New 3DR Products: Y6, X8, FPV kit, and APM 2.6

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Announcing our new product listings for mid-summer 2013!

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3D Robotics Y6 and X8 Multicopters - RTF and Kit

We released the Hexa-to-Y6 conversion kit a few weeks back, and now the complete Y6 DIY package and Ready-To-Fly  are available. A Y6 design is able to withstand a single motor out scenario, provides a more open and stable view for cameras, and doesn't weigh as much as a traditional Hex (because it uses less parts). It features folding arms to make ground transport a painless affair. This is our new go-to multicopter at 3DR: better performance than a quad at about the same size!

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If six motors aren't enough for you, there is now the X8. With the same coaxial motor design as the Y6, but with four arms. This brute is amazingly compact, it's actually smaller than our quads in the front to back dimension, due to the wide angle of the arms. This is the platform to choose for flying your heavy camera and gimbal setups. The redundant nature of this vehicle is a valuable trait when carrying expensive gear or flying over difficult terrain. This vehicle can lose a motor and remain in a stable loiter with almost no disruption .  The 3DR X8 is available ready-to-fly only at this time.

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APM 2.6 and 3DR uBlox GPS with Compass

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APM 2.6 is the same APM 2.5 you know and love, but with one valuable change: this revision of the board has no onboard compass, which is designed for vehicles (especially multicopters and rovers) where the compass should be placed as far from power and motor sources as possible to avoid magnetic interference. (On fixed wing aircraft it's often easier to mount APM far enough away from the motors and ESCs to avoid magnetic interference, so this is not as critical, but APM 2.6 gives more flexibility in that positioning and is a good choice for them, too). This is designed to be used with the new 3DR uBlox GPS with Compass, so that the GPS/Compass unit can be mounted further from noise sources than APM itself.

Note: APM 2.6 requires an external compass for full autonomy. If you are using APM 2.6 with a GPS module that does not have a compass sensor, you must use a stand-alone external compass. We recommend this one with this cable.

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New GPS shown as it comes, in a nice enclosure
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The board, inside the enclosure

You can also use the new uBlox GPS with on board magnetometer (compass) with your existing APM 2.5, To modify your board, follow the directions here.

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FPV Package

If you have been wanting to add first-person-view (FPV) capability to your vehicle, our new FPV package gives you everything you need in one kit (including batteries). All connectors have been built in the factory and designed to give you an easy plug-and-play experience -- no soldering required! On-screen-display is provided by our MinimOSD board for real time data telemetry. This is an important safety and convenience feature for anyone flying FPV.

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All of these items are available for order immediately.

The FPV kit is ready for shipping today.

The Y6 DIY package and APM 2.6 will ship on July 15th.

Note: RTF Y6 and X8 units will follow the normal 1-2 week turnaround. You'll find those and more on our new RTF store here: http://rtf.3drobotics.com/


 

 

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Comments

  •  

     Peace Everyone.   

        Nice line of new products.  One question though.. is there any plans to come out with some type of conversion kit to make my 3DR quad an X8?    If I had a $1000.00 bucks to buy the RTF I would, but I don't.   If not a kit, could someone help me out on how to change my quad.  PDF?   anything

      Thank you kindly

  • I don't know if it's the recommended battery type and capacity but Josh came up with a parameter file for the Y6.  If you are using blue motors (the 850kv ones) then you can run either a 3S or a 4S with 4000mah to 6000mah battery.

    http://ardupilot.com/downloads/?did=57

    Not really a recommendation but it gives you a general idea of what other folks are using.

    For me, I use a 3S 5000mah and get about 11 minutes of flying depending on how much of my flight is hovering or flying a waypoint mission.

    -Mike

  • What's the recommended battery type and capacity?

  • Joshua,

    Thanks for the info, especially the video - very clear explanation.  I have a couple more questions (of course, always with the questions)...

    Is the 12min flight time on the Y6 with the 600g payload?

    I've got a special camera that's 515g without a gimbal mount.  I'm kinda thinking that's going to be pushing it on the Y6, especially if I want longer flight times.  Thought?

    Thanks,

    Tash



  • Does anyone have any idea how much distance someone could reasonably get with the FPV kit being sold in the store. I am very tempted to buy it but wanted an Idea of the range I could get with the stock antennas before I purchased. I am assuming under unobstructed conditions.  PS: thank you guys (3DR Robotics) for doing this, it is helping out a lot of people like me wanting to build fpv into their systems. 

  • Tash,

    The recommended payload for the Y6 is 600g (conservative), flight time is around 12 minutes, depending on many factors, of course (battery, payload, wind, type of flying, etc)

    The difference between 1.2 and 5.8 is more than just range considerations. Lower frequencies do tend to travel farther, but they also require larger antenna. One must consider possible conflicts with other frequencies being broadcast (either on the craft/ground station, or in the environment: wifi, etc). 

    Alex Greve gives a good overview of the choices here:

    How to be successful in FPV - Frequency selection from C. Alex Greve on Vimeo.

  • Joshua,

    I'm wondering what the payload/flight time is on the Y6.  I'm looking into purchasing either the Y6 or X8 for personal photography and possibly FPV (mainly to help aim frame the photos).

    Also, looking at the RTF kits, it looks like there is a 1.2GHz and a 5.8GHz FPV kit.  Why would I choose one vs. the other?  Is it a matter of longer range with the lower freq, or is there another consideration?

    Thanks

  • Hi Josh,

    Yeah, I was referring to the 3DR Video/OSD System. (http://store.3drobotics.com/products/3dr-fpv-osd-kit). My apologies, that makes sense now. I was under the impression that because there was OSD material, that the full telemetry was also being sent back to a computer etc. Obviously, it's just the telemetry being displayed on the camera view. Thanks for clarifying. :)

  • Great, thanks.
  • The enclosures are at the print shop now, that is the last step in the process. We should have them tomorrow!

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