My Work In Progress

[timvukman]

I’m not sure where I should post these, but I wanted to show some photos of my Lynxmotion HQuad500. This has been assembled using the recommended parts until I started to get creative.

The landing gear are on a secondary top plate with retracts that pull the gear up flush with the bottom of the quad. There will be a camera on a gimbal hanging from the center of the secondary top plate that is mounted under the standard frame. The landing gear sweeps up the front and back as going up the sides wasn’t an option.

The other photo shows a little more creativity

It was still too cold and too windy to test fly it, so I built a second QH500. The second QH500 is a mirror assembly of the first one so that the bottom plate is at the top and the top plate is at the bottom.
The flight controller is the Quadrino nano which handles all 8 motors with no issues.

I would like some input on how best to power it. I have the original 3500mah 30C battery and it would be easy to parallel connect a 2nd one. I was wondering if it might be more efficient to increase the voltage and look for a single battery.

This Quad is not built for speed, so I want to aim for maximum air time. Should I drop down to 700 Kv on the motors, increase the prop size, use all dual blade or all three blade?

Hoping to generate some discussion and collect some opinions here.

Thanks

Tim

[dialfonzo]

Nice to see you post

To save weight you could mount both motors on the same tube by using a Top motor mount plate under the tube no ?
Same for the ESC’s you could put on inside the frame and one outside the frame on the same center plate.

[timvukman]

Hi DiaLFonZo

Yes, that was the first plan. Now that you have mentioned it, I think I will do just that. The reason I kept them was because the tubes went back into the frame pieces that sandwich the second set of ESCs. But, I don’t really need anything in there except the side brackets. That would cut out quite a bit of weight since all the tube clamps would come out too. Good idea!

I might keep the ESCs as I installed a PDB inside each body (2 of 4). I’ll look. Maybe I can move that too.

I have lights on the bottom of the top motors, but I can move them easily enough.

Thanks for the suggestion…made me look at it with fresh eyes.

Best,

Tim

[dialfonzo]

Good, let’s see some pictures once it’s changed

[timvukman]

Here are some updated photos.

Not too many issues came up in condensing to two HQuad frames into 1. The ESCs were actually easier to wire tie with an inner and outer layer on the side plates. As I had mentioned, I had added a PDB in each section. I was able to bolt these together and also to the bottom plate, so it’s a nice tight situation inside. The PDB has side mounted pads for power to the ESCs, so it helps line them up in the center of the frame.

I did not like the landing gear that I had made in the previous pictures. The horizontal base was flakey. With the pieces recovered from condensing the two body assemblies, I was able to put together a really decent pair of strong, sturdy gear that look like they’re designed to go with HQuad.

In the last picture I added, there is a closeup of the current mounting of the vertical gear posts to the 4mm post of the retractor. This is a terrible interface and I know it’s going to fail. I’ve been looking at the loose parts in the robotics hardware to see if I can come up with something, but there are few items that state the sizes. I have another idea that I am going to try, but it won’t be as solid as I would like.

The retractor’s rod when closed (gear up) doesn’t have much space between it and the body of the retractor’s motor. I need a way to adapt from that 4mm rod to the Lynxmotion tubing. I’d like to go to the inside diameter of the tubing which would put the rod off center toward the outside. A circle plate (or wheel) that had holes around the outside near the edge could be adapted to fit the retractor rod. I could stack a few of them on the rod to build a cylinder that I could hot glue inside the tubing.

All suggestions and ideas welcome.

Today I plan on making certain that all the motors are spinning in the correct directions and props are correctly mounted. It looked like they were last night when I updated the FC with the FCT software. It was pretty impressive when I fired up all the motors. I can’t wait to finalize the landing gear and take it out for it’s first flight

Best,

TimV
Edited for spelling

[dialfonzo]

Nice assembly, what will be the “noze” of the UAV in the end ?

We are working on a new platform but need a lot of little components to be finished prior to release it.
Here are some picture of the landing, which remind me of yours…

[timvukman]

Hi DiaLFonZo

I’m glad you like my gear I like what you posted that you are working on. Should weigh less than what I rigged up.

What I really want to know about is the top end where the tube will attach to the retractor. (You are planning on retractable, no?)

In one of the shots you can see the camera deck which is at the nose of the unit. I haven’t put the GoPro back on yet.

What would you suggest for patching in the camera. It would be FPV, unless there is a better option than the GoPro. I would be looking for smooth as possible and recordable.

