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Multirotor MegaThread - They're UFO's, Not Drones!
- Thread starter Mohonky
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Mohonky
Member
https://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/
Heads up for RC operators in the US; all your unmanned aircraft must now be registered with the FAA. They say 'drones' but they are a bit vague on the details but I would assume this to also mean helicopters and aircraft as they do state flying devices tethered via communication link.
Frames 0.55lb (250g) to 55lb (25kg) must be registered. Civil fines up to $27,500 for use of non-registered airframes.
Registration is free if done before Jan 20 2016, $5 after.
Heads up for RC operators in the US; all your unmanned aircraft must now be registered with the FAA. They say 'drones' but they are a bit vague on the details but I would assume this to also mean helicopters and aircraft as they do state flying devices tethered via communication link.
Frames 0.55lb (250g) to 55lb (25kg) must be registered. Civil fines up to $27,500 for use of non-registered airframes.
Registration is free if done before Jan 20 2016, $5 after.
I was comparing our solution, which uses fixed mounts, to the solution the winning team used on one of their test multirotors, which relied on servos to tilt the motors.
Fixed mounts are lighter and more reliable, but the servos do offer more range of motion.
Yeah, that's fair enough. All those yaw controllers and stuff only really work when you want the platform to be stable. If you want to do anything fancy you have to do it manually (or design your own controller to do it automatically for you haha, but the flight dynamics involved are always pretty challenging).
We never tried return to home. Does multiwii go back to the take-off position in a straight line or does it try to follow the path you took? Either way I can see why it must be pretty scary. The vast majority of multirotors have close to no knowledge of their environments apart from a basic altitude and potentially some x, y coordinates from the GPS. Anything comes up in the multirotor's flight path and you're screwed.
A guy in my lab actually mounted a 2D laser scanner under his quadcopter and is trying to fly through a forest while avoiding and mapping trees. I'm keen to see how well that will work when he's done. However that sort of laser scanner is so expensive it's only really viable for professionals and rich hobbyists...
Mohonky
Member
Multiwii goes back home in a straight line. It automatically goes to a certain height and heads straight back. It will carry the trajectory while allowing you to actually adjust the height via throttle so if you have line of sight you can manually adjust and compensate if there is an object in its path you need to climb over.
You can also completely override and take back control at any time for any reason during the RTH function and then release sticks to let it go back to its RTH function as it was. Its kind of a fail safe in case something is in front of it and you need to take control of you can see RTH will cause a collision.
Thanks for the explanation! That sounds quite practical.
Mohonky
Member
Yeh Multiwii is quite good, it's much older than a lot of the other systems. Both my quads are multiwii and my Scarab Avatar pictured a few posts ago (that arrived today and I am about to start building) is multiwii also. If I get another unit it'll be a small fpv racer and probably based on the newer cleanflight baseflight configs as they seem to be all the rage for acro flying right now.
Multiwii like I said in OP is a kind of middle ground, I think the newer stuff is better for hardcore rate mode flying if you go by the way they have taken off with fpv racers etc and the DJI and APM stuff is much better for your automated hand holding stuff and multiwii is somewhere in the middle, it does full rate mode very well so you can easily use it for proper sports flying and it also does all the automated stuff if you want it to, but the caveat is that the automated stuff definitely doesn't seem as well locked in as APM or DJI stuff. I consider it's auto functions as more of a back up as opposed to something you want to rely on. It definitely leans more toward manual flight than auto.
When I first gave a mate a fly with my Paris multiwii board he was surprised by how smooth it was in response and movement, his mate also really loved the feel of it, one came from APM and the other DJI. Both those guys now fly naze32 when out fpv'ing because they are cheap and everywhere and the guy that did my Paris Air supplies them with multiwii or naze board and software.
Actually most of my stuff comes from multiwiicopter.com if you want a gander.
Thanks, I'm really looking forward to it, ahem, landing at my doorstep! It's coming from eBay, but is local Australian stock (rather than China/Malaysia etc.) so ought to arrive next week. Though I've been somewhat obsessively F5ing the tracking number since it was despatched!
And yes, I had poured through your OP (it's on the best on the forums, I think) a few times while deciding on what to buy. Your tips re: headless mode and FPV flying I saw echoed almost universally elsewhere, so I took them to heart.
I'm not expecting much usability from the FPV feature in terms of flying, but I figured being able to see what the 'coptor can see in pseudo-real time seemed like a pretty fun way to enjoy buzzing around above my house or whatever (at least compared to having to wait to plug a SD card into the PC later on to look at footage).
Mohonky
Member
Got ya parcel yet?
I'm currently fighting myself regarding my Scarab Avatar build, the need to organise and layout components and wires in the nearest fashion and make sure Everything is perfect and the want to get the thing in the air finished.
