable flight performance, making this a highly ambitious component of the project.
- GPS-Based Autonomous Navigation
This drone is designed to support GPS navigation capabilities. The current codebase already contains foundational GPS-related functionality, and future development will include point-to-point autonomous navigation.
Implementing autonomous navigation significantly increases the complexity of the system, as it requires integration of GPS data with the flight controller, position estimation, waypoint tracking, and autonomous control logic.
- Custom Ground Control System
In the PCB folder, you can see that I designed my own drone control board, rather than a COTS solution.
CAD Screenshot:
PCB Schematic:
PCB Routing:
Parts
20| Qty | Value | Footprint | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Conn_01x02 | Connector_Wire:SolderWire-2sqmm_1x02_P7.8mm_D2mm_OD3.9mm | J7, J8, J9, J10, J11 |
| 4 | Conn_01x03 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x03_P2.54mm_Vertical | J1, J2, J3, J4 |
| 2 | 330 | Resistor_THT:R_Axial_DIN0309_L9.0mm_D3.2mm_P12.70mm_Horizontal | R2, R3 |
| 2 | BMI270 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x06_P2.54mm_Vertical | U2, U2 |
| 1 | 0.1 uf | Capacitor_THT:CP_Radial_D5.0mm_P2.50mm | C1 |
| 1 | 1uf | Capacitor_THT:CP_Radial_D5.0mm_P2.50mm | C2 |
| 1 | 220 | Resistor_THT:R_Axial_DIN0309_L9.0mm_D3.2mm_P12.70mm_Horizontal | R1 |
| 1 | Conn_01x04 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x04_P2.54mm_Vertical | J5 |
| 1 | Conn_01x07 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x07_P2.54mm_Vertical | J6 |
| 1 | ESP32-S3-DevKitC | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:ESPP 32 | U1 |
| 1 | LM317_TO-220 | Package_TO_SOT_THT:TO-220-3_Vertical | U3 |
Questions
How big is the DIY quadrocopter PCB?
It measures 100 × 70 mm and has 2 copper layers, 1.6 mm thick.
What parts does the DIY quadrocopter use?
20 parts, built around the ESP32-S3-DEVKITC-1-N8 and BMI270. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.
Where can I download the DIY quadrocopter KiCad files?
From the nimishcoder1232/Quadcopter repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is PCB/DIY quadrocopter.kicad_pcb and its schematic PCB/DIY quadrocopter.kicad_sch. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.
Can I use the DIY quadrocopter design in my own project?
Its repository states no licence, so its author keeps all rights: ask nimishcoder1232 before reusing the design.
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