← All projects Skylark Drones · Apr 2025 – Present

Drone Frame Design & Assembly Line

Mechanical Solution Engineer FEA Life Estimation 500+ units/month line NPI to EMS partners

Mechanical solution engineering for commercial drones — structural validation of airframes and propellers, and design of the production system to build them at scale.

Drone — isometric studio render

01Requirements

02Key Decisions

Where does analysis effort go?
Fatigue and modal first. Static strength rarely limits a drone frame; vibration modes couple with motor RPM and fatigue accumulates at stress concentrations. Analysis results fed directly into thickness, ribbing and material selection decisions.
Build line in-house or transfer to EMS?
Both, staged. A modular in-house line designed around takt time for near-term volume, with NPI knowledge transfer to EMS contract manufacturers for SMT and box-build as volumes grow. Modularity means stations can be duplicated rather than redesigned when scaling.
How to fix part shortages permanently?
Go to the source. Scouted suppliers in Shenzhen directly to resolve shortages and establish long-term sourcing relationships, instead of relying on traders and hoping.

03Process

Structural work ran propeller life estimation and frame static/modal/fatigue analysis, iterating geometry with the design team. Production work mapped the assembly sequence into a modular line with optimised takt time, then built the SKU and part-coding logic that lets the warehouse and production floor track every module. Supplier development and EMS handover documentation closed the loop from design to scaled manufacture.

Note: renders above are personal Blender visualisation work, not the commercial product.

04Challenges

Scaling without proportional cost

Hitting 500+ units/month with a line that's affordable today meant designing for duplication — modular stations that can be cloned as demand grows, rather than one monolithic line sized for a future that may shift.

Cross-domain part traceability

Drones mix mechanical parts, electronics and calibrated sensors — each with different revision behaviour. The SKU and part-coding system had to encode this cleanly enough for warehouse staff to use without engineering supervision.

05Outcome

Delivered (ongoing)

Production-ready modular line design targeting 500+ units/month · validated airframe and propeller life estimates · SKU system in use for warehouse and WIP tracking · Shenzhen sourcing relationships established · NPI transferred to EMS partners.