The use case for this build was very particular in that I wanted a very discrete and compact travel drone capable of filming HD footage. As such, 250g was hardly the watermark, and I had aimed for something closer to 100g AUW. I also wanted to stick to PH2.0 lipos so I can use effortless USB charging rather than lugging around a lipo charger. This is the kit I came up with.
In addition to the build itself, we’ll be looking at the tuning and filtering strategy as well as a weight analysis so you can have a better idea of how to approach your own micro build.
Although the uni-body bottom plate has mounting holes for a single stack, there is about 24mm of space in the rear area to mount additional electronics as I’ve done so in this build.
Given the weight restrictions I have placed on this build, I’ve direct soldered all the components. As I’ve shown in prior build logs, wiring and connectors are typically in the top five heaviest components likely resulting in 3-4g savings. Although the Flywoo Goku GN745 F7 40A AIO flight controller may be a bit overkill for this build, I’ve come to really like this FC and am willing to pay the 2-3g cost in additional weight over comparable lower amperage FCs that may just be as suitable.
I opted for T-Motor F1103 11000KV motors. However, the high KV turned out to be a bit much for this 2 inch build, and I needed to ratchet back the motor output as I discuss in more detail in the tuning section.
I am using a Crossfire Nano RX with a TBS FPVCycle Minimortal T antenna well suited for micros. The HGLRC Zeus Nano VTX has proven to be reliable and lightweight with an extremely small form factor. I’m also using a 1S lipo series harness made and sold by Emax.
I opted for a Foxeer Toothless 2 nano FPV camera for its great image quality even in very low light conditions.
The stack is tight but manageable. The Crossfire Nano is held in place with 3M double sided tape then subsequently wrapped in athletic tape. The Lumenier AXII Micro antenna will be held in place with a TPU antenna guide mounted to the rear standoff. A jello inhibiting TPU mount holds the Insta360 Go. Lastly, a 16V 100uF capacitor has been sufficient to mitigate any video noise in this build.
Click here to download STL files for 3D printed parts compatible with the Shinobi Mk1.
Take care of the stack clearance to the electrically conductive carbon fiber bottom plate. I religiously conformal coat exposed electronics as a safeguard against accidental shorts.
Widely used by FPV hobbyists, MG Chemicals (422C) silicone conformal coating also comes in a UV sensitive version which will illuminate under UV-A light (black light) to easily identify areas which are not coated.
I generally frown against using only two of four motor screws to save a few grams. But in this case, every gram truly does count and the 1.6g saved in this case is not insignificant.
In addition to the benefits of running “props out” for micro builds, you really do not want to run “props in” with this frame given the design of the prop guards which would tend to catch debris using this configuration.
The Emax 2S series lipo harness makes using a dual 1S lipo setup as clean as possible.
Despite its notoriety for jello as evidenced by videos online, I feel that the Insta360 Go is still a very convenient HD travel camera for purposes aside from FPV. In addition to using the mount I designed specifically meant to mitigate jello, I recommend going over the tuning section below to see the measures I took to mitigate jello.
AUW with the Insta360 Go and 2x GNB 650mAh 1S PH2.0 lipos is 133g.
Although I typically use custom motor mixes only for large cinematic deadcat frames, I decided to use one on this build since the motor configuration is slightly asymmetric. For reference, the motor-to-motor measurements are as follows:
1-2 / 3-4: 54mm
1-3: 67mm
2-4: 81mm
The following custom motor mix was calculated using the Multi-Rotor Motor Mixing Calculator. Apply the custom motor mix through the CLI command line.
As this is not meant to be a performance build and fearing the gyro noise being created by the Insta360 Go mount, I opted to keep to Betaflight’s default filters.
These PIDs reflect numerous iterations trying to dampen the jello in the Insta360 Go footage. I ultimately landed on these settings. Note that this D term is really suitable for 2S builds. However, you can adjust D by your voltage and maintain the P:D ratio which should theoretically get you to a similar tune.
I also scaled back the motor output limit by a factor of 85%. The 11000KV rating for these 1103 motors was just too much for the two inch props. Although this was not causing jello, scaling back allowed for more throttle resolution and stable flight characteristics.
Lastly, I increased TPA and lowered its breakpoint to address throttle-induced jello.
Weight Analysis
The following breaks down the AUW of 133g of this build by all the individual components. Given the micro nature of this build, the frame itself accounts for the bulk of the weight at 31g or 24%. The dual 1S lipos together weighing 28g comprise 21%. The motors and Insta360 Go mounts both weigh 22.8g each or 17% each of the AUW.
The following chart sorts all of the components by weight.
While wiring and connectors typically rank in the top five heaviest components in a build, attention to weight reduction kept it to #7 on the list at 3g or only 2% of AUW.
To reiterate, this build was designed to be the lightest possible travel drone meant for quick HD cinematic footage. As such weight constraint was a primary goal. However, this frame is capable of being a lot more particularly with the optional Ashigaru Mk1 20mm Conversion kit. I hope this build guide has served to give you some ideas on what your ideal micro build could be.
73
All products mentioned and used in this build log were purchased at retail. All links to product websites are non-affiliate / non-commission and no solicitations were made by companies to the author to promote these products.
