# Single-propeller drone project publishes open hardware files on GitHub

> **Key takeaway:** Joshua Bird's experimental single-propeller drone project has released its design files on GitHub, using a hinged propeller hub and custom motor control to achieve stability.

**Published:** 2026-10-17T20:00:11+00:00 
**Source:** Hackaday Hardware 
**Category:** open-hardware 
**Canonical URL:** https://fosswire.org/news/single-propeller-drone-project-publishes-open-hardware-files.html 

## Summary
An open hardware project led by Joshua Bird has demonstrated a very small drone that flies using only a single propeller. The design relies on a hinged propeller hub that manipulates blade angles for pitch and roll control, combined with direct motor speed and position measurement rather than standard ESC back-EMF methods. The project files are available on GitHub, and future plans include adding environmental scanning for autonomous fixed reference points to enable outdoor flight.

## How the single-propeller control works
- **Hinged propeller hub** manipulates blade angles to control pitch and roll, requiring extremely rapid adjustments
- **Custom motor controller** replaces standard ESCs because back-EMF sensing is too slow for this application
- **Direct motor measurement** of speed and position enables the fast control loops necessary for stability
- **Infrared beacon system** provides a fixed reference point to prevent positional drift and crashes
- **Planned environmental scanner** would allow the drone to use surrounding features as autonomous reference points for outdoor flight

## Why it matters
The project demonstrates that unconventional drone architectures can be stabilized with creative mechanical and control-system design rather than defaulting to multi-rotor configurations. Publishing the files advances reproducibility for other open hardware researchers.