Posted by Jeff Taylor on August 23, 2011 at 4:32pm
Designed in house by myself and Alan Sanchez, this new quad frame is designed to be rock solid in every way. The frame is constructed of Aluminum and fiberglass. We've made some changes to increase the amount of free space available for electronics and sensors. The legs are moved out to leave a clear field of view from cameras mounted beneath the body. The power distribution board is now sandwiched between the arms but the plugs are still easily accessible from the sides.
The main frame has a hole pattern allowing you to mount APM in any orientation. The holes around the edges will fit the tilt/roll camera mount and the sonar mounting kit. The arms have a cutout in the end to route the cables through so they don't get pinched in a crash.
The added strength doesn't compromise flight time. With a 4900mAh 3S Rhino battery pack which it easily lifted, I timed 17 minutes of hovering out of ground effect in steady winds of 5-8 knots. The video below was taken while carrying a 4900mAh battery.
The legs are also cut of fiberglass and can really take some abuse! This video will give you an idea of their strength.
Overall the quad handles very well and it feels nice and smooth to fly. I haven't modified any of the standard PID values on ACM to make these videos, the same values translate nicely to this quad because of the similar size and weight.
Power distribution board, power cables and signal cables for PDB-APM
All hardware needed to assemble the components above
The kits will start shipping next Thursday, the first of September. We will hold your entire order until that day if you choose to buy one during the preorder.
I didn't have that quad set up with the full set of electronics as I was just flying manually with stabilization from ACM. Determining direction is always a problem with quads, that's why there's 'simple mode' on ACM, it lets you fly the quad as though it was always pointing straight ahead and handles the mixing on its own.
not to be off subject I don't see were you have mount for sonar.
when your flying that frame how did you know which is front and back? I remember reading some were just fly it and don't worry about which way it's facing! any input I'm new to this as i fly helicopters lol
I've been lurking around for a month now and just ordered the v1 kit with motors a week ago. Can I use those motors/speed controllers with this frame? I don't see any reason why I couldn't but figured I'd ask.
Kirill, we will be also selling everything separately for people that need spare parts. However as Jani said, you would have to drill holes on your legs to install them on your Arducopter. Should have everything up in the store soon :)
Comments
not to be off subject I don't see were you have mount for sonar.
when your flying that frame how did you know which is front and back? I remember reading some were just fly it and don't worry about which way it's facing! any input I'm new to this as i fly helicopters lol
@Brad yes those are the same motors & ESCs we're using
I've been lurking around for a month now and just ordered the v1 kit with motors a week ago. Can I use those motors/speed controllers with this frame? I don't see any reason why I couldn't but figured I'd ask.
It would be really cool if you guys made a Y6 frame
Thanks, Jani! That's very cool, going to order them soon. Strange that I was looking for something like this, but didn't see before.
Kiril, there are add-on 20cm landing gears for original ArduCopter. And you don't need to make holes to arm tubes.
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