3D Robotics

3D Printing an ArduCopter frame

 

3689420252?profile=originalArduCopter 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)

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Comments

  • 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.

  • Distributor

    would this work at Ponoko? how strong is the 3D printing? ... that sounds a great alternative...

This reply was deleted.