DIY quadcopter. Do-it-yourself quadcopter

The first tests of a multicopter aircraft took place back in 1922, but only in the second decade of the XXI century. this type of layout began to gain in popularity at an impressive rate. Compared to other radio-controlled models, quadcopters are in great demand, probably because they have a practical purpose: at least, to take beautiful shots from the air.

Following the demands of consumers, manufacturers flood the market with an abundance of models of various configurations with various characteristics. Many buyers prefer RTF (ready-to-fly, ready-to-fly) kits, which are capable of taking off into the air after a simple calibration.

But not everyone needs easy ways. Particular pleasure can be obtained by assembling a quadcopter from scratch on your own. The degree of complexity varies from kits with all the necessary parts for assembly to independently selecting each component, checking their compatibility, assembling and configuring your own UAV.

It also makes sense to assemble a quadrocopter if there are specific application scenarios for which the factory models are not adapted. Or to assemble the flight training apparatus yourself, which will not be a pity to break. Detailed drawing you do not need this, a sketch is enough, on which all the elements are marked.

Base units and components

In order for the constructed device to be able to rise into the air, at least in theory, and assembling the quadcopter with your own hands was a pleasure, you need to purchase a number of appropriate components:

  1. The flight controller is the "head" of the future UAV, in which all the basic necessary sensors are installed, as well as software for processing their readings, and at the same time the commands coming from the control panel to control the rotation speed of each engine. This is the most expensive component you will need to buy to build a quadcopter.
  2. Advanced modelers make the frame on their own from carefully selected materials (aluminum, plastic, wood, carbonate or combinations thereof). With a lack of experience or engineering knowledge, if a ready-made frame is more suitable for the project, or there is no desire or time to design a quadrocopter and its parts yourself, then ready-made frames, produced in a wide range of sizes, will come to the rescue.
  3. It is better to choose brushless motors - they are somewhat more expensive, but much more reliable than brushed ones. For flights, rotation at a significant speed is necessary, therefore, the absence of a manifold has a positive effect on the service life. Purchase at least 4 (or 8, if you need an octocopter), if the budget allows, then with 1-2 spare.
  4. Motor controllers are boards that regulate the speed of rotation of each motor and supply it, will be mounted on the "arms" of the case. Their number corresponds to the number of engines.
  5. Propellers or propellers should be chosen with special attention, because the size should be suitable for the dimensions of the future frame, regardless of whether it is independently built or purchased.
  6. The power distribution board is designed to route power from the battery to the engine speed controllers. As a rule, each purchased case is supplied with a small board, where you can solder the inputs from all controllers, and then carefully power them. If you wish, you can order a more advanced version of the main power board if your quadcopter scheme involves layout features.
  7. Buying batteries is one of the most difficult parts of the selection of spare parts. The type of a suitable battery depends entirely on the intended purpose of the model being created. For fast models, it is better to take small batteries with high KV values ​​(revolutions per minute × Volts), and for low-speed cameras for filming, the priority is the capacity-to-weight ratio, because the structure cannot be overloaded in any case. A useful addition is a battery charge monitor. It will not do without a special balancing charger for the selected battery type (lithium-ion or lithium-polymer).
  8. A control panel with a receiver module that connects to the flight controller so that the device can be controlled. The operating comfort and some other available functions depend on the type of control panel.
  9. Additional options are selected depending on the purpose of the future device. So, camera stabilizers are often attached to drones for shooting, and racing is impossible without the FPV (first person view) complex.

You will need few tools for assembly - a screwdriver for assembling the frame, a soldering iron and, of course, skills in working with it.

The disadvantage of the latter is easy to eliminate during the assembly process, fortunately, "aerobatics" of ownership soldering station not needed. And it is better to use soldering irons with a thin tip.

Drawings of quadrocopters in the full sense of the word do not exist, and they are not needed. Assembly from modules eliminates this need. With consumables, everything is a little more complicated. To assemble a quadcopter with your own hands you will need:

  1. A thread lock to prevent any of the screws from loosening from flight vibrations.
  2. Heat-shrinkable insulation for each soldering point.
  3. Polymer clamps for fixing elements on the body.
  4. Waterproofing compound for printed circuit boards.
  5. Banana connectors for motors.

Nothing will prevent you from making the necessary corrections and improvements to the design during assembly or flight tests. Maybe for the purposes set, it is better to assemble the octocopter with your own hands. With care and caution, even the most technically illiterate craft enthusiasts can build a flying drone. Moreover, flight tests in the future will reveal all the shortcomings that will be eliminated. The result should be the perfect personal drone. The main thing is to clearly understand the scenario of its application.

