First time Quadcopter, limited resources!

K

kamhagh

Member
Hi, i'm new here :) I have been in love with drones since I saw them. And now I decided to make one, (I've never flew or touched or even seen one in real life)
I'm only 16 but I read a lots of books about embedded programming and etc and the main interesting part for me is making it smart, balance itself and you know! I have experience with ARM-M and A with Linux and Arduino and AVR.

I just wanted to get an Ar.drone(i know everything is already done but still fun and it has sdk :D and a front camera :| but also a short range!) but first I want to see if I can make one with my limited resources so here are my choices:

I found a kit which has these parts (Its not English but the model numbers are English, I guess you can also use google translate):
A frame which has no details
4x Angel A2212 - 980KV
4x 30A speed controllers (no mention of model or anything)
8 propellers
1 voltage divider!

It says you need a flight controller and a battery and a transmitter to make it work
so here are my choices for them (they are like 15 at most! not a long list)
Batteries are here
Radio controllers are here
here are Flight controllers

for price in dollars divide the numbers by 3200!
can i make a good drone with these parts?
which flight controller is good for me since i want to make smart and self balance etc?
do i need a Radio controller ? I think I'm mostly going to debug it and etc(not real flight far from the drone!!) so a Bluetooth would be enough, or something like that, can i do that?
I don't have much money and each saved dollar could help me! so i rather make a cheaper one!(but i need too see the price at end first, to decide if I can pay that much! if I can build a nice drone with around 300-450$ I will pay!

also can I somehow stream video from them like ar.drone does? and how much battery life will i get for average!?

thanks :) sorry for the long thread!
 
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Haha, let me get you a post together, could you translate the main specs? Battery mAh, C, and S. Google translate made little mistakes on things, for example on the frame it says: price: 450,000 USD.


Are you from India?
 
hmm sure!


and that price is in tomans(tomans/3200=Dollars)

Flight controllers have english names

and i already posted the specs about the kit! it just doesn't tell much!
can you tell me what you want me to translate? (link or something) the list is too long !
 
Pixhawk v2.4.6 Flight controller <-- Really high end, a bit pricy as expected if you want something a little cheaper with GPS functions take a look at this list.

As for the transmitter I did not see any that are worth buying, especially if you put the Pixhawk on this quadcopter. Some of them(probably all of them) do not have a fail-safe, meaning that if the quadcopter looses signal it continues ans you may never find it.


The battery could be 3000mAh to 5200mAh depending on how much you want to lift.

One question: What size props does it use?
 
GJH105775 said:
Pixhawk v2.4.6 Flight controller <-- Really high end, a bit pricy as expected if you want something a little cheaper with GPS functions take a look at this list.

As for the transmitter I did not see any that are worth buying, especially if you put the Pixhawk on this quadcopter. Some of them(probably all of them) do not have a fail-safe, meaning that if the quadcopter looses signal it continues ans you may never find it.


The battery could be 3000mAh to 5200mAh depending on how much you want to lift.

One question: What size props does it use?
Click to expand...

Woah thats expensive! Can't i choose a less expensive one! Or maybe somehow using a non UAV board?!

I have no idea about the props i'll call them tonarrow and ask them(not sure if they know it)

But does the flight controller do everything for me or i have to do it myself? I mean the whole point is to learn it myself and if it does it all for me than there's no point buying it! But what makes it so expensive!

And can i make the signall loss code in the controller myself?! So that way it wont matter!
 
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kamhagh said:
Woah thats pricy! But i can pay if its worth it!(i think it is)

I have no idea about the props i'll call them tonarrow and ask them(not sure if they know it)

But does the flight controller do everything for me or i have to do it myself? I mean the whole point is to learn it myself and if it does it all for me than there's no point buying it! But what makes it so expensive!
Click to expand...
You can get a much cheaper one that will do about anything you need. Return to home, and a bunch of other things. An ArduCopter (APM 2.5) or a Naza will do about all this one will do and will be cheaper. The RTH is a must have feature, but do you need mission planning?
 
GJH105775 said:
You can get a much cheaper one that will do about anything you need. Return to home, and a bunch of other things. An ArduCopter (APM 2.5) or a Naza will do about all this one will do and will be cheaper. The RTH is a must have feature, but do you need mission planning?
Click to expand...

I dont know what RTH is and I don't need mission planning.

Btw, you see, I mostly want to write the firmware myself not a prewritten firmware with features!(i dont nean 100% bare-metal!)! Maybe give it a few other programs! Make it self balance etc!
 
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Hmmm, looks like you want Arduino, the ArduCopter (APM 2.5) is an Arduino based controller that comes basically ready to go, and you can program it your self. RTH is Return To Home
 
GJH105775 said:
Hmmm, looks like you want Arduino, the ArduCopter (APM 2.5) is an Arduino based controller that comes basically ready to go, and you can program it your self. RTH is Return To Home
Click to expand...
Oh, i really like to program that myself :)
What ardupilot should I choose?

And also, i don't carr if its arduino or stm32F or lpcxxx i just want it to be programmable like arduino!
 
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Arduino will be your best bet, Ardupilot will be a cheaper method as it comes with all needed hardware. @Nick is programming a flight controller right now, he has finally gotten is halfway stable, but there is a lot of work still. You may want to message him to get some ideas. He bought an Arduino to program, but if you get a Ardupilot board you can program it just the same and not have to worry about buying a gyro or anything like that. Maybe a GPS if you decide to do that.
 
GJH105775 said:
Arduino will be your best bet, Ardupilot will be a cheaper method as it comes with all needed hardware. @Nick is programming a flight controller right now, he has finally gotten is halfway stable, but there is a lot of work still. You may want to message him to get some ideas. He bought an Arduino to program, but if you get a Ardupilot board you can program it just the same and not have to worry about buying a gyro or anything like that. Maybe a GPS if you decide to do that.
Click to expand...
Thanks, i'll check the ardupoilet tomarrow! As i don't have acsses to much parts i rather buy the ardupoilet!

BTW: what about the Openpoilet one? Its so cheap!

I will post about the proppler and etc tomarrow!
 
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If you are fine with not having a GPS Open Pilot is fine.


Any of these on listed here can be programmed, though the KK is in assembly.
 
This should save you tons of money vs the Pixihawk, I'd suggest you use that to get a nice transmitter.
 
Ok, haha.


Turnigy
Really cheap if you get the 9x, and good quality, if you get the Turnigy pro version for a good bit more you can do a LRS
Spektruim (Great quality; Dx6i, Dx6, or Dx7)
Orange (great quality, maybe the cheapest on this list, and receivers work with most Spektruim products)
FrySky (makes a good yet cheap 9X probably the cheapest full range 9 channel Tx) (DO NOT CONFUSE WITH FLYSKY) FlySky are knockoffs without even a fail-safe.





I have used the HKTR6A v2 (Hobby King's) Transmitter and reciever. I have no complaints with it, it is just not really upgradable. It has a range of alot further than you can see, so if you fly LOS, and are over budget it is fine. Here is a modification I made to it to make it cheaper and more convenient. I put a Xt60 battery connector so I could power it off from a LiPo or LiFe battery. I made a cable to power my FPV and Tx from the same battery. Make sure you don't have batteries in when you have a LiPo connected, I just soldered my leads onto the PCB and left the AA battery holder connected.
 
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