Before you try and google it, the Z is for Zeeflyboy lol, this will be a build inspired by the AH-6 but takes from several different types and will have a few creative inputs of my own... so not an exact scale model, but a Zeeflyboy special edition if you will.
One thing that irritates me about the Euro is that I have to be quite selective about where I fly it due to take off/landing considerations so the solution to that is clearly a VTOL. I briefly considered the Osprey but decided against it for a few reasons.... A scale cockpit stuck in a quad ain't gonna do it for me either, so that leaves Heli's! The only thing that I've found tricky in my experience is hovering with a head tracking camera. Even with an external frame of reference it can be a tiring and wobbly experience... I have plans for this however, Skookum's soon to be released GPS unit that should bring some very helpful abilities to the table along with the natural stability of a heli this size.
So while the Eurofighter still isn't entirely finished in terms of exterior polish it is flying and functionally complete, thus I need something new to sink my teeth into... And this time I'm being a bit more ambitious and hope to end up with a more impressive model. The euro is fun to fly and was a great build to do, but this is going to be better! I have yet to see a scale FPV heli (perhaps I'm the only one stupid enough to try?) so who knows, maybe it'll even be a FPV first.
I chose the Littlebird in the end because I always thought it looked awesome when decked out with weapons, and the design affords absolutely fantastic forwards visibility from the cockpit, something that is lacking in most other attack variant heli's. I already have a 500 sized Cobra, and while it would be great to turn into FPV it's just a bit too small to work with and the visibility is comparatively poor from the cockpit. The only problem is that the kit comes with slightly tinted windows - I may have to pull my own clear ones.
So a brief outline of the project goals then:
- Build a semi-scale 12S powered 600 size AH-6 heli
- Fully featured scale cockpit with working rudder pedals, cyclic and collective
- Active glass cockpit display perhaps with live feed on one screen from FLIR, and cockpit illumination.
- Pan/tilt mounted cockpit camera, no OSD but audio alerts (voltage, mah, signal loss etc) active
- FLIR-esque B&W low light exterior camera with IR illumination, HUD style OSD and auto iris lens
- Remote operated camera switch to change between views
- External navigation lighting to allow LoS orientation in low light
- GPS position hold/atti mode and RTH courtesy of the as yet unreleased SK720 GPS unit
- Dual vTX diversity using Immersion RC 5.8ghz vTXs and 5800DUO (modified for dual channels).
- And finally, once again, to have a model that is visually and physically pleasing to fly LoS as well as FPV
My lovely, lovely girlfriend has been kind enough to buy me the MD500D scale fuselage from Century for my birthday (so I'm not allowed it until my birthday in late September lol), while the equally lovely parents got me an HK600GT to go in it and a few other bits and bobs. My cockpit kit just arrived though and hence this is where my build begins.... I'm afraid to say that once again this will be slow and painful, but this time not simply due to the work required.. Also the expense! It's going to be a complex build with lots of kit and it's going to make the euro seem cheap I fear. It's too much for me to stomach all at once so I'll be parting out the purchases over the course of a few months (and hopefully santa might bring me yet more bits for christmas!) With a bit of luck I'm aiming for a flight in the new year just after Christmas but we shall see...
So, here begins the journey... This is the present from the girlfriend which is currently being held in customs (for a week thus far... sigh. Hopefully it arrives before my birthday!)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8035/7976029214_269b9beb7b.jpg)
And now I want to make it look like something roughly resembling my own interpretation of this, but with something more like the glass cockpit from an AH-6i:
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/4867/ah6jlittlebird01gy3.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8182/7976027357_4ac7f8cf0b.jpg)
My first goal is to build the cockpit, followed by the fuselage and finally the mechanics will come later and be extensively test flown separately before finally being introduced to the fuselage.
Hopefully Sassy Sander is going to give me at least 10 channels to play with, and it'll be assigned something like this, though exact details depend upon how the skookum GPS needs to be operated... Given what I've been told about how the GPS operates I can lock the gains as usual with the skookum, thus removing the need for a gain channel. I can then use a 3 position switch to determine choice of GPS mode.
Ch1: Aileron
Ch2: Elevator
Ch3: Throttle
Ch4: Rudder
Ch5: Pitch
Ch6: GPS mode
Ch7: Pan
Ch8: Tilt
Ch9: Camera switch
Ch10: Either landing light on/off or fun stuff eg "firing" miniguns
And hopefully by the time this project is done, I'll be able to have RSSI from the EZUHF rx without losing a channel in the ppm stream.
As always, I am 100% open to all suggestions and inputs. You guys improved my last build greatly with your comments, criticisms, suggestions and general support... Couldn't do it without you guys! Apologies once again for the somewhat verbose first post, so without further delay let's do this thang....
So to kick things off, I've built the basic structure for the cockpit... bit of a brain exercise as there were no instructions!
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7976027614_ac7a8da1bd_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8442/7976027884_2b12e63b2a_c.jpg)
And here you can see I'm sizing it up for a 1.8" screen. I think it'll fit okay but I may have to do some custom work on the upper frame just to make it work.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8446/7976028915_fab96cab39_c.jpg)
Lots of space inside to put all the electronic goodies which is nice! I need as much weight as possible upfront.
this is the screen I'll be using for the live feed
(http://www.aeicomp.com/Image2/000.175_LCD18L_PI.jpg)
of course it'll need to be separated from the driver board, and I anticipate some UHF noise from that ribbon cable - It'll be positioned well away from the EZUHF and I may look into some shielding too.
And finally for now, the pilots need somewhere to sit of course! Where better than this cushioned seat I ask you....
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8037/7976028485_05d41e261c_c.jpg)
And safety first of course, so seatbelts have been added (will trim to length later when I've seated the pilot/passenger)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8311/7976028179_689b68b652_c.jpg)
Very cool
Very smart this i do like very much :)
dizzy
Yes looks another great project coming up :)
This looks cool..
Where did you get the seat from Zee, could do with some for my Huey!
Best of luck with the build.
Ant
No doubt this will be another amazing build - looking forward to this a lot, good luck with the build.
:popcorn:
Cheers chaps!
So this is my idea for cyclic.... it allows everything to be contained within the seat which should be nice and tidy.
I carefully cut a slot up the bottom shaft of the stick, and then cut a piece of plywood to place in between. This gives it a flat extension.
I then took some aluminium tube and drilled an axle hole through before then slotting the end... finally I cut a piece of carbon to size and use as an axle.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8435/7976904295_e8d5e5a87e_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8438/7976904825_b81409a7cc_c.jpg)
This whole assembly will then be mounted to the seat, with the tube free to rotate. One servo will be attached to the seat, linked to the underside of the tube and operate aileron, the other will be attached to the tube itself and have a small linkage wire connecting to the flat piece on the control stick and operate elevator.
Should look pretty good I think once the front cover is made up and the tube painted black.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8320/7976905343_02dd8861c2_c.jpg)
Ant - the seats are made by Proheli, as are the seatbelts. I got them from Skyhunter hobby, but be prepared to have a small heart attack at the price. If you do want them and order them there, be sure to email them for a proper postage quote as for me it defaulted to like $70 which is ridiculous.
So, just quickly stuck a single seat on to get an idea for how this is going to work. Looks good!
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8040/7977173611_eeb56928ba_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8451/7977175334_932fda9299_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/7977175970_d47992f9ab_c.jpg)
I have managed to find some 10" figures on ebay.co.uk called "HM armed forces" which come with proper clothing and weapons etc. The 12" figures are a bit too big and 10" equates to somewhere between 1:7 and 1:8 scale, so should suit this build nicely. Obviously one of the poor bastards is going to be decapitated and turned into a cyborg with a camera for a head, but oh well... you win some you lose some.
Here's my passenger
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8037/7977202260_5c77660922_m.jpg)
And my pilot (I may change him into the same camo as the passenger, bought a spare set just in case)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8449/7977202868_22d1a34a9d_n.jpg)
I imagine they'll need some significant lightening up, but we'll see when they get here.
Zeeflyboy
I have really been missing keeping up with your build thread since the last project was completed.
I am soooo happy for you to now be giving me a new project to follow.
From reading the above - one possible point:-
I have a Trex 600 electric with a scale body on :
https://www.scaleflying.com/Eurocopter-Fennec-AS350-Civilian-Fiberglass-Fuselage-600-Size_p_1824.html (https://www.scaleflying.com/Eurocopter-Fennec-AS350-Civilian-Fiberglass-Fuselage-600-Size_p_1824.html)
- to access the battery, the front cockpit section pulls off forward. Bearing this in mind are you going to make your scale cockpit mechanical operations (control stick) self contained - to enable battery access on your body without having too many electrical and physical connections to disconnect ??
Yes, the front section pulls off to access batteries.
The whole cockpit will be self contained and attached to the front section, so will come away when you pull the front section off. I will use plugs (I think two 8 pin plugs should carry all required connections) in order to quickly hook/unhook the whole unit, there will be no physical connections to connect. I've not yet decided if this will be an automatic process like the eurofighter canopy - I will wait until I have my hands on the fuselage to decide.
The problem is CG. From what I've seen, in order to balance this heli typically has to have the batteries mounted quite far forward, basically where the pilots are. I'm hoping with the large amount of electronics upfront (OSD, sensors, screens, cameras, video splitters, servos, 6.0v buffer pack etc) combined with the weight of the scale cockpit and pilots will be enough to allow me to have the batteries mounted slightly further back.
Totally understand and agree with all you say.
In my case there is some room available under the cockpit floor - I assume yours will also have room there foe some of the electronic boards.
Yeah there'll be some space for some kit under the floor.
So when are you making your AS350 FPV? ;)
very cool project and subject!
I'm a bit tired of the usual slap a camera on top of a plane/copter thing, it doesnt feel like your flying anything particular, just moving through the air.... I do fpv for the challenge of flying not for sight seeing and something like this might reinvigorate me.
I've been thinking of doing a scale cockpit type thing on a P38... maybe its time to get on with it.
thanks for the inspiration.
Do it pasty!
There's a lot of fun to be had and it makes the experience that much more immersive... also more challenging to fly due to limited visibility etc.
Especially if one is going to comply with the rules, flying around within LoS and below 400 feet with just camera view doesn't keep me entertained. Feeling like you are in one of these aircraft and seeing the whole thing somehow makes the experience more enjoyable - even staying within the limits.
The only catch is that you need space and weight, which means it invariably ends up being a larger build - hence heavier overall.
So anyway, I've hashed out my cyclic... slight hitch - the small servos I thought I had, I don't lol. I've ordered some more from hobbyking but they won't be here for a while.
Hopefully this pic shows the idea though (obviously it needs tidying up and painting)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7979128227_61050c4be3_c.jpg)
Basically the plate at the front mounts to the front of the seat, the collets I made hold the shaft in position so it can't slide back or forth. There will then be a small 3g servo mounted to the cut out in the shaft, with the control horn over the middle of the shaft. it will be connected to the base of the control stick (hence the cut out in the face plate) - this will operate elevator. Moving backwards, there's the second support bracket that mounts to the underside of the seat to hold everything in place and finally a plywood tab at the back to which another 3g servo mounted to the seat structure will connect and rotate the shaft for aileron.
Jobsa.
Oh, and this rather serious looking lens just arrived for my Low light camera - an Auto Iris lens that opens up to f1.4 so should do pretty well in low light, but hopefully will also help in brighter daylight conditions by narrowing the iris. We'll see how that works out when the cam arrives, fingers crossed.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8320/7979128133_e8e3b1c160_c.jpg)
Great project, I was thinking of something similar with a H quad, this is the monitor I was looking at.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIY-Monitor-parts-3-5-Digital-Color-LCD-driver-board-/310337427056?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item48418d5670 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIY-Monitor-parts-3-5-Digital-Color-LCD-driver-board-/310337427056?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item48418d5670)
:) G
thats MASSIVE g lol... :o
That screen is as big as the entire dash! I'm using a 1.8" monitor for the vid feed, a 1.8" photo viewer for it;s accompanying screen and a smaller 1.5" or 1" for the lower display.
I'm hoping I'll be able to view the screens properly without flicker, I'm just keeping my toes crossed for that.
edit, just found all these
http://www.adafruit.com/category/63 (http://www.adafruit.com/category/63)
specifically, I'm currently sizing up this
http://www.adafruit.com/products/910 (http://www.adafruit.com/products/910)
Need some opinions! I just found these two monitors
1.5" http://www.adafruit.com/products/910 (http://www.adafruit.com/products/910)
2.0" http://www.adafruit.com/products/911 (http://www.adafruit.com/products/911)
Now obviously the 2.0" is more visible, higher resolution and you'd probably be able to make out the OSD on it. It'll be more work to make it fit however! the 1.5" is perhaps a touch small though... what do you guys think? Which should I go for? Here's a pic of the dimensions cut out in card and placed side by side (btw If I go with the 2", I'd bring the effective screen size down slightly to match the 1.8" photo viewer that's on the way by means of a blanking cover)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8440/7979263009_eddfec6518_c.jpg)
I've screwed down the seats (about 60mm apart - enough to allow the front of the t-rex 600 frame between them if necessary) and fitted the cyclic controls, minus servos and linkages for now.
Looks pretty good I think (imaging it all painted), and puts the cyclic stick into a good position. At least collective will be easy - I'll just attach the lever directly to a servo arm and install the servo in the side of the seat.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8174/7979390124_afa76abec8_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/7979390662_0d3740acae_c.jpg)
Such a nice build! Good going !!! :popcorn:
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on September 12, 2012, 02:03:10 AM
Yeah there'll be some space for some kit under the floor.
So when are you making your AS350 FPV? ;)
I tried FPV for the first time ever on another heli - I found it so difficult that I have switched to fixed wing planes for FPV.
Helis I fly for fun, but am not sure my two are correctly balanced / setup - still working on them - soon to fit simple stabilization gyros or something.
Yeah they can be tricky lol... with a fixed cam they aren't too bad though.
The idea is that by night the cockpit will be illuminated by green LEDs in the roof, and some very limited forward visibility on the ground afforded by the 1W landing light/surrounding lighting... when actually flying at night the plan would be to switch to the "FLIR" view as though you were putting on your NV goggles. I have in my mind the image of spooling up with the cockpit view looking around, then switching to FLIR mode and away you go....
The "FLIR" will be permanently in black and white to simulate a different kind of view, and will be the only camera with OSD... the cockpit camera will be "pure" with no OSD display, but audio alerts will still come through the audio channel (eg low fuel etc). I may set up some simple LED warning/mode lights too.
The basic wiring for the video system goes something like this:
"FLIR" camera goes direct to OSD, then from OSD (maybe through a video splitter... might not be needed) to the cockpit display and to a two way video switch. The cockpit camera goes directly to this switch. The switch then feeds a video splitter which splits whichever video stream is selected (ch9 will select) between two imrc 5.8ghz vTXs operating on separate video channels.
simple huh? lol...
Anyhoo...
I've decided I'll just build my own upper cockpit section. I've ordered some 1.6mm fibreglass sheet to that effect... makes fitting the screens much easier and gives me more control over the appearance.
I knocked up this mock up of the dash, all to scale and correct. If you look carefully you can probably see faint red lines around the right screen - these denote the entire module and viewable area dimensions respectively of the 2" display. As you can see I'm cutting down the size slightly by making the hole smaller so I will be able to make it match the 1.8" photo viewer screen, which will be displaying radar images or navigation displays etc etc.
It's just a rough idea of what I'll need to build (all in 3D of course, not a flat print out), but what do you think? The first photo compares it to the dash that comes with the kit.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8308/7980420774_63666c2a3c_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8302/7980421455_371ed2c01e_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/7980421941_76ac958748_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8313/7980422263_474a3c3319_c.jpg)
As ever - just amazing.
I also cannot believe the speed at which your projects advance - I normally spend days just thinking and sketching out ideas before taking the plunge.
You manage to get it right almost every time - good for you.
A thought - I believe you can buy military style Flir night vision systems now. Could you buy one, take apart and create a 'proper' flir cam system ?? (a standard fpv cam looking in and through flir googles ?)
(Edited - Google "Miniature night vision system" - all come up with IR systems though)
It'll slow down now lol, I'm back to work tomorrow. I'm fairly good at visualising things in my head, making them is harder lol. The fact it generally seems to come together alright is more luck than anything else... I'd rather be lucky than good however!
You can get a real FLIR and you can use it for FPV... See this video
RFTC: Flying FPV at Night with a FLIR Thermal Imaging Camera (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqlptPhFmk0#ws)
The catch is it looks like its at least €4000.... I'm open to donations lol.
Check these out... So perfect. Maybe when I win the lottery!
http://www.grupoacre.com/admin/resources/productos/files/45840/FLIR-Quark-Brochure_prod_45840.pdf (http://www.grupoacre.com/admin/resources/productos/files/45840/FLIR-Quark-Brochure_prod_45840.pdf)
Awesome build m8!! just wow!!, and I want a FLIR bad!! ;D
Jim.
well if you have more money than me the pathfindIR is about as affordable as it gets from what I can see - goes for around £1-1.5k
The quark is where it's at though - super light weight and up to 640x520 resolution.. a cool $4500 though.
So who else is going to be playing the lottery this weekend?
Me. And if I win I'll give you as much money as you need to complete this build as it'll be worth it :D
haha, Thanks!
I hope you win.... wait, I hope I win... well... I win this wekk, you win next week.
Lol...
Right, I decided to try and be clever.... always dangerous.
I have downloaded some free 3D modelling software and am currently constructing the fascia panel. The idea is then to get it 3D printed by shapeways in the ultra fine detail stuff. I have never even played with 3D software before, let alone made a 3D model and had it printed.
Anyone want to point out a flaw in my plan? Here's a little screen shot of where I'm at (it's taken me quite a while lol, I'm getting the hang of it though!)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8322/7983082911_c68620e93d_c.jpg)
Looking good mate, if it was Rhino cad I could help, 3d printing has usually got a bit of a tetchier to it, may interfere with the detailing, it may be beter to have it cnc milled.
if I was going to do it, I would make the control panels as pockets, then vac form them, in thin lightweight plastic, so all the details are sharply formed.
:) G
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd397/itsalivecollins/panel1.jpg)
(http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd397/itsalivecollins/panel2.jpg)
clearly you gots more skills than me...
Surely vacuum forming wouldn't manage to get all those little details? Machining I hadn't even thought of...
The shapeways thing seems pretty cheap, might give it a whizz and see how it goes - the ultra fine stuff looks incredible. I was looking at this stuff, specifically the ultra detail.
http://www.shapeways.com/materials/frosted-detail (http://www.shapeways.com/materials/frosted-detail)
Cheers for the thoughts, it certainly doesn't hurt to have options in case the plan doesn't work out.
Here's where I'm up to now
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8438/7983460042_1835ec68fa_c.jpg)
That dose look good, technology is certainly moving on.
;) G
So I was reading up on my material of choice, and the specs say a minimum detail size of 0.1mm for embossed/engraved detail - so lets put that to the test I suppose! Some of these finer details are 0.2mm deep (eg the arrows on the buttons).
Anyway, pretty happy with what I've got so far. I might have to wait to get detailed screen dimensions before ordering though so I can make a specially sized pocket to seat each module in in the back.
What do you think?
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8318/7983889899_56bb11b997_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8042/7983889157_fd7b16200b_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/7983895528_0983de4deb_c.jpg)
Yeah the idea is to get the cockpit as detailed as possible since that's where the show is for FPV!
I'll be painting/weathering everything.
I finalised my design and uploaded it to shapeways - passes their automated checks so that's one step closer to reality! Don't know why it's upside down though lol
Looks like it'll be a little over $40 in their ultra detail frosted... you can check out a 3D render here (click to the next image for a spinning 3D model)
http://www.shapeways.com/model/700695/9018113e0d902276804a9ac8b0120900 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/700695/9018113e0d902276804a9ac8b0120900)
As you can see I've added cutouts just to help position the screens and reduce wall thickness slightly so they don't appear too deep. I also added the cut outs for 3 x 1.8mm miniature LEDs for my mode indicator panel and cut pockets for screen inserts for the upper 2 displays and lower display which will be printed on backlit paper like my Eurofighter, and then backlit by LED's.
I'm toying with the idea of whether I should add another LED cut out for a low voltage warning.
So Just had the pleasure of paying the courier a butt load of cash for import duties but look what he brought me! Of course I had to open it to "check everything was there", but now I'm not allowed to have it until my Birthday... Arggghhh!
Quality looks pretty awesome actually, it's going to be a good base to start from. The cockpit is not a direct fit annoyingly enough despite being designed for it, I have already "massaged" some edges to make it fit better but it'll take some work to make it perfect. Regardless, I can't really start playing until I'm allowed to have the fuselage lol.
It's a good size, not too big so as to be difficult to handle but lots and lots of space inside for equipment, I've put a 20cm rule in one of the pics, and the most ubiquitous item known to man - the iPhone - in another, for scale... there's a cavernous area below the floor as well which will be able to hide some kit.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8033/7985053045_8898824a4b_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8439/7985061410_92744a8575_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/7985053503_8997768b1c_c.jpg)
The bad news is, I'm definitely going to have to pull my own canopy... the good news is the vacuum forming rig I'm going to have to build to do it will also let me pull one for my eurofighter. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that!
This is absolutely awesome.... as was your last project. I hope you lack of birthday in the next few days doesn't halt progress too much.
Thanks, gonna be a lot of work though!
I tweaked the design again - I've cut more material out in places on the back so managed to save about $4-5 while keeping all the walls sufficiently thick for strength. I also added a 3mm hole and detail panel for a low voltage warning LED.
Think it's good to go now, just need to see if it passes the manual checks when I try to order.
btw guys, when you click across to the next image on the link you can manipulate the 3D view with your mouse
http://www.shapeways.com/model/700775 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/700775)
here's a couple of shots (just missing some fixing screw details from the final)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8462/7985237247_ea7b5ed857_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8317/7985248270_c1819862b4_b.jpg)
I also had a quick look at how the cockpit fits, I think I've got some ideas for how to mount it better and make it look spot on. Now I have to put the Fuselage away though for another 12 days :(, at least I now know what I'm working with though.
Edit - just took the plunge and ordered my final one in the link using frosted ultra detail.... a cool €46 delivered in that material but (if it works) I think it'll be worth it since it's such a visible and fundamental part. Hope it passes all the checks it has to before it gets printed!
You, Sir, are an artist.
I doff my baseball cap.
for what its worth shapeways stuff is very precise. when i was into my airsofting we had special hop up units made and they were within something like .02 of a mm
That's great to hear... I think it'll come out quite well.
I used to play a lot of airsoft too, great fun. I still have some of my guns actually... my favourite is a fully decked out G&P M4 Special OPS with M203.
I'm trying to get the hang of some more complicated modelling software at the moment but it's kicking my arse. I hope to be able to make some more parts for this project using 3D printing but if I can't get a grip of this more advanced software then I won't be able to lol.
I've only got one left. Was originally a king arms m4a1 but it's been turned into a DMR. Long barrel, sniper scope, solid stock etc. nothing better than raining down plastic death on a load of teenagers and office workers. ...back on topic (sort of) what cad software are you using? And is it free? I used to be good at it when I did manufacturing in high school but never touched it since.
For the above I used google sketchup which is free and easy to use at a basic level.
However, I then took a look at blender which is also free but incredibly powerful. The interface just does my nut in however and I can't wrap my thick skull around it. I'm currently playing with a free demo version of Cheetah 3D which seems to have a much better interface for me and will be more than powerful enough to do everything I want. I just need to figure out how to use it.
Just got my all important figures! the hyper observant may notice they are sat on top of an HK600GT box too....
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8439/7999344059_659229318c_c.jpg)
I think in future updates, we should see you two figures actually assembling the heli and fitting the control panel :D
That may take quite some time lol...
So, I said I was in something of an acquisition mode and I wasn't lying!
Here's some of the electronics I've amassed so far:
-Scorpion HKIII 4035-450 Motor... POWER!!!! Peak power of 4200 Watts to be precise... This thing is designed for 700 size helis but although this is a 600 build it is going to be a heavy bird - it certainly doesn't hurt to have the power available to get out of trouble. This will require some modifications to the frames to get it to fit as it's simply too big. The kv of 450 is spot on though - with a 12T pinion it should allow around 12-1300rpm at around 90% throttle which should be about right for the 5 blade head and semi-symmetrical blades.
- Futaba BLS451 servos for cyclic... I've used these before in my 600 Pro before I went to a high voltage arrangement. Beautifully smooth servos with plenty of power and importantly reliable!
- Futaba BLS251 servo for tail... again, great heli tail servo. Does the job on 3D monsters, so should have no issues here.
- Gryphon 7075 LMT BEC.... The beating heart of my system - this will power almost everything! Input Voltage Range : 11V ~ 75.6V (3~18 Cells), Output voltage Range : 5.2V, 6.0V, 6.8V, 7.4V, 8.4V, Output current (Peak) : 20A, (Cont) : 10A.... also note a small nimh buffer pack. In the event of BEC failure this pack will supply power for long enough to get down safely.
- Skookum SK-720... The brain! one of the best FBL units I've ever used - one also resides on my 600 Pro - and soon to get the all important GPS module which is really the enabling technology that made me even consider doing this project.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8440/8002783228_b2fbd4b3e6_c.jpg)
So that has managed to tick off a lot of the boxes of things left to buy. I also have the cameras on the way which should be waiting for me when I get back to geneva with any luck, already have an IMRC 5.8ghz vTX going spare to put into the project and have ordered a video switch and few other bits and bobs from flytron... so whats left to get in terms of magic boxes?
Slightly depressingly - SK-720 GPS module (when it comes out!), a second imrc 5.8ghz vtx, imrc 5800 duo, EZUHF diversity rx, SPS 120A magnetic switch, some PPM decoders, maybe some splitters, and one of these magic ppm-max type doohickeys. My 600 Pro will be donating it's YGE 90A HV ESC (another very high end ESC) and in return will be treated to an upgrade after christmas.
I've been giving some thought to redundancy on this build, since it will effectively be a flying bank account (not to mention big and scary with a lawn mower on top).
Camera/video signal wise we have two cameras already, and each can be supplied by the main BEC voltage stepped up to 12v by two separate stepups... in the event of failure of the BEC the nimh will still be supplying power so they will stay live as will all the control electronics... the IMRC vtx's can perhaps run from 1 of the 6S packs and will obviously have redundancy built right in - if one fails the second will hopefully still be transmitting and the imrc duo will simply switch to the one that's still working.
Electronically, as previously mentioned, we have the BEC backed up by a buffer pack that will take over in event of failure. During normal use the buffer pack remains topped up by the BEC so will always be charged and ready to kick in. Flight pack current usage and voltage will be monitored by the eLogger and displayed in the FLIR view, with audio alerts that will also be heard when flying with the interior cockpit cam view. As an extra precaution, the gyphon has an adjustable low voltage alarm that uses an LED - this will be routed to the cockpit dash and when the voltage starts getting low there will be a flashing LED warning displayed in view of the camera.
Signal wise we already have a diversity rx... in the event of total signal loss however the failsafes can be set in such a way that the GPS unit takes over and flys the heli either into a position hold mode, or into a return home mode where it will fly back and hover 10m above the starting point.
To cover unusual electronic failures we have the RTH function on a switch which will bring the heli back as long as it is still able to fly.
So while there are of course still hundreds of ways in which strange and unfortunate things could bring the heli down, that only really leaves ESC failure as my big concern. I'm happy to autorotate a normal pod and boom, but FPV AND scale with low headspeed/5 blade head I think this scenario is destined for doom. Perhaps the crash can be controlled though... I can always practise FPV autorotations in Phoenix RC now at least! To this end however, she is getting a very nice YGE 90 HV ESC which hopefully will not put me into this undesirable situation!
Do you work in a Bank ?? !!!
no... but perhaps I should!
Single handedly kick starting the economy lol.
I've been pointed in the direction of this little gem by a friend on FPVlab... I think it's currently in development.
(http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x389/sircana/2012-06-13202931_zps02feeb5b.jpg)
(http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x389/sircana/2012-06-13202921_zpsfef3def7.jpg)
it's called ppm max, and basically it steals two channels (7 and 8 for example) and uses them to encode... are you ready??
- 2x proportional channels for Pan/Tilt
- 2x 3-position switch
- 4x 2 position switch
That's effectively giving you a total of 14 channels from an 8ch system (it gives you 8, but you lose 2 of course).
So for this build the traditional channels can be arranged like so:
Ch1 - Aileron
Ch2 - Elevator
Ch3 - Throttle
Ch4 - Rudder
Ch5 - GPS mode (RTH/HOLD/OFF)
Ch6 - Pitch
Ch7 & 8 - PPM Max Encoder
Then from the PPM Max
Proportional 1 & 2 - Camera Pan/Tilt
3 Position 1 - OSD control
3 Position 2 - *Future Use*
2 Position 1 - Navigation & Beacon Lights on/off
2 Position 2 - Landing Light on/off
2 Position 3 - IR illumination on/off
2 Position 4 - Miniguns **Braaaaaaap**
The only potential issue I can see thus far is that the pan/tilt takes input from a joystick. For me this will probably have to be made to work with Head Tracking as the input (i only have so many hands!), that might be difficult however! the other option is to mount the joystick for the pan/tilt on the back of the controller allowing it to be operating by the fingers of my right hand (I fly helis with thumbs, an advantage in this case lol)
Wow... just wow.
Look what came today! This is just even better than I had hoped for - the detail is insanely good... If I had known it was going to come out this well I might have tried for even more details lol. Remember those arrows on the screen buttons for example are only raised 0.2mm above the button (hopefully just enough for me to be able to paint them white)! Dimensions are spot on too so it looks like I managed to pull this one off - I'm one happy chappy! Just need to paint it now.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8306/8006516714_d9fa0da329_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8460/8006513435_7622796cbb_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/8006517008_6dcf4d9db1_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8322/8006514411_641c53836a_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8037/8006513017_09004c87b4_c.jpg)
And here is Juan having a test fit...
He's still looking fairly happy because he doesn't know that he's in for some major surgery over the next few days. The arms and legs aren't free moving enough, and the legs have too limited upward travel so they will be hacked apart and modified... ultimately the poor chap is going to be decapitated too. To add insult to injury (and I suppose, injury to injury) he'll finally have a screw inserted up his posterior... life can be cruel.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8034/8006574522_0a800bc8ea_c.jpg)
Has his mate (in the background) passed out with shock at the news of what is about to happen to Juan ??
may well have lol
So, just disassembled a 1.8" photo viewer... quick test fit to see how it's looking! I checked looking through my FPV camera and I don't get any screen flicker, so that's good. The lipo will be replaced with a 3.3v power supply.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/8007006208_46bac27cf2_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8030/8007005842_79ed528bf4_c.jpg)
That.. Is THE coolest thing I've ever seen
looking good bud.
;) G
So, been working a lot lately = not too much time...
However, a few small updates.
Firstly on the mechanical side of things:
I've been looking at mounting the mechanics in the fuselage, and I see some people just use plywood blocks to raise the mechanics up enough. The kit came with some stand-
offs, but these aren't in the right place for the T-rex 600 mechanics and hence why people do the plywood thing.
I thought I could attack this problem slightly differently so I have designed a mounting bracket that will go on top of the stand offs, and to which the mechanics will be attached. I'll be getting this machined out of aluminium.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8316/8015358351_39722398a0_b.jpg)
and here you can see the stand-offs it'll attach to.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/8010213769_05b36e7824_c.jpg)
I'm also looking at pulling out all the linkages on the frame and running direct to swash servos... looks like it should work fine and it saves weight/removes slop and allows me to move the rear servo further in to clear the fuselage.... more to come on that later on.
And on the cockpit front:
I've been giving some thought to how to build a nice pan/tilt mechanism that can be stuffed inside a Torso... this is what I came up with. This will be printed out of the standard flexible and strong white plastic from shapeways for about €10.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/8015359003_d6b9c5b026_b.jpg)
The basic idea is this... the large piece on the right attaches to a round servo horn. You then insert a 10mm aluminium tube of whatever length is required into the hole. The piece at the back then mounts on to the top of this tube, and will be fitted with 3x6x2.5 flange bearings on either side for the tilt shaft. The piece on the left slots between the prongs and has a 3mm shaft inserted to keep it all together.
In the same way that I made a cut out in the tube for the cyclic elevator control, a cut will be made in this aluminium tube to allow a servo to be seated... this will then have a linkage running up along side the tube that attaches to the little tab at the back of the piece on the left and will operate tilt.
The whole lot then gets inserted into a hollowed out torso so that the top section comes out roughly where the neck would be, and the camera gets mounted to the top.
And finally, something actually real rather than 3D modelled... I just got done painting my dash. This is going to be a special ops heli so I wanted to go for something that looked like it had been beaten to within an inch of it's life... unfortunately my artistic talent is somewhat limited and this is the result
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/8015357767_9a20b5b258_c.jpg)
The two big emtpy slots will be filled with LCD screen obviously, while the top right will be an AHI and the other two will be black with green writing. They'll be printed on some backlit paper in the same way my eurofighter screens were and then lit from behind by LED backlight. The LF, O,H, and R holes will be filled by LEDs as mentioned before. The LF will be flashing red when voltage reaches a pre-determined level, then O will be green, H will be orange and R will be red... indicating the state of the GPS mode in which the heli is flying.
That's it for now I'm afraid, baby steps!
Here's a quick mock up of the dash with some screens photoshopped in...
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/8015763639_dd1c698a2d_c.jpg)
Too cool... can you sneak one out for me please? lol
So, it's my birthday and I'll play with my toys if I want to....
Got some little extra details for the boys, vests, knee pads and a better gun etc. Unfortunately I already broke the tip of the gun by dropping it... typical lol. I'll see if I can fix that. I had to do some cuts to the back of the seats in order to get them to clear the floor on the main body, and I also came up with a much better mounting system that consists of 3 very high tech lumps of plywood epoxied to the body onto which the cockpit can be mounted and screwed down. I think I'll add a middle support too as it does have a little flex as is.
Here you can see the rough seat cuts, plus note the position of the servo for collective stick movement.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/8026448586_ae1973b45a_c.jpg)
Say hello to cyborg head. This is a small form factor Sony HAD II 600 tvl camera and will be replacing poor Juan's noggin.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8459/8026449335_77bd8ca464_c.jpg)
Here's my dash with the auxilliary displays fitted - I first installed a little clear plastic then installed the backlit paper behind so you get the appearance of glass over the top when it picks up some reflections etc. I've pictured it here next to the dash that came with the kit for reference..
