Gender
Male
About
Location
Santiago
About Me:
Brit living in Chile.
Please tell us a bit about your UAV interest
Building a 700 gram tricopter
Hometown:
Santiago
Activity Feed
Hi All,First flight of my Tri-Copter yesterday, its a weird beast based on a Raspberry Pi, PixFalcon, PS3 Gamepad controller and a 3D printed airframe. So far so good & pic attached.My question is regarding RTL/LAND - this first flight stayed very…
Thought I'd share some pics of my latest tricopter, it'll be the 10th version and the second 'flying prototype' (with any luck).The design has come a long way, I suspect its still over target weight but I *really* want to get this thing flying.Its…
Thought it about time I posted an update.Attached are a couple of CAD sketches for the current Tricopter, the last one almost flew but was too fragile.Changes are :-Folding front booms.Enclosed fuselage.Foam plug anti-vibration mount for…
"The only place I'm blogging is here :-)
I might release it into the wild but that depends on how well it flies, I wouldn't want to give you a turkey :-)"
I might release it into the wild but that depends on how well it flies, I wouldn't want to give you a turkey :-)"
"That was the plan but could'nt find any the right size.
I decided to get it flying & have some fun, a little silicone grease will just have to do for now."
I decided to get it flying & have some fun, a little silicone grease will just have to do for now."
Here's a better photo showing the tail boom linkage - basically a pair of printed gears.This design has fewer parts than a conventional linkage, less things to break so hopefully more reliable.There's a 2:1 gearing ratio between the servo and the…
"I'm using PLA, its not the strongest material but seems adequate. Most sections are 2mm thick, parts which take more load are 3mm. The trick to getting strong parts is thin layers (0.2mm) and print very slowly, the main body section took 13 hours.…"
Dry assembly to make sure all parts fit, so far so good.The distance between motors is 450mm so obviously the arms need to be cut down.A PixFalcon goes on top, the GPS/Compass module will either go directly on top of the PixFalcon or have its own…
Printing almost complete 13 hours later.Not sure about the 'lurid purple' colour, for some reason it was the only filament left at the shop.This version doesn't have a camera gimbal, I want to see what the all up weight is without any 'extras' and…
Getting down to target weight has been challenging.This version is lighter, stronger, and stiffer than its predecessors. Only airtime and hard landings will show if its good enough.I'm printing in PLA with 60% infill, 0.2mm layers and slow print…
Anyone have experience using a carbon tube inside another as a simple axial bearing ?The application is a tricopter tail boom, its a 12mm tube & so must rotate freely with minimal play.I guess a better solution would be a PTFE bush, but not so easy…
The design is almost complete so thought I would share it.The remaining part is the connection between booms and the chassis, which needs to be strong and provide vibration resistance. All I've come up with so far is a 'rubber grommet sandwich' with…
I've been experimenting with frame design, an essential component to keep all the parts flying in formation.I printed some interlocking plastic parts in 2mm PLA & super glued them together to see how rigid/strong the end result.The attached pic…
"I was just going to superglue everything and see how it went, nice to know which glue to use.
I agree PLA is a poor material but it has benefits - its cheap, easy to make accurate prints and can be used by every 3D printer. If it works out I may…"
I agree PLA is a poor material but it has benefits - its cheap, easy to make accurate prints and can be used by every 3D printer. If it works out I may…"
"I agree completely regarding tricopter tail linkages, a vulnerable part that's tough to simplify, all part of the challenge. I have some ideas but ran out of space for the servo, it may yet happen as I'm still working on the CAD model.
Thanks for…"
Thanks for…"
"Its all experimemtal, wouldn't be fun if it wasn't :-)
The motors weigh 55g each, I'm trying very small metal gear servo that weighs 13g, the tail boom bearings weigh 3.5g each and one less esc than a quad. Should be a net saving.
Hoping an ESC…"
The motors weigh 55g each, I'm trying very small metal gear servo that weighs 13g, the tail boom bearings weigh 3.5g each and one less esc than a quad. Should be a net saving.
Hoping an ESC…"
