Origami Drone - When Pigs Fly!

I'm a big fan of taking drones apart and putting motors on things. My original thought was to make a true origami pig and add motors... Pigs Flying!

But for now, I've settled for a box with a pig face to see how well paper flies.

You'll need origami paper, a drone set (either taken from a store bought drone or collected), maybe a soldering iron for that drone and maybe some glue.

Here's some pics on making a simple origami box. I recommend using the 6x6" square paper. If you go too small your props will hit. Too big and your wires might not reach. I've shown you the classic origami folding instructions and some pictures to follow along. The last folds are the tricky part... just fold pieces until you get the paper going the right direction.

In this, I'm using parts from the JJRC H8 Mini. Also check out Kitables.co for similar kits that have everything you need.

You will need compatible parts like these:

1. Controller
2. Receiver Board
3. Motor Set -- 2 spinning clockwise, 2 spinning counter clockwise
4. Propeller Set (match the motors)
5. Lithium Battery for Drone Board (this is a 3.7V 150mah with JST cable)
6. USB charger for Drone Battery

If you're starting from scratch, you'll need to solder your motors to your board. For this particular board, the motor wires (Black/White or Red/Blue) will follow this pattern.

With the Box, it's pretty easy to add your components. I set the board in the bottom and used "glue dots" to secure the motors in each corner.

It does matter where you put your props in a motor. For this one, I've shown it pictured with the motor wire colors. If you have trouble getting lift, you might have props on the wrong motor.

Give your battery some juice and then set it in the box. The battery can cause the drone to be a bit unbalanced so you can try to secure it to the middle. Otherwise it seems to get some decent lift and the lack of rigidity with the paper only seems minor. I might try adding holes in the bottom and toothpicks to test out structure differences.

UPDATE: I added this really high-quality video from my office today. Next time I will put a glitter bomb and hit the top of my co-worker's desk.