Success!

Just came back in from my first flight of my 3DR Y6, and I am happy to report 3 consecutive successful flights.  To be honest, it was not the first attempt (I tried that in Panama before I moved to Costa Rica, and it was a failure due to a bad ESC that 3DR replaced free of charge).  I am getting close to 10 minutes of flight time (I am starting to land with 40% of the battery left) with no gimbal yet (was really windy also).  I tried to do the auto tune, but it was too windy, and I cpuld not finish the process, but the copter was easy to control.  GPS features also worked perfectly well ( loiter and RTL were the ones I tested so far).

I still need to find a gimbal for it (I am thinking a 3 axis one for the gopro) and also a BEC to feed both the video transmitter and the video switcher (any recommendations for these 2?).  I am also considering getting a couple of these batteries, as they add 10% more power with 18 grams LESS of weightthan the 3DR ones, but those will have to wait until I am done with the gimbal...

Anyway, I am reañly excited with this drone.  I may just have to stick my sony actioncam on it until I get the gimbal installed!

Felipe

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  • Happy to report more upgrades to my Y6...  This past weekend I installed a voltage regulator to drive the FPV gear, and I also decided to use it to drive the gimbal (if I can get it to work!  See other post for details!) and the recently installed LED lighting (red, green and white on each motor arm).  I also got the sonar range finder up and running.  Tested it inside, but I have not yet had a chance to fly it to see how well it works.  cant wait to get back home (business trip now) and for the winds to die down so I can do a test flight!

  • Finally some pictures. I used the standard 4 bolts in the front to attach a aluminium plate where I mounted the gimbal. I did a small cut-out to let the cables through.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8k7N4YfVnzma3Z6WEsteGRtOWc/view?u...
    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8k7N4YfVnzmcUxfbXdISXNVRTg/view?u...

    /Per
    • Could you share sone installation details? I am seriouslynconsidering this gimbal, so I want as much detail as you can share. Like did you use CF for the mounting platform? Where did you attached it to? Does it allow to connect to the gopro to stream video? Anything you can share is useful!

    • He used an aluminum plate extended out from the front of the Y6B to mount the gimbal. Look at the picture again.

    • @Felipe,

      I was thinking about you Y6 with a 3D gimbal system.  Have you investigated the CG with installing one?  The person who mounted a plate and gimbal on their Y6 will have issues with the Y6 working harder to maintain level flight which in turn eats up the forward motors as well as flight time.  I saw this on my Y6B when I mounted a gimbal and Gopro to my copter.  There is no sure proof way to totally mitigate a forward CG with the Y6, but getting it closer to the default center of the Y6 will help.

       

      So I was wondering if anyone considered a bit or engineering with respect to flushing the upper motor up and into the lower chassis plate.  My thought it to cut a hole in the bottom plate then reinforce it and mount the gimbal to the under side of the top plate with no mounting to the lower plate.  Idea is to bring it back from the nose of the copter and more towards the center and to elevate it a little which will help for those who have standard carbon fiber landing gear from 3D Robotics.

       

      I may start investigating the feasibility of the idea but I have way too many other projects on the burner.

    • I actually was planning on relocating the battery, placing it sideways on the rear of the bottom plate and having the gimbal on the front, thus distributing the weight for better balance.  I like the idea of the gimbal sticking out in front because you get the propellers out of the way, but I feel the balance of the craft is more important...  As for the height of the legs, I will have to get the gimbal and see if it works or not, and if it does not, then I will have to rethink the landing gear.  

      By the way, Feiyu Tech has the dimmensions of the gimbal as having a height of 122.8mm, but I think that with some 3D printed legs for the gimbal, this could be reduced (by eliminating the need for the tubes), and the holes could be aligned with the nuts inserted into the Y6 frame...

    • Take a look at my modified Y6B.  I think you could do the same thing I did and provide a better view from the camera without looking at the 3DR landing struts.

      Side profile.

      Info pertaining to where to purchase landing gear.

    • DG, thanks, but I am a noob for multirotors, so I am looking for more details, like where he hooked it up to, does it require to balance the craft, etc...

    • How does this gimbal interact with Pixhawk? Can the various features available in MP be used on this gimbal?

      I only FPV, so this is "gimbal for dummies" question.

  • Sorry about the pictures not coming yet; I started a new job on Monday, and things have been a bit hectic.  I will try to post some pics this weekend.  I still need to connect the ultrasound rangefinder and the RCCC (video switcher) along with the tilt and pan flying camera (I have a fixed one currently; I intend to relocate that one to a look-down camera, and replace it with the tilt and pan one on a head tracker, plus the gopro on a gimbal, most likely the Feiuy one recommended here, as it looks nice).

    One thing I also want to do is take full advantage of the RCCC and connect LED lighting to make flying simpler; I noticed on my last flight (under low light conditions,a s the sun was setting) that it is quite easy to loose perspective of the drone, so LED lights should help here...

    Felipe

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