ArduCopter user Octivir broke his original frame, so he decided to build a new one using carbon fiber arrows from a department store and 3D printed parts, which has now posted to Thingiverse:
So I purchased an Arducopter Pre-assembled and tested, Something I rarely do. Maybe it was a subconscious action then, that within a week I had smashed it into the ground?
Now I am designing and rebuilding it, testing and learning and really enjoying it.
Some pieces survived and I had initially thought to design things as a replacement/upgrade. Now I think that would be silly to tell people to "Print these, and buy these 'special' parts", so I am making the attempt to make this frame fully DIY...
I haven't really been documenting the process, but initially it seemed there would be a slight weight savings in the carbon fiber/ABS parts vs the stock arducopter aluminum/acrylic parts.
Maybe some different construction methods could be used to increase savings?
This is very much a work in progress, but thought I'd get the idea out in order get some feedback and enable collaboration.Instructions
The goal:
Get some carbon fiber shafts.. Got mine at walmart for $3 a shaft(29 inch, ~8mm dia. arrow shafts), I estimate it will take 6-8 of these, depending on desired frame size..
Print parts.
Use 3mm hardware to assemble nuts and bolts
(Via the MakerBot blog)
Comments
Said composite but meant polyester. Doh!
That is a very cool idea and design. Getting the material stock can be difficult and costly and this is neither. Though the carbon fiber arrow shafts are composite bonded rather than resin bonded so they are light but not that strong (probably why they are so cheap). Carbon fiber arrow shafts with resin bonding are two or three times as expensive. Still, it makes me want to build a 3D printer to have this ability. Thanks for sharing the link!
Thanks so much for posting this Chris! I've been thinking of building a design that was completely 3D printed. I never even considered carbon fiber arrows though. Now the wheels are turning... lol. In addition to being strong and light-weight, the ends are also threaded, making the design even easier to implement.
would this work at Ponoko? how strong is the 3D printing? ... that sounds a great alternative...