Is this a good quadcopter build? (make it cheaper)

Dan Barzilay

Dan Barzilay

New Member
3D CAD:
0heyS.jpg


After some editing:


I'm building the frame myself from aluminum and polycarbonate.

EDIT: all is polycarbonate except of the arms, they are form aluminum covered in polycarbonate. the total length (from one motor to another) is exactly 60cm

Approximate Mass: 1.736 kg

What I thought to put in:
I'm gonna program it myself (or atleast try to).

I WANT TO USE IT AS A UAV (self controlled)

Questions:
1. Is this a good setup?

2. It costs to much for me, any way to keep the frame and change the
parts to be cheaper and yet a good quadcopter?

3. Does the propeller fit the motor?

4. Any place to buy these for cheaper?

5. Is it a good frame?

6. Am I missing some parts?

Thanks alot,
Dan

EDIT:

- I checked it using this site and it gave no errors (guess its a good sign).

- The camera on the image is just for the picture (no camera is intended there).
 
Welcome to the forum!

Your build seems to be a good start. As far as weight goes - you're talking 1.736 kg all up weight (with all electronics on-board) right? Or is that just the frame?

ESC's - you should look at ESC's that are built specifically for multi-rotors, like something flashed with SimonK

http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=896&productname=

http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=780&productname=

or the Turnigy Multistars

If you want to know why you should go with ESCs that are specifically made for multicopters, see here:

http://wiki.openpilot.org/display/Doc/RapidESCs

If you want to program the board yourself or are looking for an Arduino project, then great! If you're just trying to save money, this is a good board:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...2_0_multi_rotor_lcd_flight_control_board.html

If you get that board, you'll also need one of these guys to update firmware:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...Programming_Device_for_ATMEL_proccessors.html

If you want to do some coding, that firmware is opensource:

http://oddcopter.com/2012/11/10/kk2-0-firmware-update-and-source-code-release/

HobbyKing and RC Timer are good places to get parts, but definitely shop around. Also, always consider checking to see if Hobby King carries stuff in a warehouse that is closer to where you live. Usually, this stuff costs just a bit more, and shipping is much cheaper, so it makes up for it. Plus you then don't have to wait three weeks for your parts to arrive =)

Another thing to consider is buying extras since things normally take so long to come from China. A lot of times, you'll get a defective motor or ESC, or you'll break a prop on a landing or something. You don't want to have to wait three weeks to get another when that happens. For quads, I normally buy 5 of everything and quite a few extra props.

When it comes to missing stuff from your build, most of these are obvious and you probably have them covered. Some other may not be as obvious.

- Battery Chargers (and sometimes power cables for them are sold separately since they ship to so many different countries)
- Transmitter & Receiver
- Prop Balancer
- Bullet and/ or Deans connectors (some parts don't come with connectors or at least not the ones you need and you have to solder them on yourself)
- Wires
- Heat-shrink
- FPV equipment if you'll fly FPV.

That calculator is a very good tool, but you'll still have to test the setup in real life to be 100% sure. As a shortcut, one of the best things to do is to look at other successful builds posted online with frames that have a similar size and weight to yours and see what they're running.
 
mm said:
Welcome to the forum!

Your build seems to be a good start. As far as weight goes - you're talking 1.736 kg all up weight (with all electronics on-board) right? Or is that just the frame?

ESC's - you should look at ESC's that are built specifically for multi-rotors, like something flashed with SimonK

http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=896&productname=

http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=780&productname=

or the Turnigy Multistars

If you want to know why you should go with ESCs that are specifically made for multicopters, see here:

http://wiki.openpilot.org/display/Doc/RapidESCs

If you want to program the board yourself or are looking for an Arduino project, then great! If you're just trying to save money, this is a good board:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...2_0_multi_rotor_lcd_flight_control_board.html

If you get that board, you'll also need one of these guys to update firmware:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...Programming_Device_for_ATMEL_proccessors.html

If you want to do some coding, that firmware is opensource:

http://oddcopter.com/2012/11/10/kk2-0-firmware-update-and-source-code-release/

HobbyKing and RC Timer are good places to get parts, but definitely shop around. Also, always consider checking to see if Hobby King carries stuff in a warehouse that is closer to where you live. Usually, this stuff costs just a bit more, and shipping is much cheaper, so it makes up for it. Plus you then don't have to wait three weeks for your parts to arrive =)

Another thing to consider is buying extras since things normally take so long to come from China. A lot of times, you'll get a defective motor or ESC, or you'll break a prop on a landing or something. You don't want to have to wait three weeks to get another when that happens. For quads, I normally buy 5 of everything and quite a few extra props.

When it comes to missing stuff from your build, most of these are obvious and you probably have them covered. Some other may not be as obvious.

