Quadcopter Build

izeman said:
btw i made a video. quite blurry, but that's not important imho. and it's dark. on purpose. because that way you can see the esc's leds. you see me arm it, then disarm it. esc's leds go out unevenly - i guess because the rotors don't really stop at the very same time. does that matter?

[youtube]S9Wjnzh_NbQ[/youtube]
Click to expand...



it should be fine, but I think if you do a esc calibration against the transmitter it should fix that problem, I have a feeling that one esc is getting a different signal to the other 3..

I don't think this will affect the stability, more so being able to give it full power.. you might only be getting 80% of all the possible power because that one motor has less throttle range
I could be wrong about this.
But i know you can use the multiwii code to calibrate all esc's at once, and then upload your normal sketch..
 
WOOOHOO...

Got a brushless gimbal in the mail!!!...

$52 and it has an alexmos board, x2 brushless motors, cnc'd frame... all aluminium..
Spent the last couple of hours mucking around with it..

So far I have got it to operate quite well... but i need to take some videos while using it to truly test it.

The only thing I don't like about it, the sound it produces is a hi pitched whine sound... but meh wont hear it over the props..
 

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It works very differently compared to using servo's on the multiwii board with cam stable active...

With the brushless gimbal
You have the mainboard with motor outputs and inputs for signal wires from your receiver or to plug into your flight controller..
Also another little board with leads running from the mboard.. This is to sit on your camera or final axis of the gimbal. it has the sensors on it, you can either orientate the sensors to how they are set in the software, or you can change all the orientation via the software.. seems like the common hiccup people have when trying to get these things to work... many people report them working like a headless chicken but it is most likely due to the wrong config...

pretty awesome for the price i thought
 
Not sure if I should replace the aluminium parts with printed plastic..

The gimbals weighs about 107 grams if my kitchen scales are accurate...

hmm
something like this might be good..
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:397579
 
Got the hex nearly built :)

The GPS is working and locking.

The Bluetooth module took me many hours of troubleshooting to get it to work with Megapirate and Mission Planner, but it seems solid now. I have not had time yet to make sure it works with my phone. That's tonight or tomorrow....

Once I get a good prop balancer I can balance the props, install them, then give it a test run! I also need to get my radio configured for at least 4 flight modes (no 3-toggle switch on my Dx6i.... ).

What is the best way of mounting the main battery pack?


20140929_204640 by deanwvu, on Flickr
 
Deanwvu said:
Got the hex nearly built :)

The GPS is working and locking.

The Bluetooth module took me many hours of troubleshooting to get it to work with Megapirate and Mission Planner, but it seems solid now. I have not had time yet to make sure it works with my phone. That's tonight or tomorrow....

Once I get a good prop balancer I can balance the props, install them, then give it a test run! I also need to get my radio configured for at least 4 flight modes (no 3-toggle switch on my Dx6i.... ).

What is the best way of mounting the main battery pack?


20140929_204640 by deanwvu, on Flickr
Click to expand...


mount it where if you can, try and keep it balanced tho..


What was the issue with bt and megapirate?
 
I think it was a power issue for me. Once I powered the BT module from the BEC it worked. Before, I was powering it from the board, which gets it's power from the ESC.


I am not able to power my board from the BEC. There is something wrong with my board... On my board, the EXT power (BEC power) is shorted, and I don't know how. When I first applied power from the BEC, I saw a puff of smoke and immediately powered down. I then tested continuity--the + and - of the EXT power leads have continuity. So.. short somewhere. It doesn't seem to affect the performance of the board as far as I can tell, but I have to power it from the ESC.