Build process

There are many options for the layout and design of multicopters, but the most common are the models with four propellers. Therefore, the assembly of such a quadcopter will serve as an example for a step-by-step overview of the assembly process. In the process, you can rely on approximate drawings of quadcopters from the network or compiled by yourself.

1: building the frame

Regardless of its size or purpose, each drone must have a frame, frame, supporting base. Assembling ready-made frames should not be difficult because they are supplied with detailed instructions and all the necessary fasteners.

And to assemble the frame yourself, you will have to show design skills. A self-made quadcopter frame made of metal, plastic, metal-plastic or wood must be strong enough. For example, the thickness of the wooden parts of a self-made frame should be at least 30 mm. Building your quadcopter on a frame that's not strong enough is a waste of effort because it will break frequently.

In any case, the output should be a given number of beams of the same length, which are carried by the motors and attached to the central carrier plate. It also has landing supports or "legs". In some configurations, the legs "grow" out from under the engines. It all depends on the features dictated by the drawing of the quadcopter and its frame.

2: Mount the power unit and propellers

Engines, their controllers and propellers play a key role in speed, maneuverability and other flight characteristics. Therefore, you should choose the products of brands that work closely in the field of quadcopter construction, and not someone who happened to be in this market segment by accident.

Motors for one project must be of the same model from the same manufacturer.

Yes, the movement occurs due to the difference in the speed of their rotation, but it must be strictly controlled. A motley set of engines would upset the balance. Fastened with screws to the outer ends of the "beams".

After the engines on the plane of their supports, speed controllers are placed and fixed with ties. The connection of the controllers to the motors, as well as to the distribution board, is done by direct soldering and connectors. If desired and budgetary possibilities, you can use a 4-in-1 controller, but then the layout of the quadcopter will change slightly. The result is an almost finished drone that only lacks a flight controller.

3: Installing the "brains"

The flight controller is typically mounted on the top of the aircraft frame, above the power distribution board and battery compartment. It is permissible to change the layout, but it is worth remembering that the lower the center of gravity, the more stable the apparatus.

To minimize the effects of vibration on the flight controller, its mounting pad is often fitted with rubber spacers or more sophisticated vibration damping systems are used. At the design stage, this is a good opportunity to show off your engineering ingenuity without causing irreparable damage to the entire structure.

Only after the controller is installed, you can place the remaining units and modules: a receiver from the control panel, GPS sensor, magnetic compass, camera, gimbal, etc.

And only to be placed on the body, the connection is permissible only after the initial calibration of the flight controller.

Various manufacturers produce different controllers, control panels and other components. Therefore, their calibration is a complex and variable process worthy of separate consideration.


Interested in quadcopters. I decided to place an order, the choice fell on Habsan x4 with a 0.3mr camera.
I waited, got it. I flew a lot on it (there were crashes, long waiting for spare parts and repairs). The idea to assemble a large quadrocopter came to my mind, plunged into this topic, re-read many articles. As far as possible, I answered the questions of the people who were in the group of Rc modelers: about the choice of parts, the assembly of the quadrocopter. From all this, the idea arose to write this very article.
Flight principle


So, if you decide to build your quadcopter, then you need to decide on a budget. The size depends on the amount that you are willing to spend on this Miracle. The most common sizes (in mm) are 250,330,450,550 and more.
* 250 size: small, light, most often used only for FPV flights.
* 330 and 450 the golden mean for a budget quadcopter. Acceptable weight and assembly price.
*550 and more can be attributed to professional copters or multi-rotors. Such machines will turn out to be heavy and expensive. These aircraft will have powerful engines and they can carry a decent weight, up to kilogram DSLRs.
I will continue my story based on a 450 scale copter.
A special place in this category is occupied by the DJI 330 and 450 frames, TBS Discovery.


Their price is corresponding ... high.
There are many clones, which I chose.


It's time to find out what is it quadrocopter and what it consists of.
1. Frame
2. Receiver / Transmitter
3. Flight controller:
a) AIOP
b) NAZA
c) MuliWii
d) HKPilot
f) AMP
f) And others

4. Power plant
a) Motor
b) Speed ​​controller
c) Propellers
5. Battery
6. Add. Equipment:
a) FPV system (first person view in real time)
FPV camera
Transmitter
OSD
b) Suspension for onboard camera
c) Backlight

Now you can consider everything in detail.
1) With frame have already decided. 450 scale, TBS clone.


