Performance research 250g quad

Hello I am an Aerospace Engineer working in aircraft industry (Cessna, Boeing, etc). My professional work is in structural analysis and I also have a background in low Reynolds number aerodynamics. I'm interested in conducting research and development on < 250g quad. I believe current designs could benefit from aerodynamic improvements for greater flight time/payload/speed/etc. I would specifically like to make improvements to the DJI Mini Mavic or similar airframe. I have extensive experience in traditional RC fixed wing/helicopters but I'm completely new to quads.

Questions:

1) Is it possible to tune the PID of the autopilot of a DJI copter if I were to change some of the airframe characteristics?

2) If I build a custom airframe and transplant the DJI electronics I may end up with the board that contains the accelerometers in a different orientation. Is it possible to remap the accelerometers of the DJI electronics?

3) Am I better off just buying electronic components intended for custom builds rather than trying to retune the DJI guts in a new airframe?

4) What are the best components (autopilot/esc/transmitter/receiver) that would be suitable for 250g airframe custom build?

Thanks,

Paul Klusman

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Replies

  • what is the point of hacking DJI ? why not select a flight controller  ESC & motors that will give you the best performance ? 

    as per aerodynamics it does not matter that much at 250 scale ether if you flew lots of models you would know that!! lots of hardware out there on the market... 

  • Thanks Michael. I've found a number of groups dedicated to hacking DJI but it is usually to remove flight restrictions. Very little activity in the DJI community modifying hardware/aerodynamics for improved endurance beyond just adding another battery strapped to the body of the copter. I believe most of the copters on the market could benefit from improved efficiency. They all look cool but most of them have the aerodynamics of a toaster.

    Michael McDon said:

    Paul, 

    For investigating these options, I'd stay away from DJI.  Though the SDK does provide access to a good bit of the functionality software, the firmware and hardware are another story.  I'm trying to do a simple remap of the GPS unit on a Mavic 2, and have not been having a lot of success outside of traditional and tiresome reverse engineering work.  I'd go with option 3. That's basically what I've come up with after about 6 months worth of work in my spare time on the Mavic.  For autopilot, just go with a premade FRUv5 unit like the pixhawk4. The rest is all up to how much you want to spend.  There are a lot of good options.  

    Performance research 250g quad
    Hello I am an Aerospace Engineer working in aircraft industry (Cessna, Boeing, etc). My professional work is in structural analysis and I also have a…
  • interesting proposition that has been done already the issue is a more efferent air frame will only matter while the craft is in motion not while in hover! copters hover a lot depending on application increasing  endurance during hover is a goal  to chase!

    selecting the correct parts alone will increase your flight time by a lot !    

  • Paul, 

    For investigating these options, I'd stay away from DJI.  Though the SDK does provide access to a good bit of the functionality software, the firmware and hardware are another story.  I'm trying to do a simple remap of the GPS unit on a Mavic 2, and have not been having a lot of success outside of traditional and tiresome reverse engineering work.  I'd go with option 3. That's basically what I've come up with after about 6 months worth of work in my spare time on the Mavic.  For autopilot, just go with a premade FRUv5 unit like the pixhawk4. The rest is all up to how much you want to spend.  There are a lot of good options.  

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