63 replies to this topic

[MikeH]

Mike, if you can pm the files to me I can mill these for those who do not have ability I just need 2D .DXF

K Wells,

While I appreciate the offer, I would prefer to make them myself if people are interested. I do occasionally sell frames to try and offset the cost of my CNC and this hobby in general.

If you'd still like a copy to make one for yourself just pm your email and I'll send them out to you.

Regards,
Mike

[MikeH]

Here are some pics of the finalized quad I really wish I would have painted the motor bells black while I had them apart. She comes in at about 1450grams. A little heavy but that's to be expected with all the FPV gear and gopro. I got about 7-8 minutes of hover on a 2200mah battery. I did a few pop ups in the basement to see what kind of power she has and I almost hit the ceiling on the first one. Now I've just got to trim the motor shafts. More tuning tomorrow.

Attached Files

•  IMG_20120716_025956.jpg   187.75K   115 downloads
•  IMG_20120716_030009.jpg   169.6K   137 downloads
•  IMG_20120716_030028.jpg   244.1K   95 downloads

Edited by MikeH, 16 July 2012 - 08:12 AM.

[Golden]

Looks awesome! Why did you opt for heatsinks on the ESCs? Is there something about these specific ESCs or model that suggests heat will be a problem? Or is it because they just look badass like that?

[Petronio]

Oups talk about learning to read.. oh well lazy is also ok, actually better than crazy.. I agree on stability, i.e. the Quadrixette 30 is almost as or more stable than the 910mm I had but I have left it as big mainly to make it more wind-immune..

Nicee! A well reproduced heli in the rc world. Enjoy birthday!

[MikeH]

Looks awesome! Why did you opt for heatsinks on the ESCs? Is there something about these specific ESCs or model that suggests heat will be a problem? Or is it because they just look badass like that?

From what I have read, re-flashed ESCs tend to run a little hotter than normal. Plus they were only $5 and they look cool.

Oups talk about learning to read.. oh well lazy is also ok, actually better than crazy.. I agree on stability, i.e. the Quadrixette 30 is almost as or more stable than the 910mm I had but I have left it as big mainly to make it more wind-immune..

Nicee! A well reproduced heli in the rc world. Enjoy birthday!

Will do.

[Kapers]

Mike, can you get moments of inertia for each axis out of your solidworks model?

If you also knew the thrust generated by the motors, you could enter the values into the matlab model that's on the wiki
to see what the best control parameters would be.

http://wiki.openpilo...code simulation

I've been curious to know whether this would be helpful in getting some initial values.
As with other FPV frames, I would expect that you would need a higher Kp in pitch since more weight is distributed
along that axis (pitch axis will have a higher moment of inertia).

[MikeH]

I can actually. I'm pretty sure I've got a copy of mat lab somewhere. I'm about to fly a Schweizer 300 in about 15 minutes but I'll check it out when I get back home.

[Kapers]

Mike, I noticed that you mentioned would consider building this frame for others.

Do you have a price in mind yet?

[MikeH]

Mike, I noticed that you mentioned would consider building this frame for others.

Do you have a price in mind yet?

What it really depends on is how many of these frames I can fit on a single 24x24" sheet. Probably somewhere around 60 or 65$. I'll leave the boom materials to the buyer so they can choose wood or aluminum both can be easily had at your local hardware store. If people are interested I'll start laying out a full sheet cut tonight.

[Kapers]

Mike,
Any updates? Your frame is on my short list for my first frame.

[MikeH]

Kapers,

Sorry, my two week vacation is over now so I've not had as much time to play. If you'd like I can cut one for you. Send me a PM.

[Phyonics]

Hi Mike,

Could I please have a copy of DXF file? I'm currently in the process of getting my first quad up and running, I'm still waiting for parts. However, I want to get into FPV at some point and I think your frame is excellent.

I've sent you a PM with my email address in.

[MikeH]

Hi Mike,

Could I please have a copy of DXF file? I'm currently in the process of getting my first quad up and running, I'm still waiting for parts. However, I want to get into FPV at some point and I think your frame is excellent.

I've sent you a PM with my email address in.

Of course you can, they are coming your way.