2) Receiver / Transmitter. His choice is very important. You need to understand for yourself: how far you want to fly.
The most popular options:
 1.5-2km will provide 2.4GHz
 433 MHz will provide about 5-10 km (it all depends on the power, you can fly 20 km)
For myself I chose 2.4 GHz FlySky Th9x 9 channels



Not expensive and easy-to-configure equipment.
For a quadcopter, at least 5 channels are required.
The choice of this equipment is due to its popularity, prescription on the market. There are many clones. There is a lot of controversy about which company was the first, this is the same Turgiga 9, avionics and others ... There are many settings on the Internet.
3) Flight controller
At the moment, there are a lot of flight controllers for quadcopters. I made my choice. This Naza Lite with GPS

Not very expensive and angry. Naza requires minimal configuration and is very easy to do.
With AIOP, Crius and MultiWii controllers it will be many times more difficult and especially for a beginner.
Why did I take the controller with GPS?
This function is necessary for hovering at a point and returning home.
I see this as a very convenient functionality.
4) Power plant
Raises many questions from the uninitiated.
BK motors are used. They are three-phase (3 wires), their efficiency is about 90%.
To control the rotation speed of such a motor, a speed controller (regulator) is used, which receives commands from the flight controller.

Consider a 330,450mm frame. Depending on your needs, you need to estimate the weight of the quadcopter. On average, it turns out from 1k to 1.5kg. It is desirable that the thrust of the motors be 2-2.5 times the total mass. This suggests that the thrust should be 2-3 kg. We divide this by 4 and we get the thrust of one motor: about 500-750 grams.
The question arises: which engine to choose? We look at the characteristics of the frame: we are interested in what engines can be installed in it. You should be interested in the first 2 digits: 22 or 28 in most cases.
We start choosing the engine. You will see a certain value in the name of the engine, for example: 1100kv. This value indicates the number of revolutions per volt. Motors with high kv values ​​have fewer stator turns than less revolving ones, which implies that the maximum amperage will be higher in motors with lower kv, which have higher torque and this allows larger propellers to be used.
It can be compared to the gearbox of a car. 380kv and 1400kv are like the first and third gear in a car.
380kv for measured slow and long flights with high payload
1400kv for fast and agile travel.
In the vastness of the Internet or in the description of this engine, you can see it specifications and test results. You need to find out the maximum current (A) that the engine can pull and, based on these data, select the speed controller (ESC). Let's admit max A for a 20A motor. Then, we take ESC 20-25% more powerful, 25-30A.
Now let's look at the test results.
for instance we see: 11x4.7 -3S-12A - 830gr
It means
11x4.7 - Propeller Specifications (11-inches, 4.7 Pitch)
3S - the number of cells of the LiPo battery
12A - current in the circuit at a given load
830gr - engine thrust under given conditions
Thus, the maximum thrust is 830x4 = 3300 grams, the maximum current in the circuit is 12x4 = 48A
The maximum current is needed for the selection of Batteries and Wiring.

For starters, don't go with carbon props. Overpayment. Learn to fly cheap.
The mounting of the propeller depends on the motor itself. Most propellers have an adapter for the motor shaft. Can be mounted on Tsangs or threaded. DJI has excellent self-tightening mount options so that your propeller will never unscrew during flight.
For more simple options I advise you to additionally secure with thread sealant.

Paying attention : Comparing motors with different kv is possible under conditions of the same size. For example, the EMAX XA 2212 comes in different configurations:
820
980
1400
They can be compared.
The efficiency of the 1400kv motor will be maximized when using the 8040 propeller,
And a motor with 820kv - with a propeller of 1147.
The 820kv motor will have the maximum torque, so it is advisable to use large propellers. A 1400kv motor will love high revs with less load.
The difference between the presented motors is in the winding.
It is reasonable to use them like this:
1400kv on frame 330 and propellers 8040
980kv on frame 450 and propellers 1045
820kv on 500-550 frame and 1147 propellers
I chose
And the propellers
A wonderful set.
Connection diagram
For simplicity: Signal - black, Power (+ \ -) ​​- red


5) Battery
When choosing a rechargeable battery, you need to select the current output. This is the number C. (25C, 35C)
Do not forget that, according to our data, the system eats 48A.
Let's say there is a 3300mAh 3S 35C Lipo Pack
3300 mAh - battery capacity
3S - number of cans (one bank 3,7v)
35C - current output. Those. Battery with a capacity of 3.3Ah (3300 mAh) x 35C = 115A
Which is enough to cover our energy consumption. Even unnecessary. The more C, the heavier and more expensive the battery.
Let's see if a battery of the same capacity, but with a current output of 25C, can cope with our tasks or not: 3.3Ah (3300 mAh) x 25C = 82A
Answer: Yes.
Such a battery will be lighter and cheaper.
You can buy such a piece to monitor the status of the battery.

Imax B6 is very popular for charging batteries, be careful, there are a lot of fakes.

