10-Mar-2017, 07:04 PM
Here's another of my builds for your entertainment. I call this one "The English Quad" due to the colour scheme.
Parts list:
Frame: Wicked Wingman Cricket 225 Long (Armattan Productions)
Motors: RacerStar BR2205 2300kv
ESC: RacerStar RS30A V2 BLHeli_S
Propellers: Dalprop 5045 V2 triblades
Flight controller: MyAirBot Omnibus F3 AIO
Power Distribution: RCExplorer Baby PDB
Flight Camera: Foxeer XAT600M (HS1177 CCD)
Video Transmitter: Eachine TS5840 200mW
Receiver: LemonRX DSMX diversity satellite
Battery: Turnigy Nanotech 4S 1300mA/h 45-90C
All Up Weight (AUW): 505g
With this quad, I wanted to make something that was truly waterproof, so the build involved extensive use of conformal coating on the electronics to make them immune to water. The flight controller I'd chosen didn't have any current sensor, so I decided to use the Baby PDB from RCExplorer. The PDB is actually designed for their small tricopters, but it does have enough ESC pads for a quad build. The layout made for a bit more wire than I would have liked, but I was also attracted to the fact that the output from the voltage regulator on the PDB could be configured for different voltages and that let me configure it to output 8V so that it could drive all the electronics in the build.
I started off by removing the heat shrink from my ESCs and spraying a first coat of conformal coating on them and the PDB. Then I carefully measured the lengths and placements of all the wires and put the ESCs and PDB together off the frame. Once that was done, I added another layer of conformal coating and ended up with this:
I also added some extra capacitors to the ESCs to protect my electronics from the voltage spikes they produce under heavy braking. The conformal coating can be soldered through, so you just have to make sure that you re-coat any spots that are soldered with some coating and a brush.
Happy with my work so far, I mounted the ESCs and PDB to the frame, shrink wrapped the ESCs and mounted them on double sided sticky pads with a tie wrap for added safety. I also added some rubber anti-vibration mounts for the flight controller to sit on.
With that done, it was time to turn my attention to the flight controller and VTX. I removed the heat shrink from the VTX and then carefully masked off the connectors and sockets with document tape. I also put a tiny square of tape over the little hole in the barometer before spraying both parts with two coats of conformal coating.
Here, I've just started to connect the current and voltage sensor inputs, plus the 8V power feed to the flight controller.
There's plenty of space in this frame for mounting the VTX and RX. I didn't bother conformally coating the LemonRX receiver as the plastic case is plenty to keep splashes and snow off. I'm not intending to try flying this under water after all!
I also used an SMA to right angle SMA pigtail so that I could take advantage of the antenna mounting hole in the top plate and protect the VTX from damage in the event of an antenna ripping crash.
As the battery on this quad is bottom mounted, I printed a battery protector design that I found on Thingiverse in Ninja semiflex filament. (Think TPU). The protector helps to take the impact on a hard landing, the little feet that stick out from the sides help the quad stand stable before launch and the integrated holder for the balance lead keeps it out of the way of the props.
Here is the final result. I think it looks pretty cool.
The flight controller is flashed with Betaflight 3.1 and because of the winter, I've only had one battery through this build so far. It flew very nicely with default PIDs on my one flight though and while it's not quite as powerful as the Chameleon, it's not far behind either!
Parts list:
Frame: Wicked Wingman Cricket 225 Long (Armattan Productions)
Motors: RacerStar BR2205 2300kv
ESC: RacerStar RS30A V2 BLHeli_S
Propellers: Dalprop 5045 V2 triblades
Flight controller: MyAirBot Omnibus F3 AIO
Power Distribution: RCExplorer Baby PDB
Flight Camera: Foxeer XAT600M (HS1177 CCD)
Video Transmitter: Eachine TS5840 200mW
Receiver: LemonRX DSMX diversity satellite
Battery: Turnigy Nanotech 4S 1300mA/h 45-90C
All Up Weight (AUW): 505g
With this quad, I wanted to make something that was truly waterproof, so the build involved extensive use of conformal coating on the electronics to make them immune to water. The flight controller I'd chosen didn't have any current sensor, so I decided to use the Baby PDB from RCExplorer. The PDB is actually designed for their small tricopters, but it does have enough ESC pads for a quad build. The layout made for a bit more wire than I would have liked, but I was also attracted to the fact that the output from the voltage regulator on the PDB could be configured for different voltages and that let me configure it to output 8V so that it could drive all the electronics in the build.
I started off by removing the heat shrink from my ESCs and spraying a first coat of conformal coating on them and the PDB. Then I carefully measured the lengths and placements of all the wires and put the ESCs and PDB together off the frame. Once that was done, I added another layer of conformal coating and ended up with this:
I also added some extra capacitors to the ESCs to protect my electronics from the voltage spikes they produce under heavy braking. The conformal coating can be soldered through, so you just have to make sure that you re-coat any spots that are soldered with some coating and a brush.
Happy with my work so far, I mounted the ESCs and PDB to the frame, shrink wrapped the ESCs and mounted them on double sided sticky pads with a tie wrap for added safety. I also added some rubber anti-vibration mounts for the flight controller to sit on.
With that done, it was time to turn my attention to the flight controller and VTX. I removed the heat shrink from the VTX and then carefully masked off the connectors and sockets with document tape. I also put a tiny square of tape over the little hole in the barometer before spraying both parts with two coats of conformal coating.
Here, I've just started to connect the current and voltage sensor inputs, plus the 8V power feed to the flight controller.
There's plenty of space in this frame for mounting the VTX and RX. I didn't bother conformally coating the LemonRX receiver as the plastic case is plenty to keep splashes and snow off. I'm not intending to try flying this under water after all!
I also used an SMA to right angle SMA pigtail so that I could take advantage of the antenna mounting hole in the top plate and protect the VTX from damage in the event of an antenna ripping crash.
As the battery on this quad is bottom mounted, I printed a battery protector design that I found on Thingiverse in Ninja semiflex filament. (Think TPU). The protector helps to take the impact on a hard landing, the little feet that stick out from the sides help the quad stand stable before launch and the integrated holder for the balance lead keeps it out of the way of the props.
Here is the final result. I think it looks pretty cool.
The flight controller is flashed with Betaflight 3.1 and because of the winter, I've only had one battery through this build so far. It flew very nicely with default PIDs on my one flight though and while it's not quite as powerful as the Chameleon, it's not far behind either!