My anal retentiveness to wiring is winning atm
Mohonky
Member
Finished. Will just copy paste my rcgroups post, easier.
Well, it took some late nights and some guess work but it's mostly done (no balancing of props or motors nor pitch setup yet) but the bulk of it's done now.
I enjoy but hate doing this because I end up being so pedantic about wiring and how it all looks. I think I got there in the end, I just hope there won't be any EMI problems with my lay out.
The Scarab Avatar is by far and away the best looking Tricopter out there by miles, Quinton has done an awesome job with the design of this, it's my favourite looking multirotor of anything out there regardless of how many motors, been wanting one for a long time.
Also have to add to that, the service and support from multiwiicopter has been amazing as always, really good to have an independent store like this to rely on when they've routinely gone above and beyond the sort of customer service I usually get, especially as someone who has worked sales a lot and is routinely pissed off at salespeople or companies giving me service so far below what I would normally have offered myself.
Anyway, this should be fairly visible in the air, if I can't tell it's orientation there is something seriously wrong. Mind you, when I picked up the LED's for the front headlights, I tried two; one of them was so bright I was blinded for a good few seconds, decided that while it would look cool to light up the entire neighbourhood, being frequently blinded might be detrimental to being able to fly.
Just hope I don't smash it all on my first few flights (good chance of that)
Well, it took some late nights and some guess work but it's mostly done (no balancing of props or motors nor pitch setup yet) but the bulk of it's done now.
I enjoy but hate doing this because I end up being so pedantic about wiring and how it all looks. I think I got there in the end, I just hope there won't be any EMI problems with my lay out.
The Scarab Avatar is by far and away the best looking Tricopter out there by miles, Quinton has done an awesome job with the design of this, it's my favourite looking multirotor of anything out there regardless of how many motors, been wanting one for a long time.
Also have to add to that, the service and support from multiwiicopter has been amazing as always, really good to have an independent store like this to rely on when they've routinely gone above and beyond the sort of customer service I usually get, especially as someone who has worked sales a lot and is routinely pissed off at salespeople or companies giving me service so far below what I would normally have offered myself.
Anyway, this should be fairly visible in the air, if I can't tell it's orientation there is something seriously wrong. Mind you, when I picked up the LED's for the front headlights, I tried two; one of them was so bright I was blinded for a good few seconds, decided that while it would look cool to light up the entire neighbourhood, being frequently blinded might be detrimental to being able to fly.
Just hope I don't smash it all on my first few flights (good chance of that)
Mohonky
Member
No one got or did anything multirotor for Christmas hey? The rest of the family keeps stealing my toy quad while I work on the other stuff, so I bought 3 Cheerson CX10's. Coming next week hopefully
Well I had some problems with my Scarab Reconn I needed to sort as well as do some tuning in my 350 sizes quad and the Avatar.
Finally got round to the Reconn, it's not a huge quad, but it's very video orientated and quite heavy. I had some problems though. When I stacked it last time I had to have the Accelerometer sent away for repair, in the mean time I put a gimbal on the machine. I got my accelerometer back but never put the flight controller and everything else back in, just left it unbuilt as I wasn't doing a lot of flying or rc stuff. But as I'm now getting evrything sorted again, put the Reconn back together and have it a to.
First flight, it didn't even get off the ground, it basically just tried to take off like all power was on one side and rolled on its back. Plugged it into the PC, checked the multiwii GUI and everything looked correct so decided I'd give it another go. Took off normally, flew a few feet and then went full turtle, flipped 180 and drove itself intontue ground from a few feet. Broke 2 props, boom, 1 rotor. Fixed it all and wasn't sure where to look, I was thinking maybe EMI as it's not a huge quad and everything was kind of squished into it's guts; but I noticed by chance what the problem was when I powered it on. It was the gimbal. The gimbal was out of balance, something I didnt think would be a massive issue, but turns out it made it unflyable. It was always overshooting and because of the weight transfer being thrown back and forth, it was sending an oscillation through the whole airframe and freaking out the flight controller which was compensating for the oscillations coming from the gimbal when the airframe itself was actually holding steady.
Sorted that out and man, I love my Reconn for sheer poise and just sort of soaring about. Its so damn smooth, every input you give it and the way it reacts is like a big soaring bird, it just gracefully and effortlessly carved through the air and it's solid as a bloody rock when you want to just hover about in front of you.
Gonna have to get the googles on and just take it for a cruise I think.
If only my gopro 3+ black wasn't always corrupting the Goddamn SD card
Well I had some problems with my Scarab Reconn I needed to sort as well as do some tuning in my 350 sizes quad and the Avatar.
