Project Quad X .. Quad copter from scratch build log !

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

This is a project that I'm doing for college. I've never built a quad copter before and I Dont have any past experience on microcontrollers , ESC's or remote controls . sorry for poor images ...

Any help will be at most welcome and very appreciated .

[5/09/15]The motors have arrived

They are 1400kv

[7/9/15] The props have arrived .. They are a bit big ... But its by design .. I wanted an efficient quad and so the pitch is also high ..

BTW props are 10x4.5

[17/9/15]

Sorry that it took soo long to upload the pics .. I was busy with college work

But here they are !

Motors and esc's well be mounted on those 4 wooden strips which will be held together using a square wooden cut out

 

Time to lay everything out and see how it looks !

 

I'm gonna say that it looks amazing !

 

Time to solder the power distribution board and the esc's 

 

 

I cut a small piece of wire and soldered a T connector for the battery..

 

Initially I had planned to use cc3d for the flight controller ..

But I ended up using a Chinese rip off of naze 32+ called the flip 32 + 10 dof version .

The cc3d came dead on arrival and the flip 32 was better as it had barometer and magnetometer .

 

After that I cut out two pieces of ply wood and sandwiched the PDB between them to hide it and put together everything as planned ( THANK GOOD FOR DOUBLE SIDED FOAM TAPE !! ) 

 

Now I knew that everything went together perfectly and looked good ! 

 

But of course , it looked awful because the wood was showing ! 

 

Time to paint !! 

I took everything apart and painted it black 

 

I had an old oil paint tin lying around under the sink .. So I just used the old school " dip the brush in paint and hope it looks good " method ..

 

I think it looks pretty sweet ! Doesn't it !?

Now that the wooden frame is painted , time to put it back together !! 

 

 

 

Whoa !! That looks amazing ! ..

 

Final concussion photo :- 

 

 

 

Final result ..  I went about 50$ over budget 

The quad didn't fly wellbecause the battery wasnt powerful enough ..

 

The final weight of the quad was about 1.2 kilograms ..

The 2100mah 3s 25c battery wasn't able to do the job .. 

It quad could hover a few millimeters above the ground and wobble like crazy ! .. Pitching it ahead would lift it up a bit and stop the wobbling .. The quad would then lift up a few millimeters and flip ..

 

I spent countless hours trying to trouble shoot this thing .. Hours of messing with PID settings and calibration did make it fly ...

 

After spending about 40 hours on this thing trying to trouble shoot .. I just rage quit and shoved it in my closet never to be taken out again .. 

 

 

Sorry for not posting further updates .. I became very busy in college work and also had to go to Singapore .. For an internship ..

But now that I'm back , a day before my modern physics exam , the procrastinator in me remembered that I had left this log incomplete and decided to finish it .. ( of course ... I had to remember it a day before my exam !! ) 

 

 

 

PS :- can I get the title of :- " LTT's professional procrastinator " ?? ..

Edited May 6, 2016 by GeneralTheoryOfBadassery

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

Reserved

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

Reserved

[Chronos5618]

What kind of help are you looking for? Picking parts? Assembly? Got some experience, so may be able to help

[catzambia]

Search on youtube for some quadcopter videos from the guys at Flitetest, awesome content on that channel

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

What kind of help are you looking for? Picking parts? Assembly? Got some experience, so may be able to help

I need a lot of help

I need to know what kind of microcontroller to use, how to test esc's and motors, how to set up microcontroller , can I use raspberry pi instead of microcontroller..

[Chronos5618]

Search on youtube for some quadcopter videos from the guys at Flitetest, awesome content on that channel

Agreed. Flitetest is the place to start for sure/

[Chronos5618]

I need a lot of help

I need to know what kind of microcontroller to use, how to test esc's and motors, how to set up microcontroller , can I use raspberry pi instead of microcontroller..

Firstly, I would decide on a frame. The Flamewheel is a very popular one, and fairly cheap. You pick ESC's depending on the predicted power draw of the motor. As long as they are rated for higher that the maximum draw of each motor you should be fine, but a quick google will lead to a wealth of resources to help with this. Motors you have already sorted, though 1400kv are very powerful, particularly if this is your first quad. I might suggest getting some smaller ones first, and then upgrading once you master flight controls. 

 

Microcontrollers are another area that you can spend hours researching. Simply put, if you want everything super easy (but pay a premium for), the NAZA is the unit to go for as it gives an easy upgrade path for the novice builder. However, a very popular alternative is the CC3D which is much cheaper and can do an awful lot if you have the time to tinker and set it up. 

