I've been watching this site for several months and have decided to jump in. I'm building a Quad for fun and for AP. I want to use the more popular and tested parts since I'm interested in a Quad that works in its initial config. Once I get some experience flying it, I then want to get a camera mount for a small camera and be able to do some AP. At this point I'm not interested in FPV, but I am interested in remote telemetry. Here's the parts list I've come up with so far:
This is what I want to buy first to get started without any payload:
Arduino MEGA 2560
ArduPilot Mega IMI Shileld/OilPan Rev-H
MediaTek MT3329 GPS
ArduCopter 3DR frame
4xAC2836-358 motors
4xjDrones 30A ESCs
12" composite propellers
Zippy Flightmax 2200mAh 3S1P 30C battery
Turnigy 9X Rx/Tx
iMax B6-AC battery charger
After getting some flight experience I then plan to add these parts:
Xbee Telemetry Kit
MHC5883L Magnetomer
MB1200 XL-MaxSonar-EZ0 Sonar Sensor
Zippy Flightmax 2650mAh 3S1P 30C larger capacity battery
After getting more experience with the added features I then plan to add AP capability with a camera mount and camera (GoPro HD Hero or smaller Canon or Sony point n shoot)
Any comments are welcome, especially if you have any experience with any of these parts or similar configs! I'm hoping to start ordering parts in the next month.
Replies
I'm going along the same lines, trying to build my first quad to learn how to fly first (but also using FMS.. excellent..), although wanting something that can evolve into AP/AV, and possibly also making use of GPS functionalities.
While there are many FC cards available here and there, I tend to think that I should go for APM, since it seems to integrate all these future possibilities straight out of the box
Unfortunately I haven't got enough technical background to choose my own individual parts, and that's why I'm really interested in your experience. Any feed back would be much appreciated.
did you get to anything easily flyable ? are you happy with your choices ? any idea on overall part price ?
tx