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3D Robotics

Laser cut your own ArduCopter replacement parts

Posted by Chris Anderson on February 19, 2011 at 10:00am

3689390184?profile=originalI keep breaking my ArduCopter arches, so rather than order replacements, I just laser cut my own through Ponoko. I've uploaded the design, so you can do it too.  Select 3mm clear acrylic, P1 size. It should cost $8.20 plus shipping for the four arches shown above. Note that these are laser cut, not CNC milled, so they don't have the notch on the side that fits snugly on the arms. But they work fine all the same.

 

Thanks to Sandro Benigno, you can also order a set of five replacement dome rings, as shown here:

3689390236?profile=originalAll the other parts are in the ArduCopter repository, but need to be converted to SVG format to laser cut. If you see something you'd like to make, let me know and I'll convert and upload it to Ponoko. Most can be laser cut as easily as CNC milled, but in some cases you might need to do a little finishing work, like counter-sinking some holes. No biggie...

 

UPDATE:

 

I've added the Main Square:


3689390248?profile=original

 

And the Legs:

 

3689390286?profile=original

And the carrier board:

3689390197?profile=original

 

 

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Comments

  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson February 19, 2011 at 3:32pm
    Robert: link and file above have now been fixed. Thanks for the catch!
  • Robert Beatty February 19, 2011 at 3:09pm
    OK. Thanks. No hurry.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson February 19, 2011 at 3:05pm
    Robert: it looks like I was rushing and copied it at the wrong size. Sorry, I'll do it again when I get home.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson February 19, 2011 at 3:04pm

    Pig: I don't understand your point. We're talking about people DIY'ing their own replacement parts using a service like Ponoko, where you're limited to the tools and materials they offer. The ArduCopter kits that are sold by companies are typically CNC'd from better materials. 

     

    Could you explain what you mean a bit more?

  • Pig Pilot February 19, 2011 at 2:58pm
    Given the general abilities displayed on this forum and the complexities of putting these things into the air, I'm amazed that anyone should be using a laser to cut such a poor material as 3mm acrylic to make the parts.    If you have the ability to CAD these for a laser cutter why not do a real design and fabricate them to be much lighter and virtually unbreakable with much better rigidity?
  • Robert Beatty February 19, 2011 at 2:07pm
    Thank you, Chris. I appreciate it. I have a dumb question: Since the Ponoko P1 template is 181 x 181 mm, and the Arducopter center plate is 110 x 110 mm, it seems like the eps file should be showing one center plate, not nine. What am I not understanding?
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson February 19, 2011 at 1:07pm
    Robert: your wish is my command! I've added the Main Square and Legs to the post above.
  • 3D Robotics
    Chris Anderson February 19, 2011 at 12:25pm
    Bill, you need to use a SVN client to download files from a SVN repository. We use TortoiseSVN.
  • Bill Vickers February 19, 2011 at 12:20pm
    I'm having trouble seeing those files. Is there some program I need to view them?
  • Robert Beatty February 19, 2011 at 12:13pm

    My whole quad is made out of aluminum that I cut and drilled myself. (see here for pictures: http://www.diydrones.com/profiles/blog/list?user=1vtye6in451i5). I made the main squares out of 0.032" thick 3003-H14 aluminum sheet. They hold up very well, except in really bad crashes (from 100'+), in which case they sometimes bend. When I saw your post, I was thinking about maybe making an aluminum version of the Arducopter center square plate rather than cut the plates myself (this would be for future quads and on-going improvements to my current quad), but you're probably right about the lasercut material being too thin. Ponoko's aluminum is 0.050" 5251. This, combined with the removed material in the Arducopter design (for weight-reducing purposes), would probably make the plates too bendable.

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