Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jae Paik on July 3, 2012 at 11:37pm

Thanks Knut.  I have put the ESC's about half way on the arm.  Once more props arrive, I'll try that out.

If that doesn't, I work will try putting the APM2 on a more solid platform.

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Permalink Reply by Pablo Zeron on August 5, 2012 at 10:18am

Here goes information about my octo.

Frame: Carbon Fiber Custom frame

Controller/autopilot: APM1

Esc: Redbrick 70A with simon FW (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=...)

Motors: Turnigy L5055 400Kv (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=...)

(Maybe a wrong selection, I don't know yet)

Propellers: 13x45 Slowfly Mikrocopter

Motor to motor distance: 100 CM

battery:  Turnigy 6S 5000mAh

total weight: -- Kg

flying time: Don't fly yet

Radio: Futaba FF9

Video/osd: Custom Camera Gimbal

Other: Sonar, 3DR Radio, GPS/Mag, Attopilot current sensor

 

Any suggestions or opinions?

Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by estebanflyer on August 5, 2012 at 11:23am

Really Cool!

Wouldn't you need bigger propellers though?

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Permalink Reply by Pablo Zeron on August 5, 2012 at 11:49am

Thank you very much,

It can mount 15 or maybe 16 inch propellers, but I don't have any to try.

At the first indoor test, it can hover using 12x45 slowfly propellers at 60% throttle and drawing a current of ~50 Amps (with canon 7D and a 15-85 lens). Maybe 5 or 6 minutes with a normal use. But I need do outdoor test with the new 13x45 or bigger.

What propellers will you use?

Thanks. 

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Permalink Reply by estebanflyer on August 5, 2012 at 7:20pm

I wouldn't trust slowfly props, those motors have a lot of power.. I would try the biggest diameter you can fit for those motors, on 2 blades or 3 blades. 60% thrust is a signal that RPM are a bit too high.

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Permalink Reply by Roger Sjödin on November 10, 2012 at 9:54pm

Wow, that thing is HUGE! The 7D is quite a big DSLR and it looks like a 550D or something. How much does that thing weigh?

You got it up and flying yet? I'm very eager to see this one in the air :-D

Is the motor weight on hobby king right? 480 gram each? :-O

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Permalink Reply by Pablo Zeron on November 11, 2012 at 4:01am

Hi,

About the weight I'm not sure, but I can say that in a hover, It's draw a current of ~40A without camera and ~50A with the 7D.

I use 6S 6000mah nanotech Lipos and I get 9 min. / 7min. (without / with camera) of flight time at hover.

ASAP I will post some videos but I have to test it with the new 2.8.1 (with 2.7.3 is very stable).

Thanks.

P.D. And yes the motors are from hobbyking Turnigy L5055A (maybe a wrong selection but they are very powerfull)

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Permalink Reply by Forrest Frantz on May 11, 2013 at 5:56pm

Are you still flying it?  Are you happy with it or interested in improving design?  If not, we might be able to help each other.  I too have built an octa, to carry a Cannon 5 Mark III, but took a different approach.  At hover, I'm pulling less than 30 amps.

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Permalink Reply by Jackie on August 9, 2012 at 9:30pm

I'm relatively new to quadrotors, but here's mine:

Frame: Turnigy Talon V2 carbon/aluminum frame (I wrecked my original jdrones frame one too many times. :P) The frame is from HobbyKing

Controller/autopilot: APM1 2560 (3DRobotics)

Motors: AC2836-358 880kv (jdrones)

ESCs: jdrones 30A (power distribution board is from jdrones as well)

Propellers: Currently running Turnigy 11x4.7 SFPs (HobbyKing)

Motor span: 22" (I also have the extended booms to bring it to 26" span if needed)

Battery: E-flite 2200mah 3S

Total weight: No idea -- probably 1/2 a pound more than a fully-built jdrones quad rig. The heavier weight does make it a bit more stable in windier conditions

Flying time: ~10 minutes, depending on weather

Radio: TX: Hitec Eclipse Pro 7, RX: Optima 7

Video/OSD: None yet, but I do have the 3DRobotics stabilization mount built & tested for a lightweight camera

Other: MediaTek MT3329 GPS, MB1200 XL sonar, Attopilot current sensor (not installed yet)

No hacks yet, I'm just trying to get used to flying it and figuring out the Hitec radio. Eventually, I'll have to fit longer legs to get the stabilized camera mount under the rig. Long-term plans will probably include FPVing it as well.

