What was accomplished

This week marked a major milestone for the mechanical department as the team completed the full transition from the digital CAD environment to physical hardware assembly, achieving full structural readiness for flight. Following the successful delivery of sourced materials, macroscopic construction of the quadcopter frame began with the dry assembly of the enclosed upper deck, fitting together the solid carbon fiber side walls and top plate to form the boxed avionics compartment. The four primary flight arms (M1–M4) were assembled from carbon fiber tubing, with the custom-machined motor mount plates installed at the distal end of each arm using the dual-clamp system, ensuring all four propulsion units sit level and coplanar exactly as designed.

The lower deck was then finalized with the installation of the vertical aluminum standoffs, ensuring rigid spacing between the tiers, and Loctite 243 threadlocker was applied to all critical fasteners to guarantee structural reliability under high-frequency flight vibrations. The custom 3D-printed battery holder was fitted into the lower deck, its side slots locking firmly around the standoffs as designed. With the chassis fully assembled and locked, the team also began integrating the core electrical components directly into the airframe, mounting the flight controller, wiring harnesses, and other essential avionics hardware into the completed structure. The drone's physical chassis is now fully assembled, wired, and ready for full payload and electronics integration.

Challenges and solutions

A critical manufacturing challenge arose when cutting the raw carbon fiber tubes to their calculated lengths. Carbon fiber is a highly abrasive composite material, and attempting to cut it with standard saw blades caused splintering and risked delaminating the internal carbon matrix, which would compromise the structural integrity of the arms. The team researched composite machining techniques and procured a specialized diamond-coated cutting disc for the rotary saw, allowing the tubes to be cut with precision, leaving clean, smooth edges without micro-fractures.

A further challenge during final assembly was ensuring every dual-clamp motor mount was torqued to a consistent, specified value across all four arms — uneven clamping force between arms risked inconsistent vibration behavior and premature loosening in flight. This was resolved by torque-testing each clamp connection with a calibrated torque wrench to the specified value, then re-checking all fasteners after an initial settling period to confirm no loss of clamping force before final integration.

Next Steps Plan

With the quadcopter airframe fully assembled, structurally complete, and now carrying its core electrical components, major mechanical fabrication is officially finished. The plan is to pause mechanical manufacturing to evaluate the overall build and support the avionics team through full systems integration and testing in the coming weeks.