My first custom build and need advice and pointers...

Jason Carlton

Jason Carlton

Active Member
Hi,

I am planning on custom building my first quadcopter and have really looked into details of how to's and what not but i hope I can get some help and advice on a few specs of my build, just so I don't end up wasting shed loads of money.

I am starting to hunt out my components for my quadcopter and I will list below, I am unsure as to whether I am doing it right or wrong but want it to be as straight forward as possible;

Motor – x4 D2830-11 1000kv Brushless Motor - £7.39 = £29.56
http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbykin..._11_1000kv_Brushless_Motor_UK_Warehouse_.html

ESC – x4 30A ESC 3A UBEC - £6.72 = £26.88
http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__25986__Hobby_King_30A_ESC_3A_UBEC_UK_Warehouse_.html


Flight Controller – x1 AfroFlight Naze32 Acro AbuseMark FunFly Controller - £15.99
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...buseMark_FunFly_Controller_UK_Warehouse_.html


Propellers – 10x4.5 SF Props Black CW (2pc) CCW (2pc) - £3.00
http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbykin...Props_Black_CW_2pc_CCW_2pc_UK_Warehouse_.html


These are the current parts I have picked out that I really like and think would do my build perfectly, well thats my personal opinion anyway, but here is where I have hit that brick wall, I am not sure how to work out what battery I would need for my quad and whether or not I could run my custom lighting setup off of the battery knowing that all four motors would be pulling off of it too. If i am confuisng most of you then I do apologise, in my head it is looking and working perfectly but I know it isnt as easy as just picking a few motors and esc's and a random battery and away we go... I want to learn as I am biulding so that when I build my second one I know how to calculate it all as my second build will hopefully include a camera of some sort.

Thi is as far as I have currently got with my build and would be grateful and appreciate any help or advice, hopefully I won't need to change my motors, esc's or flight controller as I do really like them.

Thankyou and I can't wait for any replies :)
 
Buy 10x4.7 props instead, more lift and will fly a little better.

I'd suggest this battery (or the 4S version if you want to go 4S), or two smaller ones (to use then swap out) if.



What type of LEDs you using? Most LED strips are 12v, and a 3s battery is 11.1v - 12.3v, I used regular colour changing LEDs, because I have a 24 foot roll. If that is the case you can come directly off the main of the battery.



Battery chargers:

This one is very basic, but will make your batteries last a very long time, as there is only the option to balance charge them. (better charge, but takes a long time)

This one has a lot more options, a lot of people really like it, you can balance charge, quick charge, and hybrid charge.
 
I completely forgot about the battery charger lol :p

As for my LEDs I am planning to build my own sort of spotlight out of 3mm LEDs. I'm am unsure as to the quantity of LEDs I will use because I just want to get the main components sorted first. Once I've sorted out the main components then I can move on to the auxiliary things like my led spotlight thing. Would have been nice to somehow control the spotlight whilst the quad copter is hovering. That would of been good. With a servo or something but my main concern ATM is the motors and battery and props.

Do you think my motors are okay? Also what do you think of the components I've selected?
 
I would buy some of Turnigy's areodrive or preferably Turnigy's mutistar motors.


What frame and what power distribution?
 
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What kind of frame do you want to put the parts into? Coz u can't put a big battery into small frame and a small battery is pointless in bigger frame. If u planning to use 300-450mm size frame, i guess a 2200mAh and minimal 40c in 3s config will be enough
I,m using a 5400mAh 45c 3s battery for my custom 500mm frame but the battery weigh quite a lot and the size is quite big so i have some problems positioning it on the frame
 
I haven't yet decided on what size frame yet. I am still new to this sort of thing but will be scratchbuilding one not sure if the material as of yet but just out of interest, with the items I have selected that if like to use what size frame would you suggest?

My power distribution I was going to just buy a distribution board from hobby king. I will find the link soon and send it. Am I thinking this through properly?
 
If u are already buying 10" props then i think the frame would be 350mm to 550mm. Depending on what material u will be using. Bigger frame usually give more stability when smaller frame usually more agile.
The bigger the frame the more heavy it get. Do u have the data about the motors? On how much thrust each motor with the given props?
 