- Battery Chargers (and sometimes power cables for them are sold separately since they ship to so many different countries)
- Transmitter & Receiver
- Prop Balancer
- Bullet and/ or Deans connectors (some parts don't come with connectors or at least not the ones you need and you have to solder them on yourself)
- Wires
- Heat-shrink
- FPV equipment if you'll fly FPV.

That calculator is a very good tool, but you'll still have to test the setup in real life to be 100% sure. As a shortcut, one of the best things to do is to look at other successful builds posted online with frames that have a similar size and weight to yours and see what they're running.
Click to expand...
*The frame is 1.7kg, without the electronics.

What do you say about this?

Description Quantity
hexTronik DT700 Brushless Outrunner 700kv 4 Unreserved
TURNIGY Plush 18amp Speed Controller 4 Unreserved
TURNIGY BESC Programming Card 1 Unreserved
PolyMax 3.5mm Gold Connectors 10 PAIRS (20PC) 1 Unreserved
Turnigy 5000mAh 3S 20C Lipo Pack 1 Unreserved
Turnigy Accucel-6 50W 6A Balancer/Charger w/ accessories 1 Unreserved
Hobbyking Multi-Rotor Power Distribution Board (DIY 8 x output PCB) 1 Unreserved
Slow Fly Electric Prop 11x4.7SF RH Rotation (4 pc) 1 Unreserved
Slow Fly Electric Prop 11X4.7SF (4 pc) 1 Unreserved
On-Board Lipoly Low Voltage Alarm 2s~3s 1 Unreserved
 
That's a pretty heavy frame. Even some bigger/ heavier frames like the QAV500 are only around 500g. Many builds with that frame are only around 2kg with all electronics installed, including FPV and GoPro. You might want to consider lowering the weight of the frame if possible.

Also, with the lower kv motors and bigger props, you might want to go to 4s batteries. Did you run this new setup through ecalc? When you do, make sure you take into account the weight of everything that will be on the copter. Most parts should show their weight on the product pages.
 
mm said:
That's a pretty heavy frame. Even some bigger/ heavier frames like the QAV500 are only around 500g. Many builds with that frame are only around 2kg with all electronics installed, including FPV and GoPro. You might want to consider lowering the weight of the frame if possible.

Also, with the lower kv motors and bigger props, you might want to go to 4s batteries. Did you run this new setup through ecalc? When you do, make sure you take into account the weight of everything that will be on the copter. Most parts should show their weight on the product pages.
Click to expand...

So what light frames are usually made of? (I want to build a frame by myself).

And I can't find the hexTronik company on ecalc.. (and when I don't know all the details to add them manually, if you could tell me each one of them that would be great :))
 
Light weight frames are usually made out of carbon fiber, glass fiber, aluminum, nylon, and other materials. Most frames that use aluminum use very thin aluminum pieces.

For example:

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__24227__Hobbyking_X666_Glass_Fiber_Quadcopter_Frame_666mm.html

That is a 650+ mm frame and it weighs only 415g without electronics.

When I first started, we crashed and broke a few frames and at one point, we thought it was a good idea to grab some aluminum pieces from the hardware store to rebuild the arms and reinforce other parts of the frame. We didn't think it added that much weight, but it made the copter just about un-fly-able. Our batteries overheated and swelled up pretty bad just trying to keep that thing at a hover.

Every little bit of weight matters. Is it possible to use thinner aluminum sheets to build out the frame? Building a frame to be stronger or with crash survivability in mind shouldn't be first priority. Building a frame that is sturdy, but light weight is really the goal you should strive for. If you're going to be the one to build the frame, you can always repair it after a crash, so no need to make it stronger than it needs to be to be airworthy.

The specs are on the product page for that motor:


Spec.
Required Voltage: 11.1v
Suggested Battery Capacity: 1300mAh +
Suggested Prop: 10x4.7, 11x3.8 or 11x4.7
Max current draw: 13A (with 11x4.7 prop)
Max thrust: 900g+
No Load Current: 1.2A
Shaft: 4M (perfectly suited to Towerpor/GWS SF Slow Fly props)
Weight: 78g
Diameter: 41mm
Overall length: 77mm
Kv: 700rpm/v

Kv (rpm/v) 700
Weight (g) 78
Max Current (A) 13
Resistance (mh) 0
Max Voltage (V) 11
Power(W) 0
Shaft A (mm) 4
Length B (mm) 38
Diameter C (mm) 40
Can Length D (mm) 10
Total Length E (mm) 78
Click to expand...

At the bottom of each product page on HK, there is normally a "Product Config Table" with all of the data. There is also usually some other good stuff if you scroll down more and click the files tab.

Also, this may help when trying to figure out what data goes where in the calc when you enter manually:

http://www.ecalc.ch/calcinclude/help/propcalchelp.htm
 
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