Hey everyone, I just wanted to say thanks for visiting my blog and I hope the information you find here is both helpful and entertaining. I really enjoy RC helicopters and Multi rotors as I find them very interesting to fly and to setup. I especially enjoy the technical aspects of these machines and what makes them work as well as how to make them work. If there are any other resources or links you would like me to add , just let me know and I’ll do my best to bring it to the blog for your enjoyment. Again thanks for visiting and come back soon !
Here is a quick vid I came across that I thought you might enjoy, of course I had nothing to do with it but it is a very cool concept that utilizes the use of a quad copter setup. It is a model from the Avengers movie and it is of the flying aircraft carrier from S.H.I.E.L.D.
Now we all knew that there would eventually be a time when you would actually be able to land a quad copter in water but who would have thought it would happen so soon ? Many of us are not strangers to multi rotors but the idea of being able to land your multi rotor in water and without consequences is extremely appealing. I just so happened to come across this site called AquaCopters.com . What they offer are quad copter frames that appear to be vacuum formed. I’ll show you a couple of videos here soon that show these phenomenal machines in action. They seem to be able to take a bit of abuse and keep on going !
Many of us at one time or another have experimented with their radio controlled craft by landing on water just to see if we could do it without having a tragedy. The thing I like about this idea is that should you feel like going outside for a quick flight and it is raining, there is no doubt you would be able to get away with it. The other thing I like is that now with the Go Pro camera being a common sight on most aircraft, the idea of mounting your camera underneath and landing it in a pond or lake is now a possibility. Now you could have a crash in a pond and walk away with your camera and everything in tact. I can see this item being a part of my future projects however that maybe be a little further down the road. Another great thing I like about these is that the price is just right, they offer the frame only for $119, or you can purchase the frame as an ARF unit costing you around $350. If you check out the one video there is mention about the clear frame and a brief suggestion of mounting your LED lights inside the frame and still being able to see the orientation of the craft in flight, how cool is that ?
Check out these vids , keep in mind I have no affiliation with the company or product nor do I profit from it. Hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think.
Hi everyone, I just came across another video from Innov8tive Designs that I am sure your going to enjoy. We have all seen the many uses for multi rotors this far but this video is fun and creative and I am sure you might want to show it to your children. This is an idea from Lucien in regards to what else you can do with your Next Level quad or hex copter. Keep in mind you have to factor in the issues involving the weight capacity of your multi rotor, battery power, as well as keeping loose materials away from the rotors as they could have a fatal effect such as a crash etc. I think the idea is brilliant and I wish I had thought of it for a Halloween project myself. I think the LED lighting they use to illuminate parts of the figure is really quite clever and I am sure you will enjoy it as well. I take no credit for having anything to do with this video nor do I have any underlying agenda in promoting Next Level machines but I really thought you would all enjoy this one. Have a Safe and Happy Halloween with your kids and spouses!
If you’ve never heard of 3D printing and wondered what the heck it is then your going to want to read this post. 3D printing has been around for about 10 years from what I gather but like many of you I have never heard of it until this year. Until now, 3D printing has been far out of reach of home use because of cost. What it is is a machine that basically makes anything you want or need from virtually nothing but plastics like ABS ( legos ) , HDPE ( milk jugs ) , or PLA ( a biodegradable plastics made from corn and apparently smells like waffles when it melts ! ) . What is does is melt a spool of plastic through a very small syringe type nozzle which is very fine by the size of a few microns ( less than the width of a human hair ) that is heated and where the plastic is placed in fine layers on a platform. The way it works is either by only the nozzle is being moved up and down, forward and back , as well as side , or the platform moves on those axis instead. All these machines may work differently but do the same thing. There are quite a few companies emerging with this revolutionary form of technology involving manufacturing things from your home.
Many companies such as Makerbot , Pandabot, Reprap, Solidoodle , or Objet – (most expensive , mostly for companies with a bigger budget) have exploded this market into a 1.3 Billion dollar industry (as of august 2012). However these are only the companies in which you can make your own things at home, there are many others out there on the internet which will provide you the service and ship you the 3D printed parts you would have asked them for. The other fascinating thing in regards to 3D printing is that metal parts can also be printed into a physical , tangible form. What they do is use a very fine metal powder and a bonding agent to create the metal objects like jewelry and such. You simply would not believe how precise these machines can be or how detailed the objects are once they are printed and it is truly amazing to see them printed before your eyes. Of course the machine doesn’t print all the necessary flight controllers and electronics and such for a multi rotor but it is very cool. By the way, if Makerbot or Solidoodle would like to send me a review unit they could certainly do so as I would be very interested. I found a few videos on these machines that I would like to share with you but keep in mind they are not mine and I do not profit from them in any way.
