Moderator Comment by Ruwan on September 30, 2012 at 9:02pm

Great work Mike! what is the total weight of the frame?

Comment by Mike Bristol on September 30, 2012 at 9:08pm

Thanks!  I have not finished the whole frame yet but a single arm weighs 27g.  That is on 2 shells and 10% infill.  However I don't know if it needs to be any sturdier.  There is some flex but the arm feels very strong.  I also think that the flex will help dampen vibration and cause a sort of dihedral effect at higher thrust effectively making the quad more stable... This is all just a theory of course :)

Comment by Stefan Mürzl on September 30, 2012 at 9:13pm

Very nice! Are you going to share the sketchup files?

Comment by Mike Bristol on September 30, 2012 at 9:16pm

Yes, I plan on sharing the sketchup/.stl files once I have all the bugs worked out and I have a solid "Mark 1" prototype ready.  Hopefully there are some other people out there with 3D printers that would like to give me some feedback.

Comment by Stefan Mürzl on September 30, 2012 at 9:49pm

I think the weakest point is where you snap in you landing gear.
Better the arm breaks on the inside to the centerframe where it is mounted.
Also some long holes (dont know the english word) form,ounting different motors would be nice.

Comment by vios on September 30, 2012 at 10:10pm

Nice..

Mike if you can upload the STL file to Thingiverse I would love to print with my Replicator :-)

Comment by Mike Bristol on September 30, 2012 at 10:32pm

I will definitely put this on Thingiverse, I just want to make sure I have a good, printable thing before I do :) Stefan, I think that the arms will probably break at the attachment point.  The landing gear area is pretty beefy.  I think the gear leg would probably break first in any event because it is thinner.  As far as different motors go that should be pretty easy.  Right now these are the pretty standard 16mm X 19mm but it is very easy to add an .stl arm for other motor dimensions.  Thats the great thing about 3D printing, someone could just select the components they need then hit print.  It's all very customizable.

Comment by Jan Detlefsen on September 30, 2012 at 11:09pm

Great stuff. But i advise against using Sketchup. I know it's easy and free but it's also very frustrating if you make more complex models and then suddenly the exported file formats are not valid anymore. Happened to me. Specially STL file handling is more of a hack and very frustrating. I recommend to take a weekend and get into a better CAD program. 

Comment by Brian Boatright on October 1, 2012 at 4:53am

There is nothing wrong with Sketchup. I've tried other CAD programs and unless you want to spend countless hours learning how to do things "right" there is no need. Sketchup files can be cleaned up and exported into many formats. I don't have a 3D printer yet but I'm in for a new 8x8x8" Ultra-Bot, check it out at Kickstarter before Oct 5th when it be funded and closed.

@Jan - What do you suggest or use for CAD? The thing that makes Sketchup so powerful and easy to use is the  push/pull feature. The only similar software I've found, that can be had for a reasonable cost, is ViaCad Pro v7.

Comment by R. D. Starwalt on October 1, 2012 at 5:16am

Nice work and a testimony to the improvement of 3D hobby printing.

Now, man up and see how tough it is by doing THIS testing procedure.  ;)

-=Doug

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