Best,

Tim

[dialfonzo]

@TimVukman

Hi DiaLFonZo

I’m glad you like my gear I like what you posted that you are working on. Should weigh less than what I rigged up.

What I really want to know about is the top end where the tube will attach to the retractor. (You are planning on retractable, no?)

In one of the shots you can see the camera deck which is at the nose of the unit. I haven’t put the GoPro back on yet.

What would you suggest for patching in the camera. It would be FPV, unless there is a better option than the GoPro. I would be looking for smooth as possible and recordable.

Best,

Tim

This particular system will not be able to “retract” but will allow to be quickly removed for transport.
We can’t talk much about the overall platform but it’s going to be foldable.

So with the camera up front you will have your landing “sideway” ?
We are still waiting on the Tarot parts for the gimbal, is that what you are still looking for ?

There are a lot of cameras out there for FPV or Record.
We have the Suppo Model HERE.

[timvukman]

Hi DiaLFonZo

I will answer in two parts.

The UAV landing gear.

I am way to stupid / stubborn to give up on my retracting gear The other idea that I mentioned yesterday was the failure that it was expected to be, but worth a try for a teachable moment. I have a pair of Hi-Tec HM 645MG servos that I used in a tilt / rotate platform that I will repurpose to drive my landing gear. I’ll need to come up with a simple solution to program them to stay within 90 degrees of rotation, so I will search for that.

A couple of right angle mounting brackets would allow me to mount the servos to my spare top plate that I have attached to the bottom of the UAV to bolt the gear onto. I should be able to find something to go on the geared end of the servo that I can adapt to connect the tubing to. A simple bar with holes would work as I can put bolts / nuts through the tubing and through the bar inserted in the tubing and create a good strong physical setup.

FPV

As for FPV, I was looking at the camera that you put the link in for already. It almost seems too good to be true in that I could record to a memory card, or view it live. As is often the case with me, my inquiry led me down yet another rabbit hole, (which is my way of saying off on a tangent that may not be helpful.)

One thing led to another and I ended up reading up the DJI products. I had gone with the quadrino FC because it was recommended in the HQuad500 documentation / kit that I had decided to build. It all seemed good since I had never explored anything to do with drones before.

Having now found out about this DJI FC kit:

robotshop.com/ca/en/dji-naza … combo.html

I’m really sorry that I didn’t know enough to buy this instead of the quadrino for the extra $10.00. I am seriously considering buying this now and switching everything that I have put together over. It appears to have everything that I keep asking about that I want.

With what I have invested in my HQuad Octocopter, I really like the options this DJI would give me.

What do you think?

I would only have to add a few frame parts, plus motors and ESCs to build another HQ500 Quad drone as a development platform for experimenting based on what I have on hand and using the quadrino in there.

Best,

Tim

[timvukman]

Hi DiaLFonZo:

Shopping success, and all from RobotShop

I have two HS-645MG Ultra Torque servos. A little heavy, but they ought to have enough torque for the landing gear that I built.

These servos will be mounted into:

Lynxmotion Aluminum Servo Bracket
robotshop.com/ca/en/lynxmoti … sb-01.html

The brackets will be mounted along the thin flange to the current deck plate that holds the retracts that are going to be removed.

On the splines of the two servos, each will get:

Actobotics Servo Arm (Hitec)
robotshop.com/ca/en/actoboti … hitec.html

These servo arms are splined and an end cap screw will hold the splines on the arm to the splined shaft of the servo.
The servo arms have three holes with a threaded base in the hole.
Holes will be drilled in the vertical tubes of my landing gear so that the posts can be screwed to the arms with the arms inside the tubes. (Or even to the outside of the tubes to make sure I have clearance to rotate the tubes.)

Pololu Micro Maestro 6-channel USB Servo Controller (Assembled)
robotshop.com/ca/en/pololu-m … mbled.html

This multi-servo controller is programmable via the computer and the USB interface. The servo controller will be programmed to provide 100 degrees or so of travel and the unit will be switched by the transmitter switch through the receiver channel 10 as the current retracts are.

Looks great on paper

Best,

Tim

[timvukman]

Hi DiaLFonZo

I did my homework regarding the DJI FC that I said I might switch to. I read their manual and decided that I will stick with the Quadrino. I’ve done quite a bit of work with the Arduino over the years and learned it’s coding language.

I read through all the code in version 2.4 and there are options that I didn’t know about that I can use. For example, I could use the serial port and code the landing gear servos directly if there is space on the Arduino for it. I’m only at 39.2 % so I think there’s room. I might have to spend some time with the Wiki for it, but that’s ok. I’m going to invest some time with the MultiWii config software.

