Blogs

3DR Y6 MultiCopter Maiden Flight and Review

Posted by AKRCGUY on November 15, 2013 at 10:14pm

Quick first flight video.

PROS-

Complete Kit

Open source Hardware/Software

Large community and support

CONS-

Manual could be updated with assembly diagrams and better clarification. Some pics and instructions conflict with company website.

Everything has it's place except power distribution board, which leads to next issue.

Very hard to manage all cables and ESC's.

Still a lot of DIY tweaking needed to make fly right.

Would love to see other builders photos of how you managed cabling and/or ARF kit photos.

Pictured below is my Y6 before first flight.

26, 3dr, apm, arducopter, kit, y6

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Comments

UAS_Pilot June 3, 2014 at 9:14am

@ AKRCGUY: I bought the lights from valuehobby.com. They are powered via the PDB.

@Siddharth Sham: I am using the APM 2.6. No problems with the board or the system.
AKRCGUY November 22, 2013 at 7:57am

I also got a second flight in yesterday and tested RTL. Everytihing seemed to work OK. So far so good.
AKRCGUY November 22, 2013 at 7:54am

Very nice Joseph. Where did you source your lights and how are you powering them?
UAS_Pilot November 22, 2013 at 7:46am

I installed my lighting system.
UAS_Pilot November 18, 2013 at 7:49pm

I was able to get it all in. (Still amazed at that too) however mine does not look as clean as the ready to fly version. I just completed my install of strip LEDs and I should have done it when I was building it.still it only took me about an hour to get them on. They are going to look great in the air. I went with a FAA configuration. I will post pics when I get on my laptop tomorrow.
AKRCGUY November 18, 2013 at 10:23am

Thanks Alex for the insight on how 3DR does it. I'll see if I can rearrange mine into the same configuartion.
AKRCGUY November 18, 2013 at 9:07am

@Alex- Here are my finding in regards to the printed glossy manual that came with my Y6 kit.

Page 1 & 2 Great

Page 3 Says to run motor wires through end of the arms but makes no mention of the hole in the side of each arm. Should also explain that the inner arm bolts need to be inserted from the bottom as they will support the APM and accessory mounts.

Page 4 Need a better solution for putting all 6 ESC's, wiring and PDB in center hole. Real Pain! How are you guys doing it in your ARF Y6?

Page 5 (Install APM) You might mention that it was designed for side pin APMs and/or have provision for top pin APM's.

Page 6 OK, Again the PDB board is mentioned but how do you get to it now?

Page 7 Great

Hope this helps someone and feel free to contact me for any other field type questions.

Also, I'd love to do a review on the IRIS, I have reached out to Chris A but never heard back.
UAS_Pilot November 17, 2013 at 12:39pm
UAS_Pilot November 17, 2013 at 12:04pm

yeah i notices it and I have fixed it.

I attempted the maiden flight today and it is very twitchy in the roll attitude. has anyone else noticed this? I am running 3.1 RC5 with the y6 4s param. Today was pretty windy so i was not ready to attempt any other mode of flight. on a calmer day i plan to run the autotune to see if I can get it better.
Andrea Salvatore November 17, 2013 at 10:35am

@Joseph Looking at the first picture you posted it seems that the APM is slightly tilted. That can cause calibration problems and lead to unstable flying so I think you better check for that and keep the APM module as flat as possible. Other than that great job and I'm studying your pictures and I should receive my Y6 in a couple of days and I'm already worried about where to put everything :D