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8310/8026450247_898e844c68_c.jpg)
And finally the lads are chilling out for a test fit - really happy with the size of them, they look good I think. The doors on the fuselage will be cut away like the real version so you'll have a better view of the guys and visibility out the side will also be better for the camera.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8455/8026447736_50e7493f8f_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8320/8026448006_bcd89fb048_c.jpg)
My girlfriend just asked me how I'm going to paint it and I said I'll be buying an Airbrush for this one - she offered to buy it for me... what a girl!
Just the fact that the camera is wearing a combat helmet makes this even cooler, and it was running pretty cool already.
Excited to see the next step... and even though your work-rate on this is amazing, I'll say it anyway. "Work faster" ;)
Err, if anything was ever to go wrong between you and your girlfriend - may I have her number first - my birthday's coming up soon !
:-* :-*
Looking at the side profile of your 'crew' in the heli, may I suggest the base of the seats need cutting down a bit - i.e. lowering - as per this image:
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8973/steveah6jsmallcq4.jpg (http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8973/steveah6jsmallcq4.jpg)
Hah, sorry... She's not going anywhere ;)
The seats are about as low as I can go (already cut them down slightly) due to various constraints in the fuselage... However the head height is actually about right I reckon - check out my pic from the side and look carefully at the panel line around the side window cut out. This is where I will be cutting the doors out up to.
Once you remove that "door" as per your photo, it actually seems they are sitting at around the right height I think?
So, in other news I just made my first model in solidworks - I redid my pan tilt design with a bit more detail and more nicely modelled. I'm sure I went about it completely the wrong way but I'm chuffed I managed to make anything at all lol... solidworks seems much more logical to me than some of the other advanced software I've tried.
This is the result (again, just go to next picture in order to see 3D view) http://www.shapeways.com/model/715017/0e7ddd4d8431d0c51266a8f2e1b38c47 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/715017/0e7ddd4d8431d0c51266a8f2e1b38c47)
The upper mount is designed specifically for this camera now and should hold it quite nicely. Total price in "black, strong and flexible" is 14 euros which is pretty reasonable.
Zeeflyboy - Yes, you are RIGHT and I am WRONG.
I agree that with the doors cut out the 'crew' will be correct.
Lovely pan & tilt system.
Are you an design engineer by profession ?
If not I think you have missed your true vocation in life.
Keep up the great work - it's truly fascinating following your progress.
Goodness no, I'm far too stupid for that....
Always enjoyed engineering at school though!
Cheers for the input by the way, right or wrong I appreciate thoughts on the build. The eurofighter was improved in several areas by chaps on forums just like this one asking questions and suggesting things.
Another crazy thought - maybe for your next project !!
Head cam Pam - yes
BUT instead of 'head' also tilting - how about making the torso tilt ? You would only need it to move a few degrees.
Wg, not sure I get what you mean? I have seen people with 3 axis head tracking that also does "roll" - is that what you mean?
I've spent today playing with solidworks again and I finally managed to make the skid lights I was trying to! The MD500 has a funny nav light location in the front of the skids, and some people just literally seem to bung an led on the end of the tube and call it a day. Not me however, I spend hours making this:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8040/8030363393_316e13be94.jpg)
link is here http://www.shapeways.com/model/716242/md500_skid_lights_for_5mm_high_flux_led.html?key=0be663c41110f9d781a2fb49c1f95c88 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/716242/md500_skid_lights_for_5mm_high_flux_led.html?key=0be663c41110f9d781a2fb49c1f95c88) and once again click next pic for a 3D view.
I designed them around these 5mm high flux LEDs, you can probably use your imagination to see how it goes together... If not the led sits in its square hole and then the cover goes over the top, wires run down into the skids through the centre channel.
(http://www.superbrightleds.com/images/uploads/component-led-HF5_w_1.jpg)
Your certainly getting your head around solidworks, its a great tool to have, I have seen this program in action, the demo wouldn't allow me to save or export the parts, but it looked pretty good, way to expensive for me to buy the licence to use it, Rhino was all I could afford, and that was dear enough. Lol.
Keep up the good work, its going to be a beauty.
:) G
Cheers!
So, There's one thing I really hate on scale helis, and that's when you can see the mechanics inside... completely ruins the illusion for me.
I've been doing some google image searching and popped up with the AH-6X... it has some nice looking doors covering the rear area which I think I'll replicate. The rub is that the opening there is really quite handy for getting screw drivers in and accessing equipment so I think the answer is to make working doors at the back there. Looks good in flight but can be opened for maintenance access.
This pic shows the doors quite nicely and also note the skid lights - this is the style I was going for when I modelled mine.
(http://unmannedwarfare.webs.com/photos/UAVs/ah-6x.jpg)
I'm also having a re-think about the secondary camera position... I think I may make an FLIR pod as in that pic. It leaves potential in future to make a moveable pod and of course fits the theme of having a "FLIR" a bit better. I think I'll modify that design slightly though.
So, had a bit of spare time this arvo and decided to get my hands dirty (and the floor). First I removed the moulded hinges and then covered the window from behind.... then painstakingly made a spacer to fill the window space before masking the whole lot off... in hindsight this was stoopid and I should have just gone with a sheet of thin plastic on the outside... live and learn and all that! There's always the other side to do!
Anyway here it is all masked off and ready to go:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8322/8032737506_acfa4ace95_c.jpg)
And here after 5 layers of fibreglass.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8034/8032739201_f72745c64e_c.jpg)
This stuff is slooooooow curing so it will need 24 hours to finish. Bit of a pain but I find it much easier to work with as there's no rush before it sets up (about 45 mins) and goes on nice and smoothly. The quicker drying stuff tends to end up a bit more lumpy in my (limited) experience.
Once it's cured I'll give it a good sand/fill/sand/fill until smooth then lastly cut to shape.
Kudos to you man, you fairly rattle through these projects! I spent about 6 months building my wing FFS :laugh:
Looks like it's going to be even more impressive than the Typhoon.
My aim is to be mostly done by January - so that's about 3-4 months. We'll see how that goes lol.
Cheers though - I hope this is going to be a better build than the Typhoon. I'm really going for as best I can on this one!
So I got called from standby this morning only to then find out they had changed their mind and I had a few hours before they actually needed me so I came home and did some work on the door.... leaving it out in the sun yesterday appears to have worked since it's solid as a rock now.
Here's the piece removed from the heli after a bit of preliminary sanding (window marked out for alignment purposes).
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8451/8035272451_b99b09e421_c.jpg)
I then drew in pen around the panel lines on the heli so I could see them through the fibreglass, traced them out on the fibreglass part and cut the part out leaving a couple mm spare around the edges. I then sanded the edges back using some sand paper on a wood block to make sure the edges were nice and straight... and ended up with this:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8442/8035271704_2e5ca67c38_c.jpg)
and here it is on the heli:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8453/8035271940_0a3c1a2f98_c.jpg)
It'll need a slot cutting in the bottom (it'll look just like the AH-6X door when it's done) to allow the weapons arm out plus just some general finishing polish to get it perfect, and then I'll need to do some cutting on the fuselage of course.
So, a quick whizz on the 3D software again and now I've whipped up the first part of my design for the FLIR - the pod. It's designed to fit my low light camera very closely, but even so it's pretty big because the camera is on the porky side. The pod measures 6cm tall. Of course I had to chuck out the idea of the autoiris lens and just go with a standard f1.2 which is much smaller.
The wires for the camera will run out the hole on one side, into the supporting cradle then up into the fuselage. On the other side there will be a small servo at the top of the cradle (internal) with a thin piece of piano wire running down and attaching to the disc on the side of the pod. This will actuate the tilt mechanism... or at least that's the idea.
I had tried to design the servo into the pod itself but there's just not the room without making th epod bigger and that's something I wanted to avoid. I think this solution should work pretty well and give sufficient movement.
On the front there is the cut out for the lens, and I also made a small shelf around the lip so that I can cover the opening with a thin sheet of clear plastic from inside.
The mounting hard point should be fairly easy but the cradle is going to be a bit more complicated to build... we'll get there! The idea here is that it'll be fairly easy to switch camera should I wish to - just design/pop in a new cradle and pod. I may yet do a few tweaks to the design.
3D view available here (click next pic as usual) http://www.shapeways.com/model/718746/e866629c855d94e85b0c9eb1337aa6dc (http://www.shapeways.com/model/718746/e866629c855d94e85b0c9eb1337aa6dc)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8034/8036678622_d87003e10c_z.jpg)
this is now my final (probably) FLIR cradle design. Beefed up the main mount to 12mm with thicker walls, so it should be much tougher, and also turned it into a single piece above the frame. Also added some "spacers" at the bottom where the FLIR pod mounts that I had forgotten.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8455/8039438466_a1fdd6589c_z.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8176/8039436700_35640981e8_z.jpg)
I just need to do some tweaking to the FLIR pod itself and then finish off my main mount, then I can see how much it all costs together. Probably a fair bit unfortunately! I'm going to wait until my skid lights and pan/tilt get here too though so I can see how the flexible and strong polished plastic is before I decide what material to get it done in.
edit - shapeways link for 3D view (click next pic, then you can move it with your mouse) http://www.shapeways.com/model/719420/flir_cradle_v3.html?key=8eef998c887e76d4dac34f456a2b0da9 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/719420/flir_cradle_v3.html?key=8eef998c887e76d4dac34f456a2b0da9)
Sorry for all the incremental updates... I probably should have just waited until I had finished. I'll try to behave better in future :)
Anyway, I've now finished the FLIR pod unit.
First we have the mount.... The cut out you see inside is for a 2x21x5mm bearing which should also give you a sense of scale.... the block is 30mm wide and the disc is 40mm diameter. This unit will be mounted into the front of the helicopter and fitted permanently with a bit of glass/epoxy.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8453/8040561152_5195268178_z.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8178/8040561060_ccb180c357_z.jpg)
Then we have the cradle... This as previously mentioned has a shelf that can accept a small servo which can then be attached to an arm on the FLIR pod axle and operate tilt. Another option is to mount a motor and a pulley system but I need to look into that a bit more... I've left enough space inside to be able to play a bit.
On the top we have the improved mounting axle which obviously gets inserted through the bearing in the above mount. Again an arm or wheel can be attached for a servo/motor operation. I've added a step which will press against the inner race of the bearing and so when tightened up it should be snug with very little play and hopefully no rubbing.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8311/8040553843_c88a1344a6_z.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8449/8040553685_ba072c7844_z.jpg)
And last but not least the pod... just cleaned up a few bits and changed the axle to a straight design. I'll make end stops out of g10 as it gives me more control over tolerances and lets me play with arm length for the pod tilt.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8309/8040560660_0923a349ca_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8459/8040560494_9277e83003_z.jpg)
The design is intended to allow the camera cable to run out of the pod through one of the axles and into the cradle, then the tilt servo and camera wire to run out from the cradle into the mount... from there it can get directly into the cockpit and be routed wherever needed. We'll see how all this fancy thinking actually works out when I get it printed.... fingers crossed! I'll be waiting to get my other pieces before deciding on material, and might do a few small tweaks to the design in the mean time.
I decided that since my modelling skills are improving rather than make an adaptor plate, I would design an entirely new bottom bracket for the heli which fits the fuselage.
This means I can replace the plastic bottom bracket for a stronger aluminium one, with holes in the right place for the fuselage and also shelves to take the ESC (at the back) and the SPS switch (at the front, underneath).
(http://i.imgur.com/J147z.jpg)
I'm now just exploring how best to get it made lol. I fear it won't be cheap, but it seems very little I do is cheap these days :(
I also ordered a KDE adjustable motor mount to help with fitting my oversized motor, and a KDE gyro plate for the back where I will mount the FBL controller. Because I'm nuts, I also got the KDE thrusted bearing blocks while I'm at it - on my 600 Pro they help keep everything running smooth so I thought why not!
I've really been eying up the Naza-H as well... that could make me change from my skookum plans. I'll be waiting for more info on that.
So just done a little work on the heli before I go to work this afternoon.
I hooked up my landing light - rather than use a resistor I went with a proper LED driver, it always supplies a constant 350ma to the LED and backs off it it gets too hot etc. All I can say is DAYUUUM this thing is bright... hard to capture in a photo but it's actually uncomfortable to look at directly even outside.
It's a 1W LED with heat sink and lens assembly.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8030/8062252110_1f11233aa9_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8322/8062252392_4a53e93eda_c.jpg)
Other than that I've been doing a bit more filling and sanding on the left door. Seems it wasn't quite as smooth as I had thought lol. Looks pretty good now but I won't be able to tell until I get a coat of primer on it - then I can do a bit more smoothing... I also cut out the hatch in the fuselage and the door for the weapons arm using a trusty dremel....
Slight change of plans here too - I decided to epoxy the door in place and have it fixed. It lends so much strength and rigidity to the side of the fuselage that I just thought it'd be stupid not to take advantage of it.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8456/8062251339_34b657879b_c.jpg)
Other than that, I ordered some gel coat so that I can start to make the moulds for the clear windshield. Should be straight forward to make - just paint some gelcoat on the inside of the existing canopy pulls, add some fibreglass and then out should pop a nice plug for the vacuum forming machine that is yet to be built.
Anyway, bit of fun today... I hooked up the controls in the seat.
AH-6 animated cockpit controls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_FY0Tb3lIM#ws)
Using some tiny servos from HK... they seem great. Very light weight at around 2.5g each (manufacturer specs) but can run on up to 6v and are quite smooth... seem to have enough grunt for the application too with 0.17kg of torque.
Jobsa.
Fabulous !!
cheers!
So, my screen arrived from adafruit yesterday and I just hooked it up for a test, without OSD for the moment as I don't have the time to hook it all up together...
It seems very nice - good clear screen and the image is good quality (much better than the video makes out in fact) and the screen is really very small form factor - there is very little size beyond the viewable portion.
It also powers on automatically which is just perfect. My only complaint is that they say the button on the back adjusts brightness - this is incorrect. It adjusts contrast - there is no brightness adjustment.
so, quickly tacked on some wires directly to the camera - this will be how I wire it up when I do it properly too, but I'll do a neater job and add some epoxy afterwards. This will be the best way to hook things up in the confined space of the camera pod. It also leaves the rear port free to plug in the OSD as required.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8320/8073711013_eb116f8380_c.jpg)
and the screen front and back, when installed I won't be using the connector of course - everything will just be directly soldered.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8457/8073711335_bd8833f5dc_c.jpg)
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8174/8073704368_ac8c78ed6a_c.jpg)
Video:
AH-6 Dash sneaky peak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut5J18K-6Bk#)
and here is a initial draft of my video system wiring...
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8320/8073755923_493b667da9_c.jpg)
Glad you are just keeping it simple !!
:D :D
It is quite simple.... Looks more complicated than it is.
When you start looking at the rest of the wiring for the heli though, it is a bit more daunting.
Only just catching up with some threads.
Wow this is incredible mate. I always though a scale helicopter fpv cockpit view would be the mutts.
Fir play. Really looking forward to the final result.
thanks
Wow, I LOVE shapeways....
Just got back from work and picked up my package that I missed a few days ago from a neighbour - contains my skid lights and pan/tilt unit.
Here are a few quick excited pics lol. I'm so happy with how they have come out, I'm really chuffed so far! I forgot to order the flange bearings for the pan/tilt but nevermind - I'll go order them this evening. It actually looks to be pretty smooth without the bearings but I'm sure the bearings will prove useful in the longer term....
Image hosting now imgur by popular demand - please let me know it all works okay for you
(http://i.imgur.com/cvka2h.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/WHh5Qh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rH8Ngh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/DC3MQh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/So3wKh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oaSTTh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/e5ZNEh.jpg)
Still haven't committed to my FLIR pod, and may just do a few little design revisions now after seeing the material in question.
So, for those of you who don't get where I'm going with the pan/tilt hopefully this is clear!
Take one length of tube, and cut a slot to fit the servo...
(http://i.imgur.com/xnkyD.jpg)
Glue said servo to slot
(http://i.imgur.com/G5ZnV.jpg)
and then assemble (please excuse the grubbiness! covered it in carbon dust....)
(http://i.imgur.com/aY33m.jpg)
The best bit - the whole lot including linkages and servos weighs 15g! I'm quite chuffed with that.... The next big job is going to be hollowing out poor Juan to have his new carbon spine inserted. There will be a small bracket at the top near the "neck" to stop the whole thing wobbling.
sorry, just two more pics, now bed time! This is the functionally complete unit, just need the two flange bearings to finish it.
(http://i.imgur.com/WUOQP.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/TWmBa.jpg)
So, today you can call me Dr Zee.... I would like to introduce you to Juan 2.0
(http://i.imgur.com/QoumZ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HWF2S.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/n8hps.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YF9U1.jpg)
You can see how the unit has been installed inside the body, I whipped up a quick fiberglass bracket just underneath the top section which holds the thing in place and stops it from wobbling back and forth or side to side. I know he looks scary, but don't worry he's 'armless.... (sorry... sorry... I do apologise).
AH-6 Pilot sneaky peak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myu7E3FoCEo#ws)
Oh trust me, they know some bounds!
Thanks though ;)
Wow. Amazing project!
Look forward to seeing the first fpv video :P
regards
Andy
This project is beyond impressive, the attention to detail and ingenuity is incredible :)
Juan already has loads of personality, it looked like he was sat there in a daze just looking round for his arms.
Hang in there Juan, aim high - someday you may even be a pilot
Haha, yeah I thought that too... poor Juan. Hopefully the suffering will be worth it!
Cheers guys, I appreciate your kind remarks!
couple of things today... first off, while I was fairly happy with the pan/tilt, after getting it in my hands I could see there were a few areas I could improve upon.
here's my v2
(http://i.imgur.com/qATkc.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/7gw0s.png)
Improvements include tweaked camera mount dimensions and shape for a closer fit and smaller footprint, a brace for additional strength over the tilt tab with incorporated wire tidy to stop the plug from being pulled at during operation, a little beefing up with some fillets on the tab itself, and a little bling bling in the form of some personalisation... also a little improved clearance in some areas.
Aside from that, I decided to try out my plug making skills. A strange choice perhaps given that I haven't even made a vacuum forming machine yet, but I'm a complicated fellow. I thought it'd be wise to try first on the small section that yields the lower front sections.
So, first job was to buff up the interior of the stock canopy because it had a rough feeling, not smooth. This undoubtedly contributes to the lack of visibility with the stock canopy and after a good going over with some very light cutting compound (t-cut - an automotive scratch remover) it was looking much better. I then added several coats of meguiars NXT car wax to shine it up and help release the plug.
heres the part after my efforts. It's now much clearer to see through, but still tinted alas! This does give me the idea of buffing up anything I make from this plug though to improve clarity if required.
(http://i.imgur.com/8pfqu.jpg)
So I then painted the interior with tooling gelcoat and allowed it to turn tacky before applying a few layers of fiberglass. Left it overnight and then just now I broke it free from the mould.... this is how it popped out (used a bit too much resin, but never mind - it's not a structural part):
(http://i.imgur.com/FwwIP.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4njK6.jpg)
And this is it after a quick buff and wax... smooooooooth. Pretty chuffed with that - should be a good basis for starting to play with making a good clear canopy.
(http://i.imgur.com/iVRS2.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4bBXL.jpg)
So I did some final design tweaks to the FLIR pod and now finally ordered them... grand total for the FLIR pod unit to be printed and sent - almost exactly 100 euros. Yikes... hope I didn't screw up the design!
Since last time you've seen them, on the cradle I've added support for 10x15x3mm flange bearings for the pod tilt axis, changed the servo mount, changed the positioning tabs and a few other small tweaks.
(http://i.imgur.com/cSoYX.png)
On the mount I've added the control horn (also doubles as retainer) and a replacement landing light surround since I will have to remove the original one.
(http://i.imgur.com/dKLdZ.png)
And finally on the pod I've changed the mount post/tab arrangement slightly, and added a standoff for the bearing.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZfYzf.png)
Ordered these in white flexible and strong polished, since they will be painted to match the heli anyway... looking forward to seeing if my creation will work and how it'll look. My main worry is that it'll look too big on the front. If that is the case knowing me I'll probably go with a smaller camera and re-design a smaller pod/cradle. At least smaller is cheaper here lol.
Aaaaand I just fitted some of my nice new shiney bling bling...
KDE gyro mount at the rear which is where I will mount my SK720/Naza-H/whatever. The plastic mount was really crap and flimsy here so thought this would be a wise update.
(http://i.imgur.com/8KoVH.jpg)
KDE Thrusted bearing blocks and adjustable motor mount. The thought of around 7 Kg of helicopter hanging off a radial bearing with axial load just makes me cringe, so I got these thrusted blocks instead. They combine a radial and a thrusted in each block (only really need the bottom one since this heli will never be doing inverted manoeuvres, but hey, I had to buy the pair anyway lol. The adjustable motor mount makes fitting my oversized motor a bit easier.
(http://i.imgur.com/BfmQu.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/yQsw4.jpg)
I am also going to be converting it to direct to swash for the servos.... this gives more precise control with less slop and drag from linkages, and reduces weight. Also helps with fuselage clearance.
What do you guys think about this? I whipped it up today... not exactly directly related to the project but a side project if you will. The idea is that you can attach this unit to an empty module case and it will correctly position the EZUHF for a vertical antenna. By using an empty module case it means you can have the EZUHF directly plugged in to the radio rather than by the USB port, and also means that the mount would probably work for most modules (I designed it for my futaba).
The alternative is to build the whole module in too, thus removing the need for a spare case but not sure if it's worth the hassle.
edit - link http://www.shapeways.com/model/745402/ezuhf_mount_type_1_logo.html?key=ab884aa18deab9f11daf6f8e9d6d3bd6 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/745402/ezuhf_mount_type_1_logo.html?key=ab884aa18deab9f11daf6f8e9d6d3bd6)
in a nice IMRC red
(http://i.imgur.com/Zn8KK.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/gpXLN.png)
anyone got any bright ideas for additions before I order it?
EDIT - oh and while I was at it, I made this little button to cover the hole left if you pull out the old telescopic antenna... Shimples. http://www.shapeways.com/model/745436/futaba-10c-dust-cover.html (http://www.shapeways.com/model/745436/futaba-10c-dust-cover.html)
(http://i.imgur.com/jnskx.png)
And another creation for today - an IMRC 5.8Ghz v2 enclosure designed to fit a 20x20mm 5v fan.... the idea is that in my setup since the vTX's aren't powering the cameras the 5v supply from the IMRC vTX will supply it's own fan... looks like they draw around 0.2A at this size - can anyone remember off hand what the max draw on the 5v rail of the vTX is?
Since the vTX's are going to be enclosed in the fuselage I thought active cooling would be a good idea, plus I always find them a bit of a pain to mount... this enclosure aims to solve both of those issues. Cut out at the front gives access to the cable release latches without disassembly.
http://www.shapeways.com/model/745612/imrc_5_8ghz_v2_enclosure__20mm_fan_.html?key=37d272e7cd16cfbb86fe56b9b7e258fb (http://www.shapeways.com/model/745612/imrc_5_8ghz_v2_enclosure__20mm_fan_.html?key=37d272e7cd16cfbb86fe56b9b7e258fb)
(http://i.imgur.com/AAIqy.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/h9OFW.png)
To avoid having a fan for the vtx, could you 'funnel' some downdraft from the main blades to cool vtx ??
EZUHF 'cradle' + telescopic aerial plug.
I would be happy to buy one of each from you.
I figure a small fan is easier - the things weigh next to nothing and it means the vTXs will still be cooled while sitting on the ground waiting for GPS lock etc.
To get a decent downdraft from the blades you need to go quite a bit out from the centre, and then it becomes a bit tricky to direct it internally.
You can order anything I have made here from shapeways - I recommend waiting until I've had a chance to check fit and function however! I've designed it for a close fit and there's always the chance it's too close! Bit expensive to take a punt on unless you're stupid like me. If you fancy the EzUHF cradle then once I've tested it let me know and I can do custom text/no text for you too (figure you don't want "Zeeflyboy" and "FPVlab" down the side!)
Will await further developments with my usual great interest !
PS Not that fussy what is / isn't engraved on mouldings / castings.
So, not much to report but I'm afraid to say I've been busy on the computer again! If you've had enough of 3D designs for now then skip this post... sorry! Normal service will resume soon after I've run out of things I need to design and they all start arriving!
I was looking today at building the upper dash module and I decided I would almost certainly get a better result through my new found love of 3D printing...
I have designed a full dash module, it has a small cut out at the top under the glare shield which the dash facia panel can slot into. For access to install screens and for maintenance I have incorporated a removable panel into the back, and I added mounts for the 3mm leds that will illuminate the static displays (one per display). I'm quite proud of this puppy - it took a long time for me to figure out how to make it!
(http://i.imgur.com/FhCLO.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/LO4cH.png)
http://www.shapeways.com/model/752479/6b6d5f8df86e6201c4f2a2e589639621?li= (http://www.shapeways.com/model/752479/6b6d5f8df86e6201c4f2a2e589639621?li=)
I also designed a collective stick to mount to my servo arm, and a cover to tidy it all up. Because I need access to the arm screw for installation, I have made a separate cover that will then conceal the hole once installed.
(http://i.imgur.com/InD7g.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/XPjvV.png)
http://www.shapeways.com/model/751281/collective_stick.html?key=751e23d83d14983c9de75249 6b3688a8 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/751281/collective_stick.html?key=751e23d83d14983c9de75249 %206b3688a8)
And finally, I designed myself some rudder pedals. The design is such that the pedals can rotate on the arm, thus getting rid of any problems with the feet not staying attached as the angle changes (the pedals themselves will be permanently attached to the feet). The rudder pedal arms fit inside the mount and are then free to pivot back and forth. The whole lot is then mounted to the fibreglass panel you can see installed in the picture - I made these today out of 1mm fibreglass sheet. The linkages from the servo will then run underneath the flooring panel and attach to the bottom of each arm. The whole floor will also then be covered in scale metallic style flooring.
(http://i.imgur.com/anhd3.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/vIaEr.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/IqWSs.jpg)
http://www.shapeways.com/model/750568/970ea4b197ea656b89c70ed7971cbc1d?li= (http://www.shapeways.com/model/750568/970ea4b197ea656b89c70ed7971cbc1d?li=)
Gee. Looks great!
Wouldnt it be more economical to get your own 3d printer though!
regards
Andy
Wonder if I could invest in a few Shapeways company shares - think their annual revenue is on a dramatic increase thanks to this project !!
Quote from: skyscraper on October 26, 2012, 01:26:48 PM
Gee. Looks great!
Wouldnt it be more economical to get your own 3d printer though!
regards
Andy
Hah, no way. The makerbot replicator 2 is of roughly comparable layer thickness (not sure about accuracy or minimum detail level) to the shapeways SF material printers and is $2200, but on top of that of course you need to buy material.... Shapeways also offer some useful post processing such as dying and polishing (the latter is really useful for improving surface quality and smoothness).
Alternatively there is the upcoming Formlabs, which is ridiculously high resolution (layers are 0.025mm thick, minimum surface detail is 0.3mm). Smaller size limit on the parts though. Retail price hasn't been set yet but shouldn't be
that much more than the replicator 2... presale on kickstarter is at $2999 for international with an early investor discount. The liquid material for that though us around $100 per litre iirc...
Anyway, point is you'd have to do a lot of 3D printing before it became more cost effective. On top of that with your own printer choice of materials is limited, shapeways can offer over 30 I think.
I would love my own printer, and would get the Formlabs in a heartbeat, but I certainly can't justify it from an expense point of view lol. I've spent a couple of hundred euros now, but that's with most of the major 3D parts for this project accounted for, and a non-directly related EzUHF cradle.
Cheers guys
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on October 20, 2012, 03:48:15 PM
What do you guys think about this? I whipped it up today... not exactly directly related to the project but a side project if you will. The idea is that you can attach this unit to an empty module case and it will correctly position the EZUHF for a vertical antenna. By using an empty module case it means you can have the EZUHF directly plugged in to the radio rather than by the USB port, and also means that the mount would probably work for most modules (I designed it for my futaba).
The alternative is to build the whole module in too, thus removing the need for a spare case but not sure if it's worth the hassle.
edit - link http://www.shapeways.com/model/745402/ezuhf_mount_type_1_logo.html?key=ab884aa18deab9f11daf6f8e9d6d3bd6 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/745402/ezuhf_mount_type_1_logo.html?key=ab884aa18deab9f11daf6f8e9d6d3bd6)
in a nice IMRC red
(http://i.imgur.com/Zn8KK.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/gpXLN.png)
anyone got any bright ideas for additions before I order it?
EDIT - oh and while I was at it, I made this little button to cover the hole left if you pull out the old telescopic antenna... Shimples. http://www.shapeways.com/model/745436/futaba-10c-dust-cover.html (http://www.shapeways.com/model/745436/futaba-10c-dust-cover.html)
(http://i.imgur.com/jnskx.png)
Hi mate, loving the build!
Just thought with the red EZUHF bracket, have you seen the new versions with the red banding around the top & bottom of the tx, it may not fit with those as they sit proud away from the case a little.
If they'd fit, order me one too!!
The new version won't fit, but I can easily modify the design - I have the idea that basically it would be open at both ends and you just remove the faceplate from one end, insert into the holder and then re-attach the faceplate which would then clamp it inside the unit.
I'll just need a few measurements from you - I'll send you a pm shortly.
Back to my roots for this post - Backyard shed style bodge-it-engineering.
So, Looking at my pilot, the legs don't go far enough up for the rudder to work properly because they hit a mechanical stop at 90 degrees. So poor Juan's suffering isn't yet over, I mercilessly hacked off his legs.
(http://i.imgur.com/7znpm.jpg)
I then used some epoxy putty to shape shoulders and add hinges to his legs that will allow the legs to move up a little with the rudder. The right shoulder has embedded wire which will effectively form the arm controlling the cyclic stick. I needed more degrees of freedom here than a simple hinge could provide so I've gone for a flexible wire instead. the left shoulder has a flat edge and will then have an arm attached which will be free to rotate fore/aft only. Combined with an elbow joint this will then allow the arm to move nicely in line with the collective stick.
(http://i.imgur.com/QqivD.jpg)
Next up I need to shape some foam segments to replace the missing leg and arm sections... should keep things nice and light.
edit - the right arm is almost done... just need to drill and attach the hand. The foam in between the segments helps stop the sleeve material from collapsing inwards when the joints move... I've done a quick test and the arm can reach all 4 points of the cyclic stick extremes, but is also the right length to fit inside the sleeve which is good!
You can also see the small 3mm carbon shaft in the left shoulder which will act as the pivot point for the left arm and allow it to rotate backwards with the collective stick.
(http://i.imgur.com/p6p4D.jpg)
So, A slight geographical snafu has occurred....
I have some leave coming up at the start on november and will be in the UK, and when I ordered my FLIR pod the ship-by date shapeways gave put it firmly during my time in the UK. Accordingly I got it sent to one of my UK addresses.
Shapeways however completed it well before the target date and sent it on thursday.... so I'm currently separated from my creation by about 700 miles.
Girlfriend to the rescue however! she has taken some pics for me to share with you - apparently It all fits and locks together well, the eagle eyed may notice the pod is slightly loose in the cradle - this is due to the bearings not being installed. I have to say it looks to have come out exceptionally well, I'll reserve judgement until I've been able to examine it myself but looks like my love for shapeways is on the up and up.
The only reservation I have is that the thing might be a bit humongous, if so I'll have to consider redesigning a new one for a smaller camera... we'll see how that goes when I can actually install it in the heli.
All parts separate (FLIR pod, cradle, mount, retaining/control arm and replacement landing light surround)
(http://i.imgur.com/liAhr.jpg)
liiike a glove
(http://i.imgur.com/aZIQy.jpg)
Pod fits :)
(http://i.imgur.com/iuF1s.jpg)
couple of detail shots to show the quality... I'm pretty impressed with this for their basic material!
(http://i.imgur.com/ZKdDQ.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/aRHD9.png)
So some good news and some not so good news...
Here's a few pics of my pod going together, works quite nicely (no servos yet to try making it move) but I think it's too big. It really dominates the front of the heli (though the picture exaggerates it somewhat due to the perspective.
(http://i.imgur.com/SvWpq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/UpNQU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/EhKRK.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/O7blj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/pL4xZ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/kMsqM.jpg)
Anyway, I'm nothing if not prepared and here's my contingency plan - a significantly smaller pod and cradle based on the 25x25mm cam here (original cam is 38x38 for an idea of size difference) http://www.securitycamera2000.com/products/DIY-0.001-Starlight-3D%252dDNR-Sony-CCD-650TVL-Super-Mini-Camera-FPV.html (http://www.securitycamera2000.com/products/DIY-0.001-Starlight-3D%252dDNR-Sony-CCD-650TVL-Super-Mini-Camera-FPV.html)
While I was at it I decided to make a small change - the front panel of the pod is now quickly removable to adjust focus, change lens or access the camera. I added holes at the top and bottom for two tiny (1x2mm) neodynium magnets to hold the front cover in place.
(http://i.imgur.com/Wx6Ur.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/j3s9H.png)
Superb work as ever :)
"Removable front camera panel"
Personally I would fix with screws, rather than magnets.
PS I am imagining one of these pods, slightly modified, being available to buy to use as a generic 'moveable' camera container on FPV planes and quads etc. - aerodynamic, keeps moisture off camera, would also protect a camera from a 'heavy' landing.
Cheers
I did think about screws, but having played with my current pod the friction fit plus magnets would be ample I would think... and it keeps the nice tidy look. If worst comes to worst then the front just falls off in a field somewhere, it won't affect anything. Of course I'll come back here with my tail between my legs and you'll be sat there trying not to say "I told you so"...
Amazing!
Cant wait to see a video of the camera panning n tilting.
regards
Andy
Bit of hacking with a dremel and this is where I'm at:
(http://i.imgur.com/wTL92.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/5pS7k.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/5sNJJ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Mu5KJ.jpg)
It's already firmly mounted with epoxy but next up I'm going to reinforce the area with some extra fibreglass, including wrapping it just inside the mount to increase the rigidity of the whole section and well and truly lock the mount in place, then tidy up around the edges and make sure it's all nicely blended in. You can see the bottom where I had to deal with the old landing light location too, it's now patched and I just need to fill it up and smooth it out.
However I just picked up Halo 4 and I have some alien butt to kick...
So, whats new...