And don't forget to handle LiPo very carefully.
My advice: take at least a couple of batteries.
6) Add. Equipment.
When you have decided on the range of flight and have chosen a control system, you can start choosing an FPV system:
FPV - literally: first person view in real time.
 2.4GHz compatible with 5.8GHz
 433MHz compatible with 1.2GHz
Otherwise, joint interference will be created.
For my 2.4GHz I picked 5.8GHz 200mw

FPV system consists of:
1) Course camera
2) Transmitter on quadric
3) Receiving station on the ground.
To increase the communication range, you can replace the standard antennas with "clovers"

Most of the transmitters are powered in the 9-12v range, a small 3S battery can power the transmitter and camera, which is selected for a given voltage.
What does 200mw mean?
This is the transmitter power. It directly affects the communication range. In open areas with non-standard antennas, the signal can be received at a distance of up to 1 km.
Considering that my control system is not capable of a distance of more than 1.5-2 km, this is ideal
option for my needs.
With the choice of the receiver and transmitter, everything is now clear, but how to choose a camera, a huge number of them?
The choice of a camera is initially limited to money.
There are cameras that have the function of streaming data and simultaneous recording, the cost of such cameras is much higher. The mobius camera is very popular.

A competitor has appeared, which also has an AV output.

You can use the cheapest FPV camera without a case. The cost of which ranges from 600 to 1000 rubles, and record using a good action camera on a gimbal.
For FPV cameras, we will see the number of TVLs. What it is? This is the number of scan lines. For FPV camera, 500-700TVL will be enough. The level of minimum illumination is important, this parameter is measured in lux. 0.01 lux is enough for flights even in the evening. The viewing angle is equally important. 100-120 degrees is ideal. It would be nice to have automatic light correction and auto. white balance.
The picture can be displayed on such a monitor

You can buy 2x or 3x gimbal for the camera. Such a thing allows you to rotate the camera and have a more stable picture, without jerking or jerking.
The thing is quite expensive.
I have this one:
Naturally the on-board camera itself
You can install LED backlight, buzzer, GPS tracker

As you understand, in order to assemble such a UAV, you need a lot of investments.
The price is approximately in the range of 400-500 dollars.

This review is intended for beginners and carries a theory, there will be a continuation soon. With assembly and configuration.
I have planned a series of articles and will slowly implement them.
I will be glad to criticism Thank you per view.
Reveal the cards: the end result


How to assemble and lift such a thing into the sky?
The instruction will be in the next part)

Here is a short video from the first gimbal flights.


P.S Everything was bought with personal funds. I plan to buy +99 Add to favorites I liked the review +62 +150

To assemble a quadcopter with your own hands at home, you should first understand the basic components of a quadcopter.

Parts for assembling a quadcopter

  1. Quadcopter frame Diatone Q450 Quad 450 V3 PCB Quadcopter Frame Kit 450mm (the last three digits in the Q450 name indicate the distance between the motors in mm on the diagonal). It is an aircraft body that will be used for the installation of all other equipment and electronic components. Consists of 4 beams and printed circuit board... Weight 295 grams.

    Banggood.com

    Price RUB 922

  2. Motor DYS D2822-14 1450KV Brushless Motor. 4 pieces.

    Sold at Banggood.com online store

    Price RUB 571 / pc

  3. DYS 30A 2-4S Brushless Speed ​​Controller ESC Simonk Firmware for rpm and speed control. 4 pieces.

    Sold at Banggood.com online store

    Price RUB 438 / pc

  4. DYS E-Prop 8x6 8060 SF ABS Slow Fly Propeller Blade For RC Airplane, 4 pieces. Two right-hand rotation propellers and two left-hand rotation propellers.

    Sold at Banggood.com online store

    Price RUB 125 / pc

  5. KK2.1.5 kk21evo quadcopter control module. 1 PC.

    Sold at Banggood.com online store

    Price RUB 1680

  6. Turnigy nano-tech 2200mah 4S ~ 90C Lipo Pack lithium polymer battery, you need to prepare at least two pieces, and preferably four, as they quickly drain. 1 PC.

    Sold in the online store Parkflyer.ru

    Price RUB 1268 / pc

  7. Battery charger Hobby King Variable6S 50W 5A. 1 PC.

    Sold in the online store Hobbyco.ru

    Price 900 rubles

  8. Battery Connector XT60 Male Plug 12AWG 10cm With Wire. 1 PC.

    Sold at Banggood.com online store

    Price 144 rubles

  9. Clamps for securing wires to the quadcopter body. 1000pcs 2.0x100mm Black / White Nylon Cable Ties Zip Ties. 1 package.