Finally got round to the Reconn, it's not a huge quad, but it's very video orientated and quite heavy. I had some problems though. When I stacked it last time I had to have the Accelerometer sent away for repair, in the mean time I put a gimbal on the machine. I got my accelerometer back but never put the flight controller and everything else back in, just left it unbuilt as I wasn't doing a lot of flying or rc stuff. But as I'm now getting evrything sorted again, put the Reconn back together and have it a to.
First flight, it didn't even get off the ground, it basically just tried to take off like all power was on one side and rolled on its back. Plugged it into the PC, checked the multiwii GUI and everything looked correct so decided I'd give it another go. Took off normally, flew a few feet and then went full turtle, flipped 180 and drove itself intontue ground from a few feet. Broke 2 props, boom, 1 rotor. Fixed it all and wasn't sure where to look, I was thinking maybe EMI as it's not a huge quad and everything was kind of squished into it's guts; but I noticed by chance what the problem was when I powered it on. It was the gimbal. The gimbal was out of balance, something I didnt think would be a massive issue, but turns out it made it unflyable. It was always overshooting and because of the weight transfer being thrown back and forth, it was sending an oscillation through the whole airframe and freaking out the flight controller which was compensating for the oscillations coming from the gimbal when the airframe itself was actually holding steady.
Sorted that out and man, I love my Reconn for sheer poise and just sort of soaring about. Its so damn smooth, every input you give it and the way it reacts is like a big soaring bird, it just gracefully and effortlessly carved through the air and it's solid as a bloody rock when you want to just hover about in front of you.
Gonna have to get the googles on and just take it for a cruise I think.
If only my gopro 3+ black wasn't always corrupting the Goddamn SD card
My 'coptor arrived day prior to xmas, giving me the opportunity to have all the (6x) batteries charged up for Christmas day. It has received a flogging each day since; crashed on the street, tangled in the exterior Christmas lights, banged into every wall inside the house, chased and bit by the dog, dumped on the carport roof...
Still going strong! What a lark they are, so much fun. The footage it spits back to the phone/ipad is terrific, all things considered. Hoping for some slightly better weather and I'm gonna duck over to some nearby playing fields, where I have several hundreds meters in all directions to fly safely around the place.
Mohonky
Member
Was wondering if we'd hear back. I basically lost my toy quad, I barely get to use it now seeing as the rest of the family have become to engrossed in flying it around and the yard isnt really big enough to stretch the legs of anything else, mainly just try and get a quick hover and tune in when the wind has died down.
The toy ones are awesome fun, I fly the shit out of the toy quad; I hammer the throttle and go in with as much pitch as the quad will allow and then throw it through rolled turns or pitch it back on its ass and roll and yaw to get it to nearly turn on itself; as soon as I get the others ones out Its like I forget how to fly. Think its the combination of the increased momentum & inertia as well as nerves taking over because I'm a nervous wreck flying my more serious frames, I cant even beginnto fly it as smoothly or confidently.
my family did a white elephant this year so i bought a $50 cheapo quad from Frys. It flies pretty nice. We let my nephew try it, he's 8, and he took it pretty high and almost got it stuck in a tree, but i was able to take over the controls and land it successfully without issue.
Technobabel
Member
Just got all the components in for my Emax Nighthawk 250 w Naze32 FC. The Taranis is new as well, I've been using a DX6 until now because I mostly fly DSM2 micros / nanos. Not pictured are my new Fatshark Dominator V3's. This will be my first real build apart from building nano's with all-in-one FC's. It will probably take a while since I have 2 small children and I can only work on it after they go to bed.
Technically this was an xmas gift, which mostly boiled down to having my wife click the "By It Now" button on ebay for the Emax kit.
Mohonky
Member
Just got all the components in for my Emax Nighthawk 250 w Naze32 FC. The Taranis is new as well, I've been using a DX6 until now because I mostly fly DSM2 micros / nanos. Not pictured are my new Fatshark Dominator V3's. This will be my first real build apart from building nano's with all-in-one FC's. It will probably take a while since I have 2 small children and I can only work on it after they go to bed.
Technically this was an xmas gift, which mostly boiled down to having my wife click the "By It Now" button on ebay for the Emax kit.
If you need any help with the Taranis let me know, it can be a pain in the ass at times. It's a radio that's as good as it is frustrating at times for me. I'm not even game enough to try and setup a Heli mixing the pitch and throttle curves through the collective mixes, nor was anyone else at the flying fields.
I have no problem with it for multirotors though, it's really easy in that regard.
Technobabel
Member
I'm sure I'll have some questions for you! I'm going through all the stuff at Open TX University right now to get a handle on the basics.
Mohonky
Member
So long as you aren't going to give me anything too complicated, like I said I'm trying to learn myself lol.
Nah it's a great radio, but getting your head around all the possibilities will make your head swirl, unless you are a already an IT boffin or coder, then it'll be nice and easy for you.