Also a bit of an update. I've been working quite a bit lately but soon I should have some time to finish my tuning and get her FPV maiden out of the way. Once I do I'll post some videos.

[Phyonics]

Thanks Mike, much appreciated

[MikeH]

Well I finally got out to do some FPV on this frame and my first flight in quite a while since crashing my last quad. I don't think I could have picked a worse place to fly, it is not too far from my house but by the time I got out there and got set up I just went with it. At first I flew through some packs with out the gopro just to make sure everything was working ok. I quickly found out that if I flew behind myself then my failsafe would kick in which is basically just 25% throttle and autolevel on. It comes down quickly but that's the point. I also found out that if I flew 150m in front of me then the radio link would fail and the failsafe would kick in again. So to start off I was afraid to fly over the water, afraid to fly over the hills (I originally planned to sit up there) because of having to climb through the brush if I crash up there, and afraid to fly over myself. So with those restrictions I didn't do any flips or dive bombs or fast forward for fear of the radio link failing. So I decided I would just practice altitude control and slow forward flight which with the wind was a little difficult for me.

I suppose I should have done a range check, I just assumed it would work as well as it did before. Perhaps it has something to do with the orientation of my antennas?

Anyways I ordered a wifi booster, I've not seen any reports of failure unlike the Argtek boosters.. http://www.amazon.co...ils_o00_s00_i00 It can transmit at 100,200 and 500mw so I figure I'll set it at 100 or 200mw and extend the switch to my radio so I can quickly change it to 500mw in emergencies.

This was my first session with goggles and it was nice but a little disorienting at first. Since I'm nearsighted I got some headplays and mounted them into ski goggles. I found my self turning my head a lot and I was getting a little glare from the top through the thin foam.

So here is just a bit of the FPV footage I got from today. It is pretty boring. The first minute or so is in 720 and the rest is 1080.

Edited by MikeH, 31 August 2012 - 01:05 AM.

[Petronio]

heyho nice to hear you had your first flights with this frame, I am sorry to hear about your range though. That is not normal.. to buy a booster is all ok and great but maybe you should verify first why you had such little range (especially rc range) that is not normal. what frequency are you using (2.4, 72, ?) have you both antennas upstraight? maybe place the Rx further away from the rest of the equipment?
Having seen your footage, the place should be pretty good for FPVing but rather than placing yourself in between those hills I would hace placed myself on top of one of those hills. Try to find a higher spot and fly from there? bonne chance

[MikeH]

I've never had an issue with range before. I had this exact set of gear on a previous frame before I crashed it. I'm running 1280MHz for video and 2.4Ghz for Radio. I've got a low pass filter for my video. I have changed to CP video antennas but I would think that would help reduce the interference on my 2.4Ghz radio link. I typically have my radio antenna folded and parallel to the ground and then I have the receiver antennas perpendicular to eachother and both parallel to the ground. I think the first thing I'll try is to make the radio receiver antennas into dipoles and try to seperate the receiver and video tx more.

Also if the brush hadn't been so thick I would have gone to the top of the hill.

Edited by MikeH, 01 September 2012 - 12:43 AM.

[Kapers]

Mike, Do you think the GoPro would fit with the Home Depot door insullation around it. I think I'm going to try that.
I also reversed the two main plates so that the GoPro will rest on the bottom one. Hopefully the FPV camera will still
be able to see over the GoPro; may have to prop it up a bit.

[Petronio]

Hmm I think the radio antenna should be folded upwards, ie from what you say the antenna on your radio is actually rather pointing towards the model but I understand on the tip of the antennas is exactly where it hardly transmits anything..?

[MikeH]

Mike, Do you think the GoPro would fit with the Home Depot door insullation around it. I think I'm going to try that.
I also reversed the two main plates so that the GoPro will rest on the bottom one. Hopefully the FPV camera will still
be able to see over the GoPro; may have to prop it up a bit.

I doubt it would fit without sanding the frame around the gopro. The slot is sized the same as the go pro.

Hmm I think the radio antenna should be folded upwards, ie from what you say the antenna on your radio is actually rather pointing towards the model but I understand on the tip of the antennas is exactly where it hardly transmits anything..?

Well I have the antenna folded and pointed to the right so the deadspots are on the ground to my right and left sides this way I don't have a dead spot right above me.