Let’s design a multirotor together.

[SandervG 1,521]

In the first issue of http://multirotorpilotmag.com/ Erick Royer designed and 3D printed an FPV quadcopter using an Ultimaker 2 3D printer. Erick Royer made all of the files available for free to readers of the magazine and corresponded with many people who have printed and flown as well as modified the design to their liking. Erick was flattered by all of the positive emails I got not only praising the design but also making suggestions as to how it can be improved.

Unfortunately with his workload at the magazine, he has not been able to design a new machine in time for this issue, but Erick spoke with the people at Ultimaker and we came up with an idea to collaboratively design a multirotor with our readers.

Ultimaker manages a http://www.youmagine.com where users share designs of all kinds of 3D printed parts called YouMagine.com and ultimately we will make the final design available on their website as well as on our magazine’s website. To make this happen we are going to host a forum which you can visit http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/forum/81-collaborations/ and share your ideas as to what you think would make the ultimate multirotor machine that anyone can print on a 3D printer.

Are you already experienced in building a multirotor?

Have you ever flew around with one?

Do you have a source of inspiration?

More importantly, do you want to contribute in this project?

- All help is welcome; from testing to CAD-modeling and even to an awesome custom paintjob!

There is a lot to consider with a project like this from what type of machine (quad, hex, octo) to how large it should be. We need to understand the limits of most hobby 3D printers on the market and keep the largest parts within their capabilities.

We also have to consider the motors, speed controls and props that this machine will require. Erick envisions that this will be a machine that can use inexpensive components. He obtained the components from my FPV Quad from HobbyKing as they offer a ton of motors, ESCs, props and controllers.

It would be great to have a machine that not only performs well but is inexpensive to build and co-designed by the Ultimaker-community!

If you would like to be involved in this project, please visit http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/forum/81-collaborations/and post your ideas. We will close the thread in the forum on September 15^th and begin to compile all of the comments to come up with the design at which point we will be looking for help from anyone who wants to help, for example has CAD experience that would like to assist in the parts designs.

If you have any questions or comments on this project, you can contact Erick directly at http://mailto:erickr@maplegatemedia.com or Sander via http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/user/423-sandervg/

We look forward to working as a team to create the Ulti-Multirotor!

Everything is possible!

 

[tmrevlje 1]

I think it's an awesome idea, bringing 3D printing enthusiasts even closer.

So how can one contribute?

 

[SandervG 1,521]

Every way you can! I don't know about your skills.. ?

But if you can CAD-model you can contribute in the design both esthetically and functional.

Or if you just want to contribute by building it and testing that is also great!

If you want to just share your thoughts and ideas that is great too

But the fact that you like the idea of this collaboration is already great news!

 

[Titus 170]

Droool :-P

I've pretty much always wanted to work with Quadrotors(tri/hex/octa just the same I guess). And they are partially the reason I'm going to do my masters in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Control Engineering.

I will be following this very closely! Though I'm not sure how busy my masters will be, I would love to contribute, perhaps write the control part or design an autopilot or something. There are also great open source initiatives founded here in Delft at the Technological University. But I'll post all that in the right topic

 

[tmrevlje 1]

Well I'm primarly a graphic designer, dunno perhaps I could contribute with my design skills in more of a branding way? Other then that I work in 3D as well, been using C4D for years now, mostly for fun so I doubt I could contribute by modeling scale-relevant parts for this...

Ummm I would be happy to print out different parts when we have some models and test if as well. But right now I can only offer a creative input as in designing graphics, who knows maybe I will have some useful ideas in the building dept as well. Will certainly keep an eye out, mind open and try to contribute in any way I can

Let's make this happen.

 

[jameshs 42]

I have been flying the little Husban X4 (less than £50) and love it - and have been wanting to go the next step and build a multirotor - so I would be happy to test anything that comes up and put ideas forward.

I can CAD but am no engineer (an architect so am probably better at testing build etc.

Will sign up.

James

 

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi James & TM,

That is no problem, I think. That means you probably think out of the box (for an engineer) and we will come up with the best (or at the very least) original ideas! Erick has a lot of experience and besides that, don't overthink it too much and just do it & learning from practice can be beneficial.

I hope we will gather a great team of enthusiasts around this project. I think it has a lot of potential!

