These are the fully 3D printed T4 (quadcopter), Mini T4 (quadcopter), and T6 (coaxial hexacopter) designs I've posted on Thingiverse.com (aside: "T" is for Tubular). The comments section on Thingiverse doesn't provide a great place for discussing designs so I've created this topic here instead.
These designs are based on a tubular arm with a vertical "I" beam running down the centre. This design seems to be very strong and rigid and all of these designs are very stable in flight.
Other common features include:
- motor wiring is routed through the arms and down into an enclosed (ventilated) power and ESC tray.
- batteries are located in the centre of rotation (T6 is designed for dual batteries).
- bevelled cable "tunnels" provide a way to route cables between the power tray and top plate.
- Top plate is designed for Pixhawk or APM flight controllers with elevated GPS.
- Bottom tray has mounting points for a Tarot Gimbal.
- Optional long and short legs include "springy" feet. The legs are designed so the 3D printed threads "wrap around" the arms which makes them quite strong for their length.
- Sketchup files are included so folks can modify both designs to suit their needs.
I figure I've put hundreds of hours into these designs with prototypes and drawing time. I'd love to get feedback from anyone who makes one. Together we can improve these designs for everyone's benefit.
Replies
Great to hear you are about ready for your first flight - exciting!
Have you been through the First time setup and First flight sections on the Wiki? ...particularly all of the calibrations on the Configuring hardware page.
For Pixhawk the ESC calibration is slightly complicated by the need to press the Safety button (but definitely required).
Regards tuning - an auto-tune on my T4 gives me:
Rate Roll: P=0.057, I=0.057, D=0.008
Rate Pitch: P=0.06, I=0.06, D=0.0055
...and for Stabilise Roll and Pitch try : P=5
As far as getting off the ground, this page has some good advice. I'd recommend an even milder approach and raise the throttle just enough to make the T4 "light" but without lifting off the ground and then slightly move your roll/pitch stick to see if you get the expected side/end start to lift.
I've never used QGroundControl before - I use Mission Planner (Windows) but APM Planner (all platforms) is rapidly catching up.
Thanks, I did set up the Pixhawk and Clibrate the Mag and Compass. I think It must be the esc calibration, as when on the ground and i ever so slowly feather the throttle on the props do not spin up at the same time, I get 2 and then a third and then the fourth, but the second 2 are very close, once all are spinning at the minimum throttle needed to have them all going I am not sure they are spinning at the same speed, which is what makes me think the esc throttle settings are off. I will play with trying to set the throttle HiLo a bit more.
Oh and good luck! Please keep me posted on your progress or let me know if I can help further.
As you saw from the I made it pic, I got flying, swapped the Qbrain out for 4 DJI opto sec's. Not sure if I ha a bad Qbrain or what but it would never sync the motors up, even after multiple calibrations. My noob question for the day is regarding motors and Roll/Pitch, I have the motors wired up as an Iris Front Right is 1 Rear Right is 4 Rare Left is 2 and front left is 3. My issue at the moment is when i move my right stick left or right the quad moves 90 degrees. It doesn't go straight sideways, and same when i move that stick up or down.
I have my pixhawk and gps both pointing toward the front, it just seems like the airframe is off by 90.
Any thoughts?
Having a lot of fun otherwise .
90 degrees off sounds like lots of fun! :-) It sounds pretty weird. Are your RC input channels connected up property (ie not elevator and aileron swapped)?
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