Table of Contents
Parts Overview About Best Toothpick Drone
Toothpick drone parts require a bit of patience to build once the drone builds, you have fun and make a blast flying. All the parts are smaller and the soldering pads and wires are shorter. That’s why drone producers need to have a bit of patience to build such types of drones. Let’s discuss the main parts of the toothpick drone under an umbrella.
A Toothpick Frame
A toothpick frame is said to be one of the simplest foam frames. There is a bottom plate, one canopy, and four standoffs. Its bottom plate is made of carbon fiber and its thickness varies between 2-3mm available in small sizes as the force acting on its arms while a crash is comparatively lower.
KababFPV Toothpick
KababFPV Toothpick micro frame is one of the first toothpick frames to come into existence and toothpick drones were made famous by KababFPV. In this drone, there is a micro-frame with a carbon fiber bottom plate that supports 16×16 stacks and 25.5×25.5 AIO board and standoffs. As we know that it does not come with a canopy but a few canopies were found on Thingiverse that were 3D printed.
ZJWRC 110X Toothpick Frame
One of the best toothpick frames is called ZJWRC 110X which is available with a canopy, antenna mounts, and two types of thicknesses 2 and 2.5mm. It supports only 25.5×25.5 AIO that’s the same as the price of the KababFPV frame at $15.99.
Lil Deuce Toothpick Frame
Lil Deuce Toothpick frame was very famous at the start of the toothpick era. This frame comes in 111mm, mm carbon thick with a mass of just 5.3grams. And designed high-standard motors named Lil Floaters for the frame category. Stack mounting is standard 16mmx16mm or you can say it comes with any whoop AIO pattern like 24-26 mm. There is an Acro-Micro-AIO mount camera, 11xx, 0905 motor support with a maximum prop size of 2.5” where total mass is around 39g to 40g.
Armattan and Tadpole
As we can observe that the market is flooded with toothpick frames with supporting battery mounts on the bottom. So, Armattan decided to do something unique with their version of 2.5” and 3” toothpicks, Tadpole with battery. Tadpole has a built-in aluminum camera cage and incredible Alu-antenna mounts on the back of the frame that uses a 16x16mm stack mount and adapters for whoop-style FC which is 25mmx25mm. One important thing to be noticed is that 9mm is the motor mount pattern and motor-to-motor is 119.5mm. That’s quite amazing.
As the current draws are very small like 6-8A per motor, producers and manufacturers can easily squeeze in an FC and an ESC into a single board. All in one like FC and ESC combo boards have around for the time being and they will not be useful until the Toothpick fever starts to spread easily. We would like to discuss its mounting hole patterns and designs are 16x16mm, 20x20mm, and 25.5×5.5mm. 16x16FCs have separate FC and ESC boards which are known as stacks and 20×20 boards have both one and stacks. The important thing is that the 25.5×25.5mm board can accommodate FCs, ESCs, and AIOs.
iFlight Sussex V1 Stack
This is one of the most popular choices and comes with an ESC, FC, and VTx which have 16×16 mounting holes. iFlight SuccexV1 stack you get with an F411 Flight Controller with bells and whistles of a big FC with Voltage inputs of 2-4s. There is a power output of 25/100/20mW along with an Ipex antenna connector with IRC telemetry.
HGLRC FD413 Stack and Other Stacks
HGLRC FD413 is another well-known stack. Some more stacks would be the BetaFPV FC with an F4FC and 12A ESC weighing a mere 6.2g. It has voltage support between 2-4s and FrSky, Flysky, Crossfire Receivers, and Futaba’s Sbus.
GepRC GEP F4 Stack Board
GepRC GEP F4 board is an alternative for an AIO board with the same description and specifications as that HGLRC stack. iFlight Succex micro F4 USC stack with connectors makes the toothpick heavier but it also helps in installation and assembling.
Motors For Toothpick Drone
In the olden days, Brushed motors were used for 2” and smaller drones but now history has been changed with smaller Brushless motors which are going to be very much popular day by day. The ideal motor sizes in the Toothpick class are 11xx, 08xx, and 12xx which are larger. Larger motors require large batteries and beefier ESCs to manage higher current capacity.
A lightweight 2” 1S build uses a 0806 build and some larger 110 and 1103 motors are also used. A 3” large-sized drone can use 1104 and 1105 builds for the 2-3s build, same as 1106 and 1204 builds for 3-4s builds.
The volume of our motor stators or a volume of a Cylinder is calculated by using this formula.
The volume of Cylinder V=πr2h
Motor Sizes – Stator Volume (mm3)
1103 285.1
1104 380.13
1204 452.3
1105 475.17
1106 570.
1404 615.7
1206 678.5
As you can see, 1105 motors have a larger stator volume than 1204-sized motors. A large motor means more power, more weight, and higher current draws. So, if you see the toothpick has the motor for 3S batteries with 2.5” propellers including wire and connector, then the total mass would be 4g to 5g.