If you already own a MakerBot and want to 3D print your own PL1Q Vampire Quad copter, you can find those plans here : PL1Q Vampire Quad copter plans . Keep in mind I don’t own these plans or make a profit from them. If you would like to see more multi rotors that you can 3D print you can find them here at THINGIVERSE .
Cool Huh ? , Please don’t forget to rate the posts and to leave a comment !
With Quad copters and Hex copters becoming increasingly popular on the scene of RC flight as well as many other types of multi rotors, it is important to realize that there are some inherent risks involved when it comes to flying one of these. Electric motors in particular are very unforgiving once they are powered up and a disaster or injury can happen instantaneously and even without warning. If you are new to multi rotor helicopters be sure to check online in the forums first and seek the help of someone or a group of people with good solid knowledge of the hobby and you will have a safe and enjoyable experience. Realize that there are people out there who are willing to help you with good advice as to how go about getting into the hobby. In regards to motor care especially I found some really useful information that you will really appreciate and find helpful if you are multi rotor enthusiast. This information comes from the Multiwiicopter website and I wrote none of it nor do I take any credit for it but I thought it was important to share it with you.
Setup & Maintenance:
This is not a toy – Aviation requires discipline, inspection and risk analysis – Multicopter motors form part of the critical aircraft flight system and become your duty of care when purchased and built.
If a motor fails the Copter can fall from the sky and cause harm to person or property below – Always do a full pre-flight inspection on the motors ; A post flight temperature check for thermal stress (hot motor)
Schedule of maintenance you must perform includes : –
Remove and add Blue Loctite® to the shaft grub screw – make sure Loctite® does not enter any bearing!
Ensure the Circlip is set (crimped) correctly to hold the shaft in place – inspect closely for any sign of looseness
Carefully apply 1 small drop of OIL to each bearing every 5 hours flight time – with a syringe & needle (new SAE20-50 motor oil) – allow the oil to soak in for 1 min; wipe away all excess oil – oil traps abrasive dust!
Avoid all dusty Landing/Takeoff zones – We recommend Ops from a dust-free rooftop LZ on a 4WD/SUV vehicle or a 1.5m circular plywood dust-free Helipad on the ground to prevent any dust ingress to the bearings. Abrasive dust entering bearings will shorten the effective life dramatically – inspect the bearngs for wear and replace if worn -Spin the motor – Magnetic cogging will slow and stop the motor which is normal – check for any wear or abnormal sound/roughness/dryness or non-linear friction indicating a bearing failure.
Use high pressure air (can of comressed air – or air line) to clean any sand,dust, grass or dirt away from an engine after every flight
Inspect the wires to ensure the insulation is in-tact
Check that the collect (Prop-adapter) is tight and cannot be pulled off with 2kg force – Dont assume it’s tight – check it in Pre-flight
Use Blue Loctite® to mount the engine screws to the carbon/G10 engine holder. Check the engine mounting screws never penetrate too far into the engine & short the winding wires
Inspect the prop for any fatigue cracks or white stress lines – immediately repalce any prop suspected of weakness – Routinely replace props every 10 flight hours.
Shaft must be replaced if bent – using a 3mm punch and tapped out – or shaft can be reversed by removing the grub screw and using a bench vise to push it further in and out the other side – then retighten the grub screw
if the motor is observed to be showing some initial warning sign – AN INDICATOR – noted by the pilot but not considered to be a risk by the pilot – and he decided to continue flight ; consider fully the RISK ; this can cause subsequent engine failure and total loss of your aircraft if it has less than six engines. Be aware –
the most common causes of engine failure are
ingestion of FOD (foreign object damage) dirt, dust, stones or debris which can enter the motor during take off and landing – causing trauma (cuts) to the windings or insulation of the windings, damage to bearings
breakage of one or more of the internal lead-in stator winding wires by stress (pulling of the wires during ground handling or assembly) – can be caused in incorrectly handling a motor, crash impact tension, carry the craft by gripping the motor assembly wires causing a break inside a motor.