Technobabel
Member
The Aerial Sports League here in the bay area pushes drone combat pretty hard, here are a handful of pics I took from the last meet up I went to. Got some videos as well I need to get around to uploading.
(my son playing with his favorite drone combatant, the King Koopa)
(my son playing with his favorite drone combatant, the King Koopa)
Mohonky
Member
(my son playing with his favorite drone combatant, the King Koopa)
hehe, cute. King Koopa, love it.
Technobabel
Member
It even has a speaker in it that plays the Bowser's Castle theme during combat 
Mohonky
Member
It even has a speaker in it that plays the Bowser's Castle theme during combat
Haha, the guys that do Multirotors seriously love customisation and added shit like that. I was thinking of adding "Danger Zone" sound byte on my Taranis for everytime I arm my quad, or the Top Gun theme.
Technobabel
Member
You're right, working on quads is directly responsible or me wanting to get a 3d printer!
Mohonky
Member
For those of you looking for something RTF, this seems like an interesting prospect, from Traxxas of all companies.
Traxxas Aton
I'm not usually into plastic quads, nor really RTF stuff but this is quite interesting. It's actually running APM software which is probably the most advanced 'automated' flight controller software systems out there. Sure it doesn't have all the extra sensors and other modules on it to do the most advanced stuff, but it does mean that this should have a pretty rock solid basis with which to work with it's RTH, position hold and aerial video based modes. Being that it is based on this Open Source software, I don't doubt custom hacks, firmwares or even official firmware updates see more functionality added to this little guy.
The other interesting thing is that usually video centric quads aren't particularly great manual flyers, you usually end up with something good for video or good for acrobatics and then a weird in between which isn't really great at either. This one looks pretty decent for video AND acrobatic flying. When Film mode is engaged it goes pretty docile and the APM software will virtually look after it for you but then you have Advanced Mode which incorporates some of the APM modes to let you have some fun without letting things get way out of hand and then Expert mode which is as you would expect, an out and out acro mode with high rates to fly the shit out of it. Expert mode also has a 'Braking' feature, so if things get too out of control, you can hit the Brake button and it'll right itself and pull you out of whatever mess you got yourself into.
Keen to see the reviews because this could be a great quad to get into for those not wanting to go full manual or custom build.
The only downside I see, is it uses the same controller as the LaTrax Alias which is more like a video game console controller (though something I'm sure many of us on this forum would be quite used to) and of course the supplied charger is going to be fairly weak, but at least it includes one and you can always BYO later on.
Apparently it's going to be around $399 for the basic Aton which includes everything you need; Quad, Radio, Battery + Charger, but the $499 model seems a better deal imo, as it the same as the standard but they give you a bigger battery (good for between 20-25min apparently, but take that with a grain of salt, it is probably only good for that if you fly it in a fairly docile way but still even hard flying should get decent time from that) and includes a 2 Axis gimbal designed for a Go Pro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vRIp9rnEi0
It doesn't really seem like a bad deal when you consider it's rival is more along the lines of the DJI which starts around $699 and definitely will NOT let you take over and go full acro apeshit on it.
Traxxas Aton
I'm not usually into plastic quads, nor really RTF stuff but this is quite interesting. It's actually running APM software which is probably the most advanced 'automated' flight controller software systems out there. Sure it doesn't have all the extra sensors and other modules on it to do the most advanced stuff, but it does mean that this should have a pretty rock solid basis with which to work with it's RTH, position hold and aerial video based modes. Being that it is based on this Open Source software, I don't doubt custom hacks, firmwares or even official firmware updates see more functionality added to this little guy.
The other interesting thing is that usually video centric quads aren't particularly great manual flyers, you usually end up with something good for video or good for acrobatics and then a weird in between which isn't really great at either. This one looks pretty decent for video AND acrobatic flying. When Film mode is engaged it goes pretty docile and the APM software will virtually look after it for you but then you have Advanced Mode which incorporates some of the APM modes to let you have some fun without letting things get way out of hand and then Expert mode which is as you would expect, an out and out acro mode with high rates to fly the shit out of it. Expert mode also has a 'Braking' feature, so if things get too out of control, you can hit the Brake button and it'll right itself and pull you out of whatever mess you got yourself into.
Keen to see the reviews because this could be a great quad to get into for those not wanting to go full manual or custom build.
The only downside I see, is it uses the same controller as the LaTrax Alias which is more like a video game console controller (though something I'm sure many of us on this forum would be quite used to) and of course the supplied charger is going to be fairly weak, but at least it includes one and you can always BYO later on.