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Permalink Reply by weelian soh on August 11, 2012 at 12:27am

Hello fellow DIY Droners from Singapore!!, I have caught the Multi Rotor bug big time and this is the first Hexacopter I have built and also using the APM2 for the first time. Setup was pretty straight forward for me, even though this is the first time I'm building a Hexacopter. I have previously built 2 Tricopters and 2 Quadcopters all running KK series boards. Today I just had my first daytime flights and tested the Altitude Hold and Loiter functions. They worked straight out of the box. No adjustments were made to the firmware, everything is stock. 

Here is the item list and cost breakdown for anyone who's interested. I'm flying it on a Turnigy 9X stock system and just tested my brand new HaiYin 5000mAh 4s 30-40c Lipos which gave approximately 12-15 minutes of flying time. AUW - 2.23kg or 4.9pounds

Cost Breakdown for my  Hexacopter

 

1. SIX600 Fiberglass & Aluminum 6-axial DIY Frame - High Landing Skid from Himodel.com - $25.04 USD

2. Gemfan 11x4.7 Nylon Carbon mix Prop CW/CWW pair from Himodel - $2.95 x 3 USD

3. NTM Prop Drive Series 2836 750kv with Accessory Pack (ordered separately from HobbyKing)  - $17.10 x 6 USD

4. Modified 30A ESCs flashed with Simon K's custom firmware from Sgdrone.com - $20SGD round off to $15 x 6 USD

5. APM 2.0 Purple Fully Assembled Flight Controller from Sgdrone.com - $260 SGD round off to $200 USD

6. HK600GT landing skid (H60039) and HK600GT landing skid pipe (H60137) (ordered separately from HobbyKing) - $3.13 USD

7. 10CM Male to Male Servo Lead (JR) 26AWG (10pcs/set) - $4 USD

8. 10CM Servo Lead (Futaba) 32AWG Ultra Light (10pcs/set) - $1.99 USD

9. Turnigy Pure-Silicone Wire 12AWG (1mtr) BLACK - $2.49 per meter

10. Turnigy Pure-Silicone Wire 12AWG (1mtr) RED - $2.49 per meter

11. PolyMax 3.5mm Gold Connectors 10 PAIRS (20PC) - $1.50 x 2 USD

12. Turnigy 6mm Heat Shrink Tube - BLACK (1mtr) - $0.25 USD per Meter

13. Turnigy 6mm Heat Shrink Tube - RED (1mtr) - $0.25 USD per Meter

14. Nylon XT60 Connectors Male/Female (5 pairs) GENUINE - $ 3.19 USD

 

(items 7 to 14 ordered from HobbyKing)

 

Grand total $447.28 USD not inclusive of shipping for overseas items.

items not included are Batteries and Radio Transmitter and Receiver.

 

Optional items - 3DR telemetry radio $130 SGD (soldering required for pins)

            3DR GPS U-Blox LEA-6  $121.99 SGD (solder modification required to disable APM2 GPS)

 

Other items needed are,

Double sided foam mounting tape, PVC container to protect the APM2 flight controller.  200W soldering iron and flux core soldering lead. Hands free soldering stand, this is a MUST have for soldering wires and connectors . Cutters, pliers, hex and ordinary screwdrivers. Screws and nuts to secure the landing gear, default screws are too small from the frame kit I bought, so I used my own 3mm bolts and lock nuts. Nylon cable ties to tie the wider landing gear to the narrower landing gear of the hexa frame. Velcro straps to hold the battery. Fiber tape for sticking the Power distribution cables to the frame.  Glue gun to insulate the power distribution cable

I built my own Power distribution using 2 loops of 12AWG black and red cables, soldered the ends together and made six cuts along the cable and carefully solder a female Polymax 3.5mm connector onto it.  A separate cable is soldered with a XT60 connector for the battery. ESCs power cables are too short and are extended with the 12AWG cables and soldered with the male Polymax connectors in turn are connected to the self soldered Power distribution cables.

I found this great Magnolia Sherbet icecream plastic container which is big enough to store the u-BLOX GPS and the 3DR Telemetry Radio. Looks great too! All I did was to cut a piece of EPP foam and stuffed it between the GPS and 3DR Radio. At the bottom of the foam I stuck some aluminum tape in the hope that the GPS won't be affected by the 3DR radio. I'll be updating this post with a video.

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Permalink Reply by weelian soh on August 11, 2012 at 2:57am

Followup to my post, here's the video of my Hexa in action.

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Permalink Reply by Jae Paik on August 13, 2012 at 2:48pm

Wow!  Nice stable flight.

Can you post your PIDs?  I am having a very hard time tuning my quad.

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