My buddy Sean who makes the Aerotestra quadcopter told me I should post my new project here on DIY Drones because people would like seeing it...
I am assembling a coaxial tube shaped waterproof drone that carries a GoPro camera on the bottom end in a clear polycarbonate dome. But I also realized a rather fun adaptation of this design...The Imperial Probe Droid from The Empire Strikes Back. Last night I wrote some simple code to cnc machine components of what will be a test stand for the avionics and propulsion systems. And this morning I machined those parts and partially assembled the test rig. Here are some pictures...
You can see some of my other projects and my business at rotorflyte.com and veloflyte.com
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I've got that motor set stashed somewhere at the bottom of a storage bin. Did you ever get any data from your tests you can plot?
It didn't go very far. I built a few flying skeletal versions but did not develop it any further.
It would be a neat project, but I'm extremely involved with a far more interesting project right now.
Hi,
I knew it been long time this project... but can you advise final state of it?
Thank in advance,
Anmh
Great project. If this motor is the 375w HK one as I suspect, check twice the magnets as they have a tendendy to unglue
I made this very quick rough mockup of the general layout. Luckily there are few components to a coaxial copter. The control vanes will be in the lower main body as the airflow will travel through the entire center of the craft. Using some deep section grating on the top, it should look quite good from a side view.
So it barely flies...which is what I expected given the weight. I tried to run a tether from the tip cone to suspend the drone for flight testing, but it adversely effects the unit. So I'll try to assemble a super simple outrigger landing gear.
Testing went well. The unit flew, although a bit unstable at times.
I was able to gather enough data to start the creation of the final airframe that the Probe Droid will be based on. The inner duct, motor mount, and battery tray will be made from custom formed carbon fiber. The remaining structure that gives it full detail to Probe Droid specifications will be made of painted foam. This should keep the weight much lower than the heavy test rig pictured above. The addition of a properly designed duct will also have the added benefit of increasing thrust. I'll add pictures as work progresses...
Man, when you get this up and running I hope you offer a kit form! I would love to have one of these patrolling my yard!!
Have you considered putting the entire fan/duct assembly on a gimbal rather than using the vanes for directional control?
It would be necessary to have a contract with Disney / Lucasfilm since it's their material. But it is certainly something I've given thought to.
That's a good idea using a gimbal. But I think the added weight and complexity would make it too much for my taste. The control vanes will be completely hidden inside the lower main body of the Droid so they won't be visible at all.
Hmm yeah they probably would want some royalties on that.
I wonder if the uninterrupted airflow from a gimbaled setup might offset the weight? I think if you kept the rotational axies (sp?) centered between the two rotors it would require very little torque and only two small motors to turn the gimbal.
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