The RockSampling Drone project brings together practical engineering and drone technology to make field geology faster and easier. Built on a DJI Mavic 3, the system attaches without tools or modifications, keeping setup quick and simple. A small, lightweight drill creates rock dust from surface contact, while a sticky tape collector near the drill bit captures the particles for analysis. This setup allows researchers to gather real rock samples from hard-to-reach areas safely and efficiently—turning an off-the-shelf drone into a versatile tool for geological exploration.

We developed this project during the summer semester 2025 as part of the FPV Advanced Course (5 C).

RockSampling began as a practical answer to a simple problem: university geologists need real rock samples from places people can’t safely or efficiently reach. We set out to build a tool that brings field geology within reach — literally — by turning a consumer drone into a precision sampling platform that’s lightweight, inexpensive, and easy to use.

From the start, we prioritized practicality and accessibility. The add-on requires no permanent changes to the aircraft, connects in under five minutes, and uses only about €80 worth of parts, including all electronics.

Our engineering approach mixed rapid prototyping with careful design. Structural components were modeled in Autodesk Fusion 360, 3D-printed on a BambuLab to speed iteration, and refined until form and function met strict weight and balance constraints. The control stack runs on a small ESP microcontroller we programmed in-house to coordinate the drill’s behavior. The result is a plug-and-play system that can be assembled within minutes, as demonstrated in a video below.

The development wasn’t without challenges — fitting a drilling mechanism and sample collector into the drone’s tight mass and size budget forced inventive compromises. We turned those constraints into strengths and focused on modularity, reliability, and safety.