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3D printed quadrotor frame using Rotites

Posted by Aldo Vargas on February 12, 2014 at 12:12pm

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This is yet another version of a 3D printed quadrotor, pointed to be one of the workhorses of my research... The main characteristic of this frame is that instead of using nut and bolts to join the arms and the base together, like in TEGO v2, I'm using Rotite®s!!!!

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For those who dont know what rotites are, you can give it a pick here, I was trying to find a solution to reduce weight of my previous TEGO v2 frame, and somehow I found this company, I immediately put in contact with them, and after several e-mail exchanges, phonecalls and even videoconferences with the inventor, I was able to get my hands on some of their designs, there is a picture below where Stuart is giving me a lecture about Rotites.

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So, I started playing in Solidworks, and we did this design, usign 90 degrees A and B rotites, 4 B's on the main plate and one B on each arm.

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The weight was dramatically reduced, and the endurance dramatically increased!!!

Many thanks to Stuart Burns (inventor of Rotite®) and of course, the Rotite® company to letting me use their designs :)

Don't forget to check the video!

3D printed Quad with rotite elements from Aldo Vargas on Vimeo.

Tags: 3d, printing, quadrotor, rotite
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Comments

  • Aldo Vargas February 13, 2014 at 11:05am

    Yes, PLA

  • T3
    healthyfatboy February 13, 2014 at 10:56am

    Is that PLA you're using?

  • Aldo Vargas February 13, 2014 at 8:38am

    It took me close to 3.5 hours of total printing (in several stages), I'm using a replicator 2... I have print tons, hehehe, i have several models flying in the labs :) 

    I'm looking to improve the design, I can find some things i need like a battery holder or so...

  • Max Patissier February 13, 2014 at 8:27am

    Hi, how many time to print all the frame and which printer are you using ? thank's !

  • Aldo Vargas February 13, 2014 at 1:05am

    I cant release, those are not mine, but put in contact with them on their site

  • T3
    healthyfatboy February 12, 2014 at 6:18pm

    Are the files something you can release?

  • Aldo Vargas February 12, 2014 at 1:55pm

    That was my thoughts exactly... and then I printed a couple to test... and I was impressed!!! even if the printed quality is lower, the "lock" is even stronger... take a look at the video, and print a test!

     https://vimeo.com/58985136

  • MR60
    Hugues February 12, 2014 at 1:23pm

    Very innovative connectors. A question : once rotated in place, how is the arm "locked"; I mean isn't there a risk that if the arm bumps something it would come loose ?

This reply was deleted.