AIO Camera For Toothpick Drone
The toothpick frame uses a nano-sized AIO camera and a micro Video Transmitter. It is lightweight, has high practicality, and compactness. The pilot needs to attach it to the correct pad. Small-size cameras are the result of 25mW power amplifiers, sensors, micron lenses, and also PCBs with essential electronics Its transmitters can work on approx 40 to 50 channels like 5-6 bands. Its amazing range, speed of light/dark modification, and distribution are quality enough for fast and secure flight.
There are two types of antennas: built-in VTxs of AIO cameras, whip antennas, and CP. It depends on the toothpick set-up, the limit of space where you are flying the drone, and the way the canopy is built.
When we talk about Whip antennas, they are simpler and easier to build in, impact-resistant, and much lighter than CP antennas. Such antennas are already soldered to the camera which makes them difficult to change. The pilot can switch their antennas according to flying needs but it’s better to have two cameras having two different antennas and an AIO camera with u.FL antenna connectors.
There is a main consideration like if you have physically connected soldered headers it’s impossible or very much difficult to connect the camera to OSD. Further with the camera connected to VTx by silicone wires, it will be possible to cut the video output off the camera and attach the other end of the wire to Fc’sOSD pad. Nowadays Betaflight, and OSD wires are a standard part of the camera. Relatively, newer models of AIO cameras have Smart Audio protocol support to change VTx channel and band too. The most expensive cameras are Caddx Firefly and BetaFPV Z0 and the best budget-friendly models are Eachine TX06, FX806T, and Eachine F7.
Standalone Camera
Such stand-alone cameras are set-nano-cameras that are 14mmx14mm with everything bigger cameras already have. Some high-definition (720p max) cameras fit into the nano-camera category. The Toothpick sets contain a 15mmx14mm nano-camera, 16mmx16mmVTx for the stack, and triangle-shaped 25.2mm stackable VTx or standalone VTx just like ImmersionRC TBS Unify PRO Nano or other. The leading toothpick camera producers are RunCam, Foxeer, Caddx, NewBeeDrone, and BetaFPV.
Propellers For Toothpick Drone
There are three types of ultralight drone propellers. 2”, 2.5”, and 3” from which 2.5” is used mostly which are 65mm propellers. When we talk about 65mm ones, they are press-on propellers and you can not screw them to the motor, only place them onto the motor shaft. Most motors are made in two versions one is press-on and the other is a bell with a screw slot. Not every motor, but some motors support both kinds of propellers. Here are a few standards for press-on propellers with 1.2mm, 1mm, and 0.8mm diameters. Propellers with a small hole diameter can easily be adjusted to a 1.5mm motor and 65mm propellers are used for drones with 1s batteries. For larger propellers, more powerful motors and a high-voltage battery is required. Mostly two-blade and three-blade propellers are used but in many cases brushed micro whoop class, HD Props, Lumenier, and Avan Rush are used as famous toothpick propellers.
Toothpick Drone Batteries
Mostly 450mAh capacity toothpick batteries are used depending on the frame size, quad design, and power-hungry drive. Some batteries are designed for smaller models and some are used for larger quads. Most of the toothpicks are manufactured to start flying when on battery and land on that is the most vulnerable part of the equipment. The top best quality toothpick all-up-weight (AUW) is 50% or under, the mass of the battery.
At the time of buying a battery, you just need to consider the battery’s C-Rating which means the battery is good and has fewer voltage drops for a longer period. In contrast, a lower C-Rating means less flying time or shorter battery life. Buying sketchy batteries can be risky.
The greater the VK-propeller dimension, the less voltage of the battery that’s why a smaller propeller is considered and advisable to use. For a Smaller quad with small propellers, you need to select a smaller battery for less AUW. To make your drone a bit sluggish, you can use a 2s battery, 2.5” propellers, and setup (8000KV max). This is the best for beginners who are not experienced and sophisticated gimbal movement ability to control quard. Some of the most popular battery producers are GNB, NitroNectar, BetaFPV, and Tattu.
The Final Thoughts
As we know that there are three quads with similar attributes, but the Toothpicks drone is the ideal with 2’ and 2.5”. According to your quad, you can choose propellers, and batteries, which have great potential to fly comfortably. The new law was proposed and affected the FPV world. It provides great help to develop quads under 250grams and you don’t need to have a remote.
There is a good step taken by the FPV Freedom Coalition against interfering with bureaucracy and politics in the FPV world. Toothpick drones are becoming a very famous and favorite kind of quadcopter concerning size, weight, design, motor, and camera, and their demand is increasing speedily. You don’t need a license to fly, it is very cheap and provides safe flight anywhere. It is more durable because of its lower mass, and quite compatible with spare parts on the market as well. So, challenge yourself with BNF Toothpicks or start creating your toothpicks by calculating all necessary components after doing smart research.
