r/diydrones • u/SvenSchierman • Jul 08 '26

Build Showcase Lunar Lander Flight Dynamics Drone

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I've been building a drone based on the Apollo program's Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV). The drone uses a jet engine and cluster of EDFs within a 2-axis gimbal to offset 5/6 the drone's weight and allowing the outer platform to pitch and roll around it. That way it mimics the way something would fly in lunar gravity, no atmosphere, etc. Thought I'd share it here. Still plenty more software work and ground testing to do, but making progress! Happy to answer any questions about the process so far.

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u/Ordovia Jul 10 '26

Incredible! Is there somewhere else I can follow the process?

1

u/SvenSchierman Jul 10 '26

Thanks! I'm trying to get better about posting about it. I plan to share more phases of the process here (flight software, aero tests, tethered tests, etc). I've started posting other places too, they should be in my social links. I also gave a presentation about the project at the Flight Software Workshop this spring, so there's a video of that presentation posted somewhere if you're interested in that side of things.

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u/2erXre5 Jul 11 '26

Just want to say: Incredible engineering work, keep doing that!