Remote controlled flying things-Quads, Hex, Octo or anything

[CBRK]

Nah, I fried an ESC the other day and a motor remember? Where's Crispy?

Thats right I forgot about that, your done already, yep it's Crispy's turn :-)

[Mandrake]

Gunna keep going - invested too much now --
Was playing out in the shed sticking little boxes into the lower deck and suddenly REALISED I hadn't any space left for the bloody battery -- I can't use the bandy legs as the tubes cover up the
holes for the battery tray !! - So gotta pull it apart AGAIN and refit the original legs .... Grrrrr

[Marschy]

Gunna keep going - invested too much now --
Was playing out in the shed sticking little boxes into the lower deck and suddenly REALISED I hadn't any space left for the bloody battery -- I can't use the bandy legs as the tubes cover up the
holes for the battery tray !! - So gotta pull it apart AGAIN and refit the original legs .... Grrrrr

You must be getting close to having to buy some more zip ties by now 

Didn't your new crab legs come with a battery tray like this one? It just runs from left to right, instead of front to back. If not, Goodluckbuy sell an assortment of battery trays that hang off the landing gear rails.

[Mandrake]

Yep it did --- I forgot .... Duhhh ---

[CBRK]

Gotta love this, I get home and there is a small package, it's a MinimOSD.....  I cant remember ordering it but according to aliexpress I ordered it about 3 weeks ago.....  Very handy timing, so now to convert it to 5v and be very careful.

With some luck I'll not only have this thing flying tomorrow night or Friday but it will be with OSD too!!!!

So now I have 2 MinimOSD's on the way and a MavLink OSD too.... I have 5 replacement analogue chips on the way too.  I have 2 dead boards and 2 good boards still, I think I'm good for OSD's for a while now.....

Chris

[Crisp Image]

Nah, I fried an ESC the other day and a motor remember? Where's Crispy?

At home sitting on the couch smiling cause I have all my magic smoke still inside my gear. I am however planning to replace my KK FC with something a bit better. Maybe an APM  in the link. Then I might loose some smoke. But the AU has taken a tumble to 81c so it is getting more expensive.
Regards
Crispy

[Mandrake]

Busily tidying up cables and carefully made up a small wiring harness with 3 plugs and soldered in the DJI PMU -- Put it all together added some power -- Tana everything works except my
gimbal !! Forgot to add a plug for the gimbal .. Have to cut it into the harness tomorrow or Friday ... Time for Icecream and TV ...

[edz]

These little critters seem to do an alright job . just have to get a phone to fly it though .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZdSMAG90Rs

[Marschy]

Time for Icecream and TV ...

Is 10pm too late for a bowl of icecream?

My X-mode Alien frame is still very much a work in progress.

This is the gimbal bracket I fabricated that fits between the top and bottom plates of the frame.



It still requires some holes to be drilled to allow the sensor, pitch and roll cables to pass through the bracket because the bracket fits up tightly against the back of the arm mounting pillars.



I've replaced the GLB controller that I attempted to flash with Alexmos firmware with a Tarot control board that sits on spacers just behind the bracket. The spacers will allow me to connect leads to the pitch control pin underneath the board so I can control the pitch with my radio.



I'm also in the process of sorting out a power distribution board that is slung under the bottom plate of the frame. I made a plate out of PCB fiberglass that I have etched to remove the copper,  that should provides a bit of protection for the Crius PDB.

[Mandrake]

Hey guys .... I was just looking for an FPV camera with a lens that doesn't bend so much 8mm or 12mm focal length -- Aliexpress has the 12mm in packs of 5 ... I only need 2 - and the 8mm in packs of 2 - If you wants one of thew 12mm ones lemme know - 
New Multistar motors arrive tomorrow and I can finish the build ( less the GPS and OSD . )
Thanks again Marschy - got the bandy legs back - with a dropdown battery tray ... So dum I are honestly ... LOL

I also found a pan and tilt unit for the 30mm x 30mm FPV camera complete with servos for $12 - bought one dunno if I can use it on the quad or not but will try with the 10 Ch TX ...LOL
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1set-Nylon-FPV-Pan-tilt-Camera-Mount-2pcs-Tower-Pro-SG90-9g-Servo-Retail-Promotion-Dropship/1623404058.html