magnetic variation – de-magnetising of one or more magnets by placing the magnets on or against other motors/magnets or in magnetic fields – tapping against metal objects of the can of the motor – this partial de-magnetisation can cause the ESC to overheat the engine because the timing cannot be accurately determined by the ESC. Thermal run-away – engine overheats because it is effectively overloaded – Copter is too heavy. Overheated magnets are permanently ruined.
dry-joints or inconsistent loose push-connections/soldering between an ESC and a motor leading to timing faults – if one of the three connections is loose or not 100% soldered correct – Should you observe ANY motor hesitation or stutter on first power applied 10% throttle – immediately cut power – do not Power-up further or you will blow the ESC – DO NOT FLY especially relevant for long wiring runs or self soldered joints – USE solder paste – use a Digital Multimeter DMM to check all 3 wires show the same Resistance in ohms – check the wires for breakage or shorts. Save your ESC by careful observation of problem indicators.
Shorting of any motor wire(s) internally to the metal/carbon booms or too the airframe– INSULATION of ALL WIRES annd joints is vital. – short of the insulation from sharp carbon edges not filed smooth during construction – leading to timing problems or stuttering – Should you observe ANY motor hesitation or stutter – DO NOT FLY – replace the motor /wires/ESC as applicable to the fault – Beginner fault to observe AN INDICATOR – such as hestition then continue to fly – delibrately blowing the ESc – leading to failure and a crash – Pro-Pilots discontinue flight/Land at the slightest hint of a problem – because they realise that warnings are only given once.
Poor bearing maintenance lubrication and/or exposure/ingress of abrasive dust leading to bearing breakdown
it’s VITAL to monitor the temps of all engines on the post-flight check, avoid operations where FOD. dust is a risk and keep motors padded in transport. It is also recommend to ground the aircraft and 100% locate the cause of any abnormal performance item.
Notes:
NEVER fit the propellers to a motor until AFTER you have fully Tested and set-up the motor and YOU understand that electric motors can start suddenly without any warning. With proper understanding and maintenance the motors are safe.
NEVER run a propeller without FIRST balancing it on a magnetic balancer
Do a staic and a dynamic balance of all props for best results
Do a hand Maiden – before any flight maiden; to observe all engines running normally under power applied condition – and all controls responding correctly.
During the hand maiden feel the airframe for vibration levels – there should be none – smooth – vibration indicates an out of balance motor/prop and must be traced and balanced.
In conclusion I hope this really helped and I wish you many happy and safe flights !
If you already are into FPV and wireless video then I am sure you have probably heard of the Windsurfer Antenna. If you are new and just getting into FPV and wireless video then you might want to read up on this topic a little bit more. Before I send you to my page that gives you a straight forward step by step instructions on how to build this antenna I do want to caution you that if you are looking into a wireless system with more than 100 mw then you really should consider a HAM radio license especially if you have a system at around 500 mw or even a watt of power as you could seriously mess up other people. This kind of practice is serious enough that you could have authorities on your doorstep that you would not want to confront. Now, back to our topic. The Windsurfer Antenna is really quite easy to build and definitely takes less than an hour of your time and less than a dollar to build unless your missing these components in your house and actually have to head out to the store to get them, then it’ll cost you a little more. Lucky for me, I already had all the stuff so I built 2 antennas. In regards to FPV, this antenna has been reported to DOUBLE the range of the wireless camera system. If you want to have a little bit of proof that this would work for you, then here is a quick video that will give you a bit of information.
I must give credit to Free Antennas for the information on this really effective antenna design. Thank you.
If you would like to print off the Windsurfer Template, here is the best one I found as it will give you TWO separate pages with the larger size template pattern. http://home.scarlet.be/~pcoleman/Linken/ez12.pdf
If you want to build your own Windsurfer Antenna then you can have a look at my “HOW TO” page here .
Hi everyone, yesterday I wrote a post in regards to the Follow Me transmitter and where to get the information for it. What I should have done as well was post another video which explains HOW the system works. The video is about 12 minutes long so if you have a bit of time this morning with your morning coffee and find this particular topic interesting then you might appreciate this. The guy also does a sample flight with his hexcopter so you can actually see the system working, very cool.