    Sold at Banggood.com online store

    Price RUB 316

  10. Connectors 20 Pairs 3.5mm Bullet Connector Banana Plug For RC Battery / Motor. For regulator wires. 1 package.

    Sold at Banggood.com online store

    Price RUB 256

  11. Velcro strap for attaching the battery to the quadcopter body. 1 PC.

    Sold at Banggood.com online store

    Price RUB 79

  12. 50pcs Motor Fixing Screws Set for DJI F450 F550 HJ450 550 Quadcopter Multicopter. 1 package.

    Price RUB 217

  13. RC Quadcopter Spektrum DX6 V2 with AR610 Receiver. One set includes a receiver and a transmitter. 1 PC.

    Price RUB 9700

The total set of equipment for assembly will cost 20,018 rubles.

Features when choosing components


Basic characteristics of the transmitter:

  • Mode1 or Mode2 modes. In the first mode the throttle is on the right, in the second mode the throttle is on the left.
  • The transmitter frequency is 2.4 GHz.
  • The number of channels. The minimum of channels required to control the aircraft is four. The control equipment from the Spektrum DX6 V2 with AR610 Receiver contains 6 channels.

DIY step-by-step instructions for assembling a quadcopter

  1. Reducing the length of the wires on the regulators. When connecting the regulator to the motors, the length of the wires will significantly exceed the length of the beam on which this entire structure will be attached.

  2. We solder the connectors to the ends of the wires on the regulator so that in the future you can connect the regulator to the motors.

  3. We install the motors - we screw 1 motor for each beam.

  4. We carry out the assembly of the frame. We screw the beams to the board.

  5. We connect the wires of the regulators to the motors. Regulator and motor cables are connected in random order. In the future, it may be necessary to change the connection order during the final configuration of the drone. When using dedicated governors for each motor, the positive and negative poles must be connected to the controller, coming from only one governor.

  6. We fix the control module with double-sided tape on the case. It is best located in the central part of the platform.

  7. We fix the receiver on the case with double-sided tape and connect it to the control module. The receiver should be located as close to the module as possible.

    Channel assignment is described in the manual for the receiver. Usually their sequence is as follows:

    1. Ailerons - the channel responsible for left and right turns;
    2. Elevator - a channel that guides the forward and backward directions;
    3. Gas - gas control channel. Supervises the performance of takeoff and landing, as well as changes in altitude;
    4. Yaw - the channel makes it possible to rotate the quadcopter around its axis.

  8. We power the device. We connect the battery to the connector.

This operation completes the quadcopter assembly process.

Adjustment

  1. We start the engines. The activation of the motors requires the execution of the process of starting the motors - arming. The instruction manual explains in detail how to achieve this. Deactivating engines requires a disarming procedure.
  2. We turn on the weak throttle and make sure that the motors are spinning. The rotation pattern should be the same as indicated on the diagram in the controller manual. If the motor does not rotate correctly, you just need to swap the poles of the wires going from the motor to the controller.

  3. We screw the second platform to the quadcopter body.

  4. We attach a Velcro strap to the body for attaching the battery.

    DIY arduino quadcopter assembly

    Conclusion

    Fulfill self-assembly quadrocopters can only be those who like solving complex problems. These should be people who enjoy the course of various calculations and the process of assembling the device.

    Dignity of a copter assembled with my own hands the fact that at any time you can upgrade it by adding new equipment.

First, having chosen the size of the square, I proceeded to sketch the drawing on a piece of wallpaper.

By the way, I chose size 45 - universal, since this is my first drone, and I don't know in which direction I will develop yet.

Having collected all the fiberglass at home, I proceeded to sawing out two identical bases, between which the rays would be clamped.


The material for the manufacture of the beams was an aluminum square profile 10 * 10mm

Preview version...
I fastened the beams between the bases with screws and nuts, I did not think of anything else)


Let's go further ...
Legs, chassis were also made of fiberglass. Having drawn a sketch, I started cutting blanks

Then he proceeded to torment the screwdriver

Despite everything, the drone still got to its feet)

And now - weighing. The weight of the frame, without any equipment, was 263 grams. I think this is a fairly acceptable weight, but what do you think?

Now that the frame is assembled, you can start installing the accessories.
I chose these motors and regulators:
EMAX XA2212 820KV 980KV 1400KV Motor With Simonk 20A ESC
Product http: //www.site/ru/product/1669970/ The brain known to all cc3d
CC3D Flight Controller
Product http: //www.site/ru/product/1531419/ Battery:
Battery Li-Polymer ZIPPY Flightmax 3000mAh 3S1P 20C
Product http: //www.site/ru/product/8851/
Motors with standard crosses were attached to the beams with bolts and nuts



The motors are installed. Regulators are tied to electrical tape, radiators to the beams.



Then I placed the power distribution board between the fiberglass plates

I soldered all the necessary wires (regulators, side lights).
Perfectionists do not look)))

Checked the performance ...

