{"id":71322,"date":"2026-07-20T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T22:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=71322"},"modified":"2026-07-16T16:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:08:21","slug":"3d-printed-autonomous-flying-umbrella-20072026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printed-autonomous-flying-umbrella-20072026\/","title":{"rendered":"3D Printed Autonomous Flying Umbrella That Follows You Automatically"},"content":{"rendered":"

You read that right. This 3D printed umbrella takes flight and follows you around, keeping you protected from the rain while leaving your hands free. To make it possible, John Xu, creator of the YouTube channel I Build Stuff,<\/strong> used 3D printing<\/a> to manufacture much of the structure and create a design capable of maintaining stability in flight.<\/p>\n

This umbrella is the second version of the project. The first consisted of an umbrella fitted with screwed-on propellers that could fly, but it still had to be controlled with a remote. For the second version, Xu developed a fully autonomous system that allows users to walk while staying protected from rain or sunlight, without having to use their hands.<\/p>\n

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The 3D-printed core connects the umbrella to all of its electronics.<\/p><\/div>\n

To ensure the umbrella wouldn’t need to be held, John opted for folding arms that support the four propellers. When the umbrella is closed, the arms fold away. Once opened, a locking mechanism secures them firmly in place. Hinges, locking plates, and other components underwent numerous iterations of design, 3D printing, and testing to reduce the vibrations that interfered with the flight controller.<\/p>\n

Much of the umbrella’s development relied on 3D printing. The structural components, including the central core that connects to the umbrella and the locking mechanisms, were printed in carbon fiber<\/a>-reinforced nylon to improve rigidity. John started the project with a Bambu Lab X1C and finished it using an H2D<\/a>. The H2D’s heated chamber allowed him to print engineering-grade materials without the parts warping.<\/p>\n

Printing the parts was only half the job. How does the umbrella know who to follow? To answer that question, John first built a test drone<\/a> to experiment with different tracking systems. He tested conventional cameras, a GPS system with an accuracy of just 3 meters, which proved too imprecise for tracking, and finally a time-of-flight (ToF) camera. This type of camera continuously emits light and measures the phase shift of the reflected wave to calculate distance and generate a depth map. A Raspberry Pi processes this data in real time, detects the user\u2019s head, and sends the necessary instructions to the flight controller to keep the umbrella centered above it.<\/p>\n

After many setbacks and several rounds of redesign, John managed to get the umbrella to take off, follow its user autonomously, and even function in heavy rain. If you’d like to learn more about how the umbrella was built, check out John Xu’s video below.<\/p>\n