Firstly I've done a bit more work on the nose... please excuse the untidy appearance! I'll tidy it up later, although I'm not sure why since it'll be hidden behind the floor/dash section anyway.
I fibreglassed the central section with a few layers of 25gm cloth and wrapped it around the corners of the mount. It's all very solidly locked in there now and is much more rigid than before.
I then added a riser section to the forward floor mounting block and created a fibreglass bridge panel. This serves two purposes - firstly it provides a platform for the pan servo and secondly it creates a totally rigid triangle that removes any play in the mount... The lower part of the block attaches to the floor section which is then also attached at two points either side at the rear. End result is a totally solid and strong mount for hanging a camera from.... jobsa.
(http://i.imgur.com/grCxU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oiuT3.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YrLc8.jpg)
In other news, Shapeways has finally failed me. I got an email today about my delayed EzUHF cradle and turns out the dying process didn;t work very well leaving it with inconsistent colour. They gave me the option of accepting as is, asking for a re-print or a refund with store credit... I have asked for a refund as I will then print again with a slightly updated design... means more delays but hey ho, I'm not in a rush.
They did however seem to come through on the other components just slightly late - The dash console, Collective stick, Rudder mechanism and vTX coolers should all have been delivered today to my GF's address in the UK. Hopefully she'll send me some pics later that I can share with you!
And lastly for this post, I have received some rather encouraging news that suggests I will be able to play with 16 channels. 16... muhahahahahahaaaaaa!!!! I won;t go into details just yet until the details are hashed out and finalised but I've already been thinking about allocations:
Ch1 aileron
Ch2 elevator
Ch3 throttle
Ch5 rudder
Ch6 Naza flight mode
Ch7 HT Pan
Ch8 HT Tilt
Ch9 - Pod Pan (joystick)
Ch10 - Pod Tilt (joystick)
Ch11 - OSD control (3 pos)
Ch12 - DElight controller (3Pos)
Ch13 - Pico switch nav light (2 pos)
Ch14 - Video switch (2 pos)
Ch15 - Sabertooth dual 5A motor driver (miniguns) (2pos)
Ch16 - HK multi switch (missile tubes) (2 pos) or RSSI/LQ
DElight controller:
Ch1-3 unused
Ch4 - cockpit roof lighting (on at 50-100%)
Ch5 - main landing light (on at 50-100%)
Ch6 - aux landing lights (on at 80-100%)
Ch7 - beacons (always on)
Ch8 - unused
I'm thinking now that I am going to separate my power systems too. The gryphon is rated for some serious current draw and would probably be fine but with all screens, nav lights, high powered landing lights, OSD + GPS, naza + GPS, cameras, servos, miniguns etc running from it I'm getting slightly concerned lol.
My thoughts are to break it down into the following:
Essential bus - powered by gryphon. All flight critical systems (servos, rx, Naza + GPS, cameras, OSD + GPS)
Non essential bus - powered by a second HV bec. All non critical systems (lights, miniguns, screens, vTX cooling fans)
Battery Bus (6S) - vTX direct connection to flight pack 1
Battery bus (12S) - Gryphon + other HV bec.
In addition, either a buffer pack or scorpion UPS back up for the essential bus. The scorp is pretty cool - a 2S lipo with built in regulator that just sits there and waits. When your rail drops below 5v it kicks in and starts supplying juice.... undecided which option is better for now.
Haha, yeah well we have to make do with what we can have really.. I'm sure that software will do everything you want - I had a look at it and it seemed pretty good.
Well the GF is refusing to take proper pics from me this eve (says she'll do it tomorrow... sigh, women) but she did send me these two from her phone. I apologise for the shocking quality but the girl is a stubborn one!
So, I present to you blurry bits! Rudder mechanism, collective mechanism, 2x 5.8ghz cooling cases, and one big purple dash console.
(http://i.imgur.com/UieET.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/bpPpW.jpg)
All looking really nice mate!
Any news on those revisions on the ezuhf cradles?
Well I was waiting to see how this one I ordered turned out but now that I've asked for a refund due to the problem with it, It'll be up to another 2 weeks until I get it in my hands to try.
I can whip up the re-design fairly quickly, I was just waiting to see if anything else needed changing too... would you rather wait until I've been able to test it or would you rather go on blind faith lol? If the latter I can try and do the re-design tomorrow and upload it (assuming I don't get called from standby).
Fair play fella, bit of a shame they messed up, don't want to rush you, I'm cool with waiting.
I'd rather you were happy with your design before you send any out.
Might go for one of those TX antenna covers too. ;)
Quote from: Flyn on November 15, 2012, 11:14:35 PM
Fair play fella, bit of a shame they messed up, don't want to rush you, I'm cool with waiting.
I'd rather you were happy with your design before you send any out.
Might go for one of those TX antenna covers too. ;)
+ 1
Oky doky, as soon as I get refunded I'll be re-ordering so I'll be sure to update the thread here when I can.
Here's a quick fun pic, my lovely little 130X has found a new friend. I still think the FLIR pod is looking a bit big - the re-designed one is much smaller so I'll try both and see which I prefer and how the performance differs.
Oh and the door is the green I have decided to go with for the heli... I just wanted to try it out lol. That'll all be sanded off again as part of the smoothing/finishing/priming process... at least I know the airbrushes work and the colour looks good to me!
(http://i.imgur.com/Tbezj.jpg)
Oh and check out this video. This is from a guy flying on a 320x240 Quark Thermal camera which would easily fit in a pod smaller than the one there.... only problem is I need about $5000 and to fill out a load of ITAR paperwork since it's classified as military technology :o
Dehogaflier Hunt Gone Wrong Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx85xRAKjQw#)
Cool mate, look forward to it - any ideal on costs?
Nice pic btw - should a great thing to fly & a thermal cam would be just the ticket!
around about 45 quid....
not cheap I know but that's about as low as I could get the cost without taking out too much material.... :shrug:
So, the GF has been a lovely girl and taken plenty of pics of the new parts this morning. You may be asking why the colours, and there are two reasons. Firstly, shapeways were offering a discount on the colours since they had just added a new printer with higher resolution and improved dying quality so it saved me a few pennies. Secondly, for the dash it will have led lights inside and I figured that having a dark dye would help stop any light leakage without having to do too many layers of paint.... unfortunately they don't do a polished black yet so I had to go with blue.
The imrc fan coolers are red because anything imrc had to be red ;)
Anyway, butt load of pics here... looks pretty good to me!
the gaggle of bits
(http://i.imgur.com/GPNrN.jpg)
Dash console:
(http://i.imgur.com/9UABx.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/iJuCA.jpg)
Collective stick and housing:
(http://i.imgur.com/Hy23A.jpg)
Rudder pedal assembly:
(http://i.imgur.com/uJObh.jpg)
IMRC vTX coolers:
(http://i.imgur.com/Z1Qsx.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/r01x7.jpg)
Ah and just to let you know I've agreed to take the EzUHF cradle with a 15% refund... So should be able to sort that out sooner than anticipated
I think the smaller one will look nicer, but we'll see. I'll have both to choose from anyway at least!
Just got back to UK and this was waiting for me, my new toy! Courtesy of g.collins on here...
The spindle should be arriving next week and I'm going to just buy a cheap shuttle pc off ebay and bung a parallel port PCI card in it (it runs off parallel, not serial). Then I just need to figure out how to use the damn thing lol, it's all a bit complicated looking to be honest but hopefully I'll get the hang of it.
The first project will be a nice simple one to get me started - some frame braces for the motor area made out of 2.5mm CF plate. I had to cut away a lot of material to get the oversized motor to fit and I don't want it flexing, or worse breaking, under the heavy torque loads.
I'll then move on to some braces for the mounting points to spread the load from the standoffs to the plywood floor and provide some more equipment mounting points, and then some battery trays... then we'll see what else I can manage to do!
(http://i.imgur.com/OBv6g.jpg)
Anyhoo, here's a pic of my dash with front panel installed. The glare shield will be black and the body will be the same grey as the fascia panel
(http://i.imgur.com/POABnl.jpg)
And I'm really chuffed with how this little thing came out...
(http://i.imgur.com/NItZrl.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YlBgwl.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Hhw7Ql.jpg)
So I'm back in the UK and can't do too much for the next week or two but I brought my laptop so I can keep up some work in solidworks!
I've decided I will have two "auxiliary" landing lights to complement the main one, and I have designed a small housing for them. This is designed to fit the 20mm Light units from flytron, and I have 2 x 60 degree ones on the way. They will be fitted to the underside of the heli and can be angled as required to get the best light coverage.
LED wise they will be running a 1w led like the main one, for a total of 3w in the forward lights (not much compared to Hugo's 300W beast, but should be pretty good still!)
So here are the units:
(http://i.imgur.com/nSToo.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/iwb2D.png)
http://www.shapeways.com/model/780294/0883a5aa57230f3e4c46460fc5e40d9f?li= (http://www.shapeways.com/model/780294/0883a5aa57230f3e4c46460fc5e40d9f?li=)
And this is the LED unit from flytron that will slot inside.
(http://www.flytron.com/82-263-thickbox/60-lens-for-powerleds.jpg)
On the subject of Lighting, I found this unit which will be the core of my lighting system... it's called the DElight and it's made by Dimension Engineering (they also have a number of useful looking radio controlled relay switches etc). It's pretty unique in how configurable it is, plus it includes 2 programmable high power channels which are good for 2 amps each.
http://www.dimensionengineering.com/products/delight-starter-kit (http://www.dimensionengineering.com/products/delight-starter-kit)
I will be running it from a 6 pole switch, which gives me 6 lighting options...
Position 1: All lights off
Position 2: Beacon on
Position 3: Beacon + Nav lights on
Position 4: Beacon + Nav lights + Cockpit roof lights on
Position 4: Beacon + Nav lights + Cockpit roof lights + Main landing light on
Position 5: Beacon + Nav lights + Cockpit roof lights + Main landing light + Aux landing lights on
In addition to that, I've done some work on my weapons arms...
These are designed for two 8mm spars (either fibreglass, carbon fibre, or aluminium) to run through the main section which will mount them to the fuselage. These spars will run all the way through the heli so the arms will be uber tough and strong and should have no flex at all.
The outer section is attached via a hinge which allows the arm to fold up for space saving storage (the real ones can do this too, and I thought it was a good idea).
When down it's locked in place by 2 pairs of 6x2mm magnets... and gravity.
The panels will be made from 0.75mm fibreglass that will be precisely cut out using my new CNC machine :)
You can see the outer mount for the missile tube/hellfires and the inner mount for mini guns
(http://i.imgur.com/d4WMS.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/OSBXL.png)
http://www.shapeways.com/model/774346/mounting_arm.html?key=cc712e9bea758e1c54d4981006c03df7 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/774346/mounting_arm.html?key=cc712e9bea758e1c54d4981006c03df7)
No words really
Amazing as always - have you thought about investing in a 3d printer as well, shapeways appears to charge quite a bit in comparison to printing your own..... so it'll be like you are saving money, not spending it :D
Hah, I would love to...
Unfortunately the only printer that would make things to the level I want is the Formlabs machine which is about $3000 (plus not quite yet available).
I haven't spent more than a couple hundred euros on shapeways so far, so it's hard to justify financially.
Maybe one day though...
If you got one, this is possible.
First flight of 3D printed plane (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRDg4UB9Ajg#)
:) G
very cool... that's a much bigger printer though lol
So I've been thinking about it, and someone on another forum suggested the servo city chain for the FLIR pan rather than normal servo linkages.
(here) http://www.servocity.com/html/plastic_chain__0_1227__.html (http://www.servocity.com/html/plastic_chain__0_1227__.html)
However, the small 0.1227" stuff is out of stock for at least a few weeks apparently - sad times. In the mean time I've designed these which *should* fit the chain.
I've made the one on the pod 14T and the one on the servo 28T... this way if I use a standard 90 degree servo the pod will have 180 degrees, or if I use a 180 degree servo I can get a full 360, but still have the thing return to centre when I centre the control.
Combined with a 90 degree servo in the tilt that will go from horizontal to straight down (not much point in looking up) the pod will be able to look pretty much anywhere.
http://www.shapeways.com/model/784590/ed135ecc49045f1adbc9657ddfbd8599?li= (http://www.shapeways.com/model/784590/ed135ecc49045f1adbc9657ddfbd8599?li=)
(http://i.imgur.com/LTLIR.png)
And shapeways just have an incredible skill at delivering stuff when I'm not there....
So once again courtesy of the GF, here are some of the latest parts:
My new smaller FLIR unit:
(http://i.imgur.com/6huex.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/d1P2E.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/JRIEg.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/vE4pi.jpg)
My new improved pan/tilt (just some improved clearances, added middle bearing option, added cable tidy/back support, improved the camera fit, reduced the footprint of the camera mount a little, smooth some edges and added my name ;))
(http://i.imgur.com/cL3x4.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/3VyTA.jpg)
and a shoulder for the pilot (collective arm). This part has a 3x6x2.5mm bearing inserted in either side and will slot onto the 3mm carbon shaft I installed in the pilot's shoulder.
(http://i.imgur.com/F2GXi.jpg)
So, not directly related but kinda cool... Here's the EzUHF mount I designed earlier.
(http://i.imgur.com/01ushl.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/uAD0xl.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ybyQYl.jpg)
I must say it looks to have come out great. They gave me a discount due to colour issues, but I can't really see any... Or at least under this light I can't.
It's pretty light, so won't add any noticeable weight to the controller but I'm impressed with how strong and rigid it feels.
Just need to wait till I get back on Monday before I can try slotting in my EzUHF and confirming the fit.
So a little video to share... got my CNC up and running and have officially just cut my first parts! Decided to keep things simple for the beginning...
They are the frame braces I've designed for beefing up the area where I cut away a lot of frame to fit my oversized motor... I made them out of 2.5mm carbon fibre, very stiff and strong. They look great, and a ruler suggests the size is spot on - we'll see how well I did with measuring it all in the first place when I get back tomorrow and can try it on the frame! Really excited that I can produce parts of such precision now and this is only getting started with it. Next up is figuring out the 3D side of machining rather than just this 2D stuff!
First up here are the braces after a quick wash down:
(http://i.imgur.com/TUpIN.jpg)
And heres the vid (with fitting sound track imo! sorry about the ads, apparently EMI are laying claim to the music.)
My first CNC machine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bojoa5kolY#ws)
well don mate, parts are looking great, glad you got the hang of it, one thing to watch out for, is to cut out the hols before the profiling.
its a great feeling to produce your own parts.
:) G
You mean in terms of cutting order, cut the holes first?
Makes sense, I just left it how the software had done it. Need to look and see how I change that in the program.
Cheers
But of course old chum... but of course.
Here's a little update on a couple of bits...
The frame bracing:
So here in the first pic you can see how much carbon has been left where the motor mounts. Norra lorra is the technical term I believe.... since this is a big motor and driving a big 5 blade head, I would expect at best some flexing there which could lead to gear damage... at worst of course the frame could fail. Neither is good.
(http://i.imgur.com/hBLpb.jpg)
So here you can see the frame braces I machined fitted... cross braced by the lower bearing mount at the back and two aluminium cross sections at the front. Much better! Front end feels totally solid now when I try to twist it in my hands.
(http://i.imgur.com/Nl2V3.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/8fbhF.jpg)
And here the EzUHF slipped into it's new home - fits just beautifully. I need to mount the module next but there's a complication regarding my plans... so that may have to wait. I have taken a picture to give an idea of how it looks attached to the back of the radio though.
I've just got one or two small tweaks I'd like to do to this design, then anyone who wants to can order it. I will also make the changes needed to fit the new EzUHF this weekend. I'll be releasing it at cost price (ie I make nothing on it) so I offer it on the basis that it's all at your own risk! Pay attention to the tabs on the module and make sure they can deal with the weight of the EzUHF and if you feel the need to mount it more securely, then perhaps make a small bracket or mount directly to your radio. It's at your own discretion.
Oh and some very interesting developments on the way for those of you who use EzUHF by the way... Immersion are doing some great stuff! More on that soon hopefully.
(http://i.imgur.com/URdCb.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/hM4IB.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/FqO2V.jpg)
Nice EZuhf mount. What have Immersion got up their sleeve then?
Many things!
For now I'm referring to 12 channel firmware though - I see they have posted it on their facebook page so it's no problem mentioning it.
The really nice thing for a lot of guys here will be the fact you can offload the HT onto higher channels... so let's say you have an 8ch radio, you'll now have at least 10 channels if you want to use head tracking.... you just set the EzUHF to output HT to channels 9/10 or 11/12.
You can also assign any servo output to any pin - so you could run PPM out from ch1 to eg a naza, then have servo pins 2-8 outputting channels 5-12 for example... just a whole lot of flexibility!
Personally my plan is to be running the 8ch from my Futaba, through the channel wizard which will have 6 inputs (pots/switches) multiplexed across channels 9 and 10... the Channel wizard then sends the 12ch stream (channels 11/12 empty) to the EzUHF which takes the HT input and injects it to channels 11 and 12.
End result should be 16 channels if all goes well.
I'll post more details as and when I get it all up and running.
That a smart cradle, like that a lot :)
Yeah, I'd like one too!
Just thought, how about adding a tab to the lower edge to protect the s-video plug in the bottom of the UHF tx?
This would stop you pulling it out & allow you to lay the tx down flat
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on November 23, 2012, 09:29:07 PM
So, not directly related but kinda cool... Here's the EzUHF mount I designed earlier.
(http://i.imgur.com/01ushl.jpg)
That is fan-bloody-tastic :|
Nice EZuhf mount, I can see one of the big boys steeling that idea and running with it, theory nice.
:) G
Cheers guys, I'm just sorry it's a bit expensive... I made it as cheap as possible with all the cut outs etc though.
G if you want the .STL to have a shot at printing one on your machine feel free to give me a shout
that's kind of you bud, but I will need to make one for my Dragonlink.
:) G
Ah ok, nevermind then!
So here's a little look at the new FLIR pod - I have installed the camera (minus wires for now) and have been playing with getting the mechanism for tilt working. Dayum it's tight in there lol...
I've finally got it sorted though I think:
25x25mm camera installed, teeny tiny servo and some 1mm piano wire as a linkage... this is the upper extent of travel.
(http://i.imgur.com/bE3uW.jpg)
Full downwards extent:
(http://i.imgur.com/xNAGY.jpg)
And all fitted together (minus a front lens cover)
(http://i.imgur.com/YvMpp.jpg)
And here's a rough idea of how it sizes up to the heli. In real life it looks pretty good - much happier with the proportions... So if this works out with the chain and sprockets for pan, I should end up with 360 degrees pan (not continuous though... good because it stops the wires getting twisted up lol) and about 75 degrees of tilt.
(http://i.imgur.com/OPddm.jpg)
Here's a quick vid of the tilt working.
Quick demo of the FLIR pod tilt axis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzsLu-2Y2h0#ws)
Cyclops is alive !!
Cyclops... hmmm...
Perhaps that is what the system should be named!
So just a couple of little pics
I finally got around to doing my Nav Lights... really happy with them and I think they'll look great. Much better than just jamming an LED in the end of the skid pipe. Gave them a quick test and they are pretty powerful - should be good!
Haven't quite figured out how I'm going to run the power wires down into the skids yet though. It would be easy to do by just running down the skid leg and into a hole but that wouldn't be tidy...
(http://i.imgur.com/Hrhe4.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/0yaTY.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4sTW7.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/nTipQ.jpg)
You may also notice the Auxiliary landing lights on the underside. These will be taking a 1W led in each with a 60 degree lens...
I also ordered my DElight controller the other day, so when that arrives I can start properly messing with my lighting system.
Also I got around to painting and installing my sleeker v2 pan/tilt unit.
(http://i.imgur.com/su7Cg.jpg)
I love this thread,
Keep up the good work :thumbsup:
Muds :)
Cheers
Been rather busy with work lately so here's some not very exciting, albeit somewhat time consuming progress...
I finally got some of the filler primer I was waiting for (Gunze Mr White surfacer 1000), plus some Vallejo grey surface primer and so I've done some work on the heli...
First on my left door - a few coats of Mr White, sanded back then topped with the grey primer... the surface looks great now and is nice and smooth. Just need to get around to making the right door now....
(http://i.imgur.com/CVGOw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/QC009.jpg)
and secondly, some finishing off after the reconstructive nose surgery... same deal - some Mr white, some sanding, then some primer.
(http://i.imgur.com/B3m9n.jpg)
And finally here's the dash primed and sanded with the Mr White (note all the small ridges from the 3D printing process... this part is the worst for showing them up out of all the bits I've had. I think they probably could have done a better job of positioning this for printing... never mind, just a bit more work!
(http://i.imgur.com/vbXio.jpg)
and primed waiting for painting:
(http://i.imgur.com/Ey5tJ.jpg)
As an aside - I love using an Airbrush... really is the way to go if you're painting stuff. I've always just used rattle cans or rollers/brushes before.... airbrush is far better!
So today I played a bit with my new light controller...
it's a fantastic bit of kit called the DElight by dimension engineering and I must say I've been very impressed with it.
Put simply it has 8 outputs or "channels" as it calls them.
Channels 1-4 are fully programable - you can not only adjust the trip point at which they turn on/off, but also create sequences (eg x seconds on, x seconds off, y seconds on, y seconds off etc etc), adjust brightness, and also set the current allowed to the LED up to a maximum of 200ma... this latter point means you don't need resistors for the LEDs anymore! Just set the appropriate constant current for your LED and that's job done.
Channels 5-6 are high power channels which can cope with up to 2 amps each and are fully programmable too, but are effectively unrestricted - so to run off these channels you need to use resistors or LED drivers... I'm running my 1W main and aux landing lights from these channels and so I am using 350ma drivers for these lights.
Channels 7-8 are non-programmable "always on" channels.
So my setup will ultimately use a 6 position switch, but for now I'm just activating it using a pot.
position 1 - All off
position 2 - Beacon on
position 3 - Beacon + Nav lights
position 4 - Beacon + Nav lights + Cockpit lights
position 5 - Beacon + Nav lights + Cockpit lights + Main landing light
position 6 - Beacon + Nav lights + Cockpit lights + Main landing light + Auxiliary Landing lights
So here's a quick test:
AH6-Z Lighting system sneak peak (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiNJDF9V7X4#ws)
I think this is a great bit of kit and really flexible... you can make it do pretty much whatever you want. If you're looking for a light controller I really suggest you take a look at this!
So, today I found my Naza-H waiting for me... I ordered the combo kit with the GPS and BEC.
(http://i.imgur.com/sZ1CJ.jpg)
So I set about designing a few bits for it.
First up - an anti-vibration mount.... This unit will sandwich the Naza between 2 layers of omicron anti vibe gel. The square piece will be on the bottom and mount to the gyro mounting plate. There will then be four m3x25mm nylon standoffs to which the top plate will attach, with a strip of omicron gel along the span.
(http://i.imgur.com/acQjg.png)
I'll probably make this out of some 2mm g10 since I just ordered a load.
Next up, the Naza GPS unit really needs to be well away from motors, servos, transmitters etc so I've decided I will make a sort of satellite communication antenna to hide it in. This lets me position it further back than I would be able to if I was just to hide it inside the boom, and should look pretty cool I think.
Roughly where it'll be situated:
(http://i.imgur.com/Ug5lq.jpg)
and the design I've come up with (it has a hole through which to pass the GPS cable)
(http://i.imgur.com/OmpcR.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/O5gX5.png)
I also just made a quick design for a bottom plate that will help strengthen the fuselage floor and spread the load out a bit better from the standoffs.
(http://i.imgur.com/6QVae.png)
And whipped up some battery plates.. these will be mounted to the side of the heli frame using some L brackets and keep the floor space more clear for other equipment... 2mm black G10 will be used for these and the brace above.
(http://i.imgur.com/dE46B.png)
Aaaand finally, I drilled a hole in the front of the camera case and filed off any burrs... then fed the wires through and soldered them to the other side of the board on the camera, and secured the wires in place using some glue so they can't easily pull off the board or rub against the metal case... You can still pop the camera out and adjust the OSD settings by plugging the OSD into the back.
(http://i.imgur.com/UwQIB.jpg)
Can we buy the aerial bung and the Ezuhf 'cradle' yet from Shapeways ??
Sure, if you're feeling spendy...
Here's the latest version and I've just made it available.
http://www.shapeways.com/model/745402/ezuhf-mount-type-1-logo.html (http://www.shapeways.com/model/745402/ezuhf-mount-type-1-logo.html)
It features a couple of small improvements over my v1 design - namely an increased angle towards vertical and a cut out so that were you ever to need to plug in the "aux" pin at some point it would be a bit easier. Other than that it's basically the same so everything should work.
and here is the radio bung for my 10C:
http://www.shapeways.com/model/833607/futaba-10c-dust-cover.html (http://www.shapeways.com/model/833607/futaba-10c-dust-cover.html)
and here is the fan case for the 5.8GHz v2:
http://www.shapeways.com/model/745612/imrc-5-8ghz-v2-enclosure-20mm-fan.html (http://www.shapeways.com/model/745612/imrc-5-8ghz-v2-enclosure-20mm-fan.html)
Ok... so what have I managed to do lately - norra lorra lol.
This was quite time consuming however! I dremelled a groove in the front landing strut and drilled a hole at the bottom to allow the wire into the skid tube.... glued the wire in place and then filled the remaining hole with flexible filler. Some sanding later and this was the result:
(http://i.imgur.com/VbS7Y.jpg)
and then with a quick coat of primer:
(http://i.imgur.com/GgPOY.jpg)
Also, I wired up my eLogger v4 with EC5 connectors and also added the two small feed wires for the 2 HV BECs using EC2 connectors. They are hooked up downstream of the current sensor so all their usage will be included in the total.
(http://i.imgur.com/wktfJ.jpg)
But while I was at it, I decided one thing I really dislike about eagletree is the fact all their stuff is shrink wrapped PCB. While this saves weight and in some instances bulk, It makes it such a pain to mount neatly and solidly...
So here is a mounting case I designed for the eLogger:
(http://i.imgur.com/kTenS.png)
And a case for the OSD Pro:
(http://i.imgur.com/gqF3K.png)
Slight re-design on the legs - wire now runs almost to the top - I thought installation would be easier with it coming out where it was, but I was mistaken. They still need a little work with some sanding and spraying.
(http://i.imgur.com/IcAfH.jpg)
And in other news I just ordered this BAD BOY... seriously how awesome is that. Now I just need to find some more cashish somewhere for the spin blades 5-blade asymmetrical set to go with it.
(http://i.imgur.com/S3ytM.jpg)
I'm thinking it'll go nicely with this 4 blade tail
(http://i.imgur.com/LNylk.jpg)
Other than that, one more eagletree case whipped up - a little one for the altimeter. I've made this so that with a touch of sealant on the back wher ethe plug comes out it can be totally isolated and fed from a static port line. This particular feature isn't really for this project it's for my eurofighter - I gain about 7-10 feet at full throttle due to the air being sucked through the fuselage.
(http://i.imgur.com/CpD3a.png)
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on December 17, 2012, 04:37:14 PM
Ok... so what have I managed to do lately - norra lorra lol.
You have GOT to be joking ......
norra lorra of any substance!
did you catch the links above to the shapeways stuff (cradle etc) btw?
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on December 17, 2012, 06:28:52 PM
did you catch the links above to the shapeways stuff (cradle etc) btw?
Yes I did thanks and have placed an order.
Out of interest why do Shapeways onlly offer 'bright' colours - no black, no grey. I'm sure there must be a technical reason, but I can't think what !!
Be sure to let me know how you get on and what you think when it arrives!
Shapeways do offer a black, but it's the only one that isn't offered in the strong flexible and polished material as apparently the dye doesn't react well to the polishing process... go figure. Apparently it's something they are working on (along with more colours).
Couple more bits came today
First up my new gears for the FLIR pod. Now I just need the chain at servo city to ever come back into stock!
(http://i.imgur.com/OUlXz.jpg)
and the main bit - mounting arm frames...
Here's the pieces - the black rods are 8mm black fibreglass tube:
Whole lot weighs 78g and from tip to tip measures 50cm... or about 37cm when stowed.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZCfUq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/QsulW.jpg)
And a couple of close ups
(http://i.imgur.com/oAfq0.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/XcZig.jpg)
And here's the basic idea of my simple up-locking mechanism
(http://i.imgur.com/4CLFf.jpg)
In the down position it slots together and forms a rigid arm, to help keep it locked down there are two 6mmx2mm round magnets in each section. Now I just need to cut out the panels from 0.7mm fibreglass sheet using my CNC machine and then come up with a mounting brace that will run underneath the flooring section and hold the spars in place.
And if you're confused as to what the arms are for... here's a clue
(http://i.imgur.com/ar2jK.jpg)
Got it - it's to hold up the meat mincer !
Indeed!
So, What have I learned about 5 blade heads today? that they are a pain in the butt! You have to do everything 5 damn times lol.
Anyway, few shots of the head. I have to say I'm pretty happy with it thus far - quality seems pretty good, especially considering the price point (300 euros may not sound cheap, but for a big 5 blade head like this it's actually a positive bargain) and there is only one things that really niggles me.... they used normal screws for the retaining bolts that are placed under shear load from the blades trying to fly off.. From an engineering standpoint they really should be shouldered.... easy enough to fix though I guess when I feel so inclined.
The parts arranged:
(http://i.imgur.com/nJh4F.jpg)
Each blade grip arm is properly fitted out with two radial bearings and a thrust bearing at the end. Very smooth bearings!
(http://i.imgur.com/NG7OV.jpg)
Swash:
(http://i.imgur.com/QiVtp.jpg)
No namby pamby plastic links on this head!
(http://i.imgur.com/HmcOR.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/PBbtX.jpg)
retaining bolts in place:
(http://i.imgur.com/pIdYf.jpg)
And finished - what a gorgeous lump of engineering!
(http://i.imgur.com/8UQ6T.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/tMlSG.jpg)
And Here are my battery plates being cut out by my CNC machine... the G10 is much easier and less messy than CF to cut lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/kNAGB.jpg)
we're not big eaters ;)
very observant lol
So, here's my latest creation... the Naza Anti-Vibration Mount or AVM for short - sounds professional dunnit ;)
Pieces freshly cut on the CNC
(http://i.imgur.com/eqI52.jpg)
Added some 25mm nylon standoffs and some nylon m3 screws:
(http://i.imgur.com/LzFa3.jpg)
and assembled using some Omicron anti vibration gel on both the underside of the Naza and between the top of the Naza and the cross brace. This results in a tasty looking Naza-jelly sandwich. They only thing I can't do here is countersink the holes as I don't have a countersink bit - that'll have to wait till I get back after christmas, but once done the screws will be flush with the panels.
(http://i.imgur.com/QCQmX.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/JSFQz.jpg)
Just whipped up a set of panels for the mounting arms. I'm seriously chuffed with my CNC machine now - they fit absolutely perfectly... not even the slightest gap anywhere. Ran out of tiny screws though - need to order some more!
So the machine doing it's thaaaang:
(http://i.imgur.com/eFADW.jpg)
Top panel, the hole in the middle is for the ammo belt for the guns and the small tab is for the locking mechanism you saw in a previous post:
(http://i.imgur.com/ANj1J.jpg)
Bottom panel (minus some screws!)... here you can see the inboard weapon mount stanchion too
(http://i.imgur.com/UqJiU.jpg)
And the outer section of the arm:
(http://i.imgur.com/6u85t.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ADe3u.jpg)
Parts look great, i'm glade your having fun with the CNC.
:) G
It's brilliant mate, very happy with it.
Quote from: Andy66 on December 21, 2012, 06:50:17 PM
I really cant wait to see this in action, its the best project ive seen going for a long time.
Agreed, this thread is stunning, sir, you are a master craftsmen.
J.
Haha, hardly! Im a junior aspiring craftsman... most of this stuff I'm learning as I go. Thanks though lol.
Here's a couple more bit's from the mill
These little things are for mounting those fibreglass spars to which the weapon's arms are mounted. They will bolt onto the underside of the floor panel.
(http://i.imgur.com/9bfTb.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/i1GGI.jpg)
and here's my load spreading base plate that will hopefully help to strengthen everything up and help survive a few less than optimal landings!
(http://i.imgur.com/6VUSw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rQP8v.jpg)
And one last update for a little while..
using my CNC machine in manual mode, it's quite good for just getting very nice straight cuts. I needed some corner brackets to mount the battery trays on the side of the heli frames, but I couldn't find anything ready made that fitted what I want. Instead I ordered some 50mmx50mmx3mm corner section of T6061 aluminium and cut some brackets myself...
Here's the machine just cutting straight lines
(http://i.imgur.com/YW4T7.jpg)
and here you can see how I'll have 3 brackets per side and how they hold the battery tray. These then mount to the side of the heli frame... still a bit of drilling and tapping to do here.
(http://i.imgur.com/Umfen.jpg)
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
Trust you used the turkey to practice some engraving !!
lol, no... just attacked it with a chainsaw
So hope everyone had a good christmas, I'm back to work again now lol. Here's my Hellfire launcher... you can see the rails where the missiles mount
(http://i.imgur.com/qD64f.png)
And here with the whole mounting arm for reference
(http://i.imgur.com/dFhg8.png)
And here's a little work on the battery mounts...
So here I've drilled out my aluminium brackets and I'm finally putting to use a tap and die set that I bought many moons ago - tapping out the two bottom holes with m3 thread.
(http://i.imgur.com/gseyF.jpg)
so then we end up with this, battery plate and brackets together:
(http://i.imgur.com/VQZj5.jpg)
And here's to give an idea of how it will mount to the helicopter:
(http://i.imgur.com/OXWk1.jpg)
The brackets on either side of the frame will be linked by a tapped aluminium cross brace (same as the other frame braces) so that the weight of the batteries doesn't pull directly on the frame. I'm also now considering cutting my own replacement side frames out of G10... it'll weigh a little more than the CF but the advantage is that I can change the shape to shorten the nose and give more cockpit space, plus cut holes and whatnot exactly where I want them... it would also of course have the advantage of removing a huge amount of carbon fibre which is, as we know, not great for radio signals.
Undecided on that though for now... I'm mulling it over. I can of course also modify the stock frame to shorten the nose.
On top of that, a chap on another forum has graciously sent me his unused gear and pinions... This gear requires use of a non standard hub so I ordered a Lynx universal Hub and it fits perfectly... The pictures don't convey it perhaps but the comparison between the KDE gear and align auto-rotation gear compared to the HK600 stock gears is just ridiculous. So much more precise and true running, the feel of the quality is orders of magnitude higher. Should really help cut down on vibrations so thanks a lot chap!
