We’ve all seen people playing with fidget spinners, and Tindie has quite a few available, including those outlined in this post from May 2017. On the other hand, I’ve noticed a disturbing lack of flying fidget spinners. Actually, what I noticed is that after perusing a few YouTube videos claiming to have a flying spinner and/or spinner drones, none of them were actual spinners that could be flown like a drone. After some experimentation, I came up with what I call the SpinnerDrone, seen in the video below:
Yes, that’s right, it flies, spins, and was actually pretty easy to make with an 1/8″ piece of polycarbonate and a CNC router. In fact, something similar could likely be 3D printed, however — accurately or not — I tend to trust polycarbonate more in this situation. Also, I don’t own a 3D printer, so perhaps this contributes to my bias. Regardless, these new frames are available here, and when combined with parts from a Hubsan H107C, and the requisite central bearing — along with zip ties, hot glue, and a little wiring work — you can produce your own flying fidget spinner drone for hours of entertainment!
Of note is that the body can be used with the bearing only as a clear spinner, or the parts from a Hubsan H107C drone could be attached to the center without even using a bearing. The polycarbonate frame weighs in at 4.5 grams without zip tie landing gear, where the Hubsan’s frame H107C weighs in at 10 grams not even including the camera. Though this is yet to be tested, it would make a great high-performance frame, shedding a relatively enormous amount of weight, while forgoing the protection of a “conventional” frame!