Apparently it's going to be around $399 for the basic Aton which includes everything you need; Quad, Radio, Battery + Charger, but the $499 model seems a better deal imo, as it the same as the standard but they give you a bigger battery (good for between 20-25min apparently, but take that with a grain of salt, it is probably only good for that if you fly it in a fairly docile way but still even hard flying should get decent time from that) and includes a 2 Axis gimbal designed for a Go Pro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vRIp9rnEi0
It doesn't really seem like a bad deal when you consider it's rival is more along the lines of the DJI which starts around $699 and definitely will NOT let you take over and go full acro apeshit on it.
woot. Just tested everything. I have 1 working 10k mAh battery, 1 working transmitter and receiver, 7/7 working ESCs, 6/6 working 320kv motors. Just need to upgrade the firmware on the Naza flight controller and then start positioning everything and securing it to the frame.
Its been delay after delay, in combination of my own laziness and being busy. The charger i got didnt have a connection for the battery i got (battery has XT90 connector), the Tarot frame had different connections for the battery than the battery had. So i had to make my own cable to charge the battery, and solder a new connection on the frame. City of 4.5 million people and not a single hobby shop i went to had more than 5 XT60 connectors (needed 6) and one only had one XT90 connector. So i ended up having to order a bag of the XT60's from amazon. The flight controller servo cables are like an inch and a half long so i had to order longer ones, cause they won't reach from the middle of the frame to the connection on the front of the frame.
I don't remember RC cars and their parts being this disorganized when i used to race.
Its been delay after delay, in combination of my own laziness and being busy. The charger i got didnt have a connection for the battery i got (battery has XT90 connector), the Tarot frame had different connections for the battery than the battery had. So i had to make my own cable to charge the battery, and solder a new connection on the frame. City of 4.5 million people and not a single hobby shop i went to had more than 5 XT60 connectors (needed 6) and one only had one XT90 connector. So i ended up having to order a bag of the XT60's from amazon. The flight controller servo cables are like an inch and a half long so i had to order longer ones, cause they won't reach from the middle of the frame to the connection on the front of the frame.
I don't remember RC cars and their parts being this disorganized when i used to race.
Mohonky
Member
Thats why I buy in bulk whenever I have to order shitty little things like wires, connectors etc from hobbyking. You never know when they'll come in handy.
If I need it, I can usually sconge something somewhere or I can make it from something else.
Building a big camera rig huh?
Be careful on updating DJI firmware right now, they are introducing this whole new Geofencing thing and people are going apeshit about it.
im putting the custom firmware on it.
Melon Husk
Member
Just got all the components in for my Emax Nighthawk 250 w Naze32 FC. The Taranis is new as well, I've been using a DX6 until now because I mostly fly DSM2 micros / nanos. Not pictured are my new Fatshark Dominator V3's. This will be my first real build apart from building nano's with all-in-one FC's. It will probably take a while since I have 2 small children and I can only work on it after they go to bed.
Technically this was an xmas gift, which mostly boiled down to having my wife click the "By It Now" button on ebay for the Emax kit.
I picked up the knockoff Emax kit from Amazon as my first real quad and so far it has been a blast! Trying now to dial in PID settings and getting all my FPV gear in place.
In the same boat with two kids and yeah, it takes a while to get everything together/tested/working correctly when your time is limited. Make sure you order another battery. When you can get away from the house for a bit to fly you will want more than one.
https://www.3dhubs.com/ is your friend
this is pretty amazing.
So i flew my hexa again yesterday. We live right next to a bayou so i figured its pretty safe to fly it over that. I'd hate if i lost control and caused damaged to someone or something. I can't believe idiots take these things and fly them over car accidents or wild fires getting the in the way, this thing is huge and very dangerous.
excuse the bad pics just used my phone, and the wide angle makes it look like im closer to those powerlines, i was a good 15 feet away from them and the hexa was above me and even further away from them.
Forgot to bring the voltage reader so i didnt get a reading when i was done, but ~20 minutes flight time and when i plugged my battery in it said it was at 22.7 volts, but i know they can recover some after resting.
Need to get some wire and bullet connectors and run them through the arms for a neater look, putting the ESCs in the frame itself.
Mohonky
Member
Just be careful with bullets, you don't wanna occidentally plug them in backwards, it's lets the magic smoke out. Found that out on a $200 ESC in my touring car.....
That is a big multi mate, serious decapitator. I'd hate to see that end up in the bayou. What flight controller did you say you were using?
Got my Knife on Monday, finally finished it this afternoon. I tried my best with the wiring but small quads are just a pain in the ass to get tidy. Between the ESC's, BEC, LED's, FPV gear, RX etc in such a small space; it's a serious noodle factory. It's like trying to tame a worm farm.
Got it neat as I could, including desoldering ESC to motor connectors and direct soldering motor wires to ESC myself and just generally trying all manner of things to minimise connectors and save space I still ended up with it being not nearly as tidy as I'd have liked. It's all very compact in their and it doesn't help I am using a standard size X8R rx and video tx which took up the bulk of the space. I could have put things on top of the frame but then they became a crash liability so I tried to keep it all in frame.
