330FPV airframe

[Andy Sayle]

Hi Folks,

I've been working on a little project for a short time now, to convert a standard DJI F330 quad, into something more suited for FPV use.  The design goal was to re-use the standard DJI F330 arms (and motors/escs etc) but bolt them in to some custom frames.  The idea was to be able to use (up to) a 4s 3000mAh battery pack, coupled with up to 9" props.  Onboard equipment was to be a flight controller, FPV camera, Vtx and possibly a small OSD.  I wanted to have a play with the CC3d and KK2.1 controllers, so the frames had to have these mounting points built in.

I settled on a layout not too dissimilar to that of a TBS discovery, but with the front arms angled out more.  I've settled for carbon fibre plates top and bottom (1.5mm thick).  I did look into getting some PCB plates manufactured, but for small volumes the cost is prohibitive.

The first 2 prototypes have been built up, one is flying on a KK2.1 board and standard DJI motors/escs and 8" props with a 3s 3000mAh flight pack.  The other is using an openpilot cc3d flight controller, dji motors and 8" props with Afro 30A escs.  Both are flying very nicely indeed, and show a nice turn of speed, and a good layout for fitting an Immersion vtx on the back, and camera on the front.

The build is basically the same as a DJI flamewheel, really simple.  The hardest bit is routing all the wiring neatly.

I've got a stack of photos on my facebook page, which will be added to as a build up a couple more prototypes. (here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10154004094325125.1073741836.560625124&type=1&l=00cca01ea6 )

Anyone interested?  The idea is to maybe sell a few frame sets, or plates.  If the interest is there to warrant a large enough order too, a PCB top or bottom plate could be on the cards (as a power distribution board).

Cheers
Andy

[jamesb72]

This is a fantastic idea, and something I've been thinking about for a while, I've even been in touch with someone with some milling/laser cutting gear looking at making up some frames exactly like this (Alien style for F330 arms).

The micro quads are great but just don't have space for more gear on, and struggle with weight of a gopro camera, so I think ~330mm is a great size, also the clone F330 arms are cheap as chips and pretty robust and super simple to change if needed.

I'd love to get a set of these frame plates to try out, I have F330 arms, motors, and flight controller on hand, and ESC's are en route.

Personally I'm not interested in PCB/circuit board style, I prefer a separate wiring loom for ease of changing ESC's etc and I think its more robust - the multistar 6 way loom is cheap as chips and perfect for this, as you get spare power feeds for flight controller/led's/vtx camera as required.

[Ynot6]

i've just about got everything i need mounted on my near standard 330. i added a small rearward piece onto the top plate to get the gps a bit further away from other stuff. it also leaves a bit of room for an osd if i want it.  i found that the pcb clutters things as wires end up where i could have done with access space. i'm also at the early stage of building a hk 250. i got one of their square pcb power supplies, and would use one on the 330 if i was to re build it. 8 outputs, so 4 for esc's and 4 over for anything else 12v ish. 

[Andy Sayle]

That's interesting about the PCB power distribution boards and combined plate.  I always thought they made the wiring much neater.  I can see the point about the access though.  I've already identified where I would put the esc and battery connections, if it were a PCB.  I'll keep that for a maybe future project though.

Quadbod, it sounds like you are in exactly the same boat I was.  I wanted to put FPV gear on my dji f330.  The stock plates were nearly good enough, but I couldn't have everything mounted on the top plate, and leave room for an internally mounted battery.  It's a pet hate of mine having batteries just strapped on top, or slung underneath.  That's the main reason I got these plates designed and made, it provides more room for everything :)

I've had a few more flights of my prototype this weekend, and I've dialled in the gains a little better.  I'm still getting used to the various stabilisation modes on the CC3d flight controller, but so far, it is great.  Even flying on a 3s 3000mAh pack, it has plenty of power.  I've not tried any aerobatics yet though, and that is where the grunt of a 4s pack will come in handy I expect!

Andy

[CurryKitten]

Great work Andy - I'm constantly impressed by the work from members here making up there own frames to fix problems with original designs or just to make things better.

PCB distro is nice and easy on a plate, and you don't need to think about a separate PDU board... but I guess it could make things less flexible - I suppose it depends how obvious your layout would be.  The problem seems to arise when people want to put extra things on there which you haven't really thought about.

Not that I need yet another quad (need is not the same as want :)), but how much are you intending to charge for the plates  ?

