mrwong

Woah! How is everyone's 3D printed flying creations going? Its been a while since there has been any activity in here! I have been working on some new frames and concepts from some inspiration drawn from the new star wars movie! I was thinking about starting some youtube live streams for modeling training and tips when designing for nice prints. That way you guys can ask questions and help design our next ultimaker multi-rotors! I have some nice streaming hardware coming in the mail and would love to contribute some training in modeling. Let me know what you think or would like to see!

Now that you are talking about this telemetry and other things about the taranis, ill have to also investigate this radio some more. I have two of the turnigy 9x radios, one that is running on the turnigy 2.4ghz v2 radios, and the other on a dragonlink. The dragon link system is hacked into my phantom v2+ system. <- different thread for that one. As for the size of the wiring that i used is as follows. The battery terminals are on the XT90 connectors with 14AWG wire, that should be sufficient for 32 Amps. That is the same size wiring that is used on my packs. Use this table for reference HERE For my speed controller wire size i'm using 20awg for power and 22 awg for motor wires coupled with 2mm bullets. For my 250 setup this is perfect, use that link that i posted to figure out what you need. Bare in mind that you dont want to over kill too much as it will add weight!

This is also the first time i am using the PDB with regulators. There shouldn't be that much load on the 5v rail, as it is only powering the FC and the receiver. I would estimate that it would be somewhere in the range of <1A. I'll let you know if i have any issues. The spacing between the frame bottom plate and the middle deck i have at 11mm in my design, This still allows for air to pass over all components, so im guessing heat wont be a problem. The next test will be with fpv gear to see how it handles the extra load. I'm still rocking the turnigy 9x, and the 9xr pro is the 2nd iteration of that PLUS HK sells the correct lipo for it as well. That is a decent radio to start with and will have most if not all the features you may need, if not, its also hackable/flashable. For the TX or RX, get one that has a good balance of quality and price that you can afford, Also check out how much the receivers are as a single unit, to evaluate the cost to have multiple models. Remember that for this small scale, long range and more powerful radios might cause interference to other components. 250 quads don't really have much room to space components out. 2.4ghz for control and 5.8ghz for video will be sufficient for close fpv flying.

Check out this mini 36x36 PDB with 12v and 5v step downs. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__75603__HobbyKing_8482_Mini_Dual_BEC_Distribution_Board.html Careful when looking at PDB's with step downs, the adjustable ones are not that good of quality from what i have been reading and are not the correct size for mini quads....

To answer some of your questions, I have made the frame flat and in one plane cuts, because i would later like to cut the frame out of different materials. Injection molding is very expensive and if i need to produce some on a larger scale it will be easier to do so. Think Carbon fiber sheets or G10 fiber glass. When it comes to selecting motors, esc's, battery, and prop combos. You need to ask yourself what is your budget? What are you doing with the quad, racing, stunting, fpv, stable video capture? I wanted something small i could throw in a bag and fly almost anywhere in Line of sight. For my build no camera or fpv, so light as possible. Small powerful battery packs that wont break the bank if i need to order 4-6. Calculate estimated component weights and start to evaluate the total power to weight. This quad is about 4-1 power to weight. The AUW is about 300-450 grams, with each motor driving 330 - 370grams with 5x45 props @ ~10A.

Ahh Nice to see some activity in here again! I have been posting some of my updates in the RC groups forums, but ill transfer my progress over here! First off I have been tuning the KK 2.1.5 flight controller to this mini frame. And i must say i like the board as it is super simple to setup and can be tweaked in the field without a computer. For beginners this is the route you will want to go. Lets start with some of the frame revisions and changes i have made to my frame. Bare in mind this first frame that i wanted, i did not want any FPV equipment on board. I wanted a super fast light weight flyer, but fpv can and will be added later once i get the frame sorted out. Here is the parts list for the build 4 x Multistart Elite 2300kv CW and CCW motors 4 x 12A blue ice simonK flash ESC's 1 x 36 x 36 mini PDB, next version will have integrated 5v and 12v step downs 1 x mini KK 2.1.5 board with case flashed with Stevis 4 x 5045 props CW and CCW 1 x turnigy 9x receiver Batteries - 3s 1500mah 35-70c or 3s 1300mah 45-90c misc hardware, some M3 bolts, nylon nuts and standoffs, stainless lock nuts Here are some photos that i had taken during the process. I will add some updated photos when i get a chance later today. Maybe also record some flying. :)Added some LED's for orientation pics coming soon. p.s Im not located in holland anymore, but i can speak and read dutch!

Seems as if this thread is loosing some interest.. Well the weather is going to be getting better we hope.... lol summer is here. I think that your going to need that new frame to fly out side. This frame is a copy of a 250 fpv quad frame, and i have modded it to fit inside the um2 build volume. Test printing some parts in XT clear, then add the full parts list after some fitment! Here is a pic of it!

I use a mode 2 for my quads Throttle and Rudder just feels right on my left stick. Seems to be the common default for most games and comes natural to me like that. Fly in the configuration that feels natural to you. That camera is a GoPro look a like! So Cheap and seems to have some good specs too!