(http://i.imgur.com/ldWid.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/39yg0.jpg)
old vs new
(http://i.imgur.com/lb1Xz.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/x3cfI.jpg)
Oh and I just ordered the nice scale 4 blade tail I posted a little while back.. should arrive soon. Just need blades, a few bits to finish installing the servos and then the airframe is very close to getting airborne for some testing.
And to accompany the Hellfires on one side, I've devised this Quad rocket pod for the other side...
This will have fibreglass side panels in the same way that the mounting arms do, and inside will run four 22mm(OD) x 20mm(ID) x 146mm aluminium tubes. the whole unit is 55 x 55 x 150mm in size. The back is removable and has space for a board to hold 4 igniters, and the tubes will be slotted at the back to allow the igniters into the tube.... The idea being that I can make small black powder "charges" to load inside the tubes... when they ignite, should get a very nice swoosh, flash and smoke rocket style effect. That or my heli blows up.
(http://i.imgur.com/A8135.png)
Rear portion, you can see the removable rear cap, mount point for the igniter board and the 4 holes to allow wires through to it.
(http://i.imgur.com/oOwo5.png)
And happy new year everyone!
So my first post of 2013 - given the slight hangover, noise is best avoided so I just did a bit more modelling work... I've been playing with the Hellfires and this is how they are looking:
Now these aren't actually going to be entirely 3D printed... The rail and the nose will be, but the body will just be a 140mm long, 22mm wide tube, and the fins will be cut on my CNC. Anyway, I just wanted to get a feel for how they would look on the arm and having seen them I think they look pretty mean lol
(http://i.imgur.com/Ec9E6.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/KMPYf.png)
So, look what postie just delivered!
beauuutiful... a perfect match for the head. I'm actually very impressed with this - the quality feels good and all the actions are very smooth and slop free with bearings in all the right places where often you see bushings instead... They also cleverly designed it so that you can switch the pitch lever arm to either side to facilitate either a left or right handed tail, and even included a spare pitch lever arm in the box.
(http://i.imgur.com/AYRmU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/XU2OP.jpg)
The only problem - I now have no where to mount the tail fin as this unit doesn't have the normal fin mounting holes.... shapeways to the rescue!
I quickly designed this little bracket to attach the tail fin to instead:
(http://i.imgur.com/DQADx.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/LDaRW.png)
I'm beginning to suspect you are starting to quietly enjoy when things go 'wrong' and you have to start designing something for Shapeways to make !!!
Hah yeah, a problem to solve is a good excuse to create something!
Did they ship your EzUHF holder yet?
I think it's amazing how when faced with a build issue you can instantly begin manufacturing a new part and know exactly what it is you need.
Big. Fat. Showoff. lol
Great build again - hows the Eurofighter going these days too?
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on January 02, 2013, 08:37:16 PM
Hah yeah, a problem to solve is a good excuse to create something!
Did they ship your EzUHF holder yet?
And the aerial bung - they were ' being created in our factory of the future' as of Dec 18th. Awaiting UPS shipping email - no panic.
Hmm... Perhaps a bit slow over the holiday season.
Hope you get it soon!
Steve - I've been bodging things since I could crawl lol. If something needs bodging together, and bodging fast then I'm your man!
The euro is sat under my work table at the moment. I've got some more plans for it, and eagletree have some new stuff for me to try out too so I'll need to fit/install that at some point. It's more of a fair weather flier for me at the moment as I can't fly it locally, so it probably won't get an outing until the spring.
so I've decided I will have a go at making my own frames out of G10... I think the possibility to reduce potential blocking of the radio signal is worth it alone, and the new shape I can do is also useful.
So this took frikking ages carefully measuring everything to make sure the important holes are all where they should be in relation to each other, but I finally ended up with something that I believe is correct!
(http://i.imgur.com/fBWsz.png)
So the nose has been shortened, more material put in around the motor mount in a way to suit my larger motor, I've placed the cross brace supports a bit more strategically, added holes for the battery mounts, I've added an upper mounting option just behind the elevator servo for the Naza-H and made a little more space up the top by the front cyclic servos to prevent interference with the removable canopy.
I also then re-designed my bottom bracket to suit the new frame:
(http://i.imgur.com/Wldk0.png)
And here's a quick shot of the frame sides, bottom bracket, motor brace and front cyclic servo spacer together.
(http://i.imgur.com/qHTcj.png)
I will try cutting these frames out next week when I'm back, and hopefully the guy machining my custom bracket for me should be able to get it done within the next month or so (he's very kindly doing it in his own time for pocket change, so I just need to wait for work to die down!). In the mean time I'll continue the build with my current frame and hopefully get some test flights in with the mechanics before the end of the month.
They are indeed... I'd love to have a play with one though!
So, back to the cockpit - just hooked up my rudder pedal mechanism, seems to work quite well! The pedals themselves are free to rotate on their shafts which should make the action smoother when they have a foot mounted to them. They look quite comedy large here but with the pilot in place they actually look pretty spot on size wise.
(http://i.imgur.com/WBh6f.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/fomer.jpg)
I also found this great looking floor covering for my cockpit - it's a very thin foil on some plasti-card backing and has proper 3D patterning to the checker plate style floor. Bit bright and shiny of course, but a wash with some dirtying paints and it'll look right at home methinks!
(http://i.imgur.com/BII2F.jpg)
it loves you too sim
So, problems problems everywhere.....
just ran into something I don't like... no sireee bob not one bit lol.
Look at the clearance between the swash arm here and the anti-rotation bracket. If a link gets even slightly loose, these arms could swing out slightly with the centrifugal force... to help stop that happening I'm switching all the nuts to nyloc locknuts and will be locking the blade grip end connection with strong loctite (which then holds the arm in position as the link is connected to the grip through a set of bearings) but it's still something I think could conceivably happen.
(http://i.imgur.com/RUO1f.jpg)
It would destroy the AR bracket in absolutely no time at all I'm sure if it were it to happen, the end result of which would be too sad for words lol. And I can't relocate the bracket further back as the guidance pin then falls out at extremes. Longer pin is a possible option, but that's too easy.
So, since I'm cutting my own frame anyway we can be a bit more creative! The 600 ESP moves the cyclic servos further forwards and then spins the swash 180 degrees and runs linkages from the front to the back, with the rear servo running a linkage through to an elevator arm at the front.
This is stupid. Too many linkages, servos at the front driving the back and vice versa.
However, on the 600 pro they do it better - an elevator arm at the back with two direct drive servos at the front... a setup that will work great here. The issue is that the frame doesn't have the bearing mounting points required and is significantly thinner than the 600 pro frame.
So a combination of this
(http://i.imgur.com/x4kYp.jpg)
some frame mounting bearing blocks I've just whipped up for some 5x10x4mm bearings
(http://i.imgur.com/mhLT2.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/MO7kq.png)
...and then once I've made some measurements an appropriately relocated elevator servo and bearing mount hole in the frame, and I'll be able to lose the AR bracket altogether. I think it'll look better too without the AR bracket sticking out so it's win win really. Only complication is that I may need to cut down the axle and re-thread, and I also need to watch my servo arm lengths so I don't mess up the geometry.
Next up, I also dislike my tail's clamping mechanism. Put simply it sucks. I've designed this new clamp (to be made from Aluminium) since I couldn't find any similar style 24mm clamps on t'interweb (please pipe up if you've seen something suitable!). I also took the opportunity to add a small hole at the top for an anti-rotation screw that will help stop the tail case from turning on the shaft.
(http://i.imgur.com/f40Zn.png)
And proof, if ever it were needed, that I'm a moron... I was sizing up the mechanics to the heli and cut the fuselage tail boom down to match the mechanics like it says to in the instructions... but of course being the muggins that I am, I hadn't checked how much the boom needed to be extended to tension the belt correctly - something which only occurred to me after I had gone crazy with a dremel... turns out I didn't need to trim the tail down at all - doh!
So whipped out the epoxy and stuck it's little tail back on, here it is with some filler waiting to be sanded smooth again. I won't tell mum and dad if you won't...
(http://i.imgur.com/1xEuO.jpg)
Sorry to hear of your 'Tail' problem, but it is nice for us 'plebs' to be reminded even you can make the odd mistake - as opposed to the many most people make !!
I make plenty I assure you lol....
Anyway in the mean time, I stole the elevator arm from my 600 Pro for some measurements and the idea should work. Here's the re-designed frame... You can see the elevator servo has moved further back to make way for the arm mechanism, and then I've added a hole for the bearing mount block. Now I just need to find a suitable length 5mm m3 threaded tube.... or make one.
(http://i.imgur.com/XzOxt.png)
UPS lady kindly just dropped some stuff off.
First up we have my Naza GPS mount. This came out somewhat taller than I thought and now I'm starting to think about the blades lopping it off if they come close to a boom strike... I may redesign the central section a cm or so shorter.
The parts: Boom mount (to be inserted from inside through a cut out and then blended in), main body, and lid.
(http://i.imgur.com/MKm7Q.jpg)
here with the Naza GPS sat inside (note it allows a few degrees movement if I need to set declination - around here it's only 1-3 degrees or so though)
(http://i.imgur.com/IgvGv.jpg)
and assembled (note little hook on the underside to tidy up the wire, neat lol)
(http://i.imgur.com/8lPJT.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/c9HVt.jpg)
Next up, the OSD Pro case... this one fits very nicely. When I get around to it i'll print up some new stickers minus the holes.
(http://i.imgur.com/F3ca5.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/IFz3l.jpg)
Altimeter case, also a perfect fit
(http://i.imgur.com/1SJVy.jpg)
and eLogger case, this one didn't turn out quite perfect, I'll have to do some small design revisions perhaps, but it works with some tweaking
(http://i.imgur.com/rp8cD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/svbJr.jpg)
and here you can see how they will make my install that much neater, the OSD Pro and altimeter are installed on the floor pan and will later be joined by the guardian for FLIR AHI... eLogger will go on the underside of the opposite side battery plate.
(http://i.imgur.com/OIvBc.jpg)
Do you know I've got so used to seeing exquisite little bits of 3D printed plastic, that I was thrown a little bit by seeing the Helicopter canopy. I think I'd forgotten this was something that will be flying :D
Haha, yeah sometimes I forget too!
So just attacked one door with a dremel, poor chap looks like he is wondering where it went. I've forgotten this one's name... given the pilot is Juan, lets call him Julio!
(http://i.imgur.com/XYsSG.jpg)
Juan and Julio, sitting in a tr.... err AH-6 Zeeeeeee
Oop, looks like I forgot to post this one
So today I've just finished off drilling tapping and cutting my second battery mount brackets, now installed on the heli... I decided to do this for several reasons - having them mounted up here rather than on the floor pan a couple of inches below raises the CG which makes for a better handling helicopter in theory... it also gives me all the floor space to install components such as ET OSD, altimeter, guardian, light controller etc etc. Finally, it also gives me a useful shelf to install the power components - the Gryphon will mount on the underside of one, the DJI BEC on the underside of the other and then the eLogger at the back of one.
(http://i.imgur.com/lIo86.jpg)
And here with a pair of 6S 3300mah. I've designed the plates to take up to at least 6S 5000mah size batteries, so these are looking a little small:
(http://i.imgur.com/3TZM1.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/dc2DE.jpg)
And I also finished off my Naza mount by counter sinking the holes and installed it. I used the DJI supplied foam tape on the underside of my mount and then as before sandwiched the Naza between the two pieces of omicron anti vie gel. The top plate puts some pressure down on the unit and compresses the gel, while locking the Naza in place. It feels very firmly mounted so it'll be interesting to see if the Naza complains about the mounting method at all.
(http://i.imgur.com/Gcoaa.jpg)
And I'm not a big fan of something about this cockpit... It's designed so that you place the windows on the outside (one big upper piece, two small lower pieces) and then mask off the windows so you can paint the panel lines. My issue with this is that it always looks like a window has been stuck on... I prefer to install from the inside so you have the nice clean lines... which is the way they do it on the incrementally larger 700 sized fuselage.
So now that I've already made the plug of the lower canopy I decided to put the old part to use. I cut out the window shape and installed with epoxy, then trimmed it down to the edge of the fuselage. This fills the indentation and once I've used a bit of filler and sandpaper it'll be blended in nicely and I can then put some rivets along the edges for scale detail.
(http://i.imgur.com/FBZAK.jpg)
Quote from: wgt40w on January 02, 2013, 10:12:09 PM
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on January 02, 2013, 08:37:16 PM
Hah yeah, a problem to solve is a good excuse to create something!
Did they ship your EzUHF holder yet?
And the aerial bung - they were ' being created in our factory of the future' as of Dec 18th. Awaiting UPS shipping email - no panic.
Friday Jan 4th - just been advised items have shipped.
soo cool
cheers mark!
Wgt, Excellent - I would appreciate some photos if you feel so inclined? You have the newer version than me with an increased angle. Just remember you may have to remove your grab handle or reverse it to get clearance.
I also came up with a new way of mounting that you might be interested in...
Basically take 4 x m3 threaded spacers (minimum 20mm - at 20 it'll be flush but more is no problem), remove the back of your radio and drill 4 holes to match the 4 on the EzUHF holder. You'll need to countersink the holes and use countersink headed screws here as the back of the radio sits flush with the circuit board at the back.
As a precaution Just put some electrical tape over the back of the screw heads so there's no possibility of them shorting a trace.
This should give a really solid mount if you don't require it to actually be modular. I haven't done it yet as I may order the newer version you have and I spaced the holes slightly differently but the picture should help with the idea.
(http://i.imgur.com/UERsk.jpg)
So one last little update - just started thinking about my controller. Still some hurdles to overcome on this front but with the incredibly kind help of people far smarter than I, we shall overcome I am sure :) Big thanks to Anders, the designer of the CW, Anthony, the firmware guru at IMRC, and above all Sircana of circular wireless fame for all the help thus far.
So first I've popped two red momentary switches on the back within comfortable finger reach, these will be for the pyrotechnics and/or miniguns. I'm going to try and find a guard that is suitable for them too, if I can't find one then I'll make one.
(http://i.imgur.com/p4hzh.jpg)
And If you hadn't guessed already, I quite like to be as neat as possible in my setups. So Next I hunted for a spare space for the channel wizard. I found an abundant cavern just underneath the left control stick where it is still above the battery line.
(http://i.imgur.com/wLXmA.jpg)
This will get wired into the radio then the plan is to connect some pots/switches etc, and I'll intercept the PPM stream then take it to the channel wizard.
While the precise details will change around, the basic idea is this - The channel wizard takes the 8 channels from the radio, adds one pot on a normal channel (9) along with two blank ones (10 and 11) and finally a multiplexed signal for numerous switches on the last channel (12) for a total of around 16 effective channels. This 12 channel ppm stream then gets sent to the EzUHF which is running the new 12ch firmware, and the EzUHF overwrites the two blank channels with data from the head tracker port.
The whole lot then gets sent through the ether to the Rx, where I can output the ppm stream to a ppm decoder in the front for the flight deck controls, camera pod controls, pan/tilt etc and to an onboard channel wizard. The onboard channel wizard decodes the multiplexed 12th channel and distributes it around the heli to the auxiliary controls.
That then leaves 7pins on the EzUHF rx which I can use to connect my 7 control channels (aileron, elevator, throttle, rudder, pitch, gyro gain, GPS mode) to the Naza, or if it's working (not 100% sure if ppm is supported yet, but I believe it is) I can send everything through a single PPM line there too.
As I say, that's all fluid and subject to change at the moment but gives the general idea of how it'll all work.
Oh, and here's a quick look at how the GPS unit will be positioned... in prime position to be lopped off by a low flying blade lol. I would position it closer (would look better too imo) but then I start getting closer to the servos and electronics that the manual says to keep good clearance from, so it's a compromise. The head has no dampers so it can't teeter too much, I don't think the blades will be able to come too close but we'll see when I get them installed. If need be I can design a slightly shorter pod.
Looking at the angle however, if a blade manages to reach the pod it'll hit the boom too further down so I'll be in a world of hurt anyway.
(http://i.imgur.com/QHFtu.jpg)
All this beautiful work makes a little bit of poo come out when I see the Spektrum Tx that will be sailing it across the skies :(
You see wrongly Steve!
Futaba 10C and EzUHF with diversity rx are being used here. DX8 is for my LoS stuff and just snuck into the photo. The one I'm holding is a 10C.
Couple of not very exciting updates
Firstly, I cut out the pilot's side door as with the other side:
(http://i.imgur.com/E3YPU.jpg)
I also mounted my boom GPS mount... what a pain in the butt lol. It was like keyhole surgery getting it in and then getting it to line up straight was a bit of a faff! Got there in the end...
(http://i.imgur.com/C3x9e.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Ohdz8.jpg)
And more modifications to the TX - this is a latching 2 position switch which will operate my camera switch to change between FLIR pod and cockpit cam. In this position it's within easy reach of my fingers but not in the way when I'm just holding the Tx.
(http://i.imgur.com/Sxqtv.jpg)
I mounted a cool little bit of kit from Mictronics which takes the RSSI/LQ from the bus port on the EzUHF and turns it into an analogue output for the OSD to read without losing a channel. I need to check this doesn't produce any noise but I hope not because I like now neatly it mounts like this!
(http://i.imgur.com/3KFQf.jpg)
and finally here is a nice little shot of Mont Blanc I took yesterday, random I know but I thought it was lovely lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/rD2Hp.jpg)
Didn't realise you can get good skiing that high up at either Chamonix or Courmayeur !!
(Will do pics etc. when Shapeways parts arrive)
Quote from: wgt40w on January 04, 2013, 07:57:02 PM
Quote from: wgt40w on January 02, 2013, 10:12:09 PM
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on January 02, 2013, 08:37:16 PM
Hah yeah, a problem to solve is a good excuse to create something!
Did they ship your EzUHF holder yet?
And the aerial bung - they were ' being created in our factory of the future' as of Dec 18th. Awaiting UPS shipping email - no panic.
Friday Jan 4th - just been advised items have shipped.
Parce arrived Monday Jan 7th - been too busy to open yet. All being well, will do full 'Unboxing' session with pictures Thursday.
PS The nice battery shelves you have made and fitted - how have are you worked out they will be OK to get the correct CofG?
My experience with fitting a scale body to a Trex 600E is that the body adds far more weight to the Tail than the front. As you are securing your batteries horizontally rather than vertically, the batteries will need moving a greater distance forward in the fuz to achieve a forward adjustment of the CofG, compared to the forward distance needed if the batteries were secured vertically - as originally.
Yup, but the heli is a couple of inches further back than normal, putting more of the fuselage in front of the CG, plus the scale cockpit, screens, lights, pilots, 2 cameras, servos etc are all hanging off the nose. Also larger motor up front. If anything I'm concerned about if actually ending up nose heavy, but that was my aim as its easy to bring the CG backwards, not so much forwards.
I'm fairly confident it'll work out CG wise, but time will tell...
This thing looks awesome. Very nice work. Cant wait to see it finished. Id be scared to fly it after all that hard work.
PS. Spektrum is awesome. :P
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on January 09, 2013, 07:39:09 PM
Yup, but the heli is a couple of inches further back than normal, putting more of the fuselage in front of the CG, plus the scale cockpit, screens, lights, pilots, 2 cameras, servos etc are all hanging off the nose. Also larger motor up front. If anything I'm concerned about if actually ending up nose heavy, but that was my aim as its easy to bring the CG backwards, not so much forwards.
I'm fairly confident it'll work out CG wise, but time will tell...
Sounds like you have, as always, considered all aspects of a potential problem - I have faith in your judgement !!
This is awesome keep up the good work Zeeflyboy
cheers bud!
So I gave my CNC machine a proper workout today and cut my new custom frames. I took these on a nice slow cut and it took 50 mins PER side lol.
I'm pleased to say that at first glance they appear to have come out very well, we'll see for sure once it's all assembled again, although I'm a bit stuck for now without my custom bottom bracket.
The end result is actually much cleaner and better looking than the stock frames were.... especially around the slot areas etc. So my CNC machine is obviously less abused and more loved than whatever poor old device is cutting the HK600 frames.
(http://i.imgur.com/LsfKJ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/WrtgL.jpg)
Looking sweet bud, this helly will be the most worked on project yet, are you keeping count of the hours.
:) G
The hours are already countless lol.
I can finally see it all starting to come together though. Long way to go, but I'm making progress.
So, put together the frame... here's an inside shot:
(http://i.imgur.com/GNENE.jpg)
And together (minus baseplate). You'll notice the much shorter nose if you compare it to earlier shots of the frame, it's about an inch shorter on the nose which translates to more cockpit space, and of course the relocated elevator servo and the hole for the elevator arm:
(http://i.imgur.com/EPfTP.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/aNitD.jpg)
Close up of my new 2.5mm CF motor braces:
(http://i.imgur.com/O51IB.jpg)
Somehow, despite using G10 rather than carbon fibre, I have ended up with a frame that is more rigid than before... I literally cannot get this thing to flex in my hands no matter how hard I try. I have also improved the mesh between tail drive gears which was a bit too loose before.
Also, a couple of other bits hot off the press:
Panels for the quad launcher and mounts:
(http://i.imgur.com/XoYbB.jpg)
Anyone guess what this is?
(http://i.imgur.com/0soqN.jpg)
So, problem is I'm now a little stuck until I get my custom bottom bracket machined... might come up with some bodge in the mean time that allows me to get on with things.
In other news - the weapon mounts and quad launcher arrived yesterday but my neighbour took delivery. Hopefully I'll be able to pick them up tomorrow. I'm also now contemplating my own 3D printer... it won't completely replace shapeways for the super detailed stuff but it will be seriously handy for many of my projects both present and future. I think I'm becoming desensitised to spending hideous amounts of money lol....
"Anyone guess what this is?"
Because of the radiused end , I would guess:
- Possibly an extra brace for the 'bottom' end of the motor - OR
- No - I give up - the tapered slot in the middle is really making me scratch my head !!
That centre slot looks like a D9 connector will fit, but there are no mounting holes for it. Nope, it's got me.... (?)
Oh you clever boy you....
d15 to be precise.
It'll carry all the connections between body and cockpit so it's just one plug to connect.... mounting holes to come.
(http://i.imgur.com/10p4Y.jpg)
Looky what I just got
So first the quad launcher. Love the size of this thing, holding it up next to the heli it looks great... Just need to cut some aluminium tube to length now, i've inserted one to show the idea. That'll have to wait though because I'm off to work shortly.
(http://i.imgur.com/vc1Eq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/jA123.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/tPs4X.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/PRlVT.jpg)
And the Hellfire launcher minus missiles...
(http://i.imgur.com/3MZJS.jpg)
designed something quite neat I think! My SPS switch has the remote pin activator.... Pull the pin and the whole system goes live. I was scratching my head as to where to locate this without looking naff, and then this came to me lol. A fuel cap, with the SPS remote switch integrated. In order to prevent things looking odd, I disabled the LED that normally shines out of the pin hole to show the system is alive.
(http://i.imgur.com/y0qTJ.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/ppcMR.png)
And in other news, I have finally got around to starting the second door (I hate repetition lol)
(http://i.imgur.com/0B7WR.jpg)
Wgt - did you ever get around to trying out the EzUHF mount?
Finished my second door which allowed me to cut the right side out, which also allowed me to test the look of the weapon arms. they aren't mounted to the floor so will be a cm or two higher up than here, just below the top of the cut out
I think she looks pretty mean :) add the hellfires and miniguns and she'll be pretty purposeful looking I think!
(http://i.imgur.com/j71sT.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/EYVjf.jpg)
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on January 16, 2013, 08:35:06 PM
Wgt - did you ever get around to trying out the EzUHF mount?
Zeeflyboy - sorry, I've got a bit of a guilty conscience about this - I haven't even unpacked it yet!
My Ezuhf is currently fitted to a Futaba FP-T8UP, but I have been experiencing problems configuring channels to operate 3 way switches - it's doable but not as easy as it ought to be. On another project I have acquired a Futaba T12FG, whose programming system is much clearer. So much so that I think I am going to use the T12FG for eveything.
So, within a few days I will 'unbox' and 'fit' to T12FG, using your uhf holder in a way that I can easily change over from uhf to 2.4ghz and back again.
(As a second excuse I've also been wrapped up in reading and studying your superb progress !)
PS Why alum tubes for your missile bodies, rather than composite - lighter ??
nope, heavier lol.
Because it was easier to find in the size I needed, but it's too heavy - I'll be changing to composite. According to density calcs in solidworks I can save 10g per tube for 40g total by using carbon tubes vs aluminium.
No worries - was just curious if there was a problem!
couple more pics showing the fit of the mechanics. This fuselage looked cavernous when I first got it but it sure gets filled up fast!
(http://i.imgur.com/jsP8p.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/qiAGs.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/GBfC4.jpg)
A lovely build i continue to watch with keen interest as a scale modeler myself i love the approach your making on this build, i cant get my head around the technoligy your using as i,m a hand only builder but i really admire your work.
Very well done she is looking like the real thing :)
big respect dizzy
That thing is coming together nicely now. Looks awesome, very well done on all the work.
Is this going to be just a LOS model?
Where did you guys get the ezuhf mount for your Tx? They look sweet too.
Dizzy - Thanks. Hey it's all new to me too! I had never touched any 3D software before beginning this project, nor ever even seen a 3D printed part!
Never thought about owning my own little CNC machine either lol.
Still plenty to do "hands on" as well though, it's not all new fangled techno wizardry ;)
Ratty - no primarily an FPV model, hence the pilot with a camera for a head and the camera in the FLIR pod. I will fly it LoS too however.
The EzUHF mount is something I designed myself during this project and wgt bought one from my shapeways account.
Wow, i cant belive your guna FPV it, id be so scared. lol.
Awesome tho, i cant wait to see that. Ill say it again, very nice work.
If you ever make them EZ holders available, ill defo have one off you. :D
They are available, but they aren't cheap lol.
It's a relatively larger part for 3D printing and unfortunately it gets a bit expensive...
http://www.shapeways.com/model/745402/ezuhf-mount-type-1-logo.html?li=my-models&key=ab884aa18deab9f11daf6f8e9d6d3bd6 (http://www.shapeways.com/model/745402/ezuhf-mount-type-1-logo.html?li=my-models&key=ab884aa18deab9f11daf6f8e9d6d3bd6)
seeing it all together like this I'm starting to think Juan and Julio are a little on the small side. Perhaps I should have gone with the full 1:6 scale 12" figures.... I may order one to try out but sheesh the nice ones ain't cheap! I was thinking more along the lines of something like this, which is considerably more pricey but looks the dog's danglies... would appreciate you guys' thoughts on whether bigger pilots are needed.
(http://i.imgur.com/TA28Tye.jpg)
Here you can see a picture for reference:
(http://i.imgur.com/Jj30IYg.jpg)
And Julio with his hot sauce
(http://i.imgur.com/23Fek0q.jpg)
I don't think they look bad necessarily, but they certainly appear to make the heli look bigger than it should relatively speaking.... his head should at least be coming up to the top of the door really... the 1.5" of extra height from these 1:6 figures would make that look pretty spot on. £90 a pop for these Delta guys though!
I'm also conscious of the fact that the taller body for the pilot means the camera will be higher up, meaning less cockpit will be in view unless looking around. That could be a good or bad thing depending on point of view lol.
In other news, did a bit of googling for pictures today and came up with some antenna details for the heli. Funny thing is if you buy these sort of things they normally seem to go for $10-15 each, on shapeways they come out at about $5-6... oh well!
type 1
(http://i.imgur.com/ixLHHoS.png)
type 2
(http://i.imgur.com/FCBMwl1.png)
type 3
(http://i.imgur.com/wXhsKQW.png)
and a grab handle...
(http://i.imgur.com/uW3fz1S.png)
Thought this looked cool and he needs somewhere to hold on lol. This would mostly be for display purposes but the nice thing is the arms are more or less spot on the CG so it wouldn't affect flight beyond the extra weight if some extra passengers went for a ride.
(http://i.imgur.com/DjGnsSL.jpg)
The downside is that this picture really does highlight to me that the figures are a smidge too small.
EZUHF HOLDER - from Shapeways - designed by Zeeflyboy
For those who don't know 3d printing done by Shapeways is on the basis that copies of any design may also be 3d printed and sold to the general public.
I ordered and paid for an Ezuhf holder and aerial bung. Ten days ago a parcel arrived - neat packaging and parts well protected by bubblewrap. The Ezuhf transmitter is a superbly 'snug' fit in the holder, no sign of shrinkage in the manufacturing process.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/scruffygrey/FPV/UHF/SANY0005.jpg)
My intention was recently amended and I decided to fit the Ezuhf holder to a Futaba T12FG transmitter. The 2.4ghz module was unclipped and I immediately realised two things:-
1) The tx handle got in the way - could remove it easily though.
2) The holders' fixing holes almost exactly coincided with the inside corners of the tx module 'hole'.
Back of transmitter
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/scruffygrey/FPV/UHF/SANY0009.jpg)
I therefore fitted some nylon M3 spacers, which were themselves bolted to short lengths of alum rt angled section, which is bolted to the Futaba tx. To attach or remove the Ezuhf holder I slide the holder under 2 M4 nuts and fit & tighten to more M4 locknuts.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/scruffygrey/FPV/UHF/SANY0014.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/scruffygrey/FPV/UHF/SANY0013.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/scruffygrey/FPV/UHF/SANY0015.jpg)
I will be sometimes using the tx for 'normal' 2.4ghz and sometimes for UHF.
As an alternative 'quick-change' fitting method, I have also dug out an old basic transmitter tray and show a picture with Zeeflyboy's holder fitted to it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/scruffygrey/FPV/UHF/SANY0016.jpg)
Summary
Zeeflyboy has got the dimensions spot on for the holder to fit the Ezuhf transmitter, but because all radio transmitters are different, be prepared to have to design your own fitting to mount this holder onto your tx.
That's a clever idea with the transmitter tray - I tried to make it as universal as possible with the holes and their spacing, but it never occurred to me it might be mounted on a tray like that.
Hope you're happy with it! Thanks for posting the pics
Ahh thanks for the info guys, i didnt know about shapeways or that you cold order other peoples stuff.
Do you know if the EZ holder will fit on a Dx8 aswell?
About your pilots, how much bigger is the next size up to the ones you have? The guy sat on the side does look alittle small, but not by a great deal.
They are about 1.5" taller in total.
I wouldn't recommend the DX8 for using with the EzUHF full stop I'm afraid. I've read of too many issues to do with the connection and the ppm level. I have one and its a nice radio for LoS stuff but I wouldn't recommend it for use with the EzUHF.
You would be much better off buying a new turnigy 9XR or an older futaba 9C/10C, also the added advantage is that because they are 3S radios and provide power through the trainer lead you won't need an extra battery.
Next size up might be better then, but if they are expensive its abit of a pain to get one to check.
Ive been using my EZ with my Dx8 for over a year with no probs at all. I do power it from a seperate 3s tho. Had a turnigy 9x but sold it as i didnt like it at all.
Short answer is that yes it can be made to work with pretty much any radio, it just might require some adaptor plates etc such as wgt posted above. If you're willing to drill a few holes then it could be made to work.
Looking at it though I don't think it'll be a direct fit even with removing the carry handle, it would need some sort of standoff plate.
on the subject of pilots, here's a build using the same size helicopter with the 1:6 scale dudes... one of them is bruce willis lol.
(http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b18/keyrigger/Crew6.jpg)
(http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b18/keyrigger/Crew4.jpg%5Bimg%5D%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%5Bimg%5Dhttp://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b18/keyrigger/Crew2.jpg)
I think they look pretty good there... I'll be modifying extensively anyway so it's no problem to just take a tiny bit out of the neck, torso, legs etc just to trim them down a little if need be. I'd rather have something that looks slightly too large but is super detailed than something that is slightly too small but less detailed too.
I found some m134 miniguns on sale so rather than make my own I just ordered them, I threw a simple nude 1:6 body into the basket too so I can have a look at size in person and have a play. the bodies themselves aren't particularly pricey so thought it was worth a look see. if I do go with something in the 1:6 scale I found these guys who are due to be released in feb - think they look great and the camo would go better with my dark green heli....
(http://i.imgur.com/Tyjvx1G.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/O9sU8he.jpg)
Also I installed screen numero uno properly along with replacing the bulky connector with direct soldered wires.
(http://i.imgur.com/975dEVF.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/7qL1ZTO.jpg)
And I did some more wiring - I connected the eLogger and SPS switch directly to avoid an unnecessary connection point. You can also see the 6S feed line for the vTX - wiring it this way it is still controlled by the SPS switch (ie the vTX won't come on when you connect the power) but only takes 6S rather than the full 12S. The small red wire you can see at the battery end will go to the positive terminal of battery 1.... just before the JST connector you can see my teeny tiny noise filter than should provide the vTX with nice clean power.
(http://i.imgur.com/iujAPai.jpg)
Thanks for the reply regarding the holder.
Those 1:6 guys do look better imo, and the ones youve found released in Feb look awesome. Im sure whatever way you go it will look sweet.
Just got these bad boys in the post!
(http://i.imgur.com/Fnaj2ij.jpg)
Mictronics very kindly contributed a pair of his fractal dipoles printed on flex material to my build - their more compact height allows me to install them where a traditional dipole wouldn't fit. The only other real choice I could see was a pair of sander style rabbit ears at the back of the fuselage, but the problem is these would be at least partially blocked by motor/mechanics/batteries when the heli is pointing to home.
Here's my intended install point, one on either side. The do hit a slight curve but apparently it shouldn't be a problem and this machine isn't going to be a range buster anyway - I'm just looking for best penetration of objects and the most solid link I can get within a shorter range.
(http://i.imgur.com/dedYb0O.jpg)
I just need to get some co-axial to finish them off.
couple of pics for you guys
My 600mm stealth matt black samuri swords arrived... I took a picture of the undersides so you can see how they come - Spin has picked the "master" blade which is left as is, and then all other blades have been balanced against it - you can see the small hole where material has been removed and then repaired. Nice touch and should take the headache out of balancing a 5 bade system.
(http://i.imgur.com/AVWEJAB.jpg)
Another nice thing about these blades is that they are made from kevlar and not CF... this means they should be significantly less detrimental to my GPS signal.
