DIY Folding Travel Y6

[Efliernz]

I built a wood and Hobbyking carbon sheet folding Y6 using RCT2836/11 750Kv motors and it went really well...

... so well that a club mate wanted it and bought it. Time to design my "good Y6"

I started with ordering Sunnysky X2212 980Kv motors and 18A Plush esc's.
I was going to use retracts again as I want it to fold and fit in a spare tripod bag for when I go tramping and feel the need to fly over a waterfall...

20 minutes on Visio and I had the basic layout sorted.

I didn't have enough carbon lying around so I tried (for the first time) a fibreglass lamination using balsa as the core. Nice and light.

3 ply lamination using 0.8mm (1/32) top and bottom with 1.6mm (1/16) in the middle. This was epoxied and stuck between a plank and a 5mm glass sheet with 40Kg of batteries on top.

I had worked out where the hard points would be for the arm-securing bolts. I found some tapered washers that were exactly the same width as the balsa.

Layup time - two layers of 200g cloth, X-orientation against the balsa, + orientation on top. Underneath and on top were done at the same time. I used clingfilm/lunchwrap to stop the epoxy sticking to the base bench and the glass. 40Kg of batteries overnight

Pete

 

[Efliernz]

Next morning, a stunning result. A quick clean-up around the edges with the bandsaw and sandpaper followed by more epoxy just around the edge to seal the wood.

I cut the 18mm pine arms to length and router-ed a slot for the motor wires to go into. I didn't to go too deep. The wires/slot will be covered with tape and painted in fluro paint.

A back-board was glued in place and that is where the arms stop when folded open.

The centre hub for the Multiwii board is 1mm carbon. I have raised it up so to have room for the 3S3000 batteried to fit on the c-o-g under the board.
The bolts that hold the board have silicon fuel tubing for vibration resistance.

The spacers are 8mm dowel centre-drilled for the 3mm bolts.

At this stage, I considered going for a wooden "steam punk" build. Perhaps another time.

A crappy photo but this is as far as it goes today. I removed the arms and painted them with fluro paint and they are hanging in the sun... the motors have had extension wires soldered ready for mounting on the colourful arms, with the esc's to be mounted under the machine.

Pete

 

[Stacky]

3 ply or balsa?. Retracts going on this?. Did you buy the arms with channels or do those yourself?

 

[Efliernz]

3 layers of balsa to produce "balsa ply"
As for the weight - I measured the weight of Hobbyking 2mm plate that I used on the other one. For the same area (without lightening holes), I am 5% lighter!

Retracts got fitted last night onto the painted arms.

As for making the channels, I bought a 5mm router bit and put it in my drillpress at its highest speed. I clamped a timber guide to the drillpress table and pushed the arm through. 45 seconds for 300mm of arm! Easy and cheap without buying another powertool.

Pete

 

[jamienz]

Nice work Pete. I am tuning my first Y6 at the moment - basically a modified Tarot 680 with longer arms and Y6 layout. Trying to figure out the APM at the same time! What FC are you using on this?

 

[Efliernz]

Hi Jamie

I am trying the Multiwii from Aussie with barometer but no GPS (at this stage). It is my first Multiwii experience... they zapped it for Y6 before posting so "how hard can it be" I have been spoilt with two HFP boards which I love... but approx $NZ125... I have to try it.

I haven't sorted a gimbal on it yet. I keep getting project creep! What starts with a gopro on a manual-tilt no-roll stick-on/clip mount on the front tends to grow into a stabilized roll & tilt for the LX3! It is a travel machine (folded up into a tripod bag), not a replacement for my Droidworx hexa!

Pete

 

[jamienz]

if you end up putting a gopro on the front I can 100% recommend the spidex gimbal from Quaternium. Works perfect out of the box. Amazing

 

[Efliernz]

Spidex... Stacky gave it a glowing review I am looking at it.

I have a Martinez with 4006 motors on a diy mount at the moment but I am waiting on an Arduino FTDI cable so I can flash it to V048 before I try to get it going.

There are so many BG systems coming out. I need to get my first one going before I waste more time and money on a "it will save world hunger" promoted system!