End result is it didn't satisfy my OCD tendency for clean wiring but it works and it flies.
By flies I mean, it is fucking amazing. I've only had a quick hover out front for maybe 2 minutes but I could immediately feel that it is really locked in. It doesn't feel like you're controlling it by some sticks on the transmitter but more like telepathy. If it's doing anything, it's because you made it happen.
I've built 3 Quads and a Tricopter now. 1 is a video platform, one a 350 which I was going to use for Acro and FPV, the Avatar because it looks cool as shit (it looks like something from a the future setting in the Terminator fims, despite being named after the gyros in the Avatar film) and now this one which I am using as a replacement for the 350 size frame to learn Acro and FPV racing).
Despite having all the above, I still don't do a lot of line of sight flying outside of hovering about (also not helped by anxiety so I don't get out enough and I don't want to fly around in a smaller park). The aerial platform has been out a bit but being bigger I don't take it out too much nor fly it line of sight, the main flights have been FPV out at an aero rc club. The 350 I just never felt comfortable with, it just didn't quite fly the way I wanted it too and I love the Avatar, it looks awesome as shit and it's smooth and stable but compared with this Knife none of the others come close to how sharp it is. It's like coming from a big luxury sports car and then getting into an F1 car. It just does what you want the second you ask it too; no drift, no mushy feel or disconnection. It's just a precision machine.
Initially I bought it because I want to learn to fly Acro, but I expect some stacks along the way so the video platform was out, the 350 wasn't doing it for me and the Avatar I like to much to stack it and bust up the booms or destroy the servos right now so I want some practice before I take it too far so I bought the Knife thinking smaller quad, stronger, less inertia in an accident and less damage in an impact. The others I usually fly in Angle (stabilised) mode at least but I never felt like taking the Knife out of Acro. It was so solid in Acro mode and so responsive that it inspires a LOT of confidence in you. It just feels amazing. I honestly didn't know a multi could feel so locked in, at least now I know how those guys are throwing those smaller FPV racers around because yeh, these things are dialled compared to 1kg plus frames.
Hooked on it and can't wait to go and fly the crap out it.
That is a big multi mate, serious decapitator. I'd hate to see that end up in the bayou. What flight controller did you say you were using?
Got my Knife on Monday, finally finished it this afternoon. I tried my best with the wiring but small quads are just a pain in the ass to get tidy. Between the ESC's, BEC, LED's, FPV gear, RX etc in such a small space; it's a serious noodle factory. It's like trying to tame a worm farm.
Got it neat as I could, including desoldering ESC to motor connectors and direct soldering motor wires to ESC myself and just generally trying all manner of things to minimise connectors and save space I still ended up with it being not nearly as tidy as I'd have liked. It's all very compact in their and it doesn't help I am using a standard size X8R rx and video tx which took up the bulk of the space. I could have put things on top of the frame but then they became a crash liability so I tried to keep it all in frame.
End result is it didn't satisfy my OCD tendency for clean wiring but it works and it flies.
By flies I mean, it is fucking amazing. I've only had a quick hover out front for maybe 2 minutes but I could immediately feel that it is really locked in. It doesn't feel like you're controlling it by some sticks on the transmitter but more like telepathy. If it's doing anything, it's because you made it happen.
I've built 3 Quads and a Tricopter now. 1 is a video platform, one a 350 which I was going to use for Acro and FPV, the Avatar because it looks cool as shit (it looks like something from a the future setting in the Terminator fims, despite being named after the gyros in the Avatar film) and now this one which I am using as a replacement for the 350 size frame to learn Acro and FPV racing).
Despite having all the above, I still don't do a lot of line of sight flying outside of hovering about (also not helped by anxiety so I don't get out enough and I don't want to fly around in a smaller park). The aerial platform has been out a bit but being bigger I don't take it out too much nor fly it line of sight, the main flights have been FPV out at an aero rc club. The 350 I just never felt comfortable with, it just didn't quite fly the way I wanted it too and I love the Avatar, it looks awesome as shit and it's smooth and stable but compared with this Knife none of the others come close to how sharp it is. It's like coming from a big luxury sports car and then getting into an F1 car. It just does what you want the second you ask it too; no drift, no mushy feel or disconnection. It's just a precision machine.
Initially I bought it because I want to learn to fly Acro, but I expect some stacks along the way so the video platform was out, the 350 wasn't doing it for me and the Avatar I like to much to stack it and bust up the booms or destroy the servos right now so I want some practice before I take it too far so I bought the Knife thinking smaller quad, stronger, less inertia in an accident and less damage in an impact. The others I usually fly in Angle (stabilised) mode at least but I never felt like taking the Knife out of Acro. It was so solid in Acro mode and so responsive that it inspires a LOT of confidence in you. It just feels amazing. I honestly didn't know a multi could feel so locked in, at least now I know how those guys are throwing those smaller FPV racers around because yeh, these things are dialled compared to 1kg plus frames.