My tail mount arrived and fits nicely
(http://i.imgur.com/23OCJvY.jpg)
Case for the guardian, it sits completely encased in foam inside here for vibration isolation
(http://i.imgur.com/1Vswph5.jpg)
and a case for the channel wizard
(http://i.imgur.com/mEMgKXD.jpg)
Elevator arm axle bearing mounts with bearings fitted
(http://i.imgur.com/leZnYQX.jpg)
And lastly for now, my new mk2 pilots arms... "shoulder" is a ball link for full range of motion and elbow is a small plastic elevator hinge. Arms are 5mm threaded aluminium tube which allows the lengths to be fine tuned. I will then carve some blue foam into shape and slide it over the tubes.
(http://i.imgur.com/kZUmajR.jpg)
So not very exciting but I finally got around to making the plug for my upper canopy window.
Used the same technique as before and I'm quite happy with it - seems to produce a pretty high quality plug with a nice finish. Now I just need to get around to building the vacuum forming machine and start experimenting with some materials and temperatures to pull at.
(http://i.imgur.com/F0dGGRn.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/RrzrGH6.jpg)
fabulous modelling skills 88)
Pilots do tend to be on the short side.
Really tall people don't fit in the trainer planes cockpits too well so are put off.
Fast jet pilots are usually shorter as they're better able to handle g forces.
I'd be inclined to use the big guys for the passengers and shorter ones as pilots.
Great work by the way!
/Steve
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Severe withdrawal symptons starting to show - due to lack of any further project news.
Why no news? I ask.
Have Juan and Julio run away together ?
Was it them spotted having a civil ceremony on a Barbados beach last week?
Have the Marsoc's finally arrived and exterminated Juan & Julio?
Stay tuned for the next gripping instalment of this exciting soap coming soon - I hope !
:laugh: :laugh:
Some say Zeeflyboy accepted that his model making skills are far too good for this forum, and he's gone back to gluing Airfix kits together while watching episodes of Miss Marple.
Lol... Can't a guy have a break?
Happy to report no untoward behaviour of Juan and Julio, not that I'm yet aware of anyway.
I've been on holiday and mostly back in the UK. I do have some stuff to show and some news to give though so maybe do a little update this afternoon.... watch this space. As long as that doesn't interfere with watching miss marple.
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on February 11, 2013, 02:58:04 PM
Lol... Can't a guy have a break?
Happy to report no untoward behaviour of Juan and Julio, not that I'm yet aware of anyway.
I've been on holiday and mostly back in the UK. I do have some stuff to show and some news to give though so maybe do a little update this afternoon.... watch this space. As long as that doesn't interfere with watching miss marple.
"Can't a guy have a break?" - In a word NO. Not when you are providing me with such engineering interest!
"As long as that doesn't interfere with watching miss marple." - have either Juan or Julio run off with this 'hotty' ?
Well you'll be happy to know my holiday finishes as of tomorrow lol.
Anyhoo as promised a little update... As mentioned I've been off on holiday and around and about quite a bit but I've not been completely slacking.
So first up some news... I bought a 3D printer... oh dear. It's a Makergear M2 and I'm now on a waiting list that will be anything from 5-7 weeks unfortunately. When It does arrive though I shall be a mighty happy boy! It won;t entirely replace shapeways but it will be incredibly useful for both non cosmetic/semi structural parts and for testing prototypes of more cosmetically important bits before sending off to shapeways for the final part.
Anyway, that's on it's way and in the mean time here's a picture of what it should look like assuming I can build it correctly
(http://i.imgur.com/4BdcGJq.jpg)
Since I've been cutting quite a lot of G10 I also got bored of my terribly old battery powered electric saw and upgraded to a real man saw... Laser guided and everything. I mean seriously, who here can honestly raise their hand and say they don't want a frikkin laser guided saw?
(http://i.imgur.com/qID16YT.jpg)
Anyway, back to the heli...
because I didn't have enough to do I decided to re-cut the frames with some slight tweaks to servo positions and so on... here they are and you can see the 3d printed bearing holder and bearing for the elevator axle arm. Forgive the uncleared edges, I haven't had time to run over them yet ;)
(http://i.imgur.com/F9C0lMx.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/QxTAave.jpg)
I also got a few bits from shapeways....
centre console and new cyclic stick
(http://i.imgur.com/9fKcRrB.jpg)
and my various antennas
(http://i.imgur.com/jXmQSzX.jpg)
And cut my panels in slightly lighter 0.5mm fibreglass sheet to save some weight, plus re-did a new light weight version of my base plate
(http://i.imgur.com/G6VZRmW.jpg)
I've realised I've been a bit lazy in getting the mechanics up and running, so that's now going to be a priority. I think I have pretty much everything I need now so I'll try and get that up and running ASAP for some testing when I get back.
Hurrah - we're off again.
So - laser jig saw; cnc router; 3D printer. I bet a trip round your 'workshop' would be quite interesting.
MkIII frames and its' never even yet flown - now that is as badass as I am. My plane builds often involve numerous 'retakes' before I dare fly!
Erm yeah... Workshop...
Maybe one day.... At the moment I just piss off the GF lol
Go steady - not everyone is as lucky as you to have a GF who buys such 'suitable' hobby pressies as yours does !
Indeed!
just got back to my man cave and had a few things waiting for me (plus my heli patiently sitting on the table waiting for me, bless it's little cotton socks)...
So first up, a slightly saucy nude 1/6th scale body to test. What can I say, dude is mega buff.... Now while his nakedness probably makes him look a bit smaller I think he looks pretty good size wise here. A lot of the extra length seems to come from the legs, something which would be easy to shorten a touch anyway... what do you guys think?
(http://i.imgur.com/SuFiCfE.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/H3rWu6C.jpg)
This scale has several advantages, more detail being a big one, but also fully posable hands and better articulation for the passenger to get a natural looking position.
Here he is standing next to Julio for a size reference, and next to Juan as well...
(http://i.imgur.com/GGkzlnj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/sfsBWWc.jpg)
Anyway, if you've had enough of naked man nipples for one day, here's something we can all agree makes up for it... MINIGUNS
(http://i.imgur.com/NN4Tah2.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/EZMdld4.jpg)
Do the mini guns work? If not, I think it's time to go back to Google Sketchup!!! >:(
Everything else is working scale! WHY NOT THE MINIGUNS!!!!! :'(
If by work, you mean fire 1/6 scale size slugs of lead at 6,000 rounds per minute then no....
They will however get implanted with a small electric motor to make them spin just for giggles.
So couple of little updates
First, the chain finally arrived for my FLIR pod pan... here it is fitted. Happy to say my 3D printed cogs worked out perfectly. I changed to a turnigy 180 degree servo but on the servo tester I'm only getting around 315 degrees out of the setup as a whole... It's good enough though to be honest so I'm not overly worried about it!
(http://i.imgur.com/ZxHRfa5.jpg)
and secondly just done a little work on the mechanics... glued in the bearing supports and fitted the elevator arm. You can probably see here how the servo at the back pushed the arm on the front left, which then rotates on the axle and moves the rear of the swash. This allows me to get rid of the problematic (and frankly ugly) anti-rotation guide
(http://i.imgur.com/cU67aeC.jpg)
and lastly a sullivan pushrod for the tail. This consists of a nylon rod inside of an outer sleeve... this gives a nice flexible pushrod that can much more easily fit within the constraints of the fuselage. The tape is just temporary, I'll come up with a better mounting method down the road.
(http://i.imgur.com/hI8sAdk.jpg)
I also just found out that they are releasing a torque tube version of my tail this month.... UGH!! I went with belt purely to use this tail, but now there is the option of TT I'm leaning towards that. Much easier in general as there is no need to tension the belt (a pain in a scale fuselage) and the tail unit can just pop on/off the end of the boom for maintenance as it doesn't need to be looped under the belt. Will just need to order the new tail and some TT specific parts for the boom block.
FLIR Pod Pan servo - only achieving 315 degrees.
Would it help if you added a servo extender board ?
Such as: http://www.firstpersonview.co.uk/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=8b456a0fd32d256d0f1e69ec219e239f&keyword=extender&x=0&y=0 (http://www.firstpersonview.co.uk/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=8b456a0fd32d256d0f1e69ec219e239f&keyword=extender&x=0&y=0)
Yes - do realise it is called 180 degrees, but wonder if it would still extend angles for you.
Alternatively - Read this for inspiration:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=330432 (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=330432)
Servo extender would make it something like 630 degrees.
The servo resolution would be too jumpy at that level, each step would be excessively big.
It's not a problem, the pan is kind of redundant on a heli that can just rotate anyway lol. I can probably get it to 360 by playing with travel adjust, but like I said I'm not that bothered really, I was originally just going to have 90 degrees so this is way above what I originally intended
Looking awesome, nice work as always.
The bigger man does look better imo, but like you said it seems to be all leg.
Love the little miniguns, and having them spin is just sweeeeet.
Keep up the good work.
Sorry for the lack of updates guys, been a bit busy lately!
However here's just a little work on my minguns...
I broke them open and did a little dremelling so I could insert a pololu 1101 gearbox motor. I used some brass tubing as a centre shaft for the barrels to mount to the gearbox shaft and then stuck it all back together, I will paint the brass tube too I just wanted to make sure it all worked and spun on the axis.... I'll probably chuck some small caps on to reduce RF noise too when I find some small ones.
(http://i.imgur.com/R9FG4xN.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/G48vxJN.jpg)
These are designed to run from around 3-9v so will just be powered directly from the non-essential BEC at 7.4v through a remote switch.
Also, my shaft drive tail arrived... I'm actually quite happy I changed here. The design has a number of improvements including extra bearings in each blade grip, a bigger pitch arm to accomodate the extra authority from 4 blades, a FAR better tail boom clamp, and the whole thing spins up so beautifully smoothly...
(http://i.imgur.com/4lhKTmo.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/U0yHzln.jpg)
Speaking of the mechanics, I've pretty much finished wiring up the main electronics now... Once I get the last bits I need in the post I should be able to get it up and flying for some testing. Here you can see the servos installed with wires routed internally, the ESC sits on top of the bottom plate just behind the motor and the gryphon sits on the side supplying the Naza with go go juice.
(http://i.imgur.com/z5tGWfK.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rHbCRxf.jpg)
I also finished wiring up the SPS switch and eLogger, this now just needs to be installed on the underside of the heli and plugged into the ESC.
(http://i.imgur.com/23Fakv4.jpg)
Miniguns test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to17cXMH5ok#ws)
oh.. i was expecting it to fire?
Hehe... seriously - very nice job.
Going back to the last picture of your 'crew'
Suggest Juan and Julio should be renamed Butch and Minnie !!
lol...
just one more little pic - shows how the SPS switch/elogger mounts to the underside of the heli and battery plates.
You can see the two EC2 connectors for feeding both BEC's the full 12S voltage (downstream of the current sensor to include in total mah) and the filtered JST connector for feeding the vTX with just 6S from one pack, unfortunately it has to be upstream of the current sensor but draw should be utterly negligable.
(http://i.imgur.com/K2aWEVx.jpg)
Oh and that lead from the ESC should be able to give me RPM info on the eagletree. I just need to plug that into the eLogger and it gives out the rpm info... should work - It works in the same manner as the eagletree rpm sensor.
So just a couple of connectors left to solder and then I'm just waiting for the last mechanical parts (torque tube and associated parts, pushrods etc) and I can finally get the mechanics up for a spin.
so the postman has come bearing gifts...
First up here is the boom block I'll be using. This is quite a bit stiffer than the stock plastic unit and also by slotting the holes by the forward TT umbrella gear mount it allows me to fine tune the mesh which I've now done... the only catch is it was originally designed for the 600 Pro frame width so I need some 8mm m3 standoffs to replace the grub screws (you can see the nylon standoffs at the front that I just cut to test). Happily I ordered those yesterday so hopefully they'll arrive this week as they are the last piece of the puzzle in order to get the mechanics fully functional.
(http://i.imgur.com/JOuTVKI.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/VLd5xSu.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1FRQCrw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/IzBCCcy.jpg)
I added a second torque tube bearing too so there are now two hidden in the boom for a smoother running TT... A trick I learned on the 600 Pro when playing with the Skookum vibration analyser.
I also got my Lynx turnbuckles fitted so now you can see the whole swash arrangement... I'm pretty happy with my measurements as everything came out nice and square. Hopefully it's clear now how the elevator arm arrangement works, but it's quite hard to get a decent photo of lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/FrAuLR6.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/qk8YEPI.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/xpWJBdm.jpg)
Anyway, just those 8mm PCB standoffs to arrive, a few little bits and bobs to sort out and then the Naza setup to do... after that there's not much stopping the first test flights of the mechanics.
Getting even more exciting !
Wgt - yeah, although this has made me realise how much more I still have to do to finish the while thing lol... This project is far bigger than I had previously anticipated!
Andy - yeah, it'll be pretty nerve wracking lol. That's one reason why I'm doing some test flights of the mechanics first before putting it in the fuselage, at least the mechanics are easy to repair/replace if it all goes wrong.
Just thought I'd post a little pic of how I set my tracking pre-flight... I level the swash at middle (zero pitch) and put a screwdriver through the blade grip holes.
You can then eyeball it until the screwdriver is in line with the main shaft, then rotate the next grip into position and wash/rinse/repeat. I've used this method on all my helis for the last few years and have never had to adjust tracking afterwards so it seems to work well for me - hopefully it will here because tracking a 5 blade head will be a pain in the butt otherwise!
Unfortunately this did actually highlight some machining variances in the head - there is a good few mm difference between the longest pushrod and the shortest. After a good half an hour of carefully adjusting the links I've got all blade grips aligned but I'll have to be careful to keep them paired up to their specific grips when I disassemble the head. We'll see how it goes, it's all tracked now and spinning smoothly.. hopefully the head performs well but I'm a little miffed at the variance.
(http://i.imgur.com/LGNgJHa.jpg)
looks sweet. you could just mark the grips with a bit of paint to make sure everyone goes where it belongs.
I don't now how has the most, but You must have the most expensive toys on this form for sure.
Loving the tek bud, looks sweet. :respekt:
:) G
Hase - yeah I will do but if I'm painting the whole thing black then I'll paint right over my marks lol.
Need to be careful when I paint it or rise I'll spend ages on the tracking again.
G - says the man with a £10,000 CNC machine!!!
Lol, I suppose the CNC is a toy, but I did build it for work :laugh: honest.
:) G
Time passes - have you maiden-hovered the mechanics yet ??
Time does indeed pass... very quickly lol.
Between working like a beast of burden and travelling back to the UK I haven't even had time to tidy up my mess let alone create more lol.
However, I've got some days off coming up now and apart from popping to the Geneva motor show I have no plans! I expect to get some progress done at last over the next few days.
As ever, looking forward to the next instalment.
So guys I'm sorry about the lack of updates but between working in a manner not dissimilar to a beast of burden, and travelling back and forth to the UK to remind my girlfriend what I look like, I've just about had time for a little bit of sleep. To add to my problems, my CNC router exploded when I switched it on last week and that really made life a bit difficult since I didn't have time to get a new router before leaving again.
The happy news is that I now have 3 days off with no plans other than popping along to the geneva motor show, so I hope to make some good progress again.
So to kick off, before my router exploded I managed to get these parts cut out....
(http://i.imgur.com/HTC1cw7.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oGQdGMj.jpg)
And I had intended to make the mounting blocks on the CNC but alas the bastard thing exploding means I had to make them by hand. Cutting straight, filing to length, drilling, tapping and then finding out you didn't quite get the holes aligned so you have to start again is tedious! Here you can see two mounted... I haven't found the motivation to make the last one yet but it's not really required since the bottom plate won't be load bearing until the fuselage is fitted.
The PCB mounts arrived so I can finally fit the tail boom mount... as always I don't make life easy for myself. I overtightened one meaning it sheared off and left the thread stuck in the boom block... couldn't get it out for love nor money so ended up drilling it out and re-tapping... again, tedious! Job done at last though and it fits perfectly, much less flex than the standard plastic boom block. Oh and I don't know if I mentioned it but Naza-H doesn't support PPM, it was an error in their release notes which should now have been fixed after I called them a bunch of horrible names. So I'm now feeding a ppm decoder which feeds the naza the pwm channels it wants to see, you can see it just temporarily hooked up here.
(http://i.imgur.com/ozdyrzU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/NFoPeSC.jpg)
and lastly I took a leaf out of sentry's book and bought some copper tape. Since the scale fuselage prohibits me from placing items as far apart as I might like I have decided to just shield as best I can. The DJI BEC has a nice metal case but the gryphon is mostly plastic with a small metal heatshield on top... to try and keep a lid of EMF problems I've wrapped the whole thing in copper tape - front, back, sides, top and bottom... that along with the toroid should hopefully make it as quiet as a mouse, which is pretty quiet.
(http://i.imgur.com/T1k0lLv.jpg)
So that's if for now, hopefully have some more to show you soon. In the mean time here's a little reminder of what we are shooting for lol
The Chase (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHEOp75doYs#ws)
I take it the CNC was still under guarantee!
What caused it to blow - a major short - incorrect voltage ??
Just the router (proxxon IBS/E) that exploded... Machine itself is fine.
No idea, switched it off after cutting one part, went to switch it on again for the next and there was a flash and a bang from inside the motor cage area.
I'm thinking about building a slightly larger machine which can take a bigger spindle.
Quote from: wgt40w on March 11, 2013, 09:59:06 PM
I take it the CNC was still under guarantee!
What caused it to blow - a major short - incorrect voltage ??
what do you think I am, A shop! :laugh:
:) G
Quote from: g.collins on March 11, 2013, 10:33:08 PM
Quote from: wgt40w on March 11, 2013, 09:59:06 PM
I take it the CNC was still under guarantee!
What caused it to blow - a major short - incorrect voltage ??
what do you think I am, A shop! :laugh:
:) G
G - I was trying to protect your quality reputation - thought Zeeflyboy would admit to being 'under the influence' when he connected it up the wrong way round!
;) ;)
:laugh:
shoddy workmanship G, shoddy... lol.
Nope, all proxxon's work I'm afraid!
Anyhoo, just a quicky before I go to the car show:
Pushrod supports in place and secured with some CA glue, since the CNC machine died before I could make the part that raises it up to the servo I had to improvise with a block and some tape.
(http://i.imgur.com/rxh7w0g.jpg)
And let me ask you, how exciting is this picture? thing is freaking huge with the blades attached lol. Not much left to do - just some ESC programming, Naza Programming and a little wiring then I can go and crash it.
(http://i.imgur.com/pcLGLYa.jpg)
Right, so almost done... run into a bit of a problem though.
I think it's something similar to what FPVflyer found on his Naza-H but unfortunately he never found the answer as to why it went away.
I have run through the setup and everything is fine, swash is nice and level in the trim section and so on. Switch it on in manual mode and it tilts to the right and back... weird. I know it's supposed to tilt right in atti mode (which it does) but in manual mode it should be level on the ground... or at least that's my experience with other FBL systems.
So bit of a head scratcher... I've gone through setup a few times and always the same result. I'm a bit cautious that with the swash in this position it will try to tip on the ground. Not overly bothered about in the air because I can control it then even if it's leaning, but the ground spool up is always more risky. Hmph...
This is what the swash looks like in manual mode with sticks level....
(http://i.imgur.com/KP3qrXD.jpg)
Anyway in the mean time EZUHF hooked up with temporary bunny ears, and my high tech GPS mounting system (block of foam and tape lol).
(http://i.imgur.com/Ks7bQsD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HvgKkcO.jpg)
Apart from figuring out this strange swash behaviour and setting up the ESC it's now ready to rumble.
A work of art - can't wait for the maiden vid, go steady!
cheers steve - all or nothing lol.
Lol, cheers.
Well assuming it goes ahead (will see what happens with this swash problem), one of my mates is going to come along and help so I'll get him to take some video.
To make it a more meaningful test flight, I have added 2kg (4.4lbs if you work in crazy) to the front and the tail fin at the back. This should help simulate the weight of the fuselage, plus the aerodynamic effects of the tail fin and give a more meaningful idea of how it'll fly - it'll also mean the settings when it finally goes into the fuselage will be closer to the mark.
(http://i.imgur.com/mcvB9ZP.jpg)
These large heli's look terrifying - wonderful that it's got to the maiden stage. Good luck, as we all want to see the awesomeness of this things being FPV's and with Jaun at his controls :)
They can certainly be intimidating... You have to treat them with respect as they are potentially extremely dangerous if you don't of course.
Once you've flown a big heli though you get hooked. They just fly so beautifully compared to the smaller ones!
I long ago lost the "fear" of flying the big heli's, but I maintain my healthy respect lol.
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on March 13, 2013, 01:22:47 AM
They can certainly be intimidating... You have to treat them with respect as they are potentially extremely dangerous if you don't of course.
Once you've flown a big heli though you get hooked. They just fly so beautifully compared to the smaller ones!
I long ago lost the "fear" of flying the big heli's, but I maintain my healthy respect lol.
+1 to that!
I know my Trex600 could pretty much take my head off if it chose to, but the key to heli's (especially big ones) as I'm sure you know is to look after them well & do your pre & post flight checks & never assume something will still be tight because it was last time - & it will look after you by not maiming or killing anyone!
I like to renew my Jesus bolts every few months, there's nothing quite like metal fatigue to ruin your day ;)
I always double check everything before flipping the idle-up switch to start the rotors & I never set the TX down inside the radius of the blades when powering up! Cos I'm sure as hell not gonna dive in there to grab it if somit goes wrong!
The build is coming along beautifully by the way!!!
I still remember the first flights on the 600 something went screwy between the SK720 and the ESC damn thing wouldn't shut off.
I landed and shut her down, still kept spinning just at a low head speed. Tried trimming back on the throttle, changing endpoints, the lot - no dice. Had to crawl under the blades like something out of crystal blooming maze and disconnect the battery. I wouldn't have done it had it been spinning faster but as it was I deemed it safe enough to have a go.
Even going slowly those blades whizzing by your noggin as you try to kiss the dirt is quite something!
Anyway, ESC is now all programmed up and alive. Can't really spool it up to check for vibes because I doubt the neighbourinos would appreciate it lol.
I have however succumbed and ordered a new head. The one I have, while pretty, just has a couple too many flaws for me. First the machining variances that led to some pretty different pushrod lengths, then the fact that the swash balls aren't in line with the axis of rotation thus introducing some unwanted interaction, and finally those multi part blade grip links.
I went for this design which is simpler looking. Hopefully the quality won't disappoint... It's not quite so sexy but given it'll be in black anyway at the end I doubt it really matters much.
(http://www.smartmodel-lb.com/imgup/51858SANY0047.jpg)
"Tragedy.... when it all goes wrong and you can't go on it's traaagedy...."
Went all the way down to the field and set it all up...
(http://i.imgur.com/iBlt5rL.jpg)
The swash is a problem as I suspected, the heli tries to tip on the ground and requires constant forward and left inputs to stop it from doing so.... Because I'm a dick and I know FBL systems aren't happiest sitting on the ground I popped it up into the air to see if it still happened, and it did. At that point however the tail didn't hold well at all either and it started a slow nose left spin, so I was left trying to fly a helicopter that was trying to pull back and right while spinning.
I managed to pop it back on the ground from a few feet up, but due to the weight and the soft ground snagging the skid I managed to snap the front leg.
the good news - I managed to pop it down without touching a main blade or scraping the tail, so the only damage is a 2 dollar skid, but it did put me out of action unfortunately (or fortunately?)... however for a few seconds, it flew lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/Vry8vB2.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/wubktq3.jpg)
I'm now a bit lost though because I have no idea why the Naza is doing it... and I've tried every conceivable thing to fix it. I sent DJI a service request asking about it and I see they've passed me to the retailer I bought it from as I just got an email about the opening of a support thread there (not very helpful lol, my french is a little ropey for technical stuff and it's a french retailer). We'll see what happens, I'm tempted to install my spare SK720 FBL controller just to get the mechanics worked out in the mean time and make sure there's nothing there that needs attention...
What a pain... at least the damage was minimal though. Sadly I no nothing about the Naza-H so can't offer anything in useful advice (but hopefully someone somewhere can). I can only say good luck getting it sorted... because me and the rest of the world really want to see this completed and involved in allsorts of exciting scale heli-missions
I can only suggested rebooting the Naza.
I have had similar behaviour with my Naza (Regular quad copter one)- started up, all seemed fine, went into a hover and then it started rotating and wouldn't bloody stop. Then i dropped to the ground and the motors wouldn't cut off until I did the corner/diagonal thing.
Then I powered off, powered back up again, and suddenly it worked fine? And I haven't seen the same issue since.
Power cycled a million times, restored to factory settings twice, ran through setup countless times, re calibrated sticks even more times, nothing made e slightest bit of difference.
However FPVflyer, bless his cotton socks, has come down from the heavens riding a giant multi-rotor powered by nothing more than hopes and dreams to deliver me the answer....
And it makes no sense. Like not even a little bit. But it worked.
In case anyone runs into the same, this is the process:
A) Power up heli and transmitter
B) Get angry as swash tilts again but resist urge to throw the whole lot out window
C) Set EzUHF failsafe by pushing failsafe button for 2 seconds
D) Power cycle
E) Observe your wonderful new correctly behaving swash.
F) (Optional) get angry again because you don't understand why the hell that just worked
I also had a very slow creep of the tail servo that would result in full deflection if you left it standing for a minute or two. Also now gone.
Go figure... Now I just need a replacement skid.
great stuff - looking forward to seeing it in the air
So, momentus occasion... take 2 worked much better lol. Big thanks to FPVflyer for the fix on the problem I was having.
I got 4 flights in today, didn't do any tuning at all because it was too cold to sit around tweaking things... as such you can see there's some bobble that I can hopefully tune out and the tail gain needs a little adjusting, but the wind was quite gusty so it was not really conducive to fine tuning anyway - I just wanted to get out and fly it regardless!
So, quick summary and thoughts of the flight:
- take off in manual
- fly a little in manual mode then switch to GPS mode.
- on first engagement it drifted to the right then stopped, subsequent engagements of GPS mode didn't drift much at all.
- Altitude holding and position holding was incredible considering the wind, really impressed. Once I fine tune the gains and get it looking a little smoother it'll be seriously cool.
- In GPS mode it was like flying a co-axial, so easy. It was as though it took care of all the flying and you just basically point it where you want it to go... very impressive again considering the conditions and lack of setup.
- In manual mode this thing shifts... for what is about 6-7kg of helicopter up there with the additional weights I was really impressed by just how you could throw it around a bit. Lots and lots of power.
Downloaded the flight log data and she's pulling between 17-24 amps during general flight with an average around 20-21 or so... a little higher than I'd hoped to be honest, but I have yet to experiment with different head speeds. All this was done with a flat 90% throttle, so would be interesting to try say 80% and a governor for example.
So anyway with a 12S 4000mah that would be just over 9 minutes to 80% depletion... not too bad and if I can stretch that out to over 10 minutes with some fine tuning of the headspeed I'll consider that very good for the weight of the heli.
Enough talk, here's the video... Enjoy and let me know what you think. Quite a feeling to see something you've spent so long creating take to the air, can't imagine what it'll be like when the whole thing gets airborne for the first time!
it's available in 720p so full screen it and crank up the volume to hear the heli sing.
AH-6Z mechanics test flight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWiuuA_oB9A#)
well played that man, I bet that felt great getting it in to the air. well don bud.
;) G
Thats super impressive - excellent, I can't wait to see it all up and running properly.
Cheers guys, I'm really pretty chuffed so far... I'm a happy bunny this evening lol.
It'll be interesting to fine tune the headspeed, gains etc on a calmer day and see how well I can get it flying... I think it's extremely promising.
I was most impressed by how easy it is to fly in GPS mode even with cold shaking fingers. This will be absolutely brilliant for easing myself into the FPV based flying of the heli and getting used to flying from the cockpit in particular... then as I get more familiar with the heli I can start pushing in manual modes for more adventurous flying.
Awesome, that looks great, very well done.
You sure are one brave guy. My maiden on my helis is mainly just hovering and hoping nothing flys off. You didnt hang about.
Cant wait to see this finished. Keep up the great work. ;D
I imagine a lot more FPV heli's will be seen now that the Naza-H is out. I bloody want one now.
Ratty - fine line between brave and stupid.... Very fine lol.
Yeah I think the system has a lot of promise. Not withstanding my initial problem the 4 flights today went very well with no tweaking of settings at all. I am quite confident that when I've done several test flights with changes to settings it'll be a top notch flying system.
When they finally add the promised semi auto take off and landing it'll be the FPV heli system of choice I'm sure. As it is it works fine of course, you can auto hover, take off goggles and land manually... Or try landing in manual mode via FPV and hope to god you don't touch the tail... But once the update is done you'll be able to easily complete the whole flight from start to finish in FPV mode.
I'm fairly impressed thus far....
I wonder how many helis (and how much ££££££) DJI go through testing their hardware - they must surely use simulators but the, reality is reality...
Good question...
I imagine they are pretty clued up now, they have a lot of experience in the advanced rotorcraft flight control system arena. That said, the system for sure will have bugs and its interesting to think how many Helis got destroyed in the name of progress lol.
So far I'm impressed - we'll see if that feeling continues once I've tried to tune it!
Congratulations - an Apache is 'born' - well it is currently in the nude !
Bet Juan and Julio are out on the town tonight !
Apache?
Ain't no stinkin Apache!
Lol... the AH part of the designation (same goes for the Apache AH-64 or the Cobra AH-1) is simply "Attack Helicopter".
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on March 15, 2013, 02:36:56 AM
Apache?
Ain't no stinkin Apache!
Lol... the AH part of the designation (same goes for the Apache AH-64 or the Cobra AH-1) is simply "Attack Helicopter".
Think you already knew - wgt40w - "he know nuthing"
If its any consolation on another forum I just got a guy complaining that I should have built a civilian heli rather than authorising and exalting (no, really, his words) The more deplorable aspects of American imperialism and the atrocities they commit.
You know more than him... You know it's a model helicopter, not a real life machine of American oppression.
:laugh:
So, just popped out for a quick test flight despite the constant drizzle today... thought it would be a good chance to test the GPS functionality under poor conditions.
I dropped autopilot gains down to 80% (from standard 100%) but left altitude gain as is at 100% since it worked very well last time, and I also just dropped the tail gain down to 40% HH. I added 6% left Atti trim since the heli wants to drift right quite significantly when atti mode is engaged, and I upped GPS Atti/Atti agility up to 130% to make it more responsive.
I also dropped the headspeed down to 80% (ungoverned for now).
Notes from today:
- Even in cloudy and wet conditions, Naza achieved 6+ satellite lock (no red lights) within around 40 seconds.
- Much smoother in Autopilot modes, no nodding around and tail doesn't bounce, although the latter is still not quite perfect.
- Bit more drifting about in GPS Atti today, although still very impressive and stays within a tight area. Could either be the cloud cover and rain or the fact I reduced AP gains... next time will try 85%. Still drifts right in vanilla Atti mode, more left atti trim needed.
- 80% throttle seems to be significantly quieter than 90% and amp pull is down to an average of what looks to be around 19 amps.... 6.5 minute flight burned 1850mah, which is around 285mah/min. That translates to roughly 11.5 minute flight time to 80% with 4000mah packs, still has enough power to fly effortlessly. Looking promising! I was planning on trying 70% on the second flight but I decided to stop as the rain was picking up.
- At 80% tail authority was lacking, in heavy climbs the tail didn't have enough authority and would slowly turn nose left... This surprised me in all honesty since with 4 x 95mm blades I expected it to have plenty. This might be due to the fact that with the tail on the left as per the real heli, the the blades are coming down into the downdraft... I had expected with 4 blades I would have had authority in abundance but perhaps due to the weight and low head speed things aren't working like I'm used to. Two options - flip the tail back to the other side an accept that it isn't true to scale, or buy spin semi symmetrical tail blades to increase lift generation at low speed.
- I tried flying around with a bit more "gusto" in GPS Atti and it actually moves out pretty well for a scale bird. It seems to have a "speed limit" in GPS atti, if you push the stick forwards all the way it'll nose down quite nicely initially to around 45 degrees but then as you approach max speed it will start to level out and hold the required attitude for that speed.... that combined with the fact that the Naza will hold the altitude for you while you whizz around, removing the need to add collective pitch to maintain height, makes for quite a weird flying experience! It's good though - flying it is really quite effortless in these modes and it makes scale flying very easy indeed.
So, program for the next test flights:
- Increase AP gains to 85%
- Enable governor mode on ESC
- Hook up RPM sensor to elogger
In other news, I missed delivery of my new 5 blade head yesterday while at work... post came 10 minutes after I left (doh!). Will pick it up tomorrow morning from post office.
Little job for this evening
My YGE ESC has a built in phase sensor which allows it to be used with external governors, but more importantly here it allows me to feed RPM data to the eLogger... the eLogger can then use the number of motor poles and the gear ratio to record the head speed, and it also allows the headspeed to be displayed in the OSD in real time during flight too of course.
So, to make it work you just need to make an adaptor - since I needed to extend the wire anyway I just turned the extension into the adaptor. I used some 3 core shielded wire and here's the change you need to make... take the "signal" and splice into ground, then take the "positive" and move up to the signal slot on the other end with the middle slot left empty. Plug that into the eLogger RPM port et voila - shimples.... here it is before heatshrinking the end.
(http://i.imgur.com/gCV1CQS.jpg)
I'm using some great little self adhesive clips from hobbyking for wire management, you can see how the cable is routed to the eLogger... this cable will later be joined by the eLogger GPS module cable too (again replaced with shielded wire however).
(http://i.imgur.com/Q4FIouW.jpg)
Just spooled her up and it all works... after setting gov store on the ESC I'm reading 1200 rpm at 75%, 1300rpm at 80% and 1450rpm at 90% which is all fairly believable - I'll cross check figures with the tach app on my iPhone when I get the chance.
Just went to pick up my new head...
First things first, I noticed it felt much lighter than the other one, and that is certainly the case. Popped them on the scales and the new one is a good 154g lighter than the original - quite a significant difference.
original
(http://i.imgur.com/045O27Q.jpg)
new
(http://i.imgur.com/3oMy4x8.jpg)
So, initial impression:
- The new head feels very nicely made, the links are more solid with less play and the link design is a huge improvement overall.
- Swash design is traditional with the balls in line with the axis of rotation, you can see there is less interaction and unwanted movement when the swash moves.
- Lighter but still feels very well made and strong
- It doesn't quite have the same bling bling appeal but is actually probably more scale like... it needs a much bigger head button but that is easy enough to make, I'll probably 3D print or CNC a more scale like one if I can't find anything suitable - I think with the larger head button it'll look quite good.