[HerkyBird]

That's a nice looking design there, I had a similar idea as I like the F330 size quad and I had a go at my own design as you can see here but it is much more complex than yours and I was thinking about having ago at a simpler 330 size disco style too. What is the motor to motor distance on yours in the end then and how much would you charge for the non pcb plates as I may well be interested in giving one a go. I'm not convinced by a PCB for anything other than main power distribution as everyone needs the Esc's in the same place but other components will vary greatly depending on each person's kit & needs.

[Andy Sayle]

I've had a couple of PM's about supplying the plates, and these prototype ones come in at the following:

Top and bottom plate, plus 3 frame spaces - £20
Set of screws (20 x M2.5 frame screws, 6 x M3 spacer screws and 16 x M3 motor mount screws, all stainless socket head) - £2.
And I have a small number of red F330 arms (DJI genuine ones), I can probably put together a small number of complete airframe kits.  I don't have any white arms though, I keep breaking those in my various crashes!

I can sell the plates at cost at the moment, because in the prototype batch, there was a small offset error in the cutting of the top plate, and 2 minutes with a dremel is needed to remove a small amount of the top plate to make arm fit perfectly.

If anyone wants a set of these prototype plates, let me know, I'm happy to sell them at cost because of the cutting error.

Size wise, the front motors are 265mm apart, back motors are 235mm apart.  Front to back spacing is 235mm.  A couple of people asked about the front camera mount.  There is a small "ledge" on the lower plate at the front.  A little FPV camera would sit there nicely, or I was intending to mount a small isolated plate to support a gopro or similar in the future.  There is a hole pattern there to attach what you like though!

Andy

[jamesb72]

Just noticed internal battery location, but controller exposed on top ???? I'm much keener to keep controller inside frame for protection when I hit what i was aiming to miss, ideally battery on top 2200 3s everything else inside the frames is what I'm aiming for. I do like the lumenier qav250 idea of esc mounted on a central underslung plate though, needs to not be conductive though.

[Andy Sayle]

I've always been a fan of an internal battery, and the wiring all exposed for preflight checking.   That said, You can always mount the flight controller to the underside of the top plate on the holes I have in there. Or, it could be mounted to the bottom plate, it would just need some double sided foam tape, or some holes drilling to suit.   I will add the holes for outing a flight controller on the lower plate though, more flexibility is a good thing!

Incidentally, I have the hole patterns to suit a kk2.1 board and a cc3d board too. Not too sure on the hole pattern for an apm 2.5, but if someone can tell what they are, I can add them in!

Cheers
Andy

[Andy Sayle]

Hi Guys,

Just got a couple of sets of plates from the first batch left now.  I've had some cracking feedback from a couple of people with regard to improvements, additions etc.  I'm hoping to get a second batch of plates cut in the near future, so if anyone is interested in a set of the v1 plates at cost price, let me know.

Cheers
Andy

[Coyote]

Its a great idea, looks well proportioned, very nice :)

[Andy Sayle]

All 10 of the protoypes have been sold now.  I've had a few good suggestions for improvements, and I'm awaiting some more flight test reports from people using setups different to my own (and a lot more insane if you ask me!), before I get the V2 version in production.

The interest seems to be there to sell these, what sort of price would people be willing to pay for a set of carbon fibre plates, set of screws and spacers like this?

Cheers
Andy

[dickgerritsen]

Andy, let me know when you have a new batche of plates. I am interrested. An intergrated pcb would be nice but not neccessary. Can I meanwhile a drawing of the plates, so I can make plates on my own.

[Andy Sayle]

Hi Folks,

I've just about finalised the v2 batch of the little 330LF sized plates now, again made from 1.5mm carbon fibre sheet.  This time there are a few minor modifications made to provide a bit more flexibility in where things can be mounted, and a few minor tweaks to the design too.  They still fit the DJI F330 arms, and they now fit the clone type arms perfect too.

I'll be selling plate kits that consist of the top and bottom plates, frame spacers, spacer screws and arm screws.  I'll get some fresh photos sorted out this weekend.  If anyone is interested, the cost is going to be £30 plus postage.  I can do small discounts for multiples too.

I've also got a couple of prototypes cut with this batch, including a 450 sized airframe that follows a similar layout.  I'll start a separate thread for that one.  The other item is a camera mounting plate, that is designed to hold a GoPro (or similar), and mount to the 330LF via some vibration isolators.  This is very much work in progress!

Cheers
Andy

[weavo56]

Nice job Andy
I have PM ed you  .

Graham