Octa V maiden

Our target is to have a multicopter

to capture smooth video --> choose to make a flying steadycam
to have redundancy for safety--> choose an octa / 8 motor configuration.

V-frame was chosen over X-frame due to better fit with with steadycam.

Arducopter works fine - we have noticed 2 bugs with MissionPlanner

Octa X gets changed to the frame form every time when PIDs are tuned in mission planner. Terminal must be used to set the V-frame form back.
Motor test does not seem to work with terminal for octa V.

2.9.0 seemed to work fine, so we used that.

Frame is fully DIY-frame - Octa V is a rare frame form. Better do-it-yourself.

Some specs:

Turnigy 2217 x 8
1147 APC props x 8
Arduflyer chip
2 x 4 Ah 3S Lipos. 20C seems to be a bit too little for this beast.

We have maidened the octa V. Now the next challenge is to tune the gimball. So eager to see the first video captures with this ship!

Hi everyone, this is my first time here in DIYDrones! (I'm the guy in the video, tuning the copter! ;-)

Building these octacopters (named V8's ;-) and learning the Arducopter has been a very interesting project. Thank you Heikki very much for your help along the project! ;-)

The construction of these two machines began on January and after three months, these were ready for the maiden flights. Two of these were built, the one in the video for Heikki and one for myself that had its first flight a day before this one.

(Note the long antenna; the first V8 runs on old 35 MHz radios which I like while the telemetry datalink is over long-range 2.4 GHz XBee radio modem ;-)

As these were my first ArduCopters, seeing these machines fly the first time was really amazing. On the video, the copter flies on stock PID values as Heikki said, and the performace of the ArduCopter software is amazing, especially as it was probably not meant to fly these kind of machines at the beginning. This is my third multicopter project, the first one was (and still is ;-) a highly modified MultiWii -based project, featuring a WiFi control link with embedded Linux board onboard (now changed to standard RC equipment with long-range XBee, headtracker-enabled cameras and built-in FPV equipment.. but more on that later!)

The construction of these V8 copters took me three months. These are built of standard 10 mm aluminum tubing and CNC milled parts made of 5 mm polycarbonate for extremely rugged structure that will withstand some hard landings. As these will be used for some aerial photography work, redundancy and robust construction is critical. We have some weight penalty due it, but with better-performing batteries more flight-time should be possible.

The whole machine is basically a flying steadicam, like the Ecilop at www.ecilop.tv, only with more rugged construction and the redundancy of eight motors. The steadicam is stabilized using a MultiWii board, running two high-speed metal-geared servos. It will not offer the performance and absolute positioning of the new brushless gimbals but smooth, "floating", video is our goal. The steadicam construction was also chosen because it was possible to make it robust and repairable with off-the-shelf hardware.

These copters are not ready yet. We need better batteries with higher discharge currents, and after some PID tuning and steadicam adjustments these things will be even better! ;-)

beast_33.jpg?width=400

I'll write more technical blog post of the construction and design of these machines soon.. stay tuned! ;-)

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Comments

Carl La France March 31, 2013 at 6:54pm

Wow excellent work !
Toni Rosendahl March 31, 2013 at 4:44pm

Later on the same day, Heikki was flying his Protos aerobatic copter. The video was shot from my MWC-based drone, mut hope we'll soon get footage from these V8's! ;-)
Toni Rosendahl March 31, 2013 at 4:42pm

Thanks! ;-) We'll tell how it works then ;-)
Gary McCray March 31, 2013 at 3:24pm

Really nice V8 copters guys,

I have also been looking into steadicam type mounts and I will be interested to see how yours works out.
Toni Rosendahl March 31, 2013 at 2:22pm

Hi everyone, this is my first time here in DIYDrones! (I'm the guy in the video, tuning the copter! ;-)

Building these octacopters (named V8's ;-) and learning the Arducopter has been a very interesting project. Thank you Heikki very much for your help along the project! ;-)

The construction of these two machines began on January and after three months, these were ready for the maiden flights. Two of these were built, the one in the video for Heikki and one for myself that had its first flight a day before this one.

(Note the long antenna; the first V8 runs on old 35 MHz radios which I like while the telemetry datalink is over long-range 2.4 GHz XBee radio modem ;-)

As these were my first ArduCopters, seeing these machines fly the first time was really amazing. On the video, the copter flies on stock PID values as Heikki said, and the performace of the ArduCopter software is amazing, especially as it was probably not meant to fly these kind of machines at the beginning. This is my third multicopter project, the first one was (and still is ;-) a highly modified MultiWii -based project, featuring a WiFi control link with embedded Linux board onboard (now changed to standard RC equipment with long-range XBee, headtracker-enabled cameras and built-in FPV equipment.. but more on that later!)

The construction of these V8 copters took me three months. These are built of standard 10 mm aluminum tubing and CNC milled parts made of 5 mm polycarbonate for extremely rugged structure that will withstand some hard landings. As these will be used for some aerial photography work, redundancy and robust construction is critical. We have some weight penalty due it, but with better-performing batteries more flight-time should be possible.

The whole machine is basically a flying steadicam, like the Ecilop at www.ecilop.tv, only with more rugged construction and the redundancy of eight motors. The steadicam is stabilized using a MultiWii board, running two high-speed metal-geared servos. It will not offer the performance and absolute positioning of the new brushless gimbals but smooth, "floating", video is our goal. The steadicam construction was also chosen because it was possible to make it robust and repairable with off-the-shelf hardware.

These copters are not ready yet. We need better batteries with higher discharge currents, and after some PID tuning and steadicam adjustments these things will be even better! ;-)

I'll write more technical blog post of the construction and design of these machines soon.. stay tuned! ;-)
Toni Rosendahl March 31, 2013 at 1:55pm

Hi Gary,

The camera is mounted underneath the frame due to the steadicam boom assembly. This kind of approach was chosen for its mechanical simplicity and robust construction. The AscTec Falcon has a normal camera gimbal which does not require any special arrangements from the frame. These machines are basically flying steadicams! ;-)
Moderator

Gary Mortimer March 31, 2013 at 1:20pm

Um I thought the point of the V was to mount the camera like the Falcon 8 on the frame in the centre why did you hang it underneath?
heikki.tukiainen March 31, 2013 at 1:08pm

PIDs. All stock except - stabilize pitch, roll & yaw P: down from 4.5 --> 4.0. We might even take it further down.

This reply was deleted.