Mobula 6 upgrade: Ultralight lowrider

​The Happymodel Mobula 6 is proving to be one of the most popular drones of early 2020 just like the mobula 7 in 2019. What makes it so successful? It is small, light and agile and fast enough given the power source. And, with the introduction of esc firmware capable of running at 48khz, it seems to offer the flight time.

Even though it’s a great quad as is, I always like to tinker to see what can be squeezed out. In my opinion it is the super light weight of the Mobula6 that makes it so good in all the parameters above, so how to make it better? Make it EVEN lighter.

For this particular mod I've chosen to remove the canopy and replace it with a lowrider camera mount which I must credit Chaotix from the micro motor community forum with. This was a mod to mount split aio cameras to before canopies were commercially available and offered the following advantages:

• Cheap!
• Light
• No ducts in view
• Very low profile (more on the advantages of this later)

I wanted to see if these benefits were still applicable today and so far as I can tell – yes they are.

First time I did this mod was on a silverised E011C with bolclash split cam about 2 years ago. This was well used and abused and still holding up

So how is it done?
Get a pack of zip ties (like these) that are at least 80mm long and 4mm wide. The smaller the zip mechanism the better. Use a new blade on a hobby knife to cut a slit along the length as below. The lens of the camera will be wedged in this slit and tightened at an angle that suits your flying.

You don't need much of the cable tie to make the mount and what is used is very light

This is the tricky part and you need some patience and spare cable ties. Experiment with location and length of slit to get a tight lock of the camera lens and appropriate position for the correct angle

After completing the steps above feed the tail of the zip tie through the locking mechanism to hold the camera securely in place. You make need to experiment a bit hear with where to place the slit to get the right camera angle. See pics further down for more detail. To fit the mobula 6 frame you will then need to either cut the supporting brace at the front between the 2 ducts as I’ve done below but if you are less lazy than me I’d recommend placing the camera at the other end where the brace is less pronounced and rotating board orientation in betaflight.

Once you have the camera mounted in the zip tie at the angle you want as below with room for the camera between the ducts, line the cable tie up with the front and rear mounting holes for the flight controller along which is the centre line of the quad. Trim the cable tie to allow at least 5mm overhang from the rear hole. Then you will need to make a very small hole in the cable tie directly above where the front mounting hole it. Mark this up against the quad but make the hole on the bench so as not to damage the quad. I found the stock tip on the TS100 soldering iron at about 360 degrees made a perfect indent for me to the drive the stock canopy screw in with the screwdriver. Do the same with the rear hole too. If want you can use e6000 glue (reviewed here in a very boring article) to secure the camera more but I found this unnecessary for mine. Replace the remaining screws and you are ready to fly!

You can see the duct supports cut at the front to allow the camera to sit cleanly. See the screws at front and rear holding the sip tie mount and flight controller down

The Runcam nano 3 sits low in the ducts as so is well protected from the types of light impacts you get on a quad that weighs less than 20g

Still enough room for the camera cable to reach without lengthening. Easier to see how the cable tie holds the camera here

Summary of findings
​In retrospect this mod changed the quad more than I’d expected, here are the advantages and disadvantages I picked up in rough order. For me you can see the advantages outweighed the disadvantages fairly heavily.

Advantages

• Between 0.5-1g lighter which is a 2-5% weight savings
• Camera position feels much more natural – more in centerline so better view during flips and rolls
• Quad mass is much more centralized, movement feel less “pendulous”
• Lower profile means I seem to snag less on gaps? Likely a placebo effect for me since I’m rubbist at gaps
• Easy to revert back to stock if needed
• Looks much better (IMO of course!)
• Less obstruction for video and control antennas – better range and signal?
• Less Jello so far as I can tell

Disadvantages

• I cut the frame so possible decreased durability? (This can be done without cutting through as mentioned)
• Not as easy to adjust and set camera angle
• A little fiddly to get setup
• Camera is more exposed to damage from vertical poles

Damn that is light. I was just over 20g with the stock canopy which isn't even that heavy

With the canopy gone and camera in line with the ducts there is very little to snag on

I’m really pleased with this as a mod but in no way am I bad-mouthing the stock canopy. Although I never liked the rounded look of the stock canopy, it is very functional – surprisingly light and certainly strong enough to take the hits given the weight of this quad. The camera mounting and adjustment is really good too. As you can tell though I do like this mod and will be keep it this way for myself.

​​Thanks for reading, if you found this article useful please feel free to like or share, the facebook links below directly link/like this article. Links are affiliated and help me buy the bits I need to produce this type of content. If you are looking for quads or parts check out my coupons and discounts page which I keep updated with only the parts and quads I like at a proper discount.

Stock canopy is far from heavy and is surprisingly robust and functional

Forgot to mention the above mod to help stop the battery wiggling loose. Rubber band mounting is fairly self-explanatory