[Marschy]

Hey guys .... I was just looking for an FPV camera with a lens that doesn't bend so much 8mm or 12mm focal length -- Aliexpress has the 12mm in packs of 5 ... I only need 2 - and the 8mm in packs of 2 - If you wants one of thew 12mm ones lemme know - 
New Multistar motors arrive tomorrow and I can finish the build ( less the GPS and OSD . )
Thanks again Marschy - got the bandy legs back - with a dropdown battery tray ... So dum I are honestly ... LOL

I also found a pan and tilt unit for the 30mm x 30mm FPV camera complete with servos for $12 - bought one dunno if I can use it on the quad or not but will try with the 10 Ch TX ...LOL
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1set-Nylon-FPV-Pan-tilt-Camera-Mount-2pcs-Tower-Pro-SG90-9g-Servo-Retail-Promotion-Dropship/1623404058.html

12mm might be too narrow a field of view. The three camera's I have have 3.6mm lenses and I think they are borderline too narrow. Gets to a point it is like looking through a tube. Wide angle at least gives you a bit of peripheral vision and the ability to see potential hazards.

The pan-tilt gimbal should be good, I was looking at these myself. Let us know what you think of it when you get it. You can get the gimbal minus servos dirt cheap on Aliexpress, so if you break it not a big issue to fix. I don't think the servos will be much good though. They look like plastic gear servos so if the gimbal takes a good knock, you'll probably strip the gears pretty quickly. Given these type gimbals stick up a fair bit, I think its a pretty safe bet that this will happen sooner or later.

[CBRK]

Hey guys .... I was just looking for an FPV camera with a lens that doesn't bend so much 8mm or 12mm focal length -- Aliexpress has the 12mm in packs of 5 ... I only need 2 - and the 8mm in packs of 2 - If you wants one of thew 12mm ones lemme know - 
New Multistar motors arrive tomorrow and I can finish the build ( less the GPS and OSD . )
Thanks again Marschy - got the bandy legs back - with a dropdown battery tray ... So dum I are honestly ... LOL

I also found a pan and tilt unit for the 30mm x 30mm FPV camera complete with servos for $12 - bought one dunno if I can use it on the quad or not but will try with the 10 Ch TX ...LOL
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1set-Nylon-FPV-Pan-tilt-Camera-Mount-2pcs-Tower-Pro-SG90-9g-Servo-Retail-Promotion-Dropship/1623404058.html

Hi Steve,

I'm thinking that at 12mm that would be around 30 degrees, which will be very narrow.  I've got 2.1mm (150 deg), 2.4mm and 2.5mm (130 deg) and 2.xmm...

Thanks for the offer, is it possible when you get them can you put up an image and I'll go from there.

I've got some of these, they arent too bad for a cheapy, one is mounted on my Bixler 2.  The other is a spare...  Easy enough to replace the servo's if they get damaged.

Regards,

Chris

[CBRK]

Progress on the 250 Mini Quad, I think I'm good for a test flight either tomorrow after work or on Saturday.

I have mounted all the gear, I'll tidy some of it up a bit later after I receive the MiniAPM.  I will swap out the large GPS for the one on the miniAPM (unless it's larger than this one).  I plan to move the FPV transmitter inside the cage once I get the miniAPM so that I can mount a mobius that I'll order in the next week or so.  The antenna will be moved towards the back, unfortunately it will move it closer to the GPS receiver which is not good.  I fixed the issue with the power module, seems I must have reset the APM and it was on no PM setting.

I've gone through all the setup items, learnt that lesson after the Tricopter....

GPS receiver is only so so, it took ages to get more than 3 sats and quickly dropped back to the 3 when inside (the Tricopters GPS maintains 4 or 5 in the same spot).

There are some oddities that I need to work through....  Firstly I'm not sure the compass calibration has worked (I'm using the internal compass - Bixler APM is a 2.5 version), it returned from the setup much quicker than it did for the Tricopter.  Seems to get the right compass values through (the learn feature is on, so it should adjust over time anyway).  It seems to arm regardless of what setting is in the APM, I enabled all checks and it still armed even though it the GPS was not locked on at all.

Pleased to say the MinimOSD is 5V converted, I built a small harness to flow 12v to the camera.  I'll be doing this on all my MinimOSD's from now on.