Hooked on it and can't wait to go and fly the crap out it.
gutterboy44
Member
I thought there is no wrong way to connect the three ESC wires from ESC to motor with muilti's? Worst case scenario is you get the motor spinning in the wrong direction and you just swap two wires. If you got smoke, there was a short. If you swapped the + and - wires from ESC to PDB or battery.. yeah that is bad.
yea, not sure what he's talking about, there are 3 cables that connect to the motor from the ESC and you reverse the polarity to get clockwise or CCW by changing any two cables. I had 3 out of six motors spinning the correct direction, had to reverse the other three.
I'm using naza m lite with GPS, upgraded to the Naza M lite V2 firmware, i find it amusing that you keep asking though, cause i posted everything i bought on the first page.
Mohonky
Member
I read it as you were going to use bullets between battery and ESC, not motor and ESC. Also forgot you posted on the front page the specs
I had a total mental blank when I did my wires in the motor to ESC side, I knew you could reverse motor direction in the firmware of my ESC, but I don't have the necessary ESC to USB cable to access the firmware. No problem if you have bullets between motor and ESC, just swap 2 over, but I removed the bullets and soldered directly to the ESC to clean up my build. It was only sheer ass that I got all the motor directions correct on the first go, or I'd have to remove the ESC to resolver the motors wires because they are too small to work on when on the frame. I didn't even think to check it as I was doing it.
20 minflight time is impressive, especially to bring it down after that above nominal voltage. You'll get some voltage sag but I can't imagine it's a lot unless you're running a fairly low C battery, at 10k mah 22.2v, the sag on it would be fairly low unless your hauling some heavy gear and using a lot of throttle but even then I would imagine your setup should be fairly efficient.
Been reading up on some of the drone stuff at it was CES, seems they are starting to really push them into more niche sectors now. Drones for fishing lol
Mook1e
Member
So, just a quick update.
We've completed the FPV frankenquad and we're waiting on all of the fpv components from China. Now I see how hard it is to wait.
We're getting a 600tv line camera and boscom transmitter with a few 5v regulators and a clover leaf antenna.
I ordered an X6 tarantula Quad for my son and i'll be using one of the 5v regulators to modify his fpv camera from his V686G to work with it as seen here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=32728097&postcount=3783
The X6 is a beast! I would say it's the closest you'll get to brushless in a brushed, geared, toy class.
In the mean time, I grabbed a JJRC H6W WiFi micro quad that I'm going to try to use with my Galaxy Note 4 as the FPV monitor placed in my Gear VR headset for indoor practice until we get everything up and flying and make a DIY FPV headset.
There are a few more options now.
Lol, and THEN I saw a limited time deal on an Emax Nighthawk pro 280 RTF with TX for ~100 dollars!
Needless to say, it looks like it will be my first Hobby Grade quad.
We've completed the FPV frankenquad and we're waiting on all of the fpv components from China. Now I see how hard it is to wait.
We're getting a 600tv line camera and boscom transmitter with a few 5v regulators and a clover leaf antenna.
I ordered an X6 tarantula Quad for my son and i'll be using one of the 5v regulators to modify his fpv camera from his V686G to work with it as seen here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=32728097&postcount=3783
The X6 is a beast! I would say it's the closest you'll get to brushless in a brushed, geared, toy class.
In the mean time, I grabbed a JJRC H6W WiFi micro quad that I'm going to try to use with my Galaxy Note 4 as the FPV monitor placed in my Gear VR headset for indoor practice until we get everything up and flying and make a DIY FPV headset.
There are a few more options now.
Lol, and THEN I saw a limited time deal on an Emax Nighthawk pro 280 RTF with TX for ~100 dollars!
Needless to say, it looks like it will be my first Hobby Grade quad.
Benjamin_MFF
Member
this is pretty amazing.
Is this a DJI S900? If so, how has operating it been?
its a Tarot X6 frame i built. the components i got are on the first page.
It flies great. Incredibly stable, going to take it out again soon to do a full battery test. Only flown it to a certain voltage on the battery so far.
Mohonky
Member
So, just a quick update.
We've completed the FPV frankenquad and we're waiting on all of the fpv components from China. Now I see how hard it is to wait.
We're getting a 600tv line camera and boscom transmitter with a few 5v regulators and a clover leaf antenna.
I ordered an X6 tarantula Quad for my son and i'll be using one of the 5v regulators to modify his fpv camera from his V686G to work with it as seen here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=32728097&postcount=3783
The X6 is a beast! I would say it's the closest you'll get to brushless in a brushed, geared, toy class.