- slightly irritating design allows you to use 700 size blades but means spacers are required for 600 size - considering the blades need to be removed for transport and storage that's a pain in the butt. I think however if I just glue the spacers to the grips then it'll be problem solved.
here's the real deal for reference
(http://i.imgur.com/W963qx4.jpg)
It also has a neat little shaft mounting system - you have the jesus bolt as usual, but then you also have a small separate screw that tightens the collar down... quite a nice design as it means you aren't loading the jesus screw with the extra load of having to clamp down the head. Seems to work well, the head is very secure with no play.
(http://i.imgur.com/voUvHnj.jpg)
EDIT - after fitting and tracking the head I really think this is a superior bit of kit... the precision is much higher and there is no play or looseness anywhere. The other one actually flew pretty well but it'll be interesting to see how this one does!
Flew the new head, again it's windy today but even so the heli is certainly getting more dialled in...
For the first time I ran the ESC's internal governor and its definitely the way forward. With 80% governed it is running a headspeed of 1,300 rpm and seems to be burning around 18 amps in the hover, but still felt like it had a lot of power. It works much better in combination with the Naza Atti modes... Since the Naza locks throttle when you initiated the Atti modes when you ask for a powerful climb the ESC is still only being given 80% to work with so you could hear it bog down as it loaded up... With the governor mode obviously the ESC retains control so it can add power as required to maintain the head speed.
I am tempted to try lower still, but I'm hitting a wall as regards tail authority below about 1250 rpm. I won't test lower until the spin semi symmetrical tails arrive to address that issue...
I've upped the agility to 150% and removed all expo from the transmitter when I switch into GPS Atti/Atti modes, plus dialled in more expo for manual mode... I'm trying to smooth the transition between the automatic and manual modes and its already a much better feel.
The new head is great, very smooth and tracking was spot on again using my tried and trusted screw driver method lol... I think it's a keeper for sure.
Suppose I better get back to work on the fuselage!
So tools down for a few days - it's 4 years that the GF has been putting up with me so we're off to London for a few days to celebrate.
Here's a parting gift however, a quick rubbish snap of how the cockpit is coming along. I've just painted the centre console (still needs some details and a coat of matt varnish)...
(http://i.imgur.com/xHbVMXR.jpg)
and a quick snap of how the head looks... I've already designed a larger head button for it too.
(http://i.imgur.com/JWvVaYS.jpg)
And spot lights are in place... still need to paint the front covers obviously. I used some black silicone wire insulation from some 14awg wire to cover the led wires and make it look neat.
(http://i.imgur.com/L1dThXD.jpg)
The more I read and follow your Thread, the more I wonder:
How on earth did you get to know so much about not only physical engineering aspects of your builds, but also the workings of all the electronic bits you get involved in ??
You presume too much old bean, I pretty much make it all up as I go along...
I don't believe you !
Neither do I - you're a man of supreme skill!
Anyway enough smoke blowing - we want mooooaaar updates :D
Lol you two. If only you knew the truth... I just think of what I want to do and then figure out a way to do it. Nothing more magical than that I'm afraid!
More updates next week hopefully... Focus is on the cockpit for now.
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on March 22, 2013, 11:31:28 PM
I just think of what I want to do and then figure out a way to do it.
Isn't that the way we all do it.
;) G
Quote from: g.collins on March 24, 2013, 11:02:01 AM
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on March 22, 2013, 11:31:28 PM
I just think of what I want to do and then figure out a way to do it.
Isn't that the way we all do it.
;) G
Think should have said, "figure out a way where to BUY the answer from".
Buying the answer is much easier!
So I thought this was quite neat...
I wanted a visual indication of what Naza mode I am in just for fun. When flying under the goggles I think it'd be possible to mistakenly only select Atti rather than GPS Atti for example, I thought perhaps it would be good to have a reminder of what mode is selected.
So I used another DElight controller which will listen in on the same channel as the mode selector switch... simple matter of programming the correct thresholds for the LED's et voila!
Red - Manual flying: danger Will Robinson, danger.
Yellow - Atti mode: relax Will Robinson, relax.
Green - GPS Atti Mode: who be flying this thing?! Not me...
I can change the mA flowing through the leds using the DElight software so might just turn down the green and yellow slightly though I want to see how it is in daylight first.
I've also been busy on the cockpit and have been making some slow but steady progress - more on that later hopefully...
Mode display switching (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRxAxoBq2U#ws)
(http://i.imgur.com/XToDFnW.jpg)
As ever - just brilliant.
Cheers!
Cheers guys!
Another functional thing that will be on the dash is a warning LED for low pack voltage. The Gryphon has an LED module with adjustable voltage warning, so you can control when it comes on.
The idea will be to take the LED feed from that and use it in the dash... It's a last line of defence in case I get too carried away flying to check on the mah burn as that will only be available in the FLIR view. I intend to use the eagletree audio alerts too which will come through no matter which view I'm in!
So, it stopped raining and I just popped out to try my new Spin tail blades.. much better! Way more authority and a better feeling tail - it also behaves much better as regards wagging. Still some tuning to do but now I feel like I have a chance lol...
I was surprised, they actually sound different too - didn't think the tail blades would have that much effect. Very cool effect sometimes as you fly past...
A little more feedback on the Naza unit:
- Still have some right drift in auto modes... Very cloudy crappy day today so probably doesn't help, though it still quickly locked in 6+ sats. In GPS Atti it drifts right a bit, then back again and usually stays out after that... Hoping I can tune this out.
- you have to be careful if you've been flying in GPS Atti and you switch back to manual... In GPS Atti it's very controlled, pretty sedate and big stick movements are required. Manual is still extremely responsive and its easy to over control when switching back. I've already got 40% expo in manual with none in Atti modes, but I need to do more still... I will probably reduce max roll rates in manual mode a little, and add a little negative expo (well, positive in futaba world) to auto modes.
- flying in Atti mode is potentially extremely risky with a heavy helicopter lol. You can build up some serious speed (as opposed to the speed limited GPS Atti mode) but then lack the manoeuvrability to arrest or re-direct all that momentum quickly in the way you can using manual mode.
- it's a blast to fly and still can't get over the sight of the heli hovering so nicely with no inputs.
So, back to work on the cockpit!
Just got done painting and assembling my centre console and collective stick...
You can see in the video how it works, but of course the servo was working in the wrong sense. Normally it's no bother - I just open up the servo and switch the motor wires followed by 2 of the 3 potentiometer wires... and this was no different, except that these servos are TINY. I have to reverse the cyclic stick elevator servo too so I might take some pictures as I do so just to show how small it all is.
I was pretty sure I would murder the servo while trying but as it happens it all seemed to work out okay, and now the servo moves in the correct direction to match the pitch commands.
Collective stick test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RyMQoZ4fwg#ws)
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on March 25, 2013, 07:21:17 PM
Just got done painting and assembling my centre console and collective stick...
You can see in the video how it works, but of course the servo was working in the wrong sense. Normally it's no bother - I just open up the servo and switch the motor wires followed by 2 of the 3 potentiometer wires... and this was no different, except that these servos are TINY. I have to reverse the cyclic stick elevator servo too so I might take some pictures as I do so just to show how small it all is.
I was pretty sure I would murder the servo while trying but as it happens it all seemed to work out okay, and now the servo moves in the correct direction to match the pitch commands.
[...]
You can get a servo reverser http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17033__Turnigy_Servo_Signal_Reverser.html (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__17033__Turnigy_Servo_Signal_Reverser.html) Or roll your own... http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/devicedoc/41239a.pdf (http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/devicedoc/41239a.pdf). Second is available in sot23 package, so you could put it inline with servo lead!
Anyway Fascinating project !
regards
Andy
Quote from: aitch on March 26, 2013, 10:05:15 AM
one of the most impressive thiings about this project as with the eurofighter.
its not done the easy way its done the best way.
i never even knew before now you could electrically reverse the direction of a servo with a soldering iron
some pics when you do the next one would be very informative, thanks ...
Aitch :laugh:
When I started out in RC in the 70's, that was the only way to reverse your servos. They didnt have transmitter switches and such! My first "small" servos were around 60 mm x 25 mm x 50 mm though! :)
regrads
Andy
Yeah I try to avoid using servo reversers where possible - just extra mess, weight and expense when it's so easy to switch them around internally - even on these small fiddly ones its only a 5 minute job. Thanks for the links though.
I'll take some pics of the next one I do, being so small it's hardly a great example but the idea is the same.
Cheers!
Cockpit is starting to look a little better...
(http://i.imgur.com/PrGbFgW.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Cd96BY8.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/h2mH4zd.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4vSgBM0.jpg)
Couple of bits arrived today
new 3D printed head button - obviously this needs painting lol
(http://i.imgur.com/eqNHRt5.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ZU93rO2.jpg)
And I re-designed the GPS holder - it's a lower profile unit now, and is a little larger to allow the GPS puck to be moved as required for declination... I'm also going to shield the lower section with copper tape on the inside, mostly just because I have some copper tape lying around but also because I've seen some claiming it increases GPS reception and has obvious benefits of reducing interference from on board electronics.
(http://i.imgur.com/MjR9T00.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/74Fa8c1.jpg)
EDIT - painted the head button, looks much better than the tiny stock one methinks! Still needs a coat of matt varnish and some sanding but that came out pretty nicely.
(http://i.imgur.com/iJAtjOj.jpg)
hooked all the controls up for a wiggle this afternoon - sorry for the crap video
AH-6 animated controls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_KpnhztoSM#ws)
Very realistic - great work.
Wow! Attention to detail is amazing.
cheers!
today I made a huge mess by getting Juan v3 up and running....
First up he had to be opened up, all the crap taken out and the pan/tilt put in...
(http://i.imgur.com/NsQBrVr.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/RLiVOtd.jpg)
Then I added his new arms... on both I am using a ball link as a shoulder so that the arms are nice and free to move around, then on the collective stick it's a simple hinge to make sure it moves fairly linearly backwards with the stick and on the cyclic it's another ball joint at the elbow for better freedom of movement. Both hands are attached using heli ball links which means the wrists can also be manipulated for best position.
(http://i.imgur.com/YaaWFyx.jpg)
Need to do the same with the legs next (but I've run out of parts) and then the whole lot will be fleshed out with some blue foam sanded to shape to fill out the uniform and make him look a little less like johnny5
Amazing how time consuming that all is lol.
Can't wait to see a video of Juan having a yank with his stick !!
you filth...
I'll wait until I've got the legs done too and then I'll make a video with the Pan/Tilt, arms and legs all moving.
What have I said ??
just left a rather large double entendre about stick yanking! lol
I just got finished doing some stuff to the FLIR so thought I'd post a quick video.
Incidentally this is also the colour I've settled on for the heli now - I mixed 10ml of the dark green with 3ml grey, 1ml black and 1ml thinner to end up with a colour that was more to my liking, all then topped off with a coat of vallejo matt varnish which gives a really nice finish, and slightly clouds the coat making it look a bit more old and worn... hard to capture in a quick vid but the effect is quite nice in real life.
here I'm just controlling it using the sticks on the radio wheras in reality it will be controlled by pots of course - that's why it appears to dart all over the place occasionally.
anyhoo - video
AH-6 FLIR Pod test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhdLVBtax70#ws)
Your work makes most of us 'ordinary folk' look very, very ordinary !
Hurry up - Juan's longing for a good yank !!
What ordinary folks? Think you need to keep it in perspective - to the general public what you are able to do with an rc model and a camera is far from ordinary!
between work sending me away, going back home, other things getting in the way and being called out of every standby going I haven't had time to do much at all...
However, here's a redesign on the base plate... it allows me to mount the SPS switch and ESC better, allows a little more room for the EzUHF rx and also weighs a little less while being more rigid.
(http://i.imgur.com/vtoCXXS.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/0fXG7Hk.jpg)
In other news, my Gens Ace 6S 5000mah arrived and boy dey is big... and this monster eats two at a time for lunch!
Weight was spot on, about 775g each without connector so I'm hoping I can just squeeze in under 7kg when all is said and done. My previous flights showed a 270ish mah per minute burn at around 6+kg, so if we assume no more than 300mah per minute at final weight then they should be good for 13+ minutes to 80%.
(http://i.imgur.com/42HTj2M.jpg)
I also just tried my hand at riveting for the first time.
Despite the name, it is in fact not riveting... it's a little tedious. If I was feeling Zen I might say therapeutic but at the moment I'm going to stick with tedious.
So the first method I'm trying out is using a rivet kit I found on ebay... basically it involves some gunk in a bottle and some syringes that will make your loved ones think you are into some hardcore habits if they are discovered out of context. Pretty happy with the method actually, the "gunk" dries down well without flattening excessively and it's easy to wipe clear when you put down too much or out of place.
(http://i.imgur.com/DUIbP09.jpg)
Here you can see the markings (I just used a ruler and made a dot every 5mm)...
(http://i.imgur.com/4r4nChj.jpg)
and here are the rivets after drying out (they will need painting over obviously)... I will be adding a panel in the middle too.
(http://i.imgur.com/AhywaJD.jpg)
Finally I can contribute a little, this is what I use for rivets
http://www.deluxematerials.co.uk/pages/scenicproducts.htm (http://www.deluxematerials.co.uk/pages/scenicproducts.htm)
The pinpoint set is ace, I find titebond wood glue (yellow looking stuff) ace as it holds it's shape and doesn't shrink much.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, ACE THREAD!
Muds :)
I'll have a look for some titebond and see how it compares, cheers.
So what's the very definition of frustration?
- Your 3D printer that you ordered 2 months ago finally ships but then gets stuck in customs....
- 5 Days later you still hear nothing so you call up and in your finest Franglais try to find out what's up. Turns out there's a missing invoice so you send them the info they need...
- Postman Pat comes knocking on the door with a big heavy parcel, but needs €290 for import duties and you only have €250 in your wallet.... So he walks away with your much beloved box.
Argh!!!!
On the plus side some bits and bobs from HK finally arrived so maybe today I can grant Juan the gift of legs once more.
That's a lot of stamps :o
innit...
In other news I promised Juan some new legs today and so here we go:
(http://i.imgur.com/mUBaa9t.jpg)
AH-6Z FPV project rudder preview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDZ2YiUtnOs#ws)
Also hooked up this little board which is designed to make things easier... just need to get some liquid tape to finish it off. Basically this goes into the side of the seat under the centre console and allows me to plug all servos except collective, for which the servo isn't in the seat... So that's Aileron, Elevator, Rudder, Pan, Tilt. The last one on the end with the shielded wire is for the video out.
Doing it like this is nice and space saving, plus by bridging the servo negatives and positives I cut down on 4 pairs of pos/neg wires to run back to the ppm decoder.
(http://i.imgur.com/trOcumU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/E1gpM6u.jpg)
So just got mugged by a criminal in a postal worker's uniform.... now I need to somehow turn this into a 3D printer... this may take some time....
(http://i.imgur.com/ByeUhUI.jpg)
Just got back from my days off and finished off my printer build....
(http://i.imgur.com/8488ISL.jpg)
And she's already up and running printing off her first test print!
Makergear m2 first run (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYvaUNd4N8Y#ws)
(http://i.imgur.com/QGEsCPP.jpg)
so, got a little time to play at last.
my very first self-printed parts for the heli... some guides for the pushrod to position it properly and hold in place. Okay the finish can't compare to shapeways but for non-cosmetic stuff this is just brilliant. For example the larger piece ended up holding the pushrod off slightly higher than I'd like, so a quick adjustment on solidworks and a re-print, problem solved! Just brilliant.
(http://i.imgur.com/p9WWywq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/XTTqEa2.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Zu9sStg.jpg)
And I globbed on some epoxy to the back of my little breakout board and installed it in place. All the servos for the seat, pan/tilt and the camera connection plug into this board... the camera cable (shielded) then runs down directly and the rest are run through the centre console and around the bottom where they will connect to the PPM decoder in the front.
(http://i.imgur.com/ycvA9IY.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/C9Go4wi.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/NzzUZAE.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Lnm5OS3.jpg)
So man oh man oh man.... if there's one thing I hate more than anything it's filling and sanding.
Spent hours doing this today, not much to look at mind you! Had to get rid of the joins in the two halves, finish off the right door and some other bits and bobs. Tomorrow I need to sand off the remaining moulded hinges, fill and sand those too, then give it a coat of primer. Once that's done I can start marking out rivets and making some panels etc.
(http://i.imgur.com/8tAdx75.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/tvhye4k.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/izEzzXb.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/2EHXXAy.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/pZ828mj.jpg)
Oh, and I also laid some copper tape on the bottom of the GPS mount and for good measure wrapped another piece around the bottom of the naza itself.
(http://i.imgur.com/HX2SK9L.jpg)
stunning build! cant wait to see more
So just looked in the post box and something was waiting for me!
I needed some Coax to hook up my nice Fractals. I was just going to buy some RG316 but then I saw they had this low loss CFD200 cable and I thought why not - It's nice and smart black after all! So Here's my attempt at soldering the Fractals up, with the proximity of the soldering I thought I better check with a multimeter to see if I had a short and just as well I did as the second one did indeed have a stray shielding wire causing a short.
(http://i.imgur.com/gn0bA9m.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/WtvC6CC.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/zoZDDru.jpg)
I think My plan for mounting these will be to find some thin black double sided tape or similar and use that to attach them to the sidewall once the interior has been painted.
I have used this stuff....
http://www.maplin.co.uk/double-sided-foam-tape-33766 (http://www.maplin.co.uk/double-sided-foam-tape-33766)
which can be found in varying widths. Sticks like Sh&$ to a blanket :D
cheers!
did i mention how cool it is to have a 3D printer to call your own?
whipped this up today.... It's my external camera mounting system that I've come up with, hope it works!
Fairly simple - permanent mounting block in the heli that has been glued and bolted into place, couple of boom clamps and a 10mm CF tube... the arm at the end can be angled for height and distance, then there will be a vibration damped platform on top for the camera... still need to design that bit.
The boom clamps can also be slid closer together to shorten the distance or a longer boom could be used to get a wider angle.
Can't wait to try it out :)
Permanent mounting block:
(http://i.imgur.com/n4SYRtg.jpg)
Some more filling and sanding required - ugh
(http://i.imgur.com/c64p7Ub.jpg)
Boom:
(http://i.imgur.com/gOK9wge.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/esVnnkx.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/MDvD1h2.jpg)
And mounted:
(http://i.imgur.com/PTwbjBd.jpg)
"External camera mounting system"
Is this to mount a camera looking forward or back towards a smiling Juan ??
Back towards the heli for some in flight footage... It won't always be there, just for when I want to record some footage of Juan and Julio
Thought so - clever idea. Can't wait to see video footage from that camera.
you and me both!
So I just came home and finished off my Camera boom. I'm thinking about designing a damped platform at the heli end using the damping bobbins from a QAV500 but I'm not sure whether it'll be better off rigid in the downwash of the rotors... we'll find out I guess.
Anyway, my budget cam is fitted - 808 #16 Keychain wide angle... Okay it's not a GoPro but the image quality is surprisingly good!
(http://i.imgur.com/zz8qw1L.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HzIQ2hk.jpg)
Will you have to adjust C of G for when this camera boom is / is not fitted OR is it too light to cause any concern ??
with the FBL system I doubt it'll even be noticeable...
Plus as you say it's pretty light and the helicopter weighs around 7Kg so not really going to be relevant I guess... We'll find out!
So, At the end of the week I have three standby days followed by 3 days off.... I'm hoping I can get quite a lot done there, especially if they leave me alone for the standbys lol.
So first a little update on the mechanics.
My head has somehow tweaked just slightly out of true from flight. Looking down on the head button screw hole you can see it spins slightly off axis... My first though was that the main shaft had been tweaked but it appears to be true. I must admit I'm scratching my head as to how on earth this is possible but there you go... on top of that my tail was suffering from vibrations and when I disassembled the tail rotor I was less than impressed.
So, I've finally had enough of this crap. I'm giving up the project...
Jokes, I'm spending yet more money.... sigh. This time I'm not messing around however - when you are fed up of crap engineering, who do you turn to for solace? Zee Germans of course!
So, it's SK-Rotorkopf to the rescue.
I'll be using their 4 blade tail (or should i say vierblattheckrotoren) with my existing tail box and shaft
(http://i.imgur.com/5gLpPXS.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/gMI5ScU.png)
And for head I'm going for a damped 5 blade assembly.... it'll all be anodised black for my order. The damping is interesting as a lot of multiblade heads are rigid - it will be interesting to experiment with various hardness dampers and there is even the option to lock them out with a rigid damper from the DFC heads for example if needed.... This is the basic head but I'm picking up a combo deal with swash and head button etc.
Just in the final stages of communicating exactly what I need but should be sorted out soon.
(http://i.imgur.com/cbDZduP.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/z7mWErD.png)
So, what else have I been up to in the mean time?
First up I painted the tail box black.... I gave it a good scrub with soapy water, rinsed and dried then used an etch primer followed by some satin black. It actually came out a bit too well lol. I'll need to distress it to weather it a touch so it fits in better with the look of the heli.
(http://i.imgur.com/Gapydkw.jpg)
I also made some panel details for the heli exterior cut from 0.5mm thick fibreglass sheet. These will be given some rivet detail and then glued to the heli fuselage in various spots to give a more realistic panel detail.
(http://i.imgur.com/JnxXeSg.jpg)
And lastly, anyone know what this is for?
(http://i.imgur.com/gH2GKoF.jpg)
why all this teasing, how does it look so good, you have a very jealous follower, its a stunning build, loving every bit of it :overexcited:
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on May 06, 2013, 10:30:11 PM
with the FBL system I doubt it'll even be noticeable...
Plus as you say it's pretty light and the helicopter weighs around 7Kg so not really going to be relevant I guess... We'll find out!
Is that just a secondary camera then? To watch the pilot from the outside?
I assume you will have a gopro somewhere? Or won't you?
Topgear - teasing? Me!? Never would I dream of such things.
Dog - It's just a recording camera to get some cool shots of the heli in flight... This is instead of a GoPro as its a much lighter option of course. It would be easy to whip up a GoPro mount though if needed.
So in between waiting for some primer to dry I decided my Printer needed an extremely vital mod.... LEDs!!! LEDs make everything better!
These do actually serve a practical purpose - much easier to check bed level and keep an eye on how things are going with this mod. I used some Hobbyking waterproof strip LED's and a L7812 to drop the voltage down from 19.5v to 12v since I couldn't find an easy 12v supply on the board.
(http://i.imgur.com/0yfShHc.jpg)
Speaking of hobbyking - they really do have some great stuff sometimes - just picked up these crimpers and they are bloody fantastic. I've been looking for a decent set for ages and who would have guessed I finally found a pair at hobbyking! They are just perfect and give a great quality crimp on servo connectors and JST - if you are someone who crimps their own wires I really, really recommend a pair.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=13446 (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=13446)
you got a spare room for rent in that house of you'res? think i'll declare myself homeless soon and hope a fellow model'r will pick me up off the street ;D
sorry, need more room for more toys if anything!
So before work this morning I spent a couple of hours trying my hand at some proper rivets and added some panels.... I just did the dog house and tail boom section so far.
I used a piece of paper and marked out 5mm spacing on that - the reason for using paper is that it's way more flexible than any rulers or tapes I have so it's easy to fit it to curves etc. I then used a pen and marked out my rivet pattern, then using a syringe and some glue I laid down each rivet.
The pics are pretty hard to see since the rivets are small and the glue dries clear, so to make things easier to see I am instead going to give you the links to some higher res photos rather than embed them here.
http://i.imgur.com/LP7AAAd.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/LP7AAAd.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/eEC0Lf7.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/eEC0Lf7.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/XUowMlK.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/XUowMlK.jpg)
http://i.imgur.com/cYGqwAe.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/cYGqwAe.jpg)
Anyway, the company definitely didn't get the memo... all 3 standbys were called out so I've done next to nothing. I did however paint over the rivets and panels - here's some closer shots. They look better in real life - the photos are a bit tricky!
(http://i.imgur.com/D9W7CkQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rXPVu9V.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rMZ2PnP.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/puprotg.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/fWgYple.jpg)
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on May 15, 2013, 07:23:55 PM
[...]
Speaking of hobbyking - they really do have some great stuff sometimes - just picked up these crimpers and they are bloody fantastic. I've been looking for a decent set for ages and who would have guessed I finally found a pair at hobbyking! They are just perfect and give a great quality crimp on servo connectors and JST - if you are someone who crimps their own wires I really, really recommend a pair.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=13446 (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=13446)
I got mine from here.. They work really work well! . Essential if you do any RC stuff!
http://www.modelaccessories.co.uk/crimping-tool.html (http://www.modelaccessories.co.uk/crimping-tool.html)
regards
Andy
Not the same ones but glad they work well for you! I had similar looking ones (but red handles) and they were rubbish - just mashed the connector together rather than neatly turning over the pins.
The HK ones are ratchet type too which is handy.
So details details....
The fuselage really seems to come to life with all these little touches - I'm surprised how much nicer it looks that the bare smooth fuselage did.
(http://i.imgur.com/xiQ6Nxz.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1o9j5af.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YrVdXhC.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/FglVBXh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/hNqy3GE.jpg)
Also noticed my tail gears weren't particularly well made... you could see them wobble as you rotate them - bad news for vibes. I noticed that the align 700 gears looked like an exact replacement and thankfully they were. Just needed some slight adjustment to the gears which involved putting them in the pillar drill and a little careful work with a file to make sure they ran smooth with clearance from the housing but other than that a straight swap. These black align gears are hard as nails too which is good - I've seen them cut wood with the tail blades of a 700 running these gears with no damage to the gears! The new one also gets rid of the step down to 5mm at the end which was a weak point so glad to get rid of that - the new tail I'm ordering from SK-Rotorkopf will be 6mm to match.
Old = white, new = black
(http://i.imgur.com/L3EVeAn.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/dgGs62h.jpg)
It's not a toy this, it's a work of art
Can't it be both?
Lol, cheers Steve... Hope she looks good in the end!
Have to learn to paint properly next! I want to do some good weathering and whatnot.
Some more details today.
Here is my new fuel cap with the SPS switch integrated. You can see the small red pin - when that's pulled out then the whole system comes alive.... with it in place it's all switched off.
(http://i.imgur.com/iXnI9JG.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/lj2WjDM.jpg)
And I've finished riveting the whole main fuselage now - underside and all. Wonder how many rivets I've done on this thing... Just need to fit a panel on the underside to cover up that big hole and then fit some door hinges to the main doors and I think that's the exterior work on the main fuselage body more or less done.
(http://i.imgur.com/qDCJc7g.jpg)
Absolutely bloody excellent. I cannot wait to see the finished result.
So just some mods to the Futaba ready for the Channel wizard mods. I have added a bracket for the EzUHF so that I can slide it on/off for storage and transport purposes and the small grey jack is a 4 pole 3.5mm connector - the channel wizard will take the ppm from the transmitter, add it's own additional channels and multiplexing, then output the 12ch (plus multiplexed channels) stream to this jack connector along with power and ground. The EzUHF will then plug directly into this jack for it's power and ppm inputs.
(http://i.imgur.com/jocMeaS.jpg)
And it's all about the little touches lol, I saw this and thought it had to be done...
(http://i.imgur.com/FF8xuK6.jpg)
Oh, and I was giving some thought as to the problem of the Naza LED/USB doo-hickey.
I wanted easy access to it and to be able to see it when starting up the aircraft with everything buttoned up so that I can see the LED indications regarding satellite lock etc, but I didn't want the LED visible during normal flight or filling the inside of the fuselage with it's very bright output.
I came up with this idea - A small access panel that the Naza can sit inside... open up the panel door (small twist lock handle) and the unit is easy to see or even pull out for USB access, once sats are confirmed close the panel and away you go. Shimples.
(http://i.imgur.com/d3TwtQN.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/ZiuxfId.png)
where did you get the fractal UHF antennas or did you make them? are they dipoles? how do they perform?
Quote from: dogzilla on May 26, 2013, 06:02:13 PM
where did you get the fractal UHF antennas or did you make them? are they dipoles? how do they perform?
a) Mictronics kindly donated them to my build, I think it was his last set he had lying around but he makes them himself.
b) Yes, dipoles
c) Dunno yet. Theoretically performance should be almost as good as a traditional dipole but in more compact form... I think they are potentially slightly more narrowband.
http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?2001-Fractal-Antenna-for-433MHz-LRS&highlight=Fractal
Sorry for the lack of updates, I only had two days off and I spent it with my new toy! Arrived to my door, built, tested and flown FPV within a day... I had forgotten what it was to have a quick build! Ignore my green props and "battery ballast" on the GoPro mount - I have some T-Motor carbons and a Hero Black to go on there but didn't want to smash them up on the first test flights lol (btw GPS position holding makes taking a photo yourself much easier!)
(http://i.imgur.com/GELthUA.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/IX67gap.jpg)
So just a quick video update for you - the cockpit controls and Juan are in place and all running correctly from the PPM decoder. The cyclic stick is a little... well... sticky especially with left aileron, but it just needs a little tweaking with hand position/shape to get it working correctly... will wait until I have the final hands and arms built up etc before tweaking.
as an aside, I am massively looking forwards to trinity head tracking... cannae wait.
AH-6 cockpit progress (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQqbixaBaQE#ws)
Mate, that is very slick!!
Can you make me one for my 60 size corsair?? Am thinking of FPV'ing it!
Would be happy to chuck some antennas &/or cash money at you ;)
Get back to me once I've sorted this build... Can't take on even more at the moment lol.
Does the corsair have a removable cockpit?
No worries chap.
It's UHU por'd on, so I could remove it.
so today I both primed and painted the interior so that I can now get on with some electronics installation and whatnot...
(http://i.imgur.com/aL7OQsc.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/PJ7zhNO.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/EP1mk2W.jpg)
Printed up a little ET GPS case today, lined the bottom and lower sides with copper tape - what can I say, I've got meters of the stuff to use up lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/bQIRAKW.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/46TjYN0.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/VUcEqJD.jpg)
Also installed a few more electronics - EzUHF at the back there feeding the channel wizard with ppm.. this will pull channel 12 and demux it out into the various auxiliary outputs while also passing through a ppm output to the decoder in the cockpit. Also think this is the best place for the vTX with the SPW going down into the belly... might re-design an cut the base plate to include a vtx mount.
(http://i.imgur.com/0cDBMR5.jpg)
So more stuff installed...
Designed a little mount plate for the vTX and made my 35v LC filter:
(http://i.imgur.com/F4sAKc8.jpg)
And here you can see it fitted along with one of Circular Wireless' faultless little 5.8Ghz SPWs - hopefully this explains the post about antenna positioning and you can also see how the room is there for a 2.4Ghz one day.
(http://i.imgur.com/AzSL2WD.jpg)
I also installed the Fractals from mictronics using some black foam tape...
(http://i.imgur.com/82g98bL.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/uZrEMjG.jpg)
Those of you with eagle eyes might not the small device on on top of the EzUHF, that's one of mictronics RSSI/LQ convertors which reads the output from the bus and gives an analogue signal I can use with the eagletree.
That is INSANELY tidy! :o
Picture above - tut tut - think I can see a paint run at the top left of the copper aerial !!!
What are the things on the walls for? The things with the pretty patterns, think you called them fractals.
Fractal Antennas :)
Wg - technically epoxy run lol, from when I was gluing the doors into place.
Yup they are fractal antennas - basically a normal dipole but compacted down using a fractal pattern to reduce overall length and thus fit in a more compact space.
There is a slight trade off in efficiency vs a normal dipole but its minimal.
So it's been a while since I posted anything interesting as I've been in Miami... and I can't really post much still because most of my toys are back in Geneva and I'm in the UK for a couple more days. But I believe something is better than nothing right? So, while it's not directly AH-6 related I think some will be interested in it. I've made a start on my new ground station! I love taking my friends up for a FPV ride or just bringing them to help out and watch or fly their own stuff... of course the trouble is that FPV can be decidedly dull for an observer - it's about time I joined the party and built a ground station that can share out the experience. The AH-6 is something I definitely want to share.
So it's just a start but here is the top panel, designed to fit an 8" rmrc screen fully stripped down. I engraved the writing and symbols at 0.5mm and then just put some white paint in... I'll need to make some custom buttons.
(http://i.imgur.com/9wi6t7F.jpg)
Recess on the back to accept the 8" LCD module
(http://i.imgur.com/G8FsmZC.jpg)
And heres the bottom plate, same deal with the engraved pattern and paint. Top left is a speaker for the audio alerts from the OSD, below that is a button for turning on/off the 5.8ghz relay as required. Bottom left is going to be a small compartment for storing the wire to the antenna tracker. Top right we have the main power button along with a current and voltage meter, below that is a record button and SD card recorder module, then at the bottom are two 4 pin locking outputs which can provide video, audio, 12v and ground to two separate video goggles.
(http://i.imgur.com/1pLnXzh.jpg)
All goes into this fetching Pelican case
(http://i.imgur.com/3DCX1JW.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/J6ISF4g.jpg)
3D printed frames I made earlier which allow me to mount my panels to the case
(http://i.imgur.com/dQ7envT.jpg)
Epoxied into place
(http://i.imgur.com/nubUkIS.jpg)
So that's about that for now, I'll post more details as I build it if anyone is interested. As a final off-topic post for now here's another little doo-hickey I'm working on - a low profile and anti-vibration case for my GoPro3, I just got done cutting the carbon front and back plates.
(http://i.imgur.com/cEFmm4E.jpg)
I do hope you all forgive the brief diversion ;)
Just got back and I had a new toy waiting for me (it's like christmas every week...) a skylark AAT IV. I've been wanting an antenna tracker for a while and I felt I was ready for one at last - when skylark recently updated the shop with the IV I couldn't resist any more! I picked up a couple of the convertor modules too so I can get the tracking working.
Looks pretty nice, and if it's good enough for sentry then it's good enough for me lol. Here it is along with some of Sircana's sexy antennas and Sander's sexy aluminium box. I know sander will be disappointed but I just used some 3M locking tape so I can quickly pop the DUO on and off for transportation and to swap it out with a 2400DUO *cough* hint hint sander *cough*
(http://i.imgur.com/uW68QvD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oFb5IPw.jpg)
Also popped together what I have of the ground station for a test fit - still waiting for a few components. I think it's looking pretty funky though and I'm looking forwards to using it! I'm loving the yellow box.
(http://i.imgur.com/bz2cE8k.jpg)
and here they are together, obviously the tripod isn't fully extended there.
