Look what showed up in my Google ads! The APM-ready Scout UAV carbon fiber quadcopter frame is now available.
$360 complete with ESCs, motors and props seems like a very good deal.
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Look what showed up in my Google ads! The APM-ready Scout UAV carbon fiber quadcopter frame is now available.
$360 complete with ESCs, motors and props seems like a very good deal.
You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!
Comments
What about the Quattro-Bit? We are almost finished with the production molds. Looking like we will be able to take pre-orders in about a week. The whole thing is designed around ACM! Check it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MU_US_1Ihk
@Jean-Philippe Wow. I was going to suggest that it must be an interesting story and ask if there was video, but you put up a photo. Thank you! Err. And sorry. But at least you made a lot of people smile! Did the APM survive?
If anyone else thinks of powering the Hobbyking frame with 400W motors, make sure the motors are thight in place, that props are PERFECTLY balanced and don't go full throttle...
I assume you are removing two of the outside screws? that is how my third frame works (wood) and I planned to replace the shipped screws and nuts with wing nuts (and longer screws to better support wing nuts ... so you can see if they are coming loose before they fall out...) How are you doing it?
Sorry, maybe this all belongs in the discussions?
I just got my 3DR yesterday. It's really a nice solid design and the larger tubes solve the design problem of where to put the PDB. I love the fact that you can fold the arms in so easily. Can't wait to fly it!
A good example of mass production. The raw materials costs of a non-CF frame cannot be that different between this HK frame and most aluminum/poly frames, and the complexity to cut and assemble this HK frame looks substantial, with a lot of lost/unused material (helps to lighten it, but adds to overall production cost)
Mass produced, I think 3DR, Scout, AC2, even with CF, would be substantially cheaper than they are. So buy more of them, and it will make sense for the manufacturers to invest in the technologies to make them faster, and it will still be profitable (the alternative is that they are paying to give us frames; a profit is not evil) to offer them at the costs you get an EPO Bixler at....
You can buy a quadcopter frame from HobbyKing for $15. As the owner of one, I suggest you buy three or four. You'll need them ;-)
With quadcopters, like much in life, you get what you pay for.
Quads in general are more expensive, I think, considering:
*Lower volume of sales overall
*Four or more times the cost in motors and ESCs
*Cannot fly them with just receivers, servos, and ESCs; need gyros/controller boards
Of course collective heli's will be expensive, but you get get coaxial units for under $100 as toys and some of the others are not much more.
But most of all, I think the quad frame cost issue is just a simple matter of volume. A lot of them are manufactured in small quantities by experienced fliers-turned-sellers, and are not mass produced.
Quad frames do seem rather expensive when you compare them with other airframes - helis and planks seem way cheaper for a lot more engineering...
For anyone who does not have one, I can offer some quick figures from my new 3DR frame (I'm sure the figures are also available in the DIY Drones store, these are taken from my own build.) Figures are for frame and PDB only, no motors, ESCs, or electronics.
Cost is $170 (compared to the Scout's list price of $225) so the 3DR is $55 cheaper (ignoring the $25 discount for the scout frame listed at the moment)
Box-mesured dimensions are 18.5" x 18.5" x 7 1/8th", longest dimension (along arm axis) diagonal 25.5" with 24.5" diagonal from motor shaft to shaft. I tend to pay more attention to the diagonal distance, so I give them both here. It tells me more about clearance to the center, with props, for electronics.
So it is a little bit larger than the Scout dimensions listed of 17.75" x 17.75" x 4.5" if those are box dimensions, or quite a bit larger if the Scout dimensions are diagonal.
My build weight (varies depending on how much solder you use on the PDB) is 441.5g. Please note that the 3DR frame has 2cm or 3/4" square aluminum tube arms, so they are a lot more study than some of the smaller aluminum arms you may have seen. The very wide landing gear on the 3DR give 11" of clearance at the frame and they widen to 17" at the ground (diagonal distance, gear to gear) or 9" x 11" in a box measurement (squared)
This puts the 3DR at over twice the weight of the Scout, at 190g. It is not clear if the scout weight includes the "power distribution cable" that comes with it. The 3DR weight does include the PDB, which combines a power harness for the ESCs with distribution of the ESC BEC power and signal cables.
I haven't flown this yet, and it is my first purchased frame. It is the heaviest frame I have, the previous three are all custom frames, but it is also the most sturdy and I expect it will tolerate crashes w/o damage better. I hope to write up something on my experiences with it when I have more to share. I only have the photos to go on with the Scout frame, but I suspect that the CF frame arms will be less tolerant of crashes than the 3DR arms, given that they consist of sandwiched flat sections of CF joined with what looks like spacers. This might allow for flex/cracking under the force of a hard landing on the arm. I have put one in my cart twice since this article was posted, as I am eager to try it, but I have too many projects in my queue right now and haven't followed through with the purchase.
I still have an unflown Bixler, a new custom quad frame to tune, a design for an octo to complete, and this 3DR to complete, not to mention two more aircraft in boxes, an unflown APM/IMU, and three payload prototypes to finish and fly. :) It really is a serious illness.
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