Hi all!
Finally I registered myself as a member of this community. The past months I've read a lot about the QuadroCopter's. And I must say, everything is very well documented and info is easy to find. I'm positively suprised everybody is helping eachother out.
I'm almost graduated as a web developer and in my free time I fly my hangglider :). I did some RC flying (planes) in the past. About a year ago I came in contact with the quadrocopter for the first time, but at that time I simply cloudn't afford one. Now (I think) I can =)
My goal is to use the drone to take aerial photo's or video's. In the future I might build a hexa or octo, but I'll start with a (conventional) quadrocopter and attach a GoPro (fixed) to it.
At this point I ordered the following items:
- Turnigy 9X 9Ch Transmitter w/ Module & 8ch R
- 4x TURNIGY Plush 25amp Speed Controller
- 4x Turnigy 2217 20turn 860kv 22A Outrunner
- All frame parts (alu tubes and bolts/nuts excluded) are CNC'ed at Ponoko from 3mm Acrylic.
I will get the tubing and bolts and nuts from the local hardware store. And I plan to order the ArduPilotMega Kit when I finished the frame.
I get my parts from Ponoko because the shipping costs from the US are really high (80 dollars). So if I ever need spare parts... another reason is the ability to create my own designs produce them at low costs and I don't have the resources to CNC my own parts. Therefore I'm trying Ponoko (if money was no issue I ordered the frame from DIYdrones to support you guys, but I'll buy the ArduPilot kit :)
I will record my progress in this thread, and if I have any particular questions, I'll ask them here.
At this point I do have some questions:
1 - Is the accelerometer included in the ArduPilotMega kit? It says 'Analog Devices ADX330 Accelerometer.' or is that the connector?
2 - Will my 3mm Acrylic will be strong (and light) enough to function as a center plate.
3 - I want to use Xbee in the future but I live in Europe so the 900Mhz is illegal. I found some 868Mhz modules. So I should order the XbeeMain board only and order the 868Mhz Xbee's seperately. Will it work?
Feedback / Tips / Answers are always appreciated!
Replies
I just went to he local steel store for some aluminium tubes. The smallest they had were (15mmx15mm) 1.5 mm thick. So I thought that should be fine. But I just got a little bit in doubt by the weight and the thickness of the tubing in comparison to the 'standard' aluminium frame arms on the wiki.
So are they 1.5, 1.0 or 0.5mm thick? :)
Anyone have any idea if my 3mm Acrylic (same as dome) main square will not break? In the frame delivered by DIYDrones it's made from glassfiber or something? I think 3mm Acrylic will stay in one piece and can hold the load, but I want to check it with you guys before al my electronics are killed during a crash =)
see this pdf from Digi on new firmware for the xbpro900 for international users.
Does this mean you can use it since it doesnt touch the down and uplink frequencys they use on the cell phone?
http://ftp1.digi.com/support/firmware/pcn.xbp900.20110119.pdf
Notice:
These modules will be programmed with production firmware 21061 which is similar to firmware 1061 but only allows RF radiation in the 916 to 928 MHz frequency band. These modules have C-Tick (Australia) certification.
----International Cell Phones
An international cell phone is classified as a GSM mobile phone that operates on the GSM 900 and GSM 1800 frequency. An international cell phone with the appropriate sim card, will provide coverage in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Rim including Australia. A world cell phone with the GSM 1900 frequency will expand coverage to include the United States, Canada and a growing part of South America.
2 - Will my 3mm Acrylic will be strong (and light) enough to function as a center plate?
Thanks!
Well your on the right track.. ArduPilotMega kit comes with all the sensors needed for basic quadcopter control. The only sensor not included is the DIY_Drones Compass. When you order you APM kit it gives u the option to buy. You 3mm Acrylic should be enough. but might be kinda britle. I made an ultra light quadcopter frame out of foam and carbon fiber arrow shafts.
I covered it with brown paper and clear water based acrylic to help protect it. It only ways 180 grams raw frame. You can see my build picks on my page. I have heard somewhere on this forum where people are using the 2.4 Xbee and 2.4 RC radios with in the same aircraft and it seems to work, but i would do some more studying. Word to the wise Be very careful Not to plug in a battery backwards to you new turnigy radio. It will go up in smoke. FOR REAL. I've been waiting for my 2nd radio for almost 5 weeks now. UGH! I will be adding a MOSFET to the Battery curcuit in my 2nd Tx to protect it from this again. I'm also going to flash the new ER9c firmware to unlock this Tx full potential.