Blogs

Figure 1 - SolidWorks CAD model of the centre mount.

G'day to the greater DIY community,

This is my first (of hopefully many) blogs regarding the design and fabrication of my monster baby,

the MH-01XL Hexacopter. 

I have been diligently working away at the office for the past few months and in the spare time working on a robust design for a hexacopter with easily replaceable parts, this is the second permutation of the design. It features interference fit connectors (XT60 & JR) for the power, signal and ground, can be printed on most 3D printers (although the prototyping work I did was done on a Dimension Elite model), which can also be secured with grub screws to ease any paranoia.

Figure 2 - 3D Printed parts of the model, including the sockets partially fitted to the 25mm CF tubes

Figure 3 - Cutaway CAD model of the final fitting.

In the figures above I have fitted the XT60 connectors, the JR plug and sockets are omitted. (waiting on parts to arrive)

Please note that the main chassis frame is only shown in Figure 3.

Originally this was designed with a heavy lift model in mind, with mountings for 25mm CF tubes for the arms and a fairly heavy duty frame. The design allows a user to loosen off the top chassis bolts for the individual arms and a replacement can be fitted in under 60 seconds, (ESC, motor and boom) it is keyed using the XT60 and from the initial test build it performs admirably. 

Figure 4 - POC for all six tubes mounted to the centre hub.

In Figure 4 I have positioned the motors and mounts at the extremity of the tubes, this is not final, I'm intending to mount them as close as the 15" props will allow with a lightweight protective ring around the entire circumference to protect both the hex itself and also to turn it into less of a spinning wheel of razorblades.

In the next week I will try to find some spare time to post details on the rest of the chassis.

Please feel free to post any criticism, suggestions, thoughts etc...

Cheers

Luke