(http://i.imgur.com/DN7cVS7.jpg)
and just to briefly carry on the off-topic, here's a little GoPro case I whipped up since it's finished. Well okay it's not finished - I didn't have any clear lexan to cut the lens protector element so that'll have to wait. The rest is done but I might tweak the files a bit to perfect it.
The various parts:
- Front and back plates cut from 2mm CF plate
- Lens Protector Mount (Shapeways 3D print)
- Central band (Shapeways 3D print)
- Anti-vibration bobbins x4
- m2.5 screws x8
(http://i.imgur.com/FPl8GAw.jpg)
Band fitted to GoPro, you can see cutout for memory card/charging/HDMI panel and power button.
(http://i.imgur.com/eja7MRJ.jpg)
Assembled unit (minus lens protector element)
(http://i.imgur.com/0LvbDPd.jpg)
Fitted to QAV... you may notice the new case I made for the 5.8Ghz IMRC vTX too using a heatsink instead of a fan. That's the only part of this post that's relevant to the AH-6 as I'll be using the same design in there ;)
(http://i.imgur.com/Wz33l7t.jpg)
Like the GP case.
;) G
Love the Peli case, I want to do the same thing with carbon plates with everything mounted, but alas no means of doing it
Yeah I thought about doing these in carbon and may eventually do so once I'm happy with everything - it's expensive material to get something large wrong in lol.
Thing is I hate cutting carbon... It's really messy, the dust is dangerous to health and screws up electronics, and the stuff blunts even high quality tungsten carbide tools relatively quickly.
I find G10 is much nicer to work with personally.
There's a couple of guys offering their CNC services though aren't there? I'm sure one if them would be able to cut your design for you.
Hey guys, do you remember when I was building a helicopter - that was a cool project wasn't it?
So first up Juan's gym membership has begun, but I did one part of one arm and got bored... lol. The idea is just to get a rough arm shaped bulk to go underneath the clothing so it looks like it should. Hey, at least I'm 1/8th of the way there....
(http://i.imgur.com/d8ax87i.jpg)
So, after getting bored with that I thought I'd fit my Naza LED access hatch. Not pictured here is the small handle that will engage the lock mechanism. Idea is simple really - naza LED goes in this hatch and during startup I can leave the hatch open until I can see I have full satellite lock, then I can close the hatch and go fly. Equally if I need to program the Naza or adjust settings I can just pop open the hatch, pull out the LED unit and plug in the USB.
(http://i.imgur.com/CBZsMNU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/PHzoqmg.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4ajGXmX.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/XfBknKw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/RCQ3lkq.jpg)
And these guys arrived today... haven't fitted him out with all the kit but I think you'll agree they are an upgrade on the old ones. Detail is insane, but more to the point I think the size looks more appropriate for what is in reality a pretty small helicopter.
He's in the helicopter without seat, but you get a good idea of the fit. Those legs might have to be trimmed a bit though!
(http://i.imgur.com/5rITCZN.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/iYMnPbY.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/J2MJxMv.jpg)
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on June 30, 2013, 02:35:08 AM
[...]
(http://i.imgur.com/oFb5IPw.jpg)
[...]
Err.. Shouldnt the Omni Antenna be upright? As it stands you'll have the blind spot pointed at the aircraft at all times :laugh:
regards
Andy
Nope, though many people don't click until its explained and it does instinctively look a bit strange.
If you were trying to cover the eventuality that your helical fell off or your rx module with the helical attached exploded then yes, having it vertical would make sense.
However, that is pretty unlikely. More likely is that you either want to fly without tracking, or a backup in case tracking freezes.
As they are arranged at the moment, the null of the SPW is aligned with the strongest area of reception of the helical, while the weak area of the helical (the sides) are covered by the strongest area of the SPW.
Not only does that give optimal overall coverage, it also makes life easier for the diversity controller. It also has a further advantage that if the tracker goes completely tits up and points straight up (as they have been known to do occasionally) you do at least still have the SPW oriented in a good position.
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on July 04, 2013, 05:55:53 PM
Nope, though many people don't click until its explained and it does instinctively look a bit strange.
If you were trying to cover the eventuality that your helical fell off or your rx with the helical attached exploded then yes, having it vertical would make sense.
However, that is pretty unlikely. More likely is that you either want to fly without tracking, or a backup in case tracking freezes.
As they are arranged at the moment, the null of the SPW is aligned with the strongest area of reception of the helical, while the weak area of the helical (the sides) are covered by the strongest area of the SPW.
Not only does that give optimal coverage, it also makes life easier for the diversity controller. It also has a further advantage that if the tracker goes completely tits up and points straight up (as they have been known to do occasionally) you do at least still have the SPW oriented in a good position.
hmm not convinced. ( I'll go with my instinct ) I'd keep it vertical. As it is half the Omni is looking down underground and ... What happens if the aircraft goes round the backside of the Helical? 2 blind spots :laugh:
regards
Andy
helicals actually have a very sizable back beam. That said though normally one would angle the thing upwards around 30 degrees and so the back of the helical and the back of the spw would both actually be pointing at the ground (talking without tracking here)
check out this thread if you fancy a read (sircana is the owner of Circular wireless btw if you didn't know) http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?16395-THE-ULTIMATE-5.8GHz-VIDEO-LINK-(AND-SIMPLER-OPTIONS)-EXPLAINED&highlight=ultimate+video+link (http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?16395-THE-ULTIMATE-5.8GHz-VIDEO-LINK-(AND-SIMPLER-OPTIONS)-EXPLAINED&highlight=ultimate+video+link)
Quote from: skyscraper on July 04, 2013, 06:06:45 PM
hmm not convinced. ( I'll go with my instinct ) I'd keep it vertical. As it is half the Omni is looking down underground and ... What happens if the aircraft goes round the backside of the Helical?
It depends what you are trying to achieve.
Horizontal as Zeeflyboy has it gives you perfect reception above and to the sides, whilst the helical shoots forward but with the downside that you lose reception from the rear.
Vertical gives you terrible reception when you are above.
I've tried both through many hours of flying with diversity without a tracker and I prefer horizontal as pictured. It gives me better picture most of the time and I can still fly behind myself no problem.
Using a tracker this is all academic.
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on July 04, 2013, 06:24:43 PM
helicals actually have a very sizable back beam. That said though normally one would angle the thing upwards around 30 degrees and so the back of the helical and the back of the spw would both actually be pointing at the ground (talking without tracking here)
check out this thread if you fancy a read (sircana is the owner of Circular wireless btw if you didn't know) http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?16395-THE-ULTIMATE-5.8GHz-VIDEO-LINK-(AND-SIMPLER-OPTIONS)-EXPLAINED&highlight=ultimate+video+link (http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?16395-THE-ULTIMATE-5.8GHz-VIDEO-LINK-(AND-SIMPLER-OPTIONS)-EXPLAINED&highlight=ultimate+video+link)
I'm still not convinced. The reason for the Omni is if the tracker goes tits side up and your lucky enough to be in range. In that case you cant rely on the helical or which direction the tracker is pointing. If the tracker is working properly the Omni is redundant. I dont get the argument about not using the tracker? Only reason not to use is if its not working. It dramatically improves the picture.
The best diversity is to have as far as practical a separate redundant system. For practicality ( theoretically you could duplicate the tracker but not the airborne telemetry side and it gets ridiculous) , so for practicality that for me is an Omni set vertical, ideally mounted on the tripod, not on the rotating part of the tracker . Actually TBH I see the Immersion Duo as a long way from ideal on a tracker since both receivers are wired in the same non-redundant box and so unless you have a stupid long antenna, so reducing gain, you are stuck with putting both antennas on the pan tilt part. If I went for diversity I much prefer the Diversity system ( Eagle Eyes?) that looks at the video picture and uses that to switch. It means you can use any combination of receivers.
On the other hand my current scheme, (not yet needed thankfully) is just to switch to the antenna in the Fatsharks if all else fails. That to me is the best form of redundancy,.. cheap compact practical and reliable.
regards
Andy
Quote from: skyscraper on July 04, 2013, 07:50:53 PM
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on July 04, 2013, 06:24:43 PM
helicals actually have a very sizable back beam. That said though normally one would angle the thing upwards around 30 degrees and so the back of the helical and the back of the spw would both actually be pointing at the ground (talking without tracking here)
check out this thread if you fancy a read (sircana is the owner of Circular wireless btw if you didn't know) http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?16395-THE-ULTIMATE-5.8GHz-VIDEO-LINK-(AND-SIMPLER-OPTIONS)-EXPLAINED&highlight=ultimate+video+link (http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?16395-THE-ULTIMATE-5.8GHz-VIDEO-LINK-(AND-SIMPLER-OPTIONS)-EXPLAINED&highlight=ultimate+video+link)
I'm still not convinced. The reason for the Omni is if the tracker goes tits side up and your lucky enough to be in range. In that case you cant rely on the helical or which direction the tracker is pointing. If the tracker is working properly the Omni is redundant. I dont get the argument about not using the tracker? Only reason not to use is if its not working. It dramatically improves the picture.
Not all my aircraft have tracking, that's why.
Btw when these trackers go tits up they point up, so the SPW does actually go into the ideal position.
Any given solution will never be the best for all people however. But simply to answer your original question, for my needs no - the SPW is positioned correctly.
Immersion is antenna diversity not receiver diversity.
The argument can be said for the Eagle Tree system. You are putting redundant and diverse receivers into the same non-redundant video switcher.
Redundancy is not the be all and end all, it's also about reliability, generally the fewer components that can go wrong results in fewer instances of things going wrong, that's how I view it.
There isn't really a right or wrong way here, it's all a compromise one way or another.
Quote from: dogzilla on July 04, 2013, 08:05:41 PM
Immersion is antenna diversity not receiver diversity.
Actually it is... There are two completely separate receiver modules inside the unit. With a little mod (or supposedly upcoming firmware) you can actually receive on two different channels simultaneously.
Okay, if you pull the power cable out of it then both will die at the same time lol.
Quote
There isn't really a right or wrong way here, it's all a compromise one way or another.
True!
Quote from: dogzilla on July 04, 2013, 08:05:41 PM
Immersion is antenna diversity not receiver diversity.
The argument can be said for the Eagle Tree system. You are putting redundant and diverse receivers into the same non-redundant video switcher.
That is true, but it's a few orders simpler than the tracker so I'm guessing the tracker is likely to be what goes wrong, my argument for having the simplest possible system off the tracker. ( Having no tracker is simpler, but a tracker is fun!)
But apart from that, what I like about it is that you arent locked in to one manufacturer. Because the AV signal is largely standardised the system will work with any combination. Pretty much any receiver 1.2 , 2.4, 5.8 Ghz outputs a standard signal. You can mix and match any combination of receivers and AV links and it should just work.
regards
Andy
So today is a good day. I have "finished" my main fuselage section in terms of the build... Added a few more details since last I showed it, like the forward door hinges (also had to fill the screw holes then rivet over the top on each hinge) and the bottom hole has been covered with a removable panel, naza LED hatch has been fitted properly and it's all been primed now.
I also just recieved my decals from callie-graphics. They aren't particularly complicated but I didn't want to go OTT on the decal front - I want the weathering and detail to speak for itself. Basically the big reg marks go on either side of the dog house, the U.S. Army goes either side of the tail, no steps are for the quad missile launcher. The Larger FPV's are for the tail and the smaller ones the nose and door panels....
(http://i.imgur.com/C92jvBJ.jpg)
And a few pics of the main fuselage now ready for painting. I appreciate a lot of the detail gets lost as the pics are resized but hopefully it's good enough to get a feel for it!
(http://i.imgur.com/b1euWVf.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/UoMswZ7.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/MTETQkQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oojPyLc.jpg)
So now I need to paint it...
a few more base coats and sanded back, you can see the panels starting to take on a weathered look already, but I'm actually going to try out a technique I have read about called pre-shading. Basically this involves taking an airbrush and spraying some black along the rivet lines and edges of panels etc... once that's done you blow over with a few light coats of paint and in theory it gives you a nice sun bleached sort of look which will be a good starting point for further detailing.
So here's a couple of pics before I start ruining it lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/T7wyZxf.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/0aO0vIh.jpg)
So here is the pre-shading done. Once it gets a coat or two on top it should produce quite a nice effect (and hopefully not just completely vanish lol, this took quite a while!).
(http://i.imgur.com/xhCx3pv.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/SE7UCYc.jpg)
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on July 04, 2013, 08:17:06 PM
Quote from: dogzilla on July 04, 2013, 08:05:41 PM
Immersion is antenna diversity not receiver diversity.
Actually it is... There are two completely separate receiver modules inside the unit. With a little mod (or supposedly upcoming firmware) you can actually receive on two different channels simultaneously.
Okay, if you pull the power cable out of it then both will die at the same time lol.
Quote
There isn't really a right or wrong way here, it's all a compromise one way or another.
True!
Agreed there are two RX modules..
But what ever you do there is ALWAYS a single point of failure somewhere, even if you have two completely separate RX's with two separate power sources they are still going into one diversity switcher.
And even I you double everything else up there's still one pilot and one transmitter :D
Yup! There's always a weak link somewhere!
So I had hoped to show you what the main fuse section looks like after a few top coats over the pre-shading but alas with my immense strength I broke a bit of my air compressor. I've ordered a new part but won;t be able to carry on painting until next week now :(
So stuck without a compressor I did something else instead - got rid of dem man nipples.
First up I finished the arms, put his gloves on (not easy putting gloves on btw lol... really fiddly...) and then gave him a T-shirt.
(http://i.imgur.com/NBSaH9H.jpg)
Then I wrestled for a while to get his camo on. Starting to look more like Juan the man that can.
(http://i.imgur.com/ejrZxSu.jpg)
I also was just chatting with one of my colleagues today showing him pictures of my heli. I mentioned that I like the setup I have with the quad as I can chuck everything in a backpack and cycle up to the mountains to go fly.
When I said "of course it's harder to strap a 7kg heli to your back" he made a very good point...
He suggested I buy a little bike trailer! What a great idea!!! It would also double as a landing pad. After I spent the next 10 minutes laughing at the mental image of a guy cycling towing a helicopter behind him, I decided that's a damn fine idea!
Was looking at something like this (minus the side bars)
(http://i.imgur.com/sQTt7px.jpg)
So just got home and managed to do a few things already.
First up I "fixed" my beta Fatshark Trinity module by replacing an incorrect resistor (it is beta after all!) and now it works with the EzUHF. I simply can't say this enough, it's freaking amazing... I'm only using the 2 axis (for now at least) but it's just so far ahead of the MIG units that it's not even funny! Feels incredibly natural and centres perfectly - I even rapidly shook my head from side to side and up and down for about a minute (felt a bit dizzy so stopped lol) and when I stopped it was still slap bang in the centre.
If you are interested in HT, you need to try one of these out.
In other news I fitted the new expansion chamber to the compressor and managed to give the heli a blow over before running out of paint (more is on the way!). I was happy with how it's coming out so I applied the decals too... this way any weathering I now apply will go over the top of the decals and so they won't look out of place. I quite like the effect of the pre-shading, will be nice to see how it all comes together with the rest of the weathering.
(http://i.imgur.com/2DrTmoc.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/r8sAenF.jpg)
And I stripped down the LCD for the ground station and fitted it to the top plate. Next up I need to design a rack to mount the control pcb and some custom buttons.
(http://i.imgur.com/qpaCks7.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/8zBFEiS.jpg)
Amazing. Can't wait to see this one finished.
cheers!
I've been procrastinating a bit lately and haven't really done much on this build but started doing some stuff on my Rush... To be fair I've been working lots too but I'm sorry, please forgive my sins.
However, I did find the motivation to play with the new paints and varnishes that arrived and here's my progress on that front. The hyper observant might notice the registration has gone walkies - as mentioned I wasn't 100% happy with the placement so I've re-ordered some new decals and removed the old ones in the mean time.
So these were my two main items
(http://i.imgur.com/QqNa9GZ.jpg)
What I ended up doing was airbrushing the grime along all the panel lines and crevices then allowing it to just dry for a few minutes. I then took some kitchen towel and buffed the body to remove a lot of it. Took the exhaust pigment and just applied it using a brush... I also put a little silver in places to look like chipped paint.
The photos don't really quite do it justice actually, which is possibly the first time you'll hear me say that. I think in the flesh it's looking really nice and I'm pretty chuffed with how it's coming along!
(http://i.imgur.com/TnfV9jz.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/EyR322n.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/71YXiv5.jpg)
Out of interest, the satin varnish is absolutely perfect - it's almost completely invisible. Over and around the decals has actually already been given just a light coat of satin varnish to allow the weathering to hold (otherwise it buffs right off the smooth vinyl surface), but you can't even see it once it's dried, it perfectly matches the current flatness of the paint below. I'll be using this satin varnish to finish the whole project off now because ti produces a much nicer finish than the matt.
Need to do some serious tidying today but then try and get some more done. Might start work on fitting the beacon to the tail and detailing that.
So did a couple of things today... built up the inner weapons arms mounts and painted them.
(http://i.imgur.com/xf9jnF1.jpg)
and painted the exhaust, plus made this little mounting system for it on the printer. I've made it so that it can accept a 40mm fan too incase I need to increase airflow through the body for cooling.
(http://i.imgur.com/afVA2c3.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/PhdDyEO.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/WhbRXlJ.jpg)
how fkin cool with a working fan. I wonder what some high speed delta fans would sound like in combination with the rotor blades.
If you have ever heard a high end 1u server... very wooshy....
(http://www.censuspc.com/images/D/d_12682.jpg)
Dipping into this thread after a long hiatus - wow wow wow, it's just an amazing build full-stop.
Looks amazing, so detailed, can't wait to see the finished product.
cheers
Small update, got a few days off so hoping to get some more stuff done.
First up I finished off my landing lights
(http://i.imgur.com/4rzKlCH.jpg)
I also printed out the mount adaptors I needed to fit the mini guns to the weapon booms... I've also painted the landing gear legs as you can see here, although the observant might notice there's only 3 - the front right one is still in surgery after having to replace the wiring.
(http://i.imgur.com/65Ffm2I.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/U4DTZiq.jpg)
Job for the next couple of days (besides cleaning, mowing, sleeping, eating) is to get the wiring sorted out in the fuselage. Depending on how that goes I'll find extra stuff to do ;)
So, high octane stuff going on here. I needed to make my video switching box to flick between the FLIR pod view and the cockpit view. First up I wired it up using some shielded wire... I'll be taking the positive from elsewhere so I've hooked up video, ground and shield only... on the FLIR pod video feed I've also hooked up the audio (red wire). The way this is set up I will always get audio alerts from the Eagletree even if I'm viewing the cockpit camera which bypasses any OSD.
(http://i.imgur.com/VWBhKs0.jpg)
Doesn't look very tidy... so put it in a box! Printed out this little container for it.... This stuff is critical, if I get a connection problem here it's bye bye video, so as insurance I potted it by filling with epoxy resin. No chance for vibration or flex to stress the solder joints...
(http://i.imgur.com/a3CL2id.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gwboRrH.jpg)
And here you can see where it fits. Video 1 input will be straight from the Cockpit camera, video 2 input will via the Eagletree OSD Pro for the overlay. Plan is to drill a couple of holes just in front of it there and run the wires under the floor. You can also see a couple of other new things - the DElight controller on the right of the picture for the LEDs, and I also installed a small splitter to allow me to easily split the ppm stream to the channel wizard and to the decoder for the naza.
(http://i.imgur.com/3Pwcviy.jpg)
So made my little video splitter box that I needed to make... I used some board and pins to make a panel, then hooked up the wires. Video + GND comes in through the single set of pins and gets passed straight through to the OSD. The audio out from the OSD (audio alerts, eg for low battery), video out and ground come from the OSD and split between the two sets of pins. I'm reliably informed not to bother with a proper video splitter, so it effectively forms a simple Y connection, albeit in a box.
One video out then goes back down to the cockpit to provide the screen in the cockpit with the feed, while the other plus audio and ground go off to the video switching box I posted earlier.
You can also see I've done a little tidying of the wires where they come out of the video switcher.
(http://i.imgur.com/p5pLNOD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/I3c7lsu.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/sUEbizd.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/7E4hOTi.jpg)
So, not related to the project but I just needed to share... This BAD BOY just arrived for my LoS models and g'ddamn it's beautiful. Size is perfect too, very comfortable.
(http://i.imgur.com/KlyPUh9.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/b4i1xBy.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/0CbY95N.jpg)
Awesome detail going into this :)
Oh a Jeti too, love the design of them, very pro looking
Thanks bud!
Yeah the Jeti is a beauty, but unfortunately not really great for FPV (max 8 channels out via ppm, no ppm in, 1S lipo)... I ordered a taranis for my FPV capers!
However the Jeti will be used for both my own LoS leisure flying and also a commercial project I'm working out.
Some other good news is that after a couple of months my Head and Tail turned up... the bad news is that where they turned up was back in Germany. They will be sent again shortly and hopefully they arrive this time.
In the mean time I finished up the video system wiring (well, fuselage side at least) which you can see here. You can see how the wires are attached to the DIN connector on the front which will allow the hook up to the cockpit.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZT9b5Pf.jpg)
In addition to the wiring I've been getting on with in the fuselage here are some details I've been doing - some decals for the GPS cover (looked a bit plain) and my little Naza hatch. Unfortunately the Door is just a smidge too big to fit quite right, so of course I've redesigned it and sent away fro a new one from shapeways. In the mean time you can see the concept I was aiming for.
(http://i.imgur.com/7iJowdU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/TQJKYUV.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/qCS9qNo.jpg)
And I also painted the final skid leg and the skids themselves, plus fitted my skid lights.. I also made my second motorised mini gun and mounted it so both sides are done now.
(http://i.imgur.com/1mYCGFj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/7Xbwq1U.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/pdtsb9H.jpg)
And I got a powerbox from Sander (thanks!) so decided to get on a bit with my groundstation build. Added the switches, mounted the screen - albeit only with a few of the many screws for now - and fitted my locking connector on the side for the Tracker and RX's to plug into.
(http://i.imgur.com/qvL891l.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/r8uVZ7g.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/sUvRCi8.jpg)
This is just continually amazing. Can't wait to see the finished thing and the videos.
thanks bud, I can't wait to just see it finished, let alone flying!
I printed myself a quick little Boscam HD19 copy with some rough dimensions from a helpful neighbourhood sanderman, should I pick one up to fit in the cockpit?
I would like to be able to record in HD (especially since there is no OSD in the cockpit feed anyway) but don't know whether to go with this or keep the little 600tvl sony HAD I already have, or indeed pick up the fatshark pilots cam.
(http://i.imgur.com/UFWJKHe.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/6Hai0lp.jpg)
Seems there are some UHF concerns regarding the HD19... I'll stick with what I have for now (600TVL sony HAD) and maybe look to start testing other HD options. No need to mess around and delay things.
So with that in mind, I finished up my "head" - the helmet is now properly attached and I think it looks pretty slick! Certainly goes nicely with the "stealth FPV" aspect that I like, where the fpv doesn't excessively impact the scale look... remember this is a heli for me to fly LoS too!
(http://i.imgur.com/0PPVnqz.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Q3Z4KkB.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/BHcA9y1.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/0lDIxF7.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/qD8ooJn.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/l5BUYWR.jpg)
Haven't been able to do much since the GF has come out to visit for the week, and apparently we are supposed to go out and do stuff... women...
however, I did get a chance to start on my vacuum forming box to make the clear windshields... The dimensions are basically constrained by what size frame will fit in my oven, hopefully it's big enough... the top plate needs some holes drilling in it, and of course I still need to make the frame.
(http://i.imgur.com/BfBQl2s.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/TptpFNE.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/f8yqQd5.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/vVswEQQ.jpg)
In other news, I already broke my Taranis... knocked it off the table and broke a 3 position switch. Sigh. Anyone know where I can buy a replacement in the same style? all the 3 position switches I find are a bit different.
I think you did your radio a favour by dropping it on the floor, those switches in the Taranis really let it down! They feel like they are going to snap off every time you switch them anyway :laugh:
Can't say I noticed... they seem okay to me! I found a replacement anyway so it's back to figuring out the taranis programming.
Did a little reading and decided rather than spend ages drilling holes, I'd go with one central hole and a mesh to provide airflow spacing... I was also round my friend's the other day and noticed he had some ridiculous big karcher industrial vacuum cleaner, so I may borrow that to try my canopy pulls.
(http://i.imgur.com/Er3AzU6.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/s8yNa66.jpg)
And in very exciting news, my German head and tail finally arrived after months of postal incompetence... I have to say the quality seems top notch, hopefully it flies well! Few little complications until that happens though - need to get some new pushrods of the correct length, and need to try and replace the ball on the tail with something a little thinner and longer.
(http://i.imgur.com/5BpFyC5.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/0EgeSTG.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/bucwGMR.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/PACKS3r.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Q05ie3P.jpg)
So a little tail modding and it's looking good!
As I wanted to use the tail box I already have, I knew this new tail wouldn't be a direct fit. First thing to solve was that the grub screw didn't locate well on the tail shaft flat, so the option was either to grind a new flat or cut a couple of mm off the end of the shaft. Given the tail sits quite far out already and travel shouldn't be an issue I decided to shave a couple of mm off the shaft.
(http://i.imgur.com/cAHbdg5.jpg)
The next bigger problem is that the old tail's slider was a bigger diameter and also had the ball positioned at the back. I came up with this little mod using a small piece of aluminium to both space the ball backwards and also make up the gap from the new smaller diameter slider. Thankfully it worked beautifully! Now with the pitch slider arm at centre I have a few degrees of positive pitch on the tail blades to oppose the torque at neutral, and everything moves smoothly with no binding.
(http://i.imgur.com/VpK2nRO.jpg)
Now I just need to fit the head and measure up for some turnbuckles...
Fitted the head and measured up - I need some 40mm turnbuckles. Ordered those, so now it's back to waiting.... suppose I had better get on with some other stuff in the mean time lol. I will at some point drill the main shaft with a new jesus bolt hole, that will allow the head to drop down about 1cm which will look a bit better. Have to wait until I'm next with the CNC machine for that though so not going to let it stop me in the mean time.
(http://i.imgur.com/clt4jNx.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1MkVz1w.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/G6lJ64Q.jpg)
Oh and yeah I fixed the Taranis - had a 3 position switch in my parts box that fits so I just installed that. Looks like the Futaba Short style switch will be a better long term replacement so ordered one of those too.
fantastic ;D ....
Looking forward to see how the vacu-forming goes.
GD
me too!
So my nice little turnbuckles arrived, fitted them just now
(http://i.imgur.com/E0azzab.jpg)
At some point I think I'll paint the swash timing clamp and the central section of the head black, as much as I like the shiny bling bling it's not really fitting on this heli!
I spent most of today getting to grips with the Taranis... Think I've got it operating as required but won't know for sure until I try to run through setup on the Naza. Coming originally from Spektrum and more recently Futaba and Jeti, I have to say I didn't find the Taranis completely straightforward... just about got the hang of most bits now though.
Anyway, needed to start modding it of course - First to mount the EzUHF I just took the stock blank module cover and printed out a little retainer to allow me to bolt the EzUHF cradle to it. It now just clips into the module back - very quick and easy.
(http://i.imgur.com/xtOOpDv.jpg)
Next up to fit correctly I had to remove the grab handle - which left me with an interesting place to put my missiles and miniguns switches with just a little plastic carving inside. You may also be able to see the small connector to the left of the EzUHF - this is a neat little 3 pin bayonnet style locking connector which will provide the PPM, PWR,GND for the EzUHF. I'll be using the module bay itself to install the Channel wizard... In total I added the two red switches, a small 2 position toggle on the back for camera selection, and a 6 position switch on the left shoulder for lighting control, all of which will go into the Channel wizard.
(http://i.imgur.com/7aMQGhR.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oiq5EHm.jpg)
So I've had a bit of a change of heart as regards the low voltage power system in the heli, and I've decided to run almost everything from a single BEC with battery backup and run a very small separate 3S lipo for the Miniguns and Missiles.
My thinking is this approach greatly reduces the complexity of the wiring, and saves adding another noise generating BEC into the mix. By offloading the minguns and missiles I take away a noise source (minigun motors) and a potential huge current spike (missile ignition), and can run them at a higher voltage.
Now this does mean that I'll be running 4 big servos (cyclics + Tail), Naza + GPS, OSD + GPS, 2 cameras, 7 auxiliary function servos, 2 screens, various small LEDs and the three big 1 Watt Landing lights from a single BEC. It needs to be up to the job.
I have come across this, which has a trifling 40A continuous and 50A peak with an adjustable output voltage from 5.6-10v... it also seems to have a backup system though I'm currently looking into that a bit further. Now that is a BEC worthy of using methinks...
http://www.modeltec.ch/de/BEC-Pufferschaltung/HV-BEC/Rprototyping-HVBEC-ALU (http://www.modeltec.ch/de/BEC-Pufferschaltung/HV-BEC/Rprototyping-HVBEC-ALU)
(http://i.imgur.com/YlmfMfS.jpg)
Now that looks proper.
Jeti also do some nice BEC's like this, dunno if it would meet your needs but it has 2 inputs :
http://www.jetimodel.com/en/katalog/Accessories/BEC-Regulators-Switches/@produkt/SBEC-40/ (http://www.jetimodel.com/en/katalog/Accessories/BEC-Regulators-Switches/@produkt/SBEC-40/)
I've given jeti enough money lately with the DS-16 and the Mezon 130A ESC I bought this month lol...
That is a pretty chunky ESC, and in reality would probably be fine, but where that is around 18A costant and 40A peak the R2 is 40A constant. Ok it's total overkill and would probably melt the servo connectors, but I loves me a good overhead.
So I ordered that BEC... cannae wait
Thought I'd just share these pics after I did a test fit for the tail and head - starting to look like a heli! Wooo! I'm trying to figure out the best way to come up with a single connection between heli mechanics and fuselage, Currently I'm thinking a 12 pin locking connector panel mounted into the floor. I also tested plugging in the LED and GPS plugs into the Naza as the mechanics are slid in and while a bit fiddly, it works fine thankfully. I apologise for the messy work table btw, don't tell the GF please.
The eagle eyed among you may notice how the registration and the U.S. Army don't match - unfortunately when I got the replacement registration decals they were cut from the wrong material - I should have the correct ones on the way at which point they'll be clear coated and weathered to match, so don't panic I'm not leaving it like that lol
(http://i.imgur.com/9Byytfc.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/NfOePwk.jpg)
This is jut too sick. I cant wait to see it finished. Keep up the good work. ;D
Any idea how many hours you've put into it? I wont even ask about how much £££. :P
:laugh:
Honestly I couldn't tell you either figure... Too hard to say. I can say I've almost been doing this a year since my gf bought me the fuselage for my birthday last year which is the 26th September.
Mental
Bottom right of the last picture, are they model rocket fuel/engine sticks?
Quote from: Jameskibler on September 04, 2013, 06:10:33 PM
Bottom right of the last picture, are they model rocket fuel/engine sticks?
Yeah he is gonna have live este's type rockets shooting out the front.
Jheeezze! This project is on a whole other level
what... noo... those are simply for disposing of old lipos. Strap a couple to any old puffed lipo you have lying around, point at 45 degrees and ignite - now that old lipo is someone else's problem.
I think I may have ordered too much plastic lol... Two sheets of this stuff which I proceeded to cut down into 340x440mm sections for the vacuum former. It's 0.5mm PETG sheet and it is beautifully clear. Instructions say it's thermoform-able between 120-160 degrees centigrade, so a nice wide temperature window and easily achieved in an oven... we'll see how it goes.
(http://i.imgur.com/fWpGQwU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rzlLKiU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/j55rYaV.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4G4q2XL.jpg)
My HV2 super duper mental BEC arrived today, looks really nice. It's a little smaller than I was expecting, which is a good thing. Not too heavy either... here it is next to the "old" gryphon BEC. Zee Germans are starting to make a real big contribution to this project - Mictronics lovely little rssi board and fractal antennas, Beautful SK-rotorkopf head and tail, and now the r2prototyping HV2 BEC.
(http://i.imgur.com/ajYVUHt.jpg)
jah
So I thought I'd make up a quick test missile just to see how the proportions look, so I ran out some fins on my printer and quickly put it together.
(http://i.imgur.com/3ynA7Pz.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/yfCHyVy.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/J159vtY.jpg)
I also fitted my BEC (though I need another toroid for the second set of power wires) and also the first of my two mechanics-fuselage locking connectors. This one carries the 4 wires for the OSD-eLogger connector and also the RSSI/LQ from the mictronics convertor. The second one will carry PPM and power, plus audio from the antenna tracker module... both will plug into the fuselage just in front of the mechanics where the wires will then be distributed to the fuselage installed parts. The only additional connections to make will be the vTX filtered 6S feed, and the GPS/LED plugs at the back of the naza.
(http://i.imgur.com/oLSEq3W.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/XaQeT1W.jpg)
And here I shall highlight the joys of owning a 3D printer lol...
So you need to make a mount for the connectors. Take some measurements and whip up a little design in about 5 mins....
(http://i.imgur.com/P0i175B.png)
Prep the file and put it on an SD card, plug it into the printer... 11 minutes later the bracket has been born.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZkxEZfv.jpg)
I mean seriously, the future is here lol. It's just awesome.... here's the end product:
(http://i.imgur.com/WvqalmC.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cQOr4Sx.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/TzQZFHL.jpg)
Oh and because it always seems to look different with the front on, here's a pic with the test missile for scale purposes. I made them just a little smaller than 1/6 (about 1/7) since the heli is itself somewhere inbetween the two... think they'll look pretty good.
(http://i.imgur.com/polTAee.jpg)
those serial connectors you've got, are they milled or stamped? been looking for some milled solder cup serial connectors. I bought some off eBay but they were stamped and poor quality.
So I've got a few days off coming up after tomorrow followed by a fairly light week at work. I decided I needed a list of objectives and really buckle down to get some work done over the next 10 days or so. This was partially driven by the realisation that in a little over 2 weeks its my birthday and since the GF bought me the fuselage for my birthday this build has been officially underway for nearly a year!
A freaking YEAR! And it's all your fault (yes you)! This build really went beyond all initial plans mostly thanks to the support, encouragement and of course ideas that I recieved from the build thread. Thank you all for helping me ;)
So, the list... Once this list is done, the bulk of the build is nearing a somewhat complete state. Obviously there are a million and one little things left to do if I were to list every little thing, but not much more that should stand in the way of some fully dressed test flights.
