Scratchbuilt Quadrotor

Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
I just bought a servo for my first add on. I'm going to add a gripper to the bottom for picking up and dropping things. Water balloons come to mind along with Christmas Lights. The Lights thing has piqued my interest..It may save me some time this November... One of my other hobbies is this....
2012HouseAllOn1500.jpg
 

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Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
I got my bluetooth adapter and app for my old Droid. It works great! I'm getting over 50 ft of range easy, way more than I thought. I wonder how far It's supposed to work?
 




Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
I always try to test out the free versions before I spend any money on something that may or may not work. This one is definitely worth the money. I'd like to be able to configure the dashboards myself though.
 

Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
Here's what i came up with for a gripper design. I'm going to use the carbon fiber 3/32 ply laminate I used for my main plates. It'll be nice an light and more than strong enough!
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SoCal Blur

SoCal Blur

Member
That's pretty cool. One servo in the center to control the gripping action. How much force do you think it will have - i.e., will it be usable force?
 
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Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
I have been flying in the park a bit. much easier with lots of space. It's nice being able to keep forward momentum. I'm flying in nice Aircraft type banked circles and turns now ! I can even fly toward myself, nose in without crashing as often. Having the space to make mistakes is the best way to learn.

Is there a good way to improve depth perception? I have been trying to fly around trees 200' away and I'm nervous about how close I might be.
 

Motopreserve

Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
At that distance I think the only way to be 100% on perception (at least with my eyes) is a decent FPV setup. But that brings up a whole different set of issues and things to learn.

Toymaker said:
I have been flying in the park a bit. much easier with lots of space. It's nice being able to keep forward momentum. I'm flying in nice Aircraft type banked circles and turns now ! I can even fly toward myself, nose in without crashing as often. Having the space to make mistakes is the best way to learn.

Is there a good way to improve depth perception? I have been trying to fly around trees 200' away and I'm nervous about how close I might be.
Click to expand...
 

Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
I was playing around a bit this evening. I threaded the quad through the trees a few times, really cool! I also tried landing in a couple unusual locations. Landing on top of the bush didn't work out so well.
QuadBush.JPG

Landing on the roof was easier than I thought. All I had to do was touch down on the high side and drop throttle quick otherwise the FC tried to keep it level causing it to slide off the roof.
QuadRoof.JPG
 

Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
I bit it but good on Friday at lunch. Full speed with wind backup into a berm. I planted one arm, motor, mount 4 " into the wet dirt, trying to keep it from going into a barbed wire fenced area around a Cell tower.
I sheared the motor leads flush to the case, broke the glue joint on one side of the landing gear, and broke a motor mount plate.
 

Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
I also broke an antenna flush with receiver case. So I had to order some new ones. It worked with one but didn't want to take any chances. It's all back together again and flying just fine.
 


Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
Had a bad crash the other day caused by the lack of loctite on a motor. Ouch...75' tumble to the ground. Motorwires sheared flush with the can, receiver circuit board cracked and 4 props toast. So I decided on a complete tear down and check and re-locktite. Part way throug disassembly I thought this would be a good time for a camera mount :)LOL So I designed it, made a carbon plate, cut it out, sanded it and installed it on the bottom of the quad. Now instead of the battery just being strapped to the bottom with Velcro, it has good support. The battery and camera are mounted with Zenmuse ball vibration dampers. They work pretty good and are plenty strong enough to support the carbon plate, battery, and camera. The camera I'm using is a cheap Go pro wannabe, its a Nabi Square HD. It was on sale a little over a month ago on Woot for $49. I couldn't pass it up. I've done some playing with it underwater, on the dunebuggy, as well as the ice bucket challenge (bucket cam). The camera is holding up great so far, and it's simple to use.
Here is a picture of the mount.
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This is a quick video I took of the maiden flight after rebuild and the camera/battery mount getting added. The extra weight didn't seem to effect the flight characteristics at all.
 

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Toymaker

Toymaker

Crashologist
Here's a couple night videos I did tonight.
This one was my first night time flight with the camera. I was doing some light's on /off flying to make sure the lights didn't blind the camera. It worked fine either way.
I like flying at night. The lights make it much easier to see orientation.


This video was landing in the back of the Explorer I sized it up and said What the heck..


 
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