Well I have only picked the motors and props on hobby king. I listed above. How do I workout the thrust, or what would the equation be?
 
If i'm not mistaken, the amount of thrust is usually 4 times the power(watss) in grams using the recomended props. The motor pull 210watts each, so each motor can lift about 800grams max. In total u will have approx 3200 grams of thrust from the 4 motors. So the total weight of the quad would be 1600grams max. If u can make the the total bodyweight of the quads at about 1kg including the battery, u will have about 500grams of extra payload. That will be enough to lift a gopro with small gimbal.

But this is just my estimate, try googling about the motors to have more acurate data
 
Herpderpwerp said:
If i'm not mistaken, the amount of thrust is usually 4 times the power(watss) in grams using the recomended props. The motor pull 210watts each, so each motor can lift about 800grams max. In total u will have approx 3200 grams of thrust from the 4 motors. So the total weight of the quad would be 1600grams max. If u can make the the total bodyweight of the quads at about 1kg including the battery, u will have about 500grams of extra payload. That will be enough to lift a gopro with small gimbal.

But this is just my estimate, try googling about the motors to have more acurate data
Click to expand...


Just use this calculator ,it considers efficiency and other things, thrust is really dependent on what props you are using, and it is somewhat conservative so you'll be fine. Just looking at your build it looks just fine.
 
Ho did you convert 210 watts to grams? and how did you get to the total of 3200 grams, I'm sorry if im going round in circles but I really want to learn this equation so I can do it myself? I have searched the internet for information like this and they make it so confusing, I will get around to using that calculator today to see whats it like. I do appreciate both of your help :) thankyou
 
When you say 300mm frame do you mean 300mm from centre to end of one leg or is that a dimension from one motor to another? sorry for not understanding and all the questions, I am really new to this type of thing
 
From my research when i was planning to build my first quad, i was googling about the type of motors that i can use, but i forgot where i read the data from, but it says that usualy the maximum amount of lift a motor can generate is 4 times the amount of watts it require. So if a motor used 200watts of power, it can generate maximum of 800grams of lift, using the maximum type of prop it can use. But it usually less than that. Frame size is how far the diagonal motors are positioned from shaft to shaft
 
Okay thats alot easier to understand, it just confused me because my motors are 210watts or 840grams, multiplied by four is 3360grams of thrust? Am I correct? I think I may use a carbon fibre 10" props from my research, Can't wait to buy the components and start building, will start designing my frame once I know roughly what size I want. On the plus side I am a 2D Cad technician so I will design my frame on computer before I start building. Just out of curiosity, what is the best material to use?
 
Yup, but that is the max amount, usually it was less than that, depends of what kind of props u will be using. I was using a 3mm mdf board and a 1/2" carbon tube as reinforce material, i use a lasercutter to cut the mdf.
The reason i use mdf board because it was cheap. It was not the lightest material or strong, but it was easy to cut and with the carbon tube as a support colon, it was stiff enough. And if i'm out of luck and it crashed, it will be easy to rebuild the frame as long as the electronics is undamaged.

Here is the photo of my frame
P_20150705_200239.jpg P_20150705_173901.jpg
 
But if you have the resource and the material, definitely go for carbon fiber heheheheh but fiberglass composite panel is also good
 
Wow, yes I like that alot, thats sort of the image I have in my head, I was thinking of doing something similar as Im a newbie and if i crash it it wont cost alot to repair. I dont have access to a laser cutter so would have to see if I could find someone to do it for me if I produced the drawings, cheaply though, no point getting it laser cut if it will cost me £40 plus material lol but i really like your design, your have inspired me lol where did you get your landing legs?
 
I salvage it from someone else crashed frame heheheh, he sold it for Idr 100.000 (about us$ 8). It already had holes to mount a gopro gimbal, so it is quite a bargain lol
 
That was a bargain lol so do you think all my components are going to give me what Im looking for, I am looking forward to purchasing my motors and esc's and flight controller :) going to be fun on first setup
 
If you are not planning to mount a gopro and gimbal, i think your setup will be just fine, even if someday you decide to add an action cam and gimbal, i think it still be okay, just a slight reduce of the flight time
 
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