FPV X-class Racing: How to build an X class drone (Part lists)?

The FPV X-class Racing is heating up and more vendors and pilots and looking into it. They have several events planned throughout 2019 including MultiGP IO in June. In this article, we will give a definition of X-class FPV drone and list some X-class drone specs for building one.

Table of Contents

What’s the x-class drone racing?

As the name implies, the FPV x-class series is more bigger than normal FPV series (150 / 200 / 220 /250 etc.), Frame sizes are limited to 800mm to 1200mm motor-to-motor diagonally at the aircraft’s widest point. there are no maximum size for motors, props and batteries. There are several pilots building for this and prepping for other races in the US. Pilots will be interested in our 6s 3300 to 6000mah , in general, 70C is good and higher C is better. Check More lipo batteries for FPV x-class drone.

All pilots must wear FPV glasses to control his drone and have an “arming” position switch or sequence on their radios. All aircraft must include a “call sign” in their primary video feed either provided by an OSD or by the FPV camera. This call sign must specifically and unambiguously identify the team or pilot from where the video and feed originates . [From http://www.xclass.racing/rules-standards]

What parts do you need when building an x-class drone in this video:

X-class drone build lists

X-class	Motors	ESCs	Frames	Batteries	Propellers	Flight Controllers
Entry Level	Racestar 4114 400kv	RTFQ Wraith32 Metal v2, 66a XRotor Micro 40A DShot1200 RCTimer BS80a dys Aria 70a	VikingUAS X Flight Falcon	4s-8s	Turnigy 1447 Slowfly	X-Racer F303 FC V2.1
Mid Level	Bee rotor X Class x6/950kv Bee rotor X Class x6/700kv T-Motor mn4120 465kv	UndergroundFPV kamikaze 80a	Tarot 1000S octo 1100mm Dysonian California Vixen	4s-12s	APC 15x10E/15x10EP APC 14×8.5E/14×8.5EP	Airbot Omnibus F4 V3 FC
GOLD	T-Motor F1000 545kv T-Motor F1000 635kv	APD 120F3[X] APD 200F3[X]	VikingUAS WaspV1 1000mm Fossils Stuff Thor X Class Frame Dysonian California Soul Carolina XC by pLaStIc sPiDeR Catalyst Cannonball 800 BQE XXX Class	8s-14s	Master Airscrew 13x12x	Airbot OMNIBUS AIO F3 FC BeeRotorF4 BetaFlight FC BrainFPV Radix FC

Data sweep for X class frames, motors and ESCs are below:

X-class drone frames – 800MM

CAROLINA XC	Xcaliber Broadsword	CAROLINA Vixen	CMW Tasmanian	BQE XXX Class	CMW Cannonball	California Soul
0.56kg(F)	0.78kg(F)	1.52kg (AUW)	0.84kg (F)	1.00kg (F)	1.2kg (F)	2.23kg (AUW)

X-class drone motors

Motor	KV	Prop size	Thrust (g)	Wight (g)	Thrust/weight	Max current	Max battery
Brotherhobby t10 5215	330	22*5.5	7624	339	22.5	65A	12S
Mad XC5000 polar 5015	345	1283	7100	260	27.3	73	14S
Xnova Lighting XXX	350	15*4	8210	320	25.7	53A	12S
Racerstar BR 4114	400	17*4	2920	142	20.5	25.5A	8S
Tiger Motor MN 4120	465	9.5*4.5	/	253	/	50A	8S
MAD XC500 Crimson 5015	505	1283	6680	260	25.7	75A	10S
Tiger motor f1000 xxxx	635	15*5	5101	265	19.2	80A	6s
Ifight tachyonx 4214	660	16*6	7900	208.8	37.8	98A	6s
Brotherhobby T7 4215	800	15*4	6010	215	26.6	80A	8s

X-class drone ESC’s 32 Bit

ESC	Xrotor Micro 40A	DYS Aria 70A	Kamikaze Extreme	RTFQ Wraith 32	BeeRotor BS80A	APD 100f3	APD 120F3	APD 200F3
Max Current	60A	80A	80A	80A	100A	150A	180A	200A
Max Battery	6S	6S	8s	10S	8S	8S	12S	14S
Weight	11.5g	9.5g	5.8g	4.8g	20g	20g	20g	36g

X-class drone specs

Below is a buidling suggestion from pilot Tony Bazza

APD F3[x]-120 and F3[x]-100 firmware update scheduled for end of Jan. Changes are:

– Adding PWM – Getting a lot of demand for it.
– Adding Multishot – For the Flightone fans.
– Increasing auto PWM Switching freq to 48-64Khz with dithering (to reduce stress on the caps). The F3 can do 64Khz (with full 11bit Dshot and Proshot resolution) due a PLL multiplier on the timer clocks.
– Bus ripple protection. The ESC will limit power and give fault code (after landing) if it detects too much voltage ripple on the input, ie, more capacitance needed, or capacitor has failed/degraded.
– 3d mode (still deciding). – But will enabled via Dshot commands in CLI.
– Increased smoothness for 8Khz-32Khz looptimes and ICM gyros. How? With fast update rates, and low-KV motors, the ESC receives multiple signals per commutation. Infact, with fast loop-times, the ESC receives over 200 throttle signals in a single rotation. (It will now disregard outliers, usually caused by noise, via a moving majority filter).
– Slower ramp-up from 0-5% throttle, and smoother braking from 5%-0% throttle. So your props dont loosen up. Big props are heavy.

Changes to fault Codes:
– Adding a separate fault-code for desync conditions. Should rarely happen unless your caps die, or you have sporadic signal behaviour.
– Another fault code for loss of signal.

At last, interested to know what I’ve missed for build an FPV X-class drone? If you have anything else. Feel free to suggest. please leave your messages on here, Thank you.