FPV audio recorder project

The FPV Audio Recorder project is building a small, battery-free recorder for a quadcopter using a Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 Sense, its microphone, and a microSD card. The camera has been removed to save weight. The planned firmware records while the flight controller reports that the quad is armed.

Status: A local Easy Eject website-edition preview has flashed the recorder, displayed chip temperature, and imported a WAV over USB while leaving the original on microSD. The flight-controller wiring and arm/disarm behavior have not been tested. Recorder support is not in the current public Easy Eject download.

Planned Easy Eject flow

When a recognized recorder is attached by USB, Easy Eject will offer audio import. It will show firmware setup only when the board is unprogrammed or its installed version is older than the project build on GitHub. The setup action will identify the board and ask before rewriting firmware.

The XIAO currently presents a USB serial connection, not a mounted SD card in Finder. Easy Eject transfers WAV files through the recorder firmware, so its standard mounted-card import profile does not apply. You can also remove the microSD card and use a card reader with the normal card importer.

For this light build, the four FC wires are soldered to the inward face of the main XIAO's plated edge pads. The low-profile joints sit protected between the XIAO and Sense boards, with the wires exiting sideways. Confirm the connector seats fully and no joint touches a component before placing a small VHB patch in a separate flat part of the gap. The microphone opening remains exposed beside the microSD slot. See the project page for the final assembly photos and wiring details.

Imported recordings stay on the recorder unless you delete them separately. The recorder's live chip temperature is a diagnostic reading; provide airflow when the powered quad is stationary. See the project page for current build and test status before wiring or flying it.