Pete

 

[RyanMcCrae]

good work, thats a cool project.

 

[Efliernz]

Hey Ryan

I really wanted a travel machine that will fit in the backpack / loaded car in holiday mode / a plane. It must be repairable on the run (duct-tape, spare props) and be capable of off-level landings - hence three legs, not four (that need level ground). My quad slid off a rock when river flying last summer when this system would have been ok. Funny though... wife won't catch this one!

It must also be disposable if I really get it wrong! Not that I want to see a $800 copter and camera disappear... but it's not a DW!

Pete

 

[RyanMcCrae]

Great idea, its more fun when its not super expensive.

 

[Efliernz]

Retracts fitted and the machine painted

Time to fit motors and try to work out where the esc's are going... underneath I hope!

Pete

 

[Benjamin Rowland]

Super cool! Love the wooden frames - been wanting to build one for a while now. I hope to soon.

 

[gtranquilla]

Pete...... Excellent design..... Fiberglass or carbon fiber reinforced wood is a very smart way to go..... I make my own with a vacuum bagging system that I built so that I don't have to use a 2 ton press. Here is where I got the idea. http://www.dragonplate.com/ecart/categories.asp?cID=58 It's an exoskeleton concept and the wood helps to dampen high frequency vibration. Got to get me some of those retracts.....

 

[Efliernz]

Slow progress this week with too many hours at work!

Latest - before the esc mounting, lights etc.

Pete

 

[Efliernz]

Getting there...

The MW board is programmed up. Heaps of wiring for the esc's but everything checks out. Nearly time for some props and some testing Yeah!

I better make a dome/pod/hat for it now... To fit in with my "do it cheap" philosophy with this build, I'm going for a balsa/fibreglass hat. I'm going to wing this... "how bad can it get?"

Pete

 

[Efliernz]

Lots of frustrations with this build... I have had glitching in-flight with the Multiwii Paris board but I won in the end...
It's a long story but with some learning...

1st surprise. Multiwii Paris has all the motors start up to a fast idle when armed. I have worked through the Arduino Sketch/edit programs and I found out how to "comment it out" so the motors do not start until the throttle is moved.

It flew straight from the start. Hover was really stable, the default software load / GUI setup puts some expo in everywhere so it felt nice and smooth from the first lift-off.
I found that as I started to fly faster, the copter was glitching more and more. Multiwii have a "low pass filter" and they recommend changing this if you are experiencing glitching - due to electrical ripples on the power supply into the board. Now... I had swapped UBECs, tried the ESC's bec and every combination made no difference. Time to try something else...

I had read that the Multiwii doesn't handle vibrations very well. I changed the props from APC SF to some Turnigy 10x4 woods. Well... it was bopping all over the ground! I gave it a squirt of juice to force it to fly and it hovered... badly with lots of glitching. When I looked at the rear/lower prop, I could see two prop tips with a 1cm gap! One prop adapter was supplied bent.

So - the APC props are floppy enough to track in line in hover without many vibrations. Once I flew faster, the tracking went out due to the air coming into the edge of the prop arc - not above like in a hover. The faster I went, the worse the vibrations.

I had ordered some spares 2 weeks earlier (suspecting that these were a future weak link) so I just had to wait... and wait. 6 damn weeks of "postage" from Asia and they arrived on Friday.
New adapter fitted, the APC's back on and a quick test in the dark on the street... but it flew well.

I now have 4 packs on it. Still tuning but it feels nice. The auto-level is excellent. I haven't tried the altitude baro yet as it needed a black cover. That's now built but the wind is howling.

My initial impressions of the Paris V4.r6 are very good. I look forward to some serious testing - but I am in winter
http://www.multiwiicopter.com/products/paris-sirius-v4r6-usb

AUW 1250 grams
Battery 3S3300 + Gopro 2 + housing 1720 grams

My 19th multi build in 2 1/2 years complete
The design of a larger 2814/11 4S8000mA powered Y6 is on the table... to backup (or replace) my DW VM6. Me bored... hell no!