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$40 Quadcopter Frame DIY

Posted by Russell B. Sutton on April 17, 2011 at 4:30pm

I spent $42 at Lowes and RadioShack.  It took about 3 hours to build.

                                                    Specs:

                                                22'' motor to motor

                                                4.75'' Tall

                                               360 Grams3689400985?profile=original

Parts List:                                                                     

Qty.           LOWES

1       1/16 thick ( 3/4 x 3/4x 48'')  AL  square tube                                                                          $16.68

1      Aluminum Fire Exstinguisher Sign 4''x16''       $3.96

2      1/16 thick 1/2 x 36'' flat stock                        $5.36

1      50count 5/32 AL rivets                                  $2.90

14    8-32 x 1 1/2 Nylon Machscrews                     $4.50

24    8-32 Nylon Nuts                                            $4.50

                RADIOSHACK

1       6x8'' Prepunched PerFBoard                        $4.00

                                                        Total         $41.90

I used silicon to help dampen Vibrations.                              Fisished Quad Chassi      

3689401046?profile=original3689401001?profile=original

 

 ARM & IMU fit nice and snug.

3689401112?profile=original

Tags: quad, chassi, frame
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Comments

  • Russell B. Sutton September 23, 2011 at 2:13am

    @ darrin  It was good.... just not as light as I wanted.  I have now moved on to Foam and CF arrow shafts

    Foam Quad

  • Ante Vukorepa April 17, 2011 at 11:11am
    Hmmm. Silicone... Nice idea, might try that with regular screws.
    Perhaps even motor mounts.
  • Russell B. Sutton April 17, 2011 at 11:08am

    @ Ante, weight, Rivets becuse they're strong and light.  I use a small dab of silicone @ each rivet joint to prevent vibration.  Rivets are removable with a drill bit,  Large Aircraft are 100% rivets and Aluminum. 

    GhettoCopter haha I like it. :)  I'll post more pics later of the Chassi Rev. 1.1 later this afternoon.

  • Ante Vukorepa April 17, 2011 at 10:45am
    Ghettocopter!
    I like it :)

    Why rivets instead of something removable and less vibration prone?
  • Russell B. Sutton April 17, 2011 at 8:33am

    Vibration is a killer,  I agree with the square tubing idea, it's  less virabtion because it's more ridged and it's easier to work with.  I'might change it up before I consider it to be air worthy.  I'm also going to use small dab's of silicon to mount the electronic's to the prefBoard.  I will also use a small dab of silicone under the Magnetometer to help protect it from vibration and crash landings in the tumble weeds.  LOL

  • Neil Baker April 17, 2011 at 4:54am
    Is that angle aluminum?  You might want to look into using square tubing.  There is a couple old posts on here that shows the differences in vibration.  The angle is considerably more and affects the APM.  Thanks for the perf board idea.  I am going to use that on a APM plane project I am about to start.
This reply was deleted.