The future of RC surely looks promising ...I cant wait to fly with new packs that allow me to fly longer, weigh lighter and most importantly charge faster ...How would a couple of hours of flight time sound like to FPV Fanatics?? Just SUPREME !! .....I was even thinking of air to air battery charging just like air to air refueling..24 hour endurance for MAV's how awesome would that be? ...lets hope these batteries can charge faster than they discharge ...by the…

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign developed new microbatteries out-powering even the best supercapacitors. These could drive new applications in radio communications and compact electronics, such as drones - the batteries are rechargeable and can charge 1,000…

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Technology has advanced markedly since the dawn of the silicon age, but our portable gadgets and gizmos are still largely held back by the limitations of their power source. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden…

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One handed plug removal, simple labeling in case the copter ends up on the ground and I'm not the first one there.…

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Hi, All

I want to test the water and learn how much support is out there for a power management and distribution system for the APM 2.x. The APM 2.x is now a well understood and reliable FC. Maybe now it is time to design a stable and reliable power system for it?

There are far too…

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Better Battery Box For Yellow FPV Plane

An improved battery box for my FPV plane project.  The front wheel need mounting on a spring piece, as do the rear struts. I don't like…

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I came across OpenUPS. It is a UPS for small embedded systems with DC input and output (6-24V, ). It can manage batteries (any chemistry, LIPO? Of course!). It also has software interface for configuring it and control (need to explore…

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Hello Everyone, we all know our GPS board (the one that comes with the APM1) has no battery to backup data.

This has the disadvantage to make the GPS not very precise in the first minutes after power up and that every startup is a cold startup (at least one minute to get a 3D fix).

This is because the GPS needs find the satellites without a…

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Dji is the best multirotor system out there for the price it lives up to the hype. I bought a f330 pre built arf kit used save about a…

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Not being overly chuffed with the battery mount on the 3DR and wanting somewhere to mount a camera, I decided to make another layer to the quad. A third plate below the quad seemed idea. 

I fished out a scrap of unused fibreglass PCB I had in my goodie box. I took the quad apart to get at the bottom plate to copy as a template.

The normal plates have a series of 3 holes in the middle of each edge which seemed a perfect option to mount stuff. I…

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Hi,

I found this nice blog post, how to run LEDs with the relay switch. I modified the software to work with AC 2.1 firmware. And I added functionality that you can set the limits for the low battery warning with mavlink parameters.…

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Hi all, On popular request, here's a short tutorial on how to make a low battery warning on my hexa with blinking leds, as you can see at the end of the following video :

 

 

EDIT : The software changes in this blog are now outdated and not necessary…

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A DIY DRONES inspired project

           The project officialy start after my first 8 months with DIY DRONES.…

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Well I bought what is going to be my first UAV a SkyFun and a battery for it. On the first charge it swelled up like the Michelin man. It is a Turnigy nano-tech 3.0 3000mAh 25-50C charged by a dynamite charger at… Continue

Hey guys -



As I'm waiting for my first real model airplane to arrive, the ProJet RQ-11 Raven from NitroPlanes, I can't help but ask, has anyone ever experienced a Lipo battery explode?



Here's a video of one doing just that:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3690260570423705609#



From what I read so far, it's pretty easy to overcharge/overdischarge Lipo batteries and they are… Continue

I have a narrowed down parts list, but am at a loss for a battery. I don't have much experience w/RC planes.

What should i get to enable this setup to get the longest flight time possible. (2hrs?)

• Futaba 6Ch RC w/Reciever (i hear this is a workhorse)
• Multiplex Easy Glider Electric RR…

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Lithium Polymer batteries are an attractive power source for electric flight due to their high energy density. The combination of lithium polymer batteries and brushless motors now rivals glow power in terms of power and duration.



The main difficulty when using lithium polymer batteries is choosing what batteries and charger to use. Batteries are specified in terms of voltage, capacity, and discharge rating.



Voltage is generally listed as 1S - 6S. The S number refers to… Continue