Having installed the power distribution board, I started assembling the brains. It is banal to stick them on 2-sided tape.

Did the same with the receiver

The battery is fastened thanks to the Velcro on the bottom of the quad.

That's all! The flight weight of the quadcopter is 993 grams. After flashing the flight controller, I went outside for the first tests.

Watch video of flights from 2.50 minutes

The quadrocopter was built at the end of summer 2016, now it is the beginning of 2017. During this period, the quadrocopter has been in the sky for a sufficient amount of time. At the moment, the copter is intact, there was not a single crash, I slightly upgraded it to install the camera on board. In the future, I want to learn to fly on it on fpv. Now I am slowly starting to assemble the FPV system, video transmitter, I have already ordered the receiver))

Thanks to everyone who read the above, if you have any questions, tips, suggestions - write in the comments. Below are photos taken with a camera mounted on a quadcopter, and of the copter itself.

From Uv. Alexei



I have described the complete assembly and configuration process, and below there will be a slightly modified version containing more information from my previous articles.

I will leave out of the brackets the question of entering this hobby and go directly to the quadrocopter.

Choosing the size of the quadcopter

A year ago, size 250 quadcopters were the most popular. But now pilots prefer to build smaller aircraft, which is quite reasonable: the weight is less, and the power is the same. I chose the 180 size not for some practical reasons, but as a kind of assembly challenge.

In fact, this approach to selection is not entirely correct. It is much more reasonable to choose the size of the propellers first, and already under them - the smallest frame, which will fit the selected propellers. And with this approach, the 180th format is generally rejected. Judge for yourself: the 210 format allows you to install the same 5 "propellers as the 250, while the quad itself is lighter, and the 4" propellers fit into 160 frames. It turns out that the 180th size is such an intermediate format, which is "neither ours, nor yours." It can also be considered a weighted 160th. But, nevertheless, I chose him. Perhaps because this is the smallest size that can comfortably carry a GoPro or Runcam.

Components

Let's start with the motors. "Intermediate" size 180, as well as the richness of their assortment, complicate the choice. On the one hand, you can take what goes on the 160s, on the other, what is installed on the 210s or even 250s. It is necessary to proceed from the propellers and the battery (the number of cans). I see no reason to use a 3S battery, but for propellers, the general rules are:

  • you need maximum static thrust - increase the propeller diameter and decrease the step (within reasonable limits)
  • high speed is needed - reduce the diameter and increase the step (within reasonable limits)
  • you need high thrust with a small diameter - add the number of blades (again, within reasonable limits, since if the difference between two- and three-blade propellers is noticeable, then between three- and four-bladed propellers it is not so big)

In my case, I have a 4 "propeller size limit, but not a motor limit. This means that the 3-bladed 4045 bullnose propellers would be the smartest option. They are difficult to balance, but with them the control is more responsive and predictable, and the sound is quieter. On the other hand, with two-blade propellers, the speed of the quadcopter is higher, but I definitely don't need that. "Popularly" on 180 frames, the following setups prevail:

  • lightweight with 1306-3100KV motors, conventional 4045 propellers and 850mAh battery
  • heavy and powerful for three-bladed bullnose propellers and action camera with 2205-2600KV motors and 1300mAh battery

In fact, the frame allows you to install motors from 1306-4000KV to 22XX-2700KV. By the way, I don't know why, but 1806-2300KV motors are now in disgrace and are little used.

For my quad, I took the motors - RCX H2205 2633KV. Firstly, I wanted to have a power reserve (although with my modest piloting skills, it is not clear why). Secondly, my setups have never turned out to be super light, in addition, I also plan to carry an action camera. Specifically, RCX motors are a compromise option. They are cheap, but there are many complaints about the quality. At the time of the purchase of the components, these were one of the few 2205-2600KV motors on the market. Now (at the time of this writing) the assortment is much larger and it is better to choose something else.
With the rest of the components, I acted on the principle of "more challenge":

Flight controller selection

You may have noticed that there is no flight controller in the list. I would like to describe his choice in more detail. Inexpensive building kits often include a CC3D controller, so this is probably the cheapest PC right now. There is absolutely no point in buying a CC3D today. It is outdated and lacks such essential features as battery control and buzzer. Its successor CC3D Revolution is a completely different product with rich features, but also with a price tag of over 40 €.
Today's flight controllers have already moved from F1 to F3 processors, making the Naze32 a legacy PC and dramatically lowering its price tag. Now it is truly a people's controller, which has almost everything that the soul desires at a price of 12 €.
Of the new generation PCs, Seriously Pro Racing F3 is the most popular, and primarily due to the presence of inexpensive clones. The controller itself is in no way inferior to the Naze32, in addition it has a fast F3 processor, a large number of memory, three UART ports, built-in inverter for S.Bus. It was SPRacingF3 Acro that I chose. The rest of the modern PCs were not considered due to the price, or some specific features (closed firmware, layout, etc.)
Separately, I would like to note the current fashionable tendency to combine several boards into one. Most often PC and OSD or PC and PDB I do not support this idea with a couple of exceptions. I don't feel like changing the whole flight controller because of the burned-out OSD. In addition, as practice shows, sometimes such a combination brings problems.

