Building a Quadcopter

[ZionPhil]

Nice work!

Question:
What is going to prevent the motors from vibrating out of position on the rod? just the friction tension of the mount?

[jimustanguitar]

Dec 1, 2014 10:46:27 GMT -5 ZionPhil said:

Nice work!

Question:
What is going to prevent the motors from vibrating out of position on the rod? just the friction tension of the mount?

Yes. 4 o-rings per motor mount, and 4 more in the center will grip the rods and hold them in place. It's actually quite snug, the o-rings act like friction brakes instead of loose points where things can slip.

I used an aluminum extrusion and a fine point Sharpie to mark an index line down both shafts so that I can align everything consistently. 

[jimustanguitar]

I finally got the mount for the flight controller designed and built the way I wanted it. This version has all three isolators angled inward at 54.74 degrees like a 3-sided pyramid (the corner of a cube). This way each isolator has its own axis of motion and, and the assembly is equally strong/absorptive in all directions.

Now she's got a name. I give you "The Pyramid"!

[BeeAmaker]

Great Job!

[jimustanguitar]

New versions of several files uploaded to the Hive Drive. The design has been modified to use dual tubes for rigidity instead of one because there were flex and vibration problems. This design change will also keep the motors oriented without any guesswork. My photos of the build are here: imgur.com/a/saqbM and my screenshots of all of the parts that I've created are here: imgur.com/a/b5VZg

I've also redesigned the landing gear to give it a bigger footprint and to snap on to runner tubes on the bottom. I don't think that the gear is final, but it's closer than the first 2 versions. 

Hopefully I'll be able to buy the correct length of hardware tomorrow and be flying (a lot) on Thursday!

[BeeAmaker]

Looking good

[jimustanguitar]

Went flying today!

I can tell why people use gimbals instead of fixed cameras now

[larrykoskie]

I didn't realize that they tilted that much when flying. Nice video.

[BeeAmaker]

May 4, 2015 9:39:15 GMT -5 larrykoskie said:

I didn't realize that they tilted that much when flying. Nice video.

Yeah, looks like you are flying straight up like a plane at times.

[ZionPhil]

Can you take a pic of how you have your camera mounted?

You have you the parameters set for your angles on your pitches WAY TOO HIGH for Aerial photography. A gimbal will not solve that issue, as you will go way beyond what the gimbal can compensate for. If you are copying your pitch angle parameters from someone else, then they must have them set for a racing quad, as it looks like you have your quad almost at 180 degrees (AWESOME!), judging by the shadow on the ground, when you are pitching forwarding and backward.

If you don't have the camera isolated with anti-vibration mounts like the dragon skin rubber you did for your FC or the foam earplug mod, then you will see that vibrating jello effect. The biggest solution for jello effect is balancing your props.

Great job so far. Did you say you published your design yet?

[jimustanguitar]

May 4, 2015 12:01:06 GMT -5 ZionPhil said:

Can you take a pic of how you have your camera mounted?

You have you the parameters set for your angles on your pitches WAY TOO HIGH for Aerial photography. A gimbal will not solve that issue, as you will go way beyond what the gimbal can compensate for. If you are copying your pitch angle parameters from someone else, then they must have them set for a racing quad, as it looks like you have your quad almost at 180 degrees (AWESOME!), judging by the shadow on the ground, when you are pitching forwarding and backward.

If you don't have the camera isolated with anti-vibration mounts like the dragon skin rubber you did for your FC or the foam earplug mod, then you will see that vibrating jello effect. The biggest solution for jello effect is balancing your props.

Great job so far. Did you say you published your
design yet?

You can see the frame that the camera mounts in in this picture (left of the FC). It's not isolated at all yet, I have to engineer something fancier than a hole for a tripod bolt still. If I buy a gimbal, the standard HK one is designed to clip onto rods the same dimension as the upper part of my landing gear (by design), so that'll be pretty much plug'n'play.  www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__51184__HobbyKing_Brushless_ActionCam_Gimbal_With_2208_Motors_and_3K_Carbon_Construction.html



I'm not sure about the sensitivity quite yet. I think that's my I gain and max. I'll have to play around with it. It's pretty much factory fill on the firmware settings at the moment. 

I didn't publish anything quite yet, but I started the write-up. Need some better pictures of the whole thing all together first. 

I also need to rig up my battery alarm before I go much further. Right now, the FC only gets a regulated feed from the ESC's, so when it gets low, it just runs out. I need to run a separate battery feed straight to an isolated input on the FC to do that. I think I can also program my ESC's to cutoff gradually, too.

[ZionPhil]

May 4, 2015 14:22:54 GMT -5 jimustanguitar said:

You can see the frame that the camera mounts in in this picture (left of the FC). It's not isolated at all yet, I have to engineer something fancier than a hole for a tripod bolt still. If I buy a gimbal, the standard HK one is designed to clip onto rods the same dimension as the upper part of my landing gear (by design), so that'll be pretty much plug'n'play.  www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__51184__HobbyKing_Brushless_ActionCam_Gimbal_With_2208_Motors_and_3K_Carbon_Construction.html



I'm not sure about the sensitivity quite yet. I think that's my I gain and max. I'll have to play around with it. It's pretty much factory fill on the firmware settings at the moment. 

I didn't publish anything quite yet, but I started the write-up. Need some better pictures of the whole thing all together first. 

I also need to rig up my battery alarm before I go much further. Right now, the FC only gets a regulated feed from the ESC's, so when it gets low, it just runs out. I need to run a separate battery feed straight to an isolated input on the FC to do that. I think I can also program my ESC's to cutoff gradually, too.The gimbal you listed is not Plug-N-Play. It is missing the actual gimbal controller (most expensive part) I would go with this one Eachine Gimbal, because it is lighter than the one you listed if you put a gimbal controller in it, and it's proven to be a great gimbal.

The Gimbal you linked is not Plug-N-Play. It is missing the most expensive and important part, the gimbal controller. I would go with this one Eachine Gimbal . It weighs less then the one you linked, if you put a gimbal controller in it, and it's a proven product.

[BeeAmaker]

Note:
- Not included the camera in the picture,the camera only for shooting reference.
- DO NOT electrify the gimbal before mounting the camera,or the gimbal will disorderly shaking.
- DO NOT electrify the gimbal unless the gimbal and the camera are horizontal.

Gotta love it.

[ZionPhil]

May 4, 2015 20:34:16 GMT -5 BeeAmaker said:

Note:
- Not included the camera in the picture,the camera only for shooting reference.
- DO NOT electrify the gimbal before mounting the camera,or the gimbal will disorderly shaking.
- DO NOT electrify the gimbal unless the gimbal and the camera are horizontal.

Gotta love it.

We should totally start a website showcasing the best Chinese to English product translations!

[BeeAmaker]

May 4, 2015 22:17:28 GMT -5 ZionPhil said:

May 4, 2015 20:34:16 GMT -5 BeeAmaker said:

Note:
- Not included the camera in the picture,the camera only for shooting reference.
- DO NOT electrify the gimbal before mounting the camera,or the gimbal will disorderly shaking.
- DO NOT electrify the gimbal unless the gimbal and the camera are horizontal.

Gotta love it.

We should totally start a website showcasing the best Chinese to English product translations!

Put it all on the same site as the failed Kickstarters. EpicFails.com
edit
I guess there is already an www.epicfail.com/ lol