Does anyone have any ideas on how to make the motors on a multicopter waterproof so that you can fly in rain?
I've seen a few videos of multicopters flying in light rain, but I would have thought that the rain would short out the motors?
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This is my attempt:
The vents on the top are connected to the motors, the esc are waterproofed but i left out the heatsink... going to make a small hole on the bottom to drain water
we can use big spinner for motors
encase them and run them by gears /belt
hello,
the barometer. motors with no problem since all the electric motors of this type the coils are coated.
I tried it with varnish or gloss dupont brand and varnish with a brush, apm and the imu .caution
If you use hacker style motors and mount them under the mount plate (under the boom essentially), then a basic 1-2" ABS cone shroud may work in moderate rain. Also I consider automobile alternators designs since they need to work even if you spray a water hose into it. Having use motors that have been dropped into 12ft of water (and still worked), getting the AHRS waterproof is a much harder problem (e.g. Barometer... heat... wiring... etc...).
The Dex shell is nice, but very custom for that frame (vac forming). You're better off carrying some sort of generic air-sealed ballast to keep the copter floating for those over-water flights.
"Waterproof" and "being able to fly in the rain" are two separate things, with the latter being fortunately much easier to accomplish. For all practical purposes, you can assume that rain will mostly be directed within 30 or 40 degrees of vertical due to the slipstreams, so a simple, lightweight umbrella-like shroud over each motor would suffice (think NEMA 3R). The key is to deflect the rain without occluding the cooling airflow to an unacceptable degree. The more acute concern would be protecting the electronics, where exposure to water is a greater risk (take it from someone who has lost 3 mobile phones due to lavatory submersion). Aside from the baro sensor, perhaps potting of the APM (there are thermally-conductive epoxy compounds) and especially the RF receiver(s) (R/C and Xbee) should be considered, if you really want to fly in adverse weather. Thermal management would again be the issue. It's not a good practice to cover up the MOSFET heatsinks on the ESCs, for example, despite the fact that many suppliers shrink-wrap them.
Not sure if you have ever seen this.
It does not waterproof the motors, but it's a good start...
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1372462
For the motors I think it should be enough to enclose it in something similar to the dex quad and let only the shaft stick out.
Maybe with an inverted prop mount. .
Emile
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