I’m also sure that I don’t fully understand what the modes selections do in WinGui. I’m focused on “hover in place” which might already be part of the normal setup and switch selection on the transmitter, and on Fly to Home which might also be already there with a switch selection that I don’t know about.

Best,
Tim

[dialfonzo]

The DJI flight controller is a nice one and will fly great.
Lot of stabilization but not much custom things available as it’s a locked software. Still if you do not need anything else it will be an awesome flight controller.

The PixHawk is also a good option.

If you want to code, yes you should keep the Quadrino Nano.
Add code but make sure it doesn’t “slow” the code as you will get weird behavior.

To get stabilization you should check “Horizon” and “Mag” at minimum.
Those can be set on an AUX switch or you can check all check-boxes (low - mid - high) and they will be always on.

[timvukman]

Hi DiaLFonZo

I get your point on slowing down the software.

For my other comments and observations, you can see that I basically didn’t know what I had. I also didn’t know that I had set up most of what I wanted when we went through the discussions on linking the controller channels in the transmitter.

I’m going to make some small labels for the switches on the transmitter so that I know which modes they represent.

There is nothing to gain by migrating to something new before I even work with what I have. Continuous improvement is a great concept but means nothing without a baseline.

I made some fixed landing gear while I’m waiting to get my order in for the parts for my retraction setup. It makes for a cute robot with propellers

One serious question though. I’m thinking that I want to move the throttle control to the rotary control on the lower side of the Radio Link AT10. I have been playing here in the house with the motors running while trying not to apply enough throttle to actually take off. I’m finding it very difficult to move the left stick left / right without it changing the up down values. If I use the rotary control, it has detents which would hold the throttle where I set it and keep it consistent. Then I could worry about getting used to the flight controls. Comments?

Best,
Tim

[dialfonzo]

You can move the Throttle to any of the channels you want but it might be difficult to fly that way.
A better solution would be to use some “Expodential” on the throttle.

Good to read:
MultiWii Wiki Rates & Expo

[timvukman]

Ok, Thanks!!

I’ll do some reading!

Tim

[timvukman]

Ok, close is not close enough.

I assembled my servos and hooked them up to the Pololu servo controller and wrote the code to control them.

I got through all of the wiring and mounting and testing and I was really happy. Also impressed.

Everything works fabuously…unit I disconnected the battery.

Then, the servos released and the weight of the drone rotated them until the drone settled on the ground.

Back to the drawing board.

Best,

Tim

[dialfonzo]

Usually most landing system (even for planes) use a lever and a lock system.
The weight is never on the servo itself.

What happened exactly ? any pictures ?

[timvukman]

Hi DiaLFonZo

I didn’t know about a lever and lock system:oops: That makes total sense !!!

Well, the exact sequence of events follows:

Mounted and tested with the UAV upside down.

Much satisfaction with the results

Even wife was impressed with technical and programming skill8)

Turned the unit right side up and it was standing just fine while the servos were running

Unplugged the battery.

UAV did a gentle arc straight forward until the servos bottomed out on the table

Unfortunately, there is no film of the event for the 11 o’clock news.

I removed the servos and associated wiring and controls.

I created a new mount to grab the tubing by drilling through my plate using an assembled tubing clamp as a template

The tubing clamp is mounted to the plate with the 4 screws that secure the plate the motor wires thread through at the ends where the motors are.

I mounted them front and back to get a good distance between them for stability. The UAV is too narrow to go side to side.

I then placed an order on Banggood for a prebuilt set of drone landing gear; complete with the servos, gear tubes and mounting plate.

I’ll test fly this UAV soon, and if it still has fixed gear, it won’t look as good, or as magical.

My Robotshop order arrived with the parts for the FPV system, so I have something new to focus on.

I have a tablet that has an HDMI input port on it.

Is there an easy way (plug and play) to go from the RCA outputs on the Receiver to HDMI?

Best regards,

Tim

[cbenson]

We’re happy to hear it’s working!

Regarding the HDMI, you’d need a video capture card with HDMI output.

[timvukman]

Hi CBenson:

I found some reviews and discussions on the net last night for 5.8Ghz OTG FPV Receivers. These are small modules with a USB connection into your phone or tablet.

This would be a perfect solution for me to use my tablet for FPV… If they are any good. Peoples experiences seem to be all over the map.

Have you folks looked at these, or are you looking at them, and do you expect to carry them?

Thanks,

Tim