A few months ago I had heard about a technological application that had been applied to multi rotors that I had found really intriguing. This setup includes the use of a Follow Me transmitter in which the purpose is to setup a system of waypoints that causes the craft to follow the moving target of your choice. Of course you do need to download the program from this site to get started http://mikrokopter.com/ucwiki/en/Firmware-0.84#en.2BAC8-PointOfInterest.Video_with_explanation It is a pretty complicated process yet with the proper system it actually seems pretty straight forward. How cool would it be to have your multi rotor, quad copter , hexa copter, or even the conventional model rc helicopter follow you and take video and photographs in the process. If you find this hard to believe then I have a video I found that just might make you a believer. Of course the video is not mine and I had no involvement in its production but I am sure you will really appreciate it. Here is that video.
The system is also known to have used an iphone that would be tracked by the Follow Me transmitter. You can actually program your quad copter or hex copter to follow you and your iphone via GPS tracking. For further information and way more in depth information about this type of product and system you can find it all here. http://mikrokopter.com/ucwiki/en/Firmware-0.84#en.2BAC8-PointOfInterest.Video_with_explanation
In my earlier posts I had talked about Next Level Multi rotors and how they just came out with a 500 and a 650 sized quad copter with the capability of interchanging the parts to create a multi rotor of your chosen size or for whatever your needs are. Well, in the next couple of months you are going to be seeing much LARGER machines from RC Dude and Innov8tive Designs. These machines are going to have amazing payload capabilities as well. They have been doing a lot of testing in regards to what size motors are compatible with different types of ESCs at certain amperages as well as battery requirements and I have to say that things are really coming together for them. I like the way they have done all the trial and error for you and making sure things are compatible so that you don’t end up seeing the grey smoke. The sizes you will soon see are in the 800 mm and 1000 mm class which is the distance from one motor to the opposite motor on a quad copter. I had inquired about what the payload capability would be just for the 800 model alone, and get this, you can actually load 8 6s 5000 mah batteries on the plate. I totaled up what 8 batteries on the quad would look like and here is what I calculated, one Zippy 6s 5000 mah battery from Hobbyking weighed in at 769 grams / 1.695 pounds each. If you were to install 8 batteries the total battery weight alone is 13.52 pounds ! I have to see if I can find out for you what the flight time looks like but if you factor in approximately 20 pounds of quad copter with the included 8 6s 5000 batteries then ideally the quad may be looking at around 40 or so minutes of flight time ! The payload plate is about the size of a dinner plate. I find this incredibly amazing to think about. Just imagine being able to load up a few flight packs, a camera gimbal and a DSLR camera without having to to worry about whether you quad copter has the ability to lift the payload. These quad copters look exactly like the 500 model that I have only a lot bigger. If you want to see an 800 Next Level multi rotor in action then here is a video showing you its ability to fly with a NAZA controller board.
It was just a while back that I had made a post regarding the RC Heli 2 App. for your IPhone and had let you know about all the features. Well, recently I had come across another RC helicopter simulator App. on the IPhone. It’s called the Clear View Simulator and it only has 3 helicopters available to choose from – a Blade CX ( Coaxial ), a Twister Coast Guard ( coaxial ) , and believe it or not a Trex 450 model to fly. Each type of helicopter offers a beginner , intermediate, and advanced level of flyer. The App. also includes 3 types of fields in which to fly at as well as 3 types of practice activities such as Training Pads, Landing Challenges, and my favorite Knock Them Off – it’s where bottles and boxes are stacked on a table and you get to bump the objects off. There are also 4 controller types to choose from Mode 1 , Mode 2, Mode 3 and Mode 4. The cool thing with the Trex 450 model is that you can do 3D flight with it if you are quick enough to follow the movements of the tiny helicopter on the tiny screen. Of course it is not the same as the joysticks you use on your radio transmitter but the touch screen type joysticks mimic the movements pretty close that you really won’t notice too much. For $4.99 , this is another great little simulator you can carry around in your pocket and the background scenery looks like just being at the field it is that good. The only downside to this App. is that you would need pretty good eyesight to see what is going on. I have to say though that I am looking forward to installing this one on the IPad. ClearView flight simulator is also offered in the full version for your PC and offers something like 140 models to choose from in which to fly from Helicopters to Planes. Here is the Full Version demo video for your PC, the backgrounds you see in the video are really that good and you will see them just as well on the IPhone. Enjoy.
RC Helimenace 