In the mean time, I grabbed a JJRC H6W WiFi micro quad that I'm going to try to use with my Galaxy Note 4 as the FPV monitor placed in my Gear VR headset for indoor practice until we get everything up and flying and make a DIY FPV headset.
There are a few more options now.
Lol, and THEN I saw a limited time deal on an Emax Nighthawk pro 280 RTF with TX for ~100 dollars!
Needless to say, it looks like it will be my first Hobby Grade quad.
Mate you are going to have a ball with that 280.
Until now I had never taken my Avatar out to a field or park and I had only had the Knife 270 I'm the air twice. Today I went to out with a few guys at a local aero club, only small, 12 peeps all up and only 4 of us today but I had a blast.
After flying the Knife, I don't fly in anything but Acro mode. I turned the rates up despite being a newbie who mostly only hovered round the yard but the 270 size is so responsive and sharp in its handling I was doing stuff I had never tried before, throwing the Knife around in Acro. Flips and rolls, hard banked turns etc. Its easy as in FPV. LOS can still be bit of a problem because you worry about orientation and the smaller quads are harder to see over even 20-30m but feeling confident from flying the Knife I had the Avatar in Acro and had no problems with it at all when I expected to stack it on my first figure eight.
I did eventually stack the Avatar but that was doing a flip too low, the rates on it were simply too low to get it to pull it off and went nose first into the dirt, whoops. Because of the booms and servo it doesn't handle a stack well and it munched a servo and boom unfortunately, but still had a blast.
Got video but I'm on mobile broadband so can't upload on my data cap.
You'll really enjoy the 280 size frame!!
Mohonky
Member
I went flying the other day, and this happen;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6bIfF6JM10
4 props broken. Bent camera mount.
Replaced props, rebent camera mount. Was straight up in the air again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6bIfF6JM10
4 props broken. Bent camera mount.
Replaced props, rebent camera mount. Was straight up in the air again
gutterboy44
Member
I can help with a few questions too. I own the Taranis that I used for the ZMR250 with Naze32 running Cleanflight I built last summer.
I went flying the other day, and this happen;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6bIfF6JM10
4 props broken. Bent camera mount.
Replaced props, rebent camera mount. Was straight up in the air again
What is that timer set for? Your remaining battery voltage? You shouldn't be flying your batteries anywhere near empty. You will quickly destroy your LiPo batteries that way.
Mohonky
Member
Throttle timer.
I'm using the X8R rx which doesn't support A2, I need to get a X4R for that, which I could then use as vbat sense or use an fbvs01 which I do actually have but is not compatible with X8R so for the time being, I'm use the throttle timer which gives me a count down any time throttle is above -100.
I use conservative flight times, but 5min with my Knife 270 will most of the time bring me in at a resting voltage of 3.8v per cell on a 3S 2500mah which is basically storage voltage and usually leaves me at around 40-45% left over. So I can easily get up to 6 minutes without ever going anywhere near deep cycling the lipo.
gutterboy44
Member
So the timer is cutting it too close to low battery voltages? Not sure what caused your quad to drop like that. If you want a battery alarm, just strap one of these alarms to your battery each flight. They are really easy to use and pretty loud. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SCJOITA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Mohonky
Member
No it didn't drop because of voltage, it was well within the safe operational zone, it dropped like it did because I was doing an inverted stall and I stuffed it up.
Basically, I was throwing it into an 180 degree invert by pulling the pitch back, but if you look closely, I didn't actually make it to 180 degree, I only got to 90 degree, so when I went to roll 180 degree to get it back to level, it didn't go back to level, instead it was rotating on a vertical axis instead of horizontal which mean't I never had got it back to level and thus I couldn't get any lift which is what caused it to stall.
Because I was so low when I did it, I knew something was wrong when it started to fall and so I tried to give it pitch to re-level and power out, but it was too late because I started the move about 4 or 5m up, so by the time I realised what was happening, and because I had been rotating it with roll on a horizontal axis, I (A) froze / freaked out and (B) had lost orientation.
The timer I run isn't really a hard and fast rule, I know I have heaps of left over battery running my throttle timer @ 5min, I could realistically set it to about 7min and still bring it down well within a safe range, I usually let the timer hit 0 which is 5min and then spend a minute or two stuffing about doing a few flips and rolls etc as 2500mah in a quad of that size is heaps, normally a racer of that size you'd use 1300-1500mah, so I'm not even close to using the battery.
It was just a piloting fail.
gutterboy44
Member
Ok, because you mentioned the throttle timer in the description, that made me think it had something to do with your electronics/telemetry, not a piloting error. It dropped out of the sky in a similar way.
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