 

A good resource to get you started- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/multi-rotor-quadcopter-fpv,3828.html

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

Firstly, I would decide on a frame. The Flamewheel is a very popular one, and fairly cheap. You pick ESC's depending on the predicted power draw of the motor. As long as they are rated for higher that the maximum draw of each motor you should be fine, but a quick google will lead to a wealth of resources to help with this. Motors you have already sorted, though 1400kv are very powerful, particularly if this is your first quad. I might suggest getting some smaller ones first, and then upgrading once you master flight controls.

Microcontrollers are another area that you can spend hours researching. Simply put, if you want everything super easy (but pay a premium for), the NAZA is the unit to go for as it gives an easy upgrade path for the novice builder. However, a very popular alternative is the CC3D which is much cheaper and can do an awful lot if you have the time to tinker and set it up.

A good resource to get you started- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/multi-rotor-quadcopter-fpv,3828.html

Thanx a lot ! ..

Yes .. I know that they are powerful .. But I'm gonna make my own frame because of cost restrictions.

I've already ordered 4 30amp esc's from amazon

PS :- cc3d 's are much much much cheaper and I'll probably go with them... Especially because their is a whole community which is trying to make it better

The frame that I'm going to make will be a bit heavier than those fiber glass ones... Also.. I'm looking for a way to use my raspberry pi as a flight controller ( highly unlikely because it's not designed to do stuff in real time )

[Chronos5618]

Thanx a lot ! ..

Yes .. I know that they are powerful .. But I'm gonna make my own frame because of cost restrictions.

I've already ordered 4 30amp esc's from amazon

Fair enough. 30A should be plenty. What battery set up are you thinking of going with?

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

Fair enough. 30A should be plenty. What battery set up are you thinking of going with?

Frankly ... No idea .. LiPo batteries are so expensive . they also need an expensive charger ..

[Chronos5618]

Frankly ... No idea .. LiPo batteries are so expensive . they also need an expensive charger ..

Indeed, but alas they are necessary. There are two key points to bare in mind with them though. The first, is that with great size, comes greater weight and thus less flight time. Therefore, don't be tempted to just strap on the biggest battery you can get your hands on. A 4 cell should be a good starting point, but it again comes down to how much power your motors are drawing. If they are running at near maximum a lot of the time, you'll need a bigger battery, while if they are only being lightly used then a smaller battery will give you better results as it will be lighter. 

 

A little more detail- LiPo batteries have a C rating, which is the capacity to discharge i.e. how many amps it is able to put out continuously. For example, a 25C 4000mAh battery is able to continuously put out 102.5A (25 x 4.1). If you quad is going to draw more than that, then obviously you need a bigger battery. So, lets say that your motors draw 20A max each. 20 x 4= 80A continuous draw at full throttle. Thus, a 25C 400mAh battery is going to be able to supply this and will be fine.  

 

The second point to be aware of is a matter of saftey. LiPo batteries pretty much explode if you deplete them completely, so it is really important that you factor that into your calculations. Play by the 80% rule i.e. never deplete it greater than 80% of total capacity. It's worth incorporating a battery alarm into your build for this purpose, so that you get an audio warning when you near the threshold, so you can land and recharge. 

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

~snippy snap ! ~

Whoa .. I wouldnt want my expensive quad to explode :c ..

Thanks man ! ...

[Chronos5618]

Whoa .. I wouldnt want my expensive quad to explode :c ..

Thanks man ! ...

No problem. The more you know. 

 

I recommend this as a good starter video- 

They do plenty of stuff that should help you get started better than I. 

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

No problem. The more you know. 

 

I recommend this as a good starter video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5yXm_PJxK0&ab_channel=FliteTest

They do plenty of stuff that should help you get started better than I.

Thanx man .. You are being a great help !

[Chronos5618]

Thanx man .. You are being a great help !

It's what a forum is there for Feel free to ask any other questions as they come up.

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

Got 10 inch rotors for quad ..

I hope the esc's come soon

[Voldy21]

It's what a forum is there for Feel free to ask any other questions as they come up.

People like you make the forum a great place. Keep up the great work!

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

I got the esc's today ..

( I dunno why Amazon took 17 days to ship it .. :c )

I also got 15 inch wooden strips on which I will Mount the pros, esc's and motors ... I will post pics later today or tomorrow ..

The project is now lagging behind the planned schedule ... ( ask thanx to Amazon )

Also ... Do you guyz know any cheap controller boards ?? The budget is pretty tight ...

I have already spent half of my money ...

I still have to choose my board , battery and radio controller ..

II dunno if I will be able to fit the cost in the given budget ... .

Every Buck spent above the budget costs me points ..

[nishit.agarwal44]

This seems cool subbed

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

This seems cool subbed

Thanx !

Update :- I added the pics ! ..

I also need a way to implement li-ion batteries ( if it's possible ) instead of the more expensive Li-Po batteries

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

Sorry for reviving ghost thread .. But I was busy and have finally updated the build !! ..

 

Hope you liked it and have a good day !

[porterj5]

nice