I can see your diving right in! Im using a turnigy 9x receiver and transmitter for my acro quads and such (9 channels). On my long range phantom 2 v+ i use a turnigy 9x controller with a UHF Dragonlink for maximum range and control stability. What i would recommend, is that you get a low battery buzzer from hobbyking as well. This will give you an indication when your pulling to much amps from the battery drawing it down past its safe zone. You dont want that lipo catching fire inside there!

Wow Woofy Nice design! What is the weight of that thing loaded? 1300 mah 3s seems a little small for a copter with 10 inch props.

Thanks Coen for starting the spreadsheet. I will add parts for each copter that would be good options.

Does anyone know what the white connector is made out of? There are some good materials that are heat resistant and allow continuous operation at tho high temps. Take a look at this (operating temp 572F) http://www.ensinger-inc.com/products.cfm?page=product&product=tecasint+2011

Those motors are actually not that bad! Check this all in one ESC that might be enough to power this model. The frame weight is not bad either! Let me see if i can find what those motors produce for lift with the 9x6 props. (Those motors look like they will accept the dji blades) http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__42715__Q_Brain_4_x_25A_Brushless_Quadcopter_ESC_2_4S_3A_SBEC.html

@Woofy, i like your design that you have made there. What program are you using? Can you get an estimated weight from that model? I like the idea of a water proof quad. But again for your first quad build i dont think that is a good idea. Your going to be spending some money on decent electronics and testing around water just sounds like disaster waiting to happen. Motors can get wet but still have bare exposed connections and bearing life after getting wet is my concern. Depending on the power need to fly this sealed craft, you will need good cooling for your ESC's (exposed to some moving air) and your battery must also be stored water tight. Your design currently does not accommodate the power packs which will not be that small! I love the enthusiasm! But i think we need to establish the components we want to used, flight time we want to achieve, dims and specs of all components and then build a frame to house all of it. Then make modular designs that can be water tight, fpv, or stunt. let me know what you guys think!

No problem! Here to help Also we can create different mounting plates base on which controller one would want to use. The base frame and motor mounting should all be the same and interchangeable between flight controller mounting plates. That way the design can work with any FC combo.

Thank you! It all was a great learning experience. I do have a good level of understanding how the APM boards work. In that same copter build I had experimented with sonar sensors for programming my own obstacle avoidance algorithms with a standalone atmega328 to handle the override inputs to the Flight Controller. The cheap sonar sensors do not have enough detection range to be installed on the copter, but they were just used to verify my code would work. I have used the hobby king KK copter board, still own the full APM 2.5 module with the blox GPS system, and of course now experienced the NAZA flight controller with the phantom. Out of all the Flight controllers that I have used, the NAZA in the phantom is the best plug and play unit, where the APM is more customizable and open source (can be finicky). I like them both, but it would all depend on what you want to use your quad for which controller to go with. If you just want bare bones no extra frills the KK boards are awesome and easy to setup. If you want auto pilot, gps lock, computer control, and pretty much anything else the APM and NAZA are it! For the components used (off the top of my head) Both the KK and APM 2.5 were installed on this prototype Cheap hobbyking motors I think are 2402 1350kv max 18amps Turnigy plush 30A ESC 4000mah 3s 30-50C Lipo's Props are 8x4.5 slow fly props your choice of RX/TX This unit should yield about 3.2kg of thrust with an all up weight of about 1.2kg and gives about 20 min of hover time. Before starting on design of the frame and such, I think we need to select components and use of the quad. fpv, long range, stunt? That will give us a good indication of how much power we need and the limitations of weight of the frame. Something to consider, Clean and dirty mounting plates! Isolation of the flight controller from the prop and motor vibration is a must!

You are correct Sander! I am proficient with Solidworks and Solid Edge ST7 (<-- Use at work) I also have great FEA experience if we need that at all. XD Here is my youtube channel link. - VCU quad copter team (design of a single engine variable pitch quadrotor). Here is the 3D printed version in action testing the flight controller and telemetry systems. - Quick rendering of the unit - My modded Phantom v2+ Enjoy!

Good Morning All! Just read thru this thread a bit and I love the excitment in here! I would love to join in and help out! I get my new ultimaker 2 delivered on Monday. This isnt my first printer, I have built and tuned a BFB rapman 3.1 (modded a lot, added alum heated bed with homemade temp controller atmega328 - Sold), owned the Formlabs Form 1 SLS Printer (not so good for strong or big parts - Also Sold). Anyways, In my Mechanical Engineering undergrad studies, I had designed and 3D printed (on my bfb) a quadcopter just like you all are trying to accomplish in here! I would post links to it but seeing this is my first post i dont want to get flagged with spamming. I am very familiar with flying multirotors aswell. I have done many calcualtions for desired flight times, craft weight, motor and esc selection, battery options, flight controller programming, fpv video systems, and antenna selections. I also own a Phantom 2 v+, that i also have modded with long range RX/TX (dragonlink), 2.4ghz video signal boosters, and custom case much more! Check out my youtube channel for more info on these things! Wong Engineering p.s. I also used to live in NL back in the day. Leusden and Amersfoort is where i went to school and learned the dutch way! Ik kan nederlands nog een klein beetje spreken maar beter lezen!