Ashigaru Mk1 Build Log
Updated on February 15, 2022
The use case for this build was very particular in that I wanted a very discrete and compact travel drone capable of filming HD footage. As such, 250g was hardly the watermark, and I had aimed for something closer to 100g AUW. I also wanted to stick to PH2.0 lipos so I can use effortless USB charging rather than lugging around a lipo charger. This is the kit I came up with.
This build clocks in at 133g AUW carrying an Insta360 Go and 2x GNB 650mAh 1S PH2.0 lipos in series. I’m using the extremely compact ISDT UC4 1S HV charger. The TBS Tango 2 with foldable sticks and a pair of Fatshark HDO‘s rounds out the kit.
In addition to the build itself, we’ll be looking at the tuning and filtering strategy as well as a weight analysis so you can have a better idea of how to approach your own micro build.
Build Log
Although the uni-body bottom plate has mounting holes for a single stack, there is about 24mm of space in the rear area to mount additional electronics as I’ve done so in this build.
Given the weight restrictions I have placed on this build, I’ve direct soldered all the components. As I’ve shown in prior build logs, wiring and connectors are typically in the top five heaviest components likely resulting in 3-4g savings. Although the Flywoo Goku GN745 F7 40A AIO flight controller may be a bit overkill for this build, I’ve come to really like this FC and am willing to pay the 2-3g cost in additional weight over comparable lower amperage FCs that may just be as suitable.
I opted for T-Motor F1103 11000KV motors. However, the high KV turned out to be a bit much for this 2 inch build, and I needed to ratchet back the motor output as I discuss in more detail in the tuning section.
I am using a Crossfire Nano RX with a TBS FPVCycle Minimortal T antenna well suited for micros. The HGLRC Zeus Nano VTX has proven to be reliable and lightweight with an extremely small form factor. I’m also using a 1S lipo series harness made and sold by Emax.
I opted for a Foxeer Toothless 2 nano FPV camera for its great image quality even in very low light conditions.
The stack is tight but manageable. The Crossfire Nano is held in place with 3M double sided tape then subsequently wrapped in athletic tape. The Lumenier AXII Micro antenna will be held in place with a TPU antenna guide mounted to the rear standoff. A jello inhibiting TPU mount holds the Insta360 Go. Lastly, a 16V 100uF capacitor has been sufficient to mitigate any video noise in this build.
Take care of the stack clearance to the electrically conductive carbon fiber bottom plate. I religiously conformal coat exposed electronics as a safeguard against accidental shorts.
I generally frown against using only two of four motor screws to save a few grams. But in this case, every gram truly does count and the 1.6g saved in this case is not insignificant.
In addition to the benefits of running “props out” for micro builds, you really do not want to run “props in” with this frame given the design of the prop guards which would tend to catch debris using this configuration.
The Emax 2S series lipo harness makes using a dual 1S lipo setup as clean as possible.
Despite its notoriety for jello as evidenced by videos online, I feel that the Insta360 Go is still a very convenient HD travel camera for purposes aside from FPV. In addition to using the mount I designed specifically meant to mitigate jello, I recommend going over the tuning section below to see the measures I took to mitigate jello.
AUW with the Insta360 Go and 2x GNB 650mAh 1S PH2.0 lipos is 133g.
Tuning & Filter Strategy
Although I typically use custom motor mixes only for large cinematic deadcat frames, I decided to use one on this build since the motor configuration is slightly asymmetric. For reference, the motor-to-motor measurements are as follows:
The following custom motor mix was calculated using the Multi-Rotor Motor Mixing Calculator. Apply the custom motor mix through the CLI command line.
As this is not meant to be a performance build and fearing the gyro noise being created by the Insta360 Go mount, I opted to keep to Betaflight’s default filters.
These PIDs reflect numerous iterations trying to dampen the jello in the Insta360 Go footage. I ultimately landed on these settings. Note that this D term is really suitable for 2S builds. However, you can adjust D by your voltage and maintain the P:D ratio which should theoretically get you to a similar tune.
I also scaled back the motor output limit by a factor of 85%. The 11000KV rating for these 1103 motors was just too much for the two inch props. Although this was not causing jello, scaling back allowed for more throttle resolution and stable flight characteristics.
Lastly, I increased TPA and lowered its breakpoint to address throttle-induced jello.
Weight Analysis
The following breaks down the AUW of 133g of this build by all the individual components. Given the micro nature of this build, the frame itself accounts for the bulk of the weight at 31g or 24%. The dual 1S lipos together weighing 28g comprise 21%. The motors and Insta360 Go mounts both weigh 22.8g each or 17% each of the AUW.
The following chart sorts all of the components by weight.
While wiring and connectors typically rank in the top five heaviest components in a build, attention to weight reduction kept it to #7 on the list at 3g or only 2% of AUW.
To reiterate, this build was designed to be the lightest possible travel drone meant for quick HD cinematic footage. As such weight constraint was a primary goal. However, this frame is capable of being a lot more particularly with the optional Ashigaru Mk1 20mm Conversion kit. I hope this build guide has served to give you some ideas on what your ideal micro build could be.
73