AIOP_2.jpg
 
Just ordered that newish FPV setup from HK. Finally going to get there. Bought the DIY goggles to go with it. I'm going to try the setup on RC cars for a while before I get into flying. Might have to leave the screen on the table. The goggle issue seems so committed. Unfortunately I just bought a sj4000 cam knockoff, that I was going to use for FPV, but I guess it is good to have another camera. I've had a tough time flying with the extra weight of that sj4000 camera and will likely use the camera included in the kit. Nice that HK finally has something like this to make it easier to get into FPV. I still have a headache after reading through all the options on various websites. Still might be confused on how to power this all up. Man, you need power to your goggles, RX, TX and camera. I'm hoping to have enough batteries laying around for it. Supposedly this is a non-solder kit. We will see about that.


I've had fun flying the st360 frame. Much lighter, smaller and quicker. Might have to finally learn how to flip. I bought some of the EMax 4 in 1 escs for this. Both had issues. I managed to combine the two to get one working version. One blew smoke the minute it was powered and the other had two bad escs. I use the hobbywing quattro on my 450 and thought the cable management was nice. No powerboard to deal with. They do take up a bunch of extra space.
 
dirkdiggler said:
Just ordered that newish FPV setup from HK. Finally going to get there. Bought the DIY goggles to go with it. I'm going to try the setup on RC cars for a while before I get into flying. Might have to leave the screen on the table. The goggle issue seems so committed. Unfortunately I just bought a sj4000 cam knockoff, that I was going to use for FPV, but I guess it is good to have another camera. I've had a tough time flying with the extra weight of that sj4000 camera and will likely use the camera included in the kit. Nice that HK finally has something like this to make it easier to get into FPV. I still have a headache after reading through all the options on various websites. Still might be confused on how to power this all up. Man, you need power to your goggles, RX, TX and camera. I'm hoping to have enough batteries laying around for it. Supposedly this is a non-solder kit. We will see about that.


I've had fun flying the st360 frame. Much lighter, smaller and quicker. Might have to finally learn how to flip. I bought some of the EMax 4 in 1 escs for this. Both had issues. I managed to combine the two to get one working version. One blew smoke the minute it was powered and the other had two bad escs. I use the hobbywing quattro on my 450 and thought the cable management was nice. No powerboard to deal with. They do take up a bunch of extra space.
Click to expand...


bugger about the 4 in 1's...

You might find that using a cheap cctv style cameras, ccd to work better for FPV..
I actually just ordered another FPV kit from hobbyking, 5.8ghz, 500mw tx, sony ccd camera..
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=66474

You would think the quality on a sj4000 camera or a gopro to be better for fpv, but actually its about the same quality..
The thing I dont like about using the gopro like camera for fpv is that how it handles light, For example Its quite difficult to see clearly with a gopro at dusk.. but using a cheap ccd camera it looks like full day..

also its possible to do night flight with a good CCD camera, you can use the cheap solar garden lights to make a course around a park or where ever... and you should be able to see in black and white... Also flying in carparks at night fpv is hard with a gopro, but with the board cameras it's easy

so yeah i dunno, give both a test if I was you
 
a quick video of this afternoon.. video is gopro 3+ black with brushless gimbal

some jello because the whole thing is not installed properly yet but i was so eager to test it..
the sensor is held on with some velcro so caused it to go out of level..
uploading another video now.. will post it soon

It really sounds like a weed wacker... doe's not sound like this at all when you fly it :lol:
[youtube]SfLxo5nLOrQ[/youtube]
 
holy moly that thing has some power!!!

I really like it... looks like a really good setup for FPV racing... you guys have gotta try it.. get some friends together make a virtual race track and try and race each other... Works wells when each machine has some kind of bright light.. RED - BLUE - GREEN for each player lol


A y6/t6 is better at landing when one motor or prop goes as well, but you do get less efficiency and stability.. But i much prefer it over a regular tricopter with a servo...

Was hoping my microwave fpv gear would arrive today but think it will come tomorrow..


second video from yesterday, I like how it looks when i give it a bit of full throttle going forward..
[youtube]QWjrGQqhSW8[/youtube]
 
I was holding back from flogging it because the gopro is the most expensive bit on that quad and its being held on with two rubberbands :x
they were from the paper that gets delivered and they were probably in the sun for a couple of days because im lazy.