Wiring diagram

It is clear that all components that need 5V or 12V power will receive it from the BECs of the power distribution board. Theoretically, the camera could be powered directly from a 4S battery, since the input voltage allows it, but in no case should you do this. Firstly, all cameras are very susceptible to noise in the circuit from the regulators, which will result in noise in the picture. Secondly, regulators with active braking (such as my LittleBee), when this braking is activated, give a very serious impulse to the on-board network, which can burn the camera. Moreover, the presence of an impulse directly depends on the wear and tear of the battery. The new ones do not have it, but the old ones do. Here is a cognitive video on the topic of interference from regulators and how to filter them. So it is better to power the camera either from the BEC or from the VTX.
Also, for the sake of improving the picture quality, it is recommended to send not only the signal wire from the camera to the OSD, but also the “ground”. When these wires are twisted into a "pigtail," the ground acts as a shield for the signal wire. However, in this case, I did not.
If we are already talking about "ground", then they often argue about whether it is necessary to connect the "ground" from the regulators to the PC, or one signal wire is enough. On a regular racing quadcopter, you definitely need to connect. Its absence can lead to synchronization failures ( the confirmation).
The final wiring diagram turned out to be simple and concise, but with a couple of nuances:

  • power supply of the flight controller (5V) from the PDB through the outputs for the regulators
  • power supply of the radio receiver (5V) from the PC via the OI_1 connector
  • power supply of video transmitter (12V) from PDB
  • camera power supply (5V) from VTX
  • OSD connected to UART2. Many people use UART1 for this, but like on the Naze32, this connector is paralleled here with USB.
  • Vbat is connected to PC, not OSD. In theory, battery voltage readings (vbat) can be read on both OSD and PC by connecting the battery to either one or the other. What is the difference? In the first case, the readings will be present only on the screen of the monitor or glasses and the PC will not know anything about them. In the second case, the PC can monitor the battery voltage, inform the pilot about it (for example, with a "beeper"), and also transmit this data to the OSD, to the "black box" and telemetry to the console. It is also easier to adjust the accuracy of the readings via a PC. That is, connecting vbat to a flight controller is much preferable.

Assembly

First, a few general building tips:

  • Carbon conducts current. So everything must be well insulated so that nothing closes to the frame anywhere.
  • Anything that protrudes beyond the frame is likely to be broken or torn off in an accident. In this case, we are talking, first of all, about connectors. The wires can also be cut with a screw, so they must be hidden.
  • It is highly advisable to cover all boards with PLASTIK 71 insulating varnish after soldering, and in several layers. By my own experience I will say that applying liquid varnish with a brush is much more convenient than covering it with a spray.
  • It will not be superfluous to drop a little hot glue on the soldering points of the wires to the boards. This will protect the solder from vibration.
  • For all threaded connections it is advisable to use "Loctite" of medium fixation (blue).

I prefer to start assembling with motors and governors. a good video on assembling a small quadrocopter, from which I took over the idea of ​​the arrangement of the wires of the motors.

Separately, I would like to say about the fastening of the regulators: where and with what? They can be attached to and below the beam. I chose the first option, since it seems to me that in this position the regulator is more protected (these are my speculations, not confirmed by practice). In addition, when mounted on a beam, the regulator is perfectly cooled by air from the propeller. Now how to fix the regulator. There are many ways, the most popular is double-sided tape + one or two ties. "Cheap and cheerful", besides, dismantling will not cause difficulties. Worse, with such a fastening, you can damage the regulator board (if you put a tie on it) or wires (if you attach it to them). So I decided to mount the regulators with heat shrink tubing (25mm) and soldered them along with the arms. There is one caveat: the regulator itself must also be in heat shrinkage (mine were sold in it), so as not to come into contact with the carbon fiber of the beam, otherwise - short circuit.

It also makes sense to glue a piece of double-sided tape from below on each beam at the motor mount. First, it will protect the motor bearing from dust. Secondly, if for some reason one of the bolts is unscrewed, it will not fall out during flight and will not be lost.
When assembling the frame, I did not use a single bolt from the kit, since they are all obscenely short. Instead, I got it a little longer and with a head for a Phillips screwdriver (there is such a personal preference).