- print missile fin jigs
- print v2 fuselage connector mount (deeper bracket)
- fill, sand and prime front fuse
- rivet front fuse
- paint front fuse
- Assemble and paint hellfires
- wire up ppm and tracker audio cable
- wire up fuselage connectors
- finish wiring LEDs
- sand and paint fuselage centre console
- print centre console screens, install led back lights.
- finish building vacuum frame
- re-set up Naza-H for new head, tail and Tx
- paint new Naza hatch door
- paint missile mounts
- finish channel wizard install and figure out programming.
- install minigun ammo chains and feed ramps
- create upper mechanic to fuselage mount brackets
So not much to be getting on with....
I got some additional motivation from seeing this at work thus evening - it's an EC medical rescue heli of some description - it looked awesome!
http://youtu.be/_t0TLI5jzoM (http://youtu.be/_t0TLI5jzoM)
So lets start crossing things off the list shall we
Printed the missile fin jigs and built up a hellfire... mmmm precision munition....
(http://i.imgur.com/xMwpHeT.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4Jgp1Mv.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/df5XRqs.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/eI87Sds.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/jW5YCLx.jpg)
Isn't there some legal bumf about 3d printing weapons :+
Great thread FB
No... if one were to print a 3D gun, it would be illegal to own it... just the same as it would be illegal to own a gun you made from some steel pipe and a hammer.
But the day a cardboard tube with some plastic fins is classed as a weapon anyway is the day I no longer want to live on this planet lol.
Finished up the 4 hellfires and primed them ready for painting
(http://i.imgur.com/OPkYWYf.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/p4spGd9.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Zpgwm60.jpg)
I also measured up and ordered decals to make them pretty much like this
(http://i.imgur.com/sVxPG4I.jpg)
I'm only shocked that you didn't fabricate some scale ammo-crates to put the missiles on :D
I am sad to say I did actually think about that lol... I may make some further down the line when I make the transportation case for this beasty.
So here are the hellfires all base coated... look cool!
(http://i.imgur.com/d9Dn2LF.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ZXdjLYq.jpg)
In bad news, I finished filling and sanding on the front fuse... I then primed it and when going to sand the primer layer parts started coming off, this despite having wiped it all down well before painting.
Soooo.... just spent the last 45 minutes scrubbing with a scrubbing sponge and some acetone to remove all the primer and then another 15 minutes scrubbing with soapy water to get all the residue off. Just given it it's first fresh coat of primer and seems to be sticking this time - must have still been some silicon releasing agent on the surface that I hadn't got off in places.
So, other than being an epic waste of time at least the problem has been solved!
One last pic update on the missiles for a bit... I painted the missile launchers (the back of the rails are open still for now for wiring), pre shaded them and the missiles then gave them a blow over. Still need to apply decals and then weather some more and clear coat but that is now on hold until the decals arrive and it's on to other things on the list for now. Think they'll look pretty badass with all the decals and finished painting!
(http://i.imgur.com/332FCjc.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/gxBUb2n.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/vvwaP7E.jpg)
Made some little feed ramps on the 3D printer and installed my ammo belts. First person to say it should be a flex feed belt gets banned from the thread! We all know I like to take my own artistic license with the "scale" aspect ;)
(http://i.imgur.com/Hdyygck.jpg)
Starting to look intimidating....
(http://i.imgur.com/8a4nK52.jpg)
And after yesterday's debacle, the front section is finally rivetted and primed. I'm excited about getting this part painted as it will be the first time I really get to see how the heli will look as a whole.... come on paint, dryyyyyyyyy....
(http://i.imgur.com/FyS954d.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/nGYN252.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ts8MWcV.jpg)
Man, I'm being productive these last two days.... glad to have found my motivation again!
So, I cut my vacuum forming frames out of two pieces of plywood.... I then proceeded to drill out the holes for some bolts.
(http://i.imgur.com/a45Z93e.jpg)
Next dropped the bolts in with some 5 min epoxy to set them in place
(http://i.imgur.com/RiLguud.jpg)
And finally topped the holes off with filler and sanded down to end up with a smooth underside where the seal is made.
(http://i.imgur.com/GLbAbaM.jpg)
And so now she's almost ready to go. I just need to pop to the shop tomorrow to buy some L section which I will screw to the corners of the box to act as guides for the frame as you press down - this should make it much easier to get a good pull without missing the seal or twisting while the plastic is already partially down... After that I need to construct a little stand to keep the plastic clear of the oven grill as it droops and then it'll be time to try it out!
(http://i.imgur.com/I2bBiBD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cQj3lmQ.jpg)
Quick base coat on the exterior and then remembered I had to install some aluminium spacers on the inside before I paint it. Figure this is a good time to show how I'm mounting the canopy... obviously with all the weight in the canopy that I have, it's imperative that the thing is securely fastened. If it fell off that would be game over...
It has the 4 guide pins that came with the kit, and I added two large magnets at the top - these are pretty powerful and to remove the canopy with them attached is extremely difficult, so I made the forward ones removable in a small holder. These holders will have a little drawstring on the back which makes them easy to grab and disconnect from through the side doors.
(http://i.imgur.com/0Wr4ZNd.jpg)
Then for total security and to draw the two pieces as close together as possible to minimise the gap, I installed two m3 screws. These go through and into the back where a captive nut is positioned for them to thread into... I was worried whether this would be a big hassle but it only takes a few seconds to screw/unscrew each one and I think the added security is worth it.
(http://i.imgur.com/GXGYyqG.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/ogt5ekJ.jpg)
Starting to look good (as if it didn't anyway!)
Where you getting your decals from bud?
Mint
From callie graphics - very cheap and lovely to deal with.
Man I messed up....
Just got done painting the front fuse section and FLIR pod ready for some weathering. I just noticed the paint is a fraction darker than the rest of the fuse, and realised I mixed 10 parts green, 3 parts grey and 2 parts black. It was supposed to be just 1 part black.
The good news is its close enough that it'll work just fine as a base coat so I can just do a few light coats of the correct colour over the top. The bad news is that I have no more paint... Just reordered some more. Sigh.
Anyway, here it is for now:
(http://i.imgur.com/gJyYkdb.jpg)
And I also prepped my vacuum forming frame for tomorrow. This material sure is clear but I am worried its not quite rigid enough. We'll see.
(http://i.imgur.com/qM3v7Fx.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/jrnjL9C.jpg)
Frustrating afternoon, but promising...
So I finished off my vacuum former frame stand.. I won't win any industrial design awards here but if it works it works eh! I just used the offcut from the centre of one of the frames and some short standoffs to create the stand.
(http://i.imgur.com/9zRAcaT.jpg)
I then proceeded to blast through 4 sheets of plastic before finally getting a usable pull. The first pull went great, but was ruined by all the dust. The problem Was that the moment you pull the protective sheet off the thing becomes static heaven and every single molecule of dust and crap in the room comes flying to attach itself to the sheet...
After seeing that, I decided to give the sheet and the plug a good spray and wipe with anti-static house cleaning spray. That worked a treat at removing the static charge and stopping the dust, but the next two pulls didn't go so well - I think I let it heat up too much and with the sag it became difficult to lay it down without crinkles.
however, 4th time lucky... a good pull. Even the little panel lines came out in the plastic which is helpful. I then of course proceeded to mess it up by not cutting it out quite right.... a which point I decided to call it a day lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/jEIe3u4.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YN5FAeD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HOrR9AN.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4QF9BGL.jpg)
Anyway, progress... looks like it can be done, but I only have 3 sheets left here to do both the upper and lower pieces. I have more at home in the UK though so no biggy. For those interested I am uploading a short video too - check back later as I'll add it once it's uploaded.
Here's a shot from inside taken with my iphone with the top window in place, as you can see its not perfect but pretty good. A little distortion in places but overall not bad. You get a lovely view of my apartment's rubbish fridge and oven lol.
I'll be interested to try my friend's bigger vacuum, see if it can do any better.
(http://i.imgur.com/RGSDuLA.jpg)
And here is the video of my hillbilly style vacuum former in use
Vacuum forming (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0UlJnyU2SQ#)
Well done bud, that is looking the business, I know where you're coming from, I have a Vack former and static is such a pan for gathering dust, Im surprised Dison hasn't painted it.
;) G
Thanks mate!
Once I started using the anti static spray that was a big help. I think I need to give the apartment a really good clean and then use the anti static spray and see how that goes lol. I'm just glad that for once a "machine" I needed didn;t cost an arm and a leg lol... my CNC machine was what, about £800 iirc, 3D printer was £1300 or so, vac forming machine about £20 in parts lol.
So my 3 days off are coming to a close... I'm pretty happy with the progress made the last 3 days! This week is fairly light work wise so hopefully I can continue to make some more progress.
However, I felt it was time to stand back and take a good look at how she is coming along. I included another favourite craft of mine for scale - a QAV500. As much as I love the QAV I think it's safe to say the AH-6 is a slightly meaner looking FPV rig...
(http://i.imgur.com/DQgbDzj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/e65s0hw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cpAd2oW.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/aeLEWBC.jpg)
wow there both really nice builds :)
hah thanks... the QAV was a little quicker to put together.
Anyway I've been quietly beavering away on the mechanics and while it doesn't provide glamorous updates it is important work... I've now basically finished the mechanics wiring, just waiting for another toroid to arrive so I can wrap the second BEC output and then it's complete.
So firstly I pulled the side frame off and finalised my internal wiring. All servo extensions got covered with heatshrink to prevent them coming apart, connections to the Naza got a line of hot glue to make sure they can't come unplugged, and ESC wires got braided to reduce RF emissions.
(http://i.imgur.com/9IWK79i.jpg)
I also set about tidying the wiring underneath and hooking up connections to the eLogger, and also installed my mechanics-fuselage locking connectors. The big grey wire is a firewire cable which carries ppm to the decoder, power back down to the fueslage, and the tracking telemetry audio wire. The braided black wire carries the OSD-eLogger connector plus RSSI. The braided wire that runs along the outer edge of the battery tray carries Rotor rpm info to the elogger and along side it runs the auxiliary power connection that stops the eLogger from overheating when trying to power the GPS from HV packs.
(http://i.imgur.com/dU1mp6L.jpg)
Then I set to work making a new GPS holder and a case for the PPM decoder... I needed to move it slightly further in to prevent fouling on the fuselage... at the same time I installed my Skylark convert module which takes the GPS data and passes it through to the eLogger but also generates a telemetry signal for the audio channel to provide tracking information so my antenna tracker can follow the aircraft as it flies.
(http://i.imgur.com/SDOCdxX.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HytVFK2.jpg)
Next up I printed some covers for the front section of the fuselage, which you can see fitted here. The centre section will be removable so as to allow easy access to oil the motor bearings.
(http://i.imgur.com/RDXsMkq.jpg)
And finally, I made my Naza door locking mechanism, simple but works a treat!
(http://i.imgur.com/3pkTrjW.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/JoOdUtI.jpg)
And filed under the category of "because I can" I made some simple labels for my newly cased components. It isn't entirely superfluous, the labels do act as a reminder as to what should be plugged where!
(http://i.imgur.com/O2jBy8H.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/4yjG3Bh.jpg)
The other day I rivetted and painted the centre console, so decided to just finish off the middle panel with the screens etc too. Just like on the eurofighter I used the special back-lit paper to print them out on. I've taken a pic with it held up to the light to give an idea but of course the LEDs that will be providing the backlight are a pure white.
(http://i.imgur.com/ZkhbfZQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/CVaD9kb.jpg)
And together with the rest of the cockpit, creepy disembodied hands and all. On another note I finally ordered my secondary display screen so hopefully that will arrive soon and I can start finishing off the Dashboard.
(http://i.imgur.com/WBkOPuq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/0bftN3w.jpg)
With the mechanics nearing total completion it's time to get around to tackling the channel wizard install that will take me from 12 channels to XX channels by muxing 8 inputs into the 12th channel. I have already started by installing the minigun and rocket switches, camera toggle switch and 6 position lighting switch already. I will most likely add another switch to control the exhaust mounted cooling fan (though I quite like the idea of having this automated if I can... hmmm...) and maybe another to kill all power to the dash for low light flying where the screens etc will reduce visibility... but now I have started to install the channel wizard itself into the module bay. All I need to do now is run wires from the various additional switches to the inputs on the wizard and program it accordingly.
(http://i.imgur.com/C103g2A.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/8bC5weB.jpg)
I was trying to find/build a temperature controlled circuit for a fan, but everything small and light I turned up was a design that varied the speed of the fan, but not the on/off function. Sircana pointed out, in his usual non-patronising (but somehow still subtly inferring "you clucking moron") way that all I needed was a temperature controlled switch. Duh. Sometimes I think it's a wonder I manage to tie my own shoe laces.
Anyway, net result, I'm going to have the fan in the exhaust hooked up to an automatic temperature controlled switch. Temperature exceeds a certain amount, fan switches on until it drops below a certain amount... the only thing that will likely generate any particular heat in this heli is the BEC... the motor and ESC should stay relatively cool, and when I finally change the 5.8ghz furnace for an icy cool 2.4ghz (sander? yes, you... come on now) that should remove another heat source. So The temperature switch will probably be fitted to the BEC casing...
I'm looking at these two different possibilities. First is a simple Bimetal switch... you can buy it normally open or normally closed and at a variety of fixed temperatures. Cheap and simple.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10x-KSD301-NC-Thermostat-Temperature-Switch-Bimetal-Disc-40-150-C-/400311926279?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&var=670038683071&hash=item5d34733e07 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10x-KSD301-NC-Thermostat-Temperature-Switch-Bimetal-Disc-40-150-C-/400311926279?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&var=670038683071&hash=item5d34733e07)
(http://i.imgur.com/mv2cuwP.jpg)
My second option is a little larger and more technical, but extremely cheap too... the advantage of this one is that the little probe will be easy to position and the thresholds are adjustable by means of a trimmer pot.
http://www.goodluckbuy.com/1-single-channel-thermal-relay-control-sensor-module-temperature-switch-5v-12v.html (http://www.goodluckbuy.com/1-single-channel-thermal-relay-control-sensor-module-temperature-switch-5v-12v.html)
(http://i.imgur.com/gJJ3ZRN.jpg)
So, of course I just ordered both and will have a play. However, I will be running this off the external 3S auxiliary missile/guns pack and so since this will be an automatic process I am slightly dubious about running the battery entirely flat... however, the fan draws a measly 150ma or so - with a 600mah 3S pack that I was intending to use that's 4 hours continuous run time for the fan on it's own. Even with use for other things it's not going to be a problem over a few 12 minute flights.
---------
My decals arrived today, and here the missiles are receiving a first flat coat to seal them in. Too clean of course, will need to be air brushed a bit more over the top!
(http://i.imgur.com/9z0jDoY.jpg)
---------
so here are some more pics of the hellfire's, I will probably be painting the tip to simulate the dome. Perhaps the v2 missiles will have a proper dome ;)
(http://i.imgur.com/7JuIHmQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/n8S94zE.jpg)
Lil' Bird is coming to get you...
(http://i.imgur.com/5EJjegx.jpg)
----------
So, something I've been putting off because it intimidates me lol - the control side of things... I have wired up my Channel Wizard in the module bay and so it is finally time to try and understand how to use this thing.
(http://i.imgur.com/tM3hcDY.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/K7iYn5Y.jpg)
I have to give a huge (massive, enormous, GALACTIC) thank you to Sircana (from circular wireless) without whom I would barely even know where to start... He is guiding me through what I need to do as I am at best a programming noob and he has a brain the size of a small planet. This project would be more limited without his assistance for sure, so please give him a virtual round of applause!
Anyway, I've discussed before the general idea but this is now the finalised connection table... It's actually fairly straightforward, but helps me visualise what is going where and to what. It's fairly self explanatory I think. The only thing that might not be obvious is that PPM 1 is the mechanics PPM decoder and PPM 2 is the cockpit PPM decoder (consider that this is merely the control connections and that on top of this you have power, video, audio, RSSI, gps, LEDs, Power system etc etc wiring and you'll get a hint of how much freaking wiring there is in this thing lol)
(http://i.imgur.com/pgc0lzs.png)
With that out the way I have also been playing with FTDI cables, drivers, com ports and hyperterminal... I could cope with the first 3 fine, but I am clueless when it comes to command line stuff as I've never dealt with it before. Sircana to the rescue of course and if anyone is interested this is the programming of the channel wizard mux and demux (I should say initial programming, failsafe behaviour of muxed channels is still on the to do list).
MUX COMMAND LINE
o.frame=28000
codelimits=1024-2004
a.type=a
b.type=a
c.type=a
d.type=a
e.type=a
o.src=i1 i2 i3 i4 i5 i6 i7 i8 i9 i10 i11 (a b c d e)
DEMUX COMMAND LINE
demuxInput=12
a.pwm=m1
b.pwm=m2
c.pwm=m3
d.pwm=m4
e.pwm=m5
After programming that, it is a case of setting up the EzUHF and Trinity HT channel mapping. This is fairly straightforward and simply involves setting EzUHF to output Muxed PPM on channel 1 and CH12 on channel 2, and to take the HT inputs from channels 7 & 8 via the HT port and inject them as Channels 8 & 9 in the PPM stream.
In theory all that should now be done, but testing will have to wait unfortunately because work gets in the way. Sircana has done a LOT of the troubleshooting on the setup already however and so any problems should be relatively easy to resolve (touch wood). One potential hitch is that the lowest my BEC will go is 5.6v and the limit for CW in bypass mode (required in this case) is 5.5v... I would just drop using a diode but the current draw will be fairly significant from the LED system with all lights running. There are ways around it of course but we'll see which one is best.
So I'm back in the UK again, but time is not wasted. I was initially going to try drilling out the hardened steel main shaft on my pillar drill but it's got a bit too much runout and wouldn't have dealt well with penetrating the round surface without scrabbling around a bit.
So I decided to give it a go on my CNC machine which is much tighter with less than 0.002" of runout. To cover my bases because I'm a moron and don't know how to do things properly I used some nice tungsten carbide bits - they are generally pretty temperature resistant and can handle a bit of mistreatment as regards feeding and spindle speed.
First up I ran it through with a 1mm pilot drill, this went through like butter through a knife. I used some spray oil as lubricant.
(http://i.imgur.com/bgQTkjD.jpg)
Next up was my 3.2mm bit (didn't have anything in between lol)... this was much noisier, oil smoked away and some nice sparks came flying out the shaft but it too went through without too much argument... I suspect I should have slowed the spindle down a bit more but then the power really drops off.... anyway - drill bit survived without scorching or blunting so all good!
(http://i.imgur.com/dobiDVw.jpg)
And the end result - perfectly aligned! Wohoo! the top of the shaft now butts up against the top of the head which makes the whole assembly that much more solid and also drops the head down by about 8mm. Doesn't sound like much but it does actually make a surprising visual difference to the installed mechanics.
(http://i.imgur.com/fWBxVLw.jpg)
So I've finished the Channel wizard hardware wise...
Installed my 6 position switch (the large silver part top left). The 4 blue things are trim pots that allow me to fine tune the output position of each individual switch position. Not necessary for this project as the DElight trigger values can be tuned themselves, so I've gone for values that should translate to approx 0%/20%/40%/60%/80%/100%
The last position won't actually be used as I will only have 5 settings:
1: All lights off
2: Beacons on
3: Beacons, Nav lights on
4: Beacons, Nav lights, Main landing light on
5: Beacons, Nav lights, Main landing light, Auxiliary Landing lights on
Pretty neat that you can do all that from one switch!
On top of that I installed a 3 position switch on the opposite shoulder that will allow me to control my OSD pages and menus, and finished up the wiring for the 2 position camera switch and the two 2 position armament switches.
So here is how it all works if you are still wondering what is going on - All these switch wires go through to the module bay where they connect up to the channel wizard. The channel wizard takes gnd/power/ppm from the module bay pins and muxes (ie basically encodes) these additional switches into a single channel replacing the 12th channel in the stream.... the modified ppm stream (plus gnd and power) then goes back into the controller body and around to the 3 pin locking connector on the back. The EzUHF plugs into this and receives gnd/power/ppm... It's not quite over there though as Trinity is also outputting the head tracking pan/tilt channels into the EzUHF head tracking port. The EzUHF takes these inputs and replaces channels 8 and 9 in the stream with the Trinity's values instead.
The whole stream then gets sent to the helicopter. The EzUHF rx outputs a ppm stream to the mechanics ppm decoder which breaks out channels 1-7 for the naza, the cockpit ppm decoder which breaks out channels 1,2,4,6,7,8,9,10,11 for flight controls, dashboard flight mode indicator, and pan/tilt of both pod and pilot head, and to the channel wizard (through a voltage step down to give no more than 5v) which decodes the 12th channel and outputs the result to ports A,B,C,D,E for lights, guns, missiles, camera and OSD control.
Shimples?
(http://i.imgur.com/mkrtOd0.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/PE0UCkQ.jpg)
Now that the hardware side is done, next up is testing of that theory in practice... of course work gets in the way as usual.
I think I speak for all of us when I say .. holy crap this is getting better by the day.
From page 1 to Page 32 now, it's just a complete masterpiece.
Very kind Steve, thank you!
I actually went back through the thread the other day and it's funny to watch how it started and how it has progressed and the project evolved along the way.
Finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel! The list of things left to do is slowly getting shorter.
It really is an amazing build, I would be scared stiff of taking to the air with it with all the hours and detail put into the build
I been following this build from the biginning and i am so impressed with it i cant understand how you have the bottle to fly it tbh :D
Please be so carefull i would cry if you damaged it and i dont know you :D
Good luck on your first flight though :)
dizzy :)
Thanks guys, very kind.
All good things come to an end eventually, hopefully this has a long life before the inevitable happens though lol. Needless to say I'll probably be babying it at first and will never fly it quite like I fly my quads but it was built to fly at the end of the day and it'd be a greater shame not to enjoy it to it's full potential ;)
Besides, the smoking crater always holds the promise of something bigger, badder and better yet to come!
today I gave Juan the greatest gift a man can give his semi-automaton FPV heli pilot... legs, and most importantly perhaps, trousers with which to cover his modesty.
Here's a video to give you guys something to watch and also show off the beauty of Trinity ;)
Fatshark Trinity test with full motion cockpit. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8MoeWX1QXs#)
oh, and roffles at the waffles at the end....
That was spooky to watch. Such natural movement
OMG!!!
There are some things that are just to freekin AWESOME and this is certainly one of them.
WELL DONE, it amazing to see this!!
Friggin awesome!
Chris
No. 5 - he's alive.
I suppose if, heaven forbid, anything was to go wrong - You could blame Juan and as he is so realistic, everyone will believe you !!
haha, thanks guys.
I love watching that video, it makes me think I'm that much closer to finishing this thing!
No pictures this time but I spent almost the whole day wrestling with my control systems...
Firstly I needed to get the Channel wizard talking to it's friend in the Heli... after programming it all and a few false starts I got that working by forcing a calibration signal through hyper terminal rather than the onboard button. Channel 12 is now nicely encoding the 6 position, 3 position and 2 position x 3 switches and decoding them out on the aircraft.
That small success out of the way I went on to try and set up the Naza with the new system. This is where it went wrong... Everything appeared to work fine apart from channel 4 (rudder) and channel 7 (flight mode) which were showing hard right in the Naza calibration screens. Removed the leads and connected servos to the deocder outputs and they functioned as expected... CONFUSED. I spent hours going through everything, tweaking ppm frame rates, code limits, removing the ppm decoders and connecting direct to pwm ports, swapping channels... nothing. I got frustrated and the only thing I could think of was that the rudder port on the naza was broken... so to confirm I plugged in my Jeti Rx, but that worked perfectly.
Then after some more swearing and fiddling it started working. But the settings were mostly all back at how they had been to begin with.... so I'm not sure why it started working. My working theory at the moment is that channel 7 was forcing a naza failsafe condition, but why that would only affect rudder and U I'm not so clear on. Anyway, numerous power cycles and stress tests have gone by and it seems to be behaving itself. So, I now have channels 1-7 (Ail, Ele, Thr, Rud, Gain, Pitch, Mode) functioning correctly in the Naza, channels 8 and 9 functioning with the trinity head tracking, 10 and 11 functioning for the pod pan/tilt and channel 12 encoding Lights, missiles, guns, camera switch, OSD control for a total of 16 channels. M'excellent.
Only one thing remains which is some odd throttle behaviour where after say 30 seconds it ramps down, spools up, ramps down spools up and then holds. This could come from anywhere (ESC, Batteries, Naza, control system) but I had had enough of diagnosing errors for one day so it'll have to wait for another day. Once that bug is tracked down however it'll be time for some new test flights with the new control system, head and tail.
In other news some more paint arrived so I can get on with finishing the fuselage off too. The list is finally getting shorter!
Been busy today...
First up I put the finishing touch to the hellfires - a nice golden dome ;)
(http://i.imgur.com/BfSTMcR.jpg)
I also completely repainted the front fuselage with the correct colour this time, pre-shaded, weathered etc again. Just needs a clear coat now but the colour matches which is better lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/zaczxrL.jpg)
You may remember I said that the velcro straps at the back were tricky to undo when the mechanics are fitted in the fuselage.... time for a solution! First I printed a retaining bracket to install at the rear of the plates, then I printed a battery box. The box has a few advantages too - it keeps the wires of the battery tidy and also makes the battery mostly black rather than a shiney blue thing. Very simple, just insert battery into the box, slide into place and strap down with the forward strap.
(http://i.imgur.com/STTfRDZ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/aqOB8oH.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/iHBRlUT.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/labM6SY.jpg)
Given the mechanics will be getting tested again I need a GPS mount too that would hold the GPS in a similar position to the final fitting. Printed this little mount up to do that.
(http://i.imgur.com/NVu44eQ.jpg)
that's all folks.
Ok, I thought the big expenditures were over....
I was wrong. A spanner has been thrown in the works... It's changed everything.
Fortunately it is a rather awesome spanner.
I've just been offered a DJI Ace One at a price I can't refuse. Aside from the obvious advantages of some serious professional grade hardware and waaaay more configurability than the Naza, it also brings a really important feature - RTH. Given the expenditure already put into this, I figure this (last?!) expense might be worth it to gain the safety and comfort factor of RTH.
It also means I have the option to add semi-auto landing and take off, which would mean I can FPV from start to finish. It's another 300 quid to enable that however, so I'll see how badly I want it later.
However this is devastating news, because the Ace One has no led/USB puck like the Naza... My Naza hatch is now defunct! That was the best bit :(
The LEDs for the Ace One are built into the GPS puck. It is slightly larger, but I purposely designed my GPS holder with a little "growing" room so should be fine. I will just need to come Up with a small locking system for the upper plate so it can remain removable to view the LEDs.
Interesting times...
Arrrgghhh, and it felt like it was so close to us seeing it flying in it's full glory. RTH seems like a very worthwhile investment though.
Ah this won't delay me too much... I should have the Ace One in my hands relatively soon, installation into the mechanics shouldn't take too long.
In the mean time I still have plenty of stuff to be getting on with for the fuselage.
Speaking of which, I better get on with some of that!
I don't think you'll ever fully finish - there'll no doubt be a rivet you've missed off the paintwork, or some more weathering to do once it's past X hours of flight, or Juan will elope with Action Man or something...
Makes for great reading though :D
You are probably right Steve lol...
However once it reaches a state where it can fly and be FPV'ed, how long I keep working on the rest doesn't matter so much ;)
Almost finished the dash... I have to say almost because the place I ordered my secondary screen from a month ago still hasn't shipped my order and has ignored the 2 emails I've sent to chase it up.
Anyway, wired up all the backlight leds and so on. So you have all the small screens illuminated, the main screen displaying the FLIR feed (and eventually a secondary screen displaying a nav display), you have the three mode indicator LEDS, red = manual, amber = atti, green = GPS Atti, and finally the larger led to the left of those is from the firestarter.
(http://i.imgur.com/jbMcZNH.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/P9ZS3oM.jpg)
I forgot to post this too - done some wiring for the weapons pods. I took some 12 awg and stripped the silicon sheath off, then ran two smaller wires through the silicon. I printed up some small hooks to attach the cable to the side of the arm.
This will actually all then hook up to a 6 pin connector at the end which means I can quickly add or remove the weapons arms as required. They'll just slide over the spars and then connect into place.
(http://i.imgur.com/13WbYWS.jpg)
This has to be the best ever scale heli build thread, let alone one with the added fun of FPV.
I cannot even begin to explain how excited it makes me feel to see this model. unbelievable.
the attention to detail is utterly incredible. everything looks so professional.
well done is about all I can say.
I can't wait to see this take to the air.
/Steve
Thanks! Definitely not one of the best scale build threads though... I'd say one of the best scale FPV builds, because I'm pretty sure there aren't any others lol.
So I've been having big problems... nothing is ever easy. Testing has shown a glitching problem with my EzUHF setup... I've spent several hours on it now.
It seems firmware related. It'll happily sit there with no glitches but when you start moving the sticks you get occasional and random but severe glitching.
I moved back to v1.43 and the initially thought the problem had gone, but very occasionally if you try really hard on the sticks/switches/pots you can force a small glitch. The frequency and severity are much reduced however which points towards the EzUHF firmware being the culprit.
Needless to say though I'm not willing to trust my AH-6 to a glitching control system so it needs to be sorted out.
Made this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfLm9JRjmj0
Now the good news. Anthony from ImmersionRC (the main programmer for the EzUHF) is going to drop round my appartment tomorrow and pick up my gear for testing. If anyone can get to the bottom of it, it would be him. So hopefully this will all start to come together soon. Ace One is being posted tomorrow, Anthony is planning on dropping back my kit by Friday - all being well I should have the mechanics operational again by next week in time for my days off. Fingers crossed!
So as promised the ImmersionRC guy popped round today and picked up my gear. We had a good chat about stuff over lunch lol... if we can't figure out what's up with the current setup he had some other ideas about supporting 16 channels natively with some firmware changes.
So that's good, one way or another this'll get sorted out.
So while Anthony is off trouble shooting/devising new and clever ways to give me what I need, I do have things to be getting on with.
One such thing was a quick redesign of the battery boxes. You can see I incorporated some holes on the underside - the primary reason for this was to provide an easy way to push out the battery from inside the box... I also built in a "collar" for the front straps. This means the box simply cannot shift forwards or backwards as the strap is locked inside this collar.
(http://i.imgur.com/wRMgYJu.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/d8KekUK.jpg)
For cosmetic reasons I also printed out a thin black cover that simply lies on top of the battery and gets held down by the strap. Stealth batts.
in case anyone is wondering what the red tape is - that's simply my way of denoting pairs of batteries - one will be red tape, the next blue etc etc.
(http://i.imgur.com/m8D9GKe.jpg)
So look what was just sitting in my postbox when I got home... YEAH BOY! Thanks so much to the guy that sold it to me at such a ridiculous price (you know who you are buddy!)
(http://i.imgur.com/vDE1FIy.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/bTfD3VT.jpg)
In other news, Anthony from ImmersionRC has been awesome too... he picked up the gear to check it all out on his oscilloscopes, and he decided that this project needed a native 16 channel solution and as such he's been coding away some new firmware for me... it's not entirely finished yet and I'll leave it to him or Sander to expand on the details as they see fit, but basically since my Taranis is capable of producing 16 channels this gives me the full 16 channels the need for a channel wizard anymore. It's eeeeven more clever than just a simple 16ch ppm stream as the 4 additional channels (13-16) while being fully proportional and full resolution will have a slightly lower refresh rate (eg they will only update position once every 2 frames for example). This adds a little latency obviously but it's irrelevant given their non-primary flight control functions... the advantage is the data rate stays lower and the sensitivity higher as a result.
So, good news! I just need to install the Ace One and Anthony to finish coding up this firmware update, then I can begin some test flights of the new systems.
So I couldn't wait to get going on the Ace One install...
Happily the shelf I made for the EzUHF rx during flight testing is a perfect fit for the main controller. Losing this space when installed in the fuselage is no problem as the Rx sits further back in the fuselage itself... during flight testing I'll just have to strap the EzUHF Rx underneath. This position also means I can reach back inside the fuselage to plug in a USB cable to program the unit (since my lovely Naza hatch can't be used anymore :( )
I needed the main controller raised slightly so the servo connections could clear the rear brace, and it occurred to me I could make the riser into a wire router as well. Since I was re-wiring I also changed the wires to all be colour coded - makes matching channels to Naza ports much easier. The IMU fits nicely where the old Naza-H was.
(http://i.imgur.com/3BXMSKC.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/zn3iqhq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/D3gzoXp.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/D3FNmYf.jpg)
So next up I need to make up some servo extensions and break open the frames (hopefully for the last time!) to install them properly and plug them into the main controller. The only mod I will need to do to the Ace One is cut the GPS cable and use a thin profile 4 pin locking connector so I can pass the cable through the GPS mount in the fuselage (the canbus port is too big to fit).
I have just been playing around inside my heli and thought this made for a cool picture to share.
Just added - you can see the 3D printed tail servo wire guides that prevent the tail servo wire from going anywhere it shouldn't (like into the gears for example!), and the small servo wire tidy at the end of the IMU shelf that keeps the Cyclic servo wires away from the ESC.
Also nicely shows the combined elevator pitch arm/anti rotation mechanism and all the interior gubbins.
(http://i.imgur.com/2XPHkgu.jpg)
Got a message from Anthony last night and he has finished the 16ch firmware. Channels 1-12 are as normal, and 13-16 are at 1/4 rate. This means they only update their position once every 4 frames - so given a 38ms 16 channel frame from the taranis for example, that would mean an update every 0.152 seconds - perfectly acceptable for light switches etc... so depending on whether you hit the switch just before a refresh or just after, the delay would be between 0.038 and 0.152 seconds before the action was updated. The advantage of doing this is that it only adds 2 bytes to the RF frame, which is negligible.
He is dropping the kit back today so I will get to have a play.... Assuming it works as intended it should be very straightforward. Just set muxed PPM to one of the output pins on the RX and then channels 12-16 on the remaining pins. Channels 1-7 get broken out on the mechanics by the 8 channel decoder while channels 1,2,4,6-11 get broken out by the 12 channel decoder in the cockpit.
So just to complete the picture from the post above, here is the other side of the frame... as you can see I have braided the servo lines to reduce RFI and where there are servo extensions I have heatshrunk the connection to prevent them coming loose from vibration
(http://i.imgur.com/WZWnQRk.jpg)
and here she is all ready and waiting (complete with 2kg ballast for CG and fuselage weