I just got the Walkera QR Ladybird nanoquad and it's just frankly amazing. For $140, you get the quad, a 7 Channel 2.4 digital Devo 7 RC set with graphic backlit LCD display, a 240MaH LiPo and a LipPo charger. It can fly inside and out and has much better range than a Parrot AR.Drone (thanks to the proper RC gear). The RC gear alone is worth nearly that price (you can buy additional receivers for it here)!
Walkera says that it includes RC telemetry for battery and flight controller status:
1). Onboard telemetry system enables real-time monitoring of receiver, gyro, mix control and speed setting.
2). In-built telemetry function also enables and simplifies flight battery voltage monitoring.
We had a great time flying it around the living room. It's very stable, but as you would expect from a quad, very maneuverable. The transmitter starts up in regular mode (not dual rate or exponential, both of which are options), so it requires a very light touch on the sticks. A couple clicks of the trim and it will stay in one place. Because it moves fast and is so small, it's pretty easy to lose control in a small space, but the airframe seems quite robust. We crashed it lots of times, and just had to superglue on one of the motor holders after it cracked. Good as new!
Here are some shots of the incredible integration on the single flight controller board. It says it has a "six-axis gyro", but I think that must be a mis-translation from Chinese. It's probably a three-axis gyro and a three-axis accelerometer. Alternatively, it could just have a three-axis gyro, like the simple KK boards (in which case I don't know that the other three axes are supposed to be)
Top of the board, showing the flight computer and RC receiver
Bottom of the board, showing the motor controller microprocessors and four speed controller circuits.
Here's how the LiPo fits on the bottom:
A sense of the RC transmitter display
And a video in flight:
Comments
Now available from Hobbyking in mode 1, mode 2 (both $ 99.99) and Bind-and-Fly version ($ 69.99)
mine arrived today! Awesome!!!
Dave, no I don't have a Devo, but considering, since I've been looking at the specs. The good thing about Walkera, is that the use the same radio across the line, so they're compatible with multiple craft. Unfortunately, they are not following any standard, so are not compatible with other manufacturers. At least the Devo 7 is decently priced.
It also says that only with the "s" version of Devo transmitters is telemetry available.
Dave, from my reading of the manual, Devo only and it comes usually with a Devo 7.
yeap I need a breathalyzer on my buy now button ; )
George, you'd save some space by using one processor that's fast enough to control 4 motors, and you would not need any regulators for the BEC, since the main board would have a beefy one that can handle the electronics. You'd also optimize the circuit to minimize the size of PCB you need. There would be some advantage to having 4 escs on one board.
The disadvantage is that any failure means replacing the entire board even though some of the motors are still working.
@George, wouldn't it interfere with radio control? It is also 2.4GHz?
Thanks @Ellison & @Sam
Ruwan, I don't recommend those keychain cameras. The picture quality is very bad.
I just order one of these:
Picture quality is much better, but it's just a little heavier.
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