I can see that the gimbal Pitch PIDS seem fine.. but the roll needs more P as you can see it fixes it self up to slowly, especially at the beginning of the video.. seems to get less towards the end so perhaps its something else.. needs further investigation ( might be that the sensors are held on by velcro.. ill resin them on soon)

Next step is to hook up the signal wires so I can control the gimbal from the transmitter but i am not so worried about this untill i get the thing working correctly and mounted to the frame properly
Think I might give head tracking ago eventually.. its not that expensive on its own... all this stuff starts to really add up
 
not if you have a landing gear, should be fine... you can think of a design with springs to absorb the shock if you need to

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:334354
 

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So today I installed the new FPV gear..

I broke my 900mhz transmitter about 2 weeks ago and have not been flying fpv.. Its not really broken... its just the tiny connections and being a cheap thing I cannot find the wiring diagram and just have not bothered with it..
With FPV flying... after not doing it for some time..You really need to take it easy for a couple of minutes to get the feel for it.. and best to do it in an open space as your only judging from within the cameras view..

Stupid me, crashed it and landed on my roof and by the looks of how it landed.. It rolled off the roof and smack bang upside down on the grass.. ..
Broke the clover leaf antenna connection but they are very easy to fix.. all you need is solder..
And broke 2 props..

The reason I crashed it... Very quickly after taking off I was over my neighbours pool and I lost one of my other machines in that pool...
So i flew fast back to my house and lost view of things... lol.. So split second decision was to kill the power and it was about 3 meters above the house roof... So I would have to say my nervousness was what did it(normally I would keep on trying to land and gain altitude and then try and land-repeat, I have not killed the power like that for awhile).. Normally FPV i go to big fields and smash full throttle around the field and enjoy the views... Mini ones are good for around the house but I was using my 450mm size.. still a bit big for small suburbs and im still pretty shitty at flying to be honest..


So today I decided to loose the goggles, take out the lcd, print a bracket and attach it to my Transmitter..( seems like a safer options if I do decide to fly the 450mm around my house, I can look at it and also look at the screen)
Its a really small screen.. 3.5inch but I may make a shroud and use a magnifying sheet thing.. forget what they are called..
I do have a 7 inch LCD screen on the way from china... probably be here in a month.... But think it goes to a blue screen not the fuzz and you normally need a DVR to fix that issue, which is a bad bad thing)

So I thought this might be better than goggles for the moment.
im starting to think adding a 7inch screen above the 3.5inch screen.. dual video.. front view and bottom view for landing..
 

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i need your help. i don't know what's going on here. after installing a new battery the quad behaves unforeseeable. it's impossible to fly. takes off and then wobbles in free air, or just makes some instant movements and most of the time just crashes.
i wanted to make a video of it wobbling in the air (this is with standard pid settings as they are when you flash a new multiwii code. those settings normally work pretty good - need some tuning, but are good to fly quite stable). i did eeprom erase twice as usual when i install some new code - what i did to maybe reset everything.
as is said i couldn't even make it wobble in mid air as it just flipped after lift off. it's can't be the pid settings as those where left unchanged. i suspect some hardware problem. what do you think?

[youtube]utVYBCASIkE[/youtube]
 
hmmm....
that is strange..

Just to confirm all propellers are spinning the right way and correct prop direction ?( no prop changes recently?)
Has the FC moved?
Are you taking off in gps mode or something other than level mode?
what else has changed anything or simply just a new battery ?
What was the old battery and what was the new?
any I2C errors?
 
Of course props are left unchanged. I can sometimes hover a bit. Would be impossible with props mounted wrong.
FC is in the very same place.
No other mode but horizon is activated.
Nothing changed but the battery (but a new propeller)
I swapped all props for new ones just to be sure.
I only fly one type of batteries (4 pieces of 3s 2650ah)
No IC errors either.
 
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