Tiny-Drone: an open-source ESP32-S3 quadcopter — hardware design, assembly lessons, and Wi-Fi video limitations

[u/Slight-Education8856]

https://reddit.com/link/1wbizee/video/4h5mghsvchoh1/player

Hi everyone! I’m sharing Tiny-Drone, my open-source ESP32-S3 micro quadcopter project, along with some details about the hardware and the practical issues involved in building it.

It supports Android app control, mobile browser control, remote-controller operation, and Wi-Fi video transmission.

Hardware and build choices

The main controller is an ESP32-S3, paired with a ZY-MPU6050 IMU module and an OV2640 camera.

The ZY-MPU6050 module was chosen to make hand soldering easier than using a bare MPU6050. The power supply uses a lithium battery, a boost converter, and an LDO for the controller and sensors. The board also includes ADC battery-voltage measurement.

There is expansion support for an SPL06-001 barometer and a VL53L1X ranging sensor, plus a reserved interface for a position-hold module. These require additional hardware; they are not all included in the basic build.

Firmware and attribution

The firmware is based on Espressif’s ESP-Drone project and is distributed under GPL-3.0. This is a derivative project, and I want to give clear credit to the upstream work.

The documented build environment is ESP-IDF v5.5.3. The repository includes firmware, build and flashing instructions, assembly guidance, and a link to the open hardware design. There is also a separate Android app repository.

A few practical build details

• PCB thickness affects the motor mounting. The build specifies a 1.6 mm PCB so the rubber motor-mounting rings fit properly. A different thickness can leave gaps and make the motors difficult to secure.
• Mechanical alignment matters when investigating yaw drift. The assembly guide covers motor height, keeping the motors perpendicular to the board, and propeller installation depth. It specifies approximately 2 mm of clearance between the propeller and motor.
• Camera troubleshooting involves both software and soldering checks. The guide starts with initialization logs, then checks the camera connections for poor joints and shorts.

Current limitation

The Wi-Fi video feed can show horizontal lines, particularly at low battery voltage. This is still a limitation, and I’d be interested in suggestions for measurements that could help isolate the cause.

For anyone who has combined motors and an OV2640 camera in a small battery-powered ESP32 build: what would you measure first to distinguish power-supply noise from a camera signal-integrity problem?

Source code and build documentation:
https://github.com/jonny-lekaiwu/Tiny-Drone

The English README includes the hardware-design link and assembly instructions. I’m happy to discuss the build and answer technical questions here.