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Drone RC

dark-Phoenix2077·hover·PCBs/Drone RC/Drone RC.kicad_pcb

Drone RC PCB layout, top view — open source STM32 board by dark-Phoenix2077

About the Drone RC PCB

Drone RC is an open source STM32 PCB design by dark-Phoenix2077, published on GitHub under the MIT license. It is a 2-layer board measuring 111 × 48 mm, with 49 components from 27 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the STM32F103C8T6, from the STM32 family. Other key parts include the AMS1117-3.3 and BK2423. By type, the board carries 22 capacitors, 9 switches, 6 resistors, 5 connectors, 3 ICs and 2 crystals.

It belongs with the robotics & motion and rf & radio designs in this gallery.

From the project

A fully custom mini racing/stunt drone with ML-assisted balancing, automatic stunts, and some level of autonomous operation without costly cameras or GPS.

I wanted a challenge that forced me to learn PCB design and embedded firmware from scratch, but also let me apply the area I already know well - machine learning. Designing a drone from a blank schematic, writing every driver by hand, and then training a custom tiny ML model felt like the right way to do all of that at once. My goal was simply to push my first ever hardware project as far as I could, not to have a completely polished project.

Drone RC, from the project README
From the project README

Main components on the Drone RC

AMS1117-3.3STM32F103C8T6BK2423

Drone RC bill of materials (BOM)

49 components, 27 distinct parts — part numbers from the project's BOM.

QtyPartRefs
1
AMS1117-3.3
U1
1
STM32F103C8T6
U4
1
BK2423
U5
2
16MHz
Y2, Y3
1
BATTERY_1S
J1
1
RW1
J2
1
RW2
J3
1
SWD_HEADER
J7
1
CHARGE_PORT
J8
1
Buzzer
BZ1
1
SW_Push
SW1
1
SW_Push_2
SW2
1
SW_Push_3
SW3
1
SW_Push_4
SW4
1
SW_Push_5
SW5
1
SW_Push_6
SW6
1
SW_Push_7
SW7
1
SW_Push_8
SW8
1
SLIDE_SWITCH
SW9
1
LED
D1
Show 7 more
QtyPartRefs
4
10uF
C1, C3, C23, C31
13
100nF
C2, C4, C14, C15, C16, C17, C18, C19 +5
1
1uF
C20
4
22pF
C21, C22, C26, C27
3
10k
R1, R2, R3
1
22k
R4
2
100R
R5, R6

Drone RC design files

The KiCad project lives in the dark-Phoenix2077/hover repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Drone RC: common questions

What microcontroller does the Drone RC use?

The Drone RC is built around the STM32F103C8T6, from the STM32 family.

How big is the Drone RC PCB?

The Drone RC measures 111 × 48 mm, has 2 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.

How many components are on the Drone RC?

49 components, from 27 distinct parts, with part numbers taken from the project's own BOM. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Drone RC design files?

From the dark-Phoenix2077/hover repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout, the schematic and the BOM; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Drone RC design in my own project?

Yes, under the terms of its MIT license, which dark-Phoenix2077 chose for the repository.

Can I test firmware for the Drone RC without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug STM32 firmware against it before you order a PCB.

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