Hello everyone, having not been into RC since I was a young lad, with a little persuasion from a friend I decided that I would begin a quadcopter project. Due to being married my project spend will be over the course of 4-5 months. I have broken my build down into several phases. This also gives me time to do some reading, watch youtube vids on setups and performance, create blog posts and keep a build log. So far its been an interesting learning experience with a few mistakes and purchase regrets along the way. Based on the below setup should get approx 20-30 min max flight time with hover time around 150min. Possibly after a while I may save up and buy some lower rpm tiger motors to increase flight time sacrificing manoeuvrability.
Phase One
Assemble Turnigy Talon V2 frame
T-Motors MT2216 900kv Motors
10*4.5 carbon reinforced nylon props
xbee telemetry kit
Phase Two
T-Motors 30/40A ESC
T-Motors ESC programming card
Bullet and XT60 connectors
Turnigy Power Distribution Board
Phase Three
Arduino Pilot Flight Computer
GPS, Airspeed, sonar, barometer and optical flow meter
Phase Four
Lipo battery charger
two turnigy nano tech 8400mah 3s2p lipo
turnigy 9x 9channel 2.4hz RC controller
Phase Five
Programme Xbee telemetry speed
Solder connecitons to power distribution
Programme ESC
Program board latest firmware
Set limits and write to board
Write up pre-flight checklist
Final Assembly
Calibrate RC controller
Prop setup test
Arm-disarm test
First test flight
Fine tuning
APM Auto-trim setup
APM Mode setup
Other interim tasks
Build Log
Build Custom Gimble using carbon fibre (salvaged from carbon fibre golf umbrella)
Any advice, comments welcome. Links to sites and youtube vids to follow.
Comments
yep sorry mean 635g. Have been thinking about adding a extra leg strut or two under the main section using a very long carbon fibre tube that I salvaged from a broken golf umbrella.
Hoping you meant 635g,
635kg is entirely another class of heavy.
Stick with a single 200 to maybe 4000mah 3 cell LiPo to start and you should be fine.
This is actually quite a sturdy frame, But as the load goes up especially with the landing gear out at the motor ends the stress is concentrated through the motor support pylons during landing in particular.
But you would probably eventually switch to a more central landing gear mounted from the central platform for Camera use anyway and that would alleviate that problem.
Just a thought, but I have found that one of my favorite quad copters is the little FlameWheel F450 which is available (ARF) with really high quality motors and ESCs for $190.00 from a number of suppliers. The power control board is built in and all you need to add is a receiver, battery, controller and BEC.
They are extremely rugged, replacement parts are also available and really cheap and they fly really well with the APM.
I have a separate build BLOG about them on this site as well as downloadable instructions on the Arducopter Wiki itself.
You don't really need to get something else, I have just found these make a super learning tool and a great development test bed and they are well made and cheap.
Thanks Gary I was in two minds as to the size to go for on my quadcopter. I had originally intended something small but then saw on one of the other quad site forums a guy with a talon who had good flight time from 2 8400mah. And I was concious of the weight these add to the drone, looked at 4000 and 6000mah. In trying to maximise flight time I am hoping to keep weight down while striking a balance on the battery weight. The current state with frame and motors + props comes in at a staggering 635kg already.
Weight wise and beginner level you are correct. I should stick to a more agile light weight setup to avoid any nasty incidents and will revise my plans accordingly
If I did go the large battery route I would upgrade the motors to some low kv high lift ones and having said that this is not the frame for them and there would be a loss of manoeuvrability.
Possibly the next project will be a larger Y6 with more endurance. Something like the smartdrones.de Y6 http://www.smartdrones.de/collections/profi-line/products/octocopte...
Nice setup!
Good luck, and upload fly videos!
Hi, I got back into RC a couple of years ago after being out of it for 30 years also and eventually drifted over into multicopters and Arducopter and I am having a blast with them now.
A few thoughts for starting and where you are now.
It is easier to start if you don't try to max out your weight and flight times and just shoot for 10 to 12 minute flight times. Among other things they do a lot less damage to themselves when landings are less than perfect and you will have less than perfect landings especially while you are learning. Some people call them crashes.
I would really suggest you consider starting out with a single 2000 to 3000 MAH 3cell and the Turnigy Nanos are excellent.
Install your APM and learn to fly it well in Stabilize, then some of the other modes before you start to go heavy.
Also probably if you do go heavy you will want to go to 4 cell batteries anyway and a Hexacopter actually might be better suited to the weight you are considering.
I can tell you for sure 10 x 4.5 props on a quad that will weigh as much as yours with only 3 cell batteries is not going to fly very well. You need bigger props or a 4 cell battery for your big batteries option.
Probably work fine with a single 3000mah battery though.
Also don't forget at the higher weight you are considering the motors and ESCs are going to be working a lot harder so it is very important to ensure that they are specified for the current and that adequate cooling is provided.
I think you have a very good basis for a quad and these are just a few hints that might help at the start.