So here are some pics:

Front view - camera has been hot glued in place.  Will bolt in place at some stage in the future.....



Side view - can see all the goodies tucked away.  Will cover all the wires with mesh at some stage.....


The motor wires are all cable tied back nicely, the main wiring harness is in view too.


Travel position, GPS and Telemetry antenna folded down, I will remove the 5.8 GHz CP antenna when transporting where it could be damaged.


OSD view, I need to flash it with MinimOSD-Extra and tell it that it's NTSC and not PAL (it is my first camera I bought - didn't realise it was NTSC till it arrived - handy to finally use it)


Chris

[Marschy]

Looking good Chris,

I did little bits and pieces tonight. I swapped the stock antennas on the R615X receiver for longer ones that will allow the antennas to be well away from the carbon frame.

[CBRK]

Thanks Marshy, i think its turned out pretty good.

Forgot to say the auw ended up at 500g (inc 2200mah 3s battery), so even better than planned by about 50-100g. I will see what flight times i get off it and try the 1300mah battery to see if the lighter battery helps. Hoping the 2200mah will be good as i have a bunch (5 or 6) of them already.

With 1.6kg of thrust im thinking this thing will zip along.

[Marschy]

That's a really good weight. People struggle to get near 500 grams with carbon fiber frames, let alone plastic and fiberglass.

I haven't got my flight batteries yet. I'm thinking nanotech 3S at the very least, but haven't decided on size or rating yet. It will be dependent upon weight before I add the battery into the mix. I'll also be looking at the Mobius camera in the new year, but I haven't done a thing to the mini quad short of solder one motor to an ESC, so no hurry yet.

[Marschy]

That is one awesome looking quad. I can't wait for this day to end, then I'm on 2 weeks leave and I can get stuck into mine.

[CBRK]

That's a really good weight. People struggle to get near 500 grams with carbon fiber frames, let alone plastic and fiberglass.

I haven't got my flight batteries yet. I'm thinking nanotech 3S at the very least, but haven't decided on size or rating yet. It will be dependent upon weight before I add the battery into the mix. I'll also be looking at the Mobius camera in the new year, but I haven't done a thing to the mini quad short of solder one motor to an ESC, so no hurry yet.

I was surprised too, i was expecting it to weigh more than what I estimated.   I was using my luggage scales, might test it out on the kitchen scales when I get home to be sure.  It should be pretty close even if it's out by 50-100g that puts it back in my target zone.

I think the motors (25g/motor) and ESC's are bloody light which helps a lot in this instance.

Chris

[Marschy]

My Emax 1806's are 18gm's, but I gained a couple going from the Emax ESC's to the Blue Series. Not enough to worry about though.

[CBRK]

That is one awesome looking quad. I can't wait for this day to end, then I'm on 2 weeks leave and I can get stuck into mine.

I know it was a struggle to get it done after work, I'm so looking forward to having some time off.  I was in two minds to wait till I had time off to start the build or do it after work, this way I get to spend my time flying.  To be honest I find both parts equally as fun - the build and the flying..  I think I'll be getting some serious flying time it.  I revised my order of 2 bladed props, I've now either have or have on the way around 40 of the things.  I even picked up a packet of 3 bladed ones to see what they are like.

I feel odd walking into bunnings and not buying cable ties in small packets anymore, I now only buy the 500 packs.....

Chris

[Marschy]

I bought the 2 blade Gemfam 5030 props, orange and black.

I reckon I've ripped through 50+ cable ties in the past 2 weeks. The packet of 100 I bought from Hobbyking should hopefully see me through the remainder of the Alien560 build and the X-mode Alien rebuild, but only because the X-mode Alien will use different colour zip ties that I already bought from Bunnings. I'll need some more for building the mini quad.

The pan-tilt gimbal from Hobbyking should be here on Monday so I'll start on the tilt gimbal that I'm going to make for the mini quad next week.

[Mandrake]

Got the new GPS today so I am now complete except for motors and OSD ...

[Marschy]

Did your camera come with a silver front plate?

[Mandrake]

Yep .. it pulls off to get at the battery...

[Marschy]

Is that the one that you posted about that I have the same one? Looks better in silver I must say.