The camera did not fit in width between the side plates of the frame. I slightly processed the edges of her board with a file (rather, I grinded off the roughness) and she stood up without problems. But the difficulties did not end there. I really liked the quality of the Diatone camera holder, but the camera did not fit into the frame in height (about 8-10mm). At first I put the holder on the outer (top) side of the plate through a neoprene damper, but the design turned out to be unreliable. Later, the idea of ​​the most simple and reliable fastening came up. I took only a clamp from Diatone's mount and put it on a piece of a rod with an M3 thread. To prevent the camera from moving sideways, I secured the clamp with nylon couplings.

I really liked that from the connectors on the PC, only the connectors for the regulators had to be soldered. Full-fledged three-pin connectors did not fit in height for me, I had to go to the trick and use two-pin connectors. For the first five channels (4 for regulators + 1 "for every fireman") I soldered the connectors to the signal pad and "ground", for the other three - to "plus" and "ground", so that you can power the PC itself and already from it - backlight. Considering that the Chinese clones of flight controllers sin by unreliable fixation of the USB connector, I also soldered it. Another point characteristic of the SPRacingF3 clone is the tweeter connector. As in the case of vbat, on the top side of the board there is a two-pin JST-XH connector, and on the bottom it is duplicated by contact pads. The hitch is that the clone has a constant "ground" on the connector and when it is used, the "buzzer" will always be activated. The normal working ground for the "tweeter" is brought out only to the contact pad. This is easily checked by a tester: the "plus" of the connector is ringing with a "plus" on the contact pad, and the "minus" is not ringing. Therefore, you need to solder the buzzer wires to the underside of the PC.

The three-pin connectors of the regulators also had to be replaced. It was possible to use four two-pin plugs, but instead, I took two four-pin plugs and inserted all the regulators into one "ground", and the signal wire into the second (observing the order of connecting the motors).

The backlit plate is wider than the frame and protrudes from the sides. The only place where the propellers won't knock it down is under the frame. I had to work on a collective farm: I took long bolts, put on nylon couplings with pre-cut slots on them (so that the ties holding the backlight could be fixed) and screwed it through the bottom plate into the frame struts. I pulled a plate with LEDs to the resulting legs with ties (the holes in the plate fit perfectly) and filled the ties with hot melt glue. I soldered the connectors on the back of the plate.
After assembly, at the setup stage, it turned out that something was wrong with the buzzer. Immediately after connecting the battery, it began to squeak monotonously, and if you activate it from the remote control, then a rhythmic squeak was superimposed on this monotonous squeak. At first I sinned on a PC, but after measuring the voltage with a multimeter, it became clear exactly where the problem was. In fact, it was possible from the very beginning to connect a regular LED to the tweeter's wires. As a result, I ordered several squeakers at once, listened to them and set the loudest one.

Often the PDB and controller are nylon bolted to the frame, but I don't trust their strength. So I used 20mm metal bolts and nylon couplings. After installing the PDB, I soldered the power supply to the regulators (the rest of the wires were soldered in advance) and filled the soldering points with hot melt glue. I tied the main power cable to the battery to the frame so that it would not be torn out in the event of an accident.

I removed all the connectors from the receiver with pliers, except for the required three, and soldered the jumper between the third and fourth channels right on the board. As I wrote above, it would be wiser to take a receiver without connectors. I also unrolled his antennas and fused them into heat shrinkage. On the frame, the receiver fits well between the PBD and the C-pillar. With this arrangement, its indicators are clearly visible and there is access to the bind button.

I attached the VTX with ties and hot glue to the top plate of the frame so that through the slot there was access to the channel switch button and LED indicators.

There is a hole in the frame for attaching the VTX antenna. But don't connect it directly to the transmitter. It turns out a kind of lever, where the antenna serves as one shoulder, the transmitter itself with all the wires is the other, and the connector attachment point will be the fulcrum for which the maximum load will fall. Thus, in the event of an accident, with almost 100% probability, the connector on the transmitter board will break off. Therefore, you need to mount the antenna through some kind of adapter or extension cord.

I decided to solder the connectors to the MinimOSD, not the wires directly. On the forums they write that this board often burns out, therefore it is reasonable to immediately prepare for a possible replacement. I took a strip with connectors in two rows, soldered the lower ones to the pads with holes, and brought vIn and vOut to the upper ones. After that, I filled the soldering points with hot melt glue and packed the entire board in heat shrink.

The final touch is the phone number sticker. It will give at least a little hope in the event of a loss of the quadcopter.

The assembly came to an end here. It turned out compactly and at the same time, access to all the necessary controls was preserved. More photos you can see. The weight of the quadcopter without a battery is 330g, with a battery - 470g. And that's without the action camera and mount for it. In the next article I will talk about the firmware and configuration of the resulting quadcopter.

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