 

[Blizz 53]

I don't know what I could contribute, but if the distance allows it and you're looking for more people, I'd really like to participate as well

 

[jonnybischof 60]

I'd love to play tester!

Bought some multirotor components a long time ago but never used them. It's about time!!

 

[SandervG 1,521]

Yes, great to hear!

About the distance, everybody can contribute from home by submitting ideas and doing tests or development.

So I don't see how that should be a problem

Do you already have some ideas of for what kind of design you bought the parts for Jonny?

 

[jonnybischof 60]

I bought http://flyduino.net/T-Motor-MT2208-1100KV brushless motors and http://flyduino.net/8045-Carbon-Fiber-Propeller-CW-CCW (The site is in german - but for the numbers it should be ok...).

Initially I wanted to design all the electronics myself, but I'll probably drop that project and just buy an Autoquad or similar flight control and brushless drivers.

I started the project wanting to design a multirotor drone that can both fly and drive on the ground (you may know that one from the Ghost Recon - Future Soldier game). That's... ambitious... considering the design only exists in a sci-fi video game. But at some point I want to get there, because I like the idea a lot and it was insanely fun to use the drone in the game.

 

[tmrevlje 1]

Johny sounds like a challenge - we like challenges

 

[anon4321 16]

Jonny, did you see this? It was a kickstarter project in the UK:

http://www.bgobeyond.co.uk/

 

[tmrevlje 1]

anon, dude thanks for sharing - awesome project

 

[anon4321 16]

Just be careful as the developer seems to really point out that it is patent pending....

 

[SandervG 1,521]

haha yes sounds like a challenge indeed, a very cool challenge :cool:

I will see how Erick thinks about it.

 

[jonnybischof 60]

Jonny, did you see this? It was a kickstarter project in the UK:

http://www.bgobeyond.co.uk/

 

That's almost it

There is only one flaw: The wheels would need to flip to the sides (in line with the propellers) in "flight-mode". THAT is the real challenge which they obviously avoided

And of course, the whole thing needs to be lightweight enough so that battery life time isn't impaired too much. That's another barrier which will be hard to take.

 

[Blizz 53]

If we could accomplish all that that would be pretty awesome

 

[jonnybischof 60]

You should say "As soon as we accomplish all that, that will be pretty awesome"

 

[jameshs 42]

The one that has been really grabbing me is aridog www.airdog.com

But what drives that is the fact that none of the quads are really designed to be driven over water - there have been a few http://www.aquacopters.com/%20and%20a%20really%20fun%20one%20called%20box%20bot%20or%20box%20quad%20or%20something%20like%20that%20(built%20in%20tupperware!

So what we should really come up with are a set of features that we really want available

payload,

foldable

waterproof

size

flight time

buildbility

controls

etc etc and then this can help form the brief?

different teams could come up with solutions to each?

James

 

[Titus 170]

There is only one flaw: The wheels would need to flip to the sides (in line with the propellers) in "flight-mode". THAT is the real challenge which they obviously avoided

 

Nop, it flies without flipping the sides:

 

On a related note, we could also design something like this, to avoid it breaking down:

 

 

[Blizz 53]

I think the remark was in the sense of: It would be way cooler if the wheels would actually rotate as well, they can serve as bumpers that way. To which I wholeheartedly agree

 

[jonnybischof 60]

Yeah, sorry I wasn't too clear about that

The awesome thing about the Ghost Recon Drone was exactly this feature - the drone hovers over the ground, then just flips the rotors down and lands on the wheels. This makes take-off even more difficult, because it would actually need to jump in order to flip up the wheels and start the propellers.

So yes,it's probably a bit early to talk about this "special" feature

 

[Blizz 53]

If the rotors and wheels would be done separately you wouldn't have to jump. Perhaps it could be linked to an altimeter? As soon as you pass threshold X going up or down it "toggles" the wheels

 

[jonnybischof 60]

Ok, but having separate wheels is just not as stylish as integrating the wheels into the rotor "bumpers"....

It would also be ideal to be able to use the same motors for both the propellers and the wheels. Having four completely independent wheels, you wouldn't have to integrate a steering axis but could instead just work with different speeds for every wheel (much like a wheelchair where you just turn one of the two wheels to turn).

I've been thinking a lot about that (some time ago) but never came to a really satisfying solution. But I didn't have a 3D printer yet at that time - so I actually believe this would be possible.