I've recently acquired a 3D printer and one of my first projects was trying to make replacement arms for the less than sturdy Delrin parts of a HoneyBadger FPV frame I have...
None of those were due to hard crashes, all it takes is a rough landing on a hard surface to do that kind of damage and after replacing too many arm pieces I retired the frame rather than keep buying more parts. The solution it seemed was a set of arms made of 3D printed ABS plastic...
Although I assembled the frame with a complete set of ABS arms I never flew it that way. Once I started making 3D printed parts I thought why stop there, I'll try making a complete frame. This is the prototype of what I ultimately refined into a very nice flying FPV quad...
One thing quickly learned in this whole process, you rarely if ever get it right on the first version of a part, there's always some little tweaks that need to be made before everything fits together properly and works as it should. The final version incorporating all the little tweaks doesn't look much different but the folder full of CAD files on my computer suggests there's plenty of unseen changes...
Even this version has had some refinements, the video TX/camera mount on the front proved to be no good so the current setup is similar to that of the original frame.
The black and orange frame weighs in at 170 grams bare. I haven't yet weighed it with all the electronics and motors installed but I do know it flys 15 minutes on a 3S 5000 pack, landing with the battery right at 80% discharge, so it's significantly lighter than any of the other FPV quads I currently have flying.
The red, white, and blue version will soon get rebuilt to include all the changes made since it was built. Currently it is flying with a Multiwii Pro board with GPS and the black and orange has a Naza Lite. On the bench is another frame I'm building for the owner of the LHS also with Naza Lite, it will be interesting to see what he has to say after flying it.
I'll post some more recent pics and video after the weekend flights at the field.
Ken
None of those were due to hard crashes, all it takes is a rough landing on a hard surface to do that kind of damage and after replacing too many arm pieces I retired the frame rather than keep buying more parts. The solution it seemed was a set of arms made of 3D printed ABS plastic...
Although I assembled the frame with a complete set of ABS arms I never flew it that way. Once I started making 3D printed parts I thought why stop there, I'll try making a complete frame. This is the prototype of what I ultimately refined into a very nice flying FPV quad...
One thing quickly learned in this whole process, you rarely if ever get it right on the first version of a part, there's always some little tweaks that need to be made before everything fits together properly and works as it should. The final version incorporating all the little tweaks doesn't look much different but the folder full of CAD files on my computer suggests there's plenty of unseen changes...
Even this version has had some refinements, the video TX/camera mount on the front proved to be no good so the current setup is similar to that of the original frame.
The black and orange frame weighs in at 170 grams bare. I haven't yet weighed it with all the electronics and motors installed but I do know it flys 15 minutes on a 3S 5000 pack, landing with the battery right at 80% discharge, so it's significantly lighter than any of the other FPV quads I currently have flying.
The red, white, and blue version will soon get rebuilt to include all the changes made since it was built. Currently it is flying with a Multiwii Pro board with GPS and the black and orange has a Naza Lite. On the bench is another frame I'm building for the owner of the LHS also with Naza Lite, it will be interesting to see what he has to say after flying it.
I'll post some more recent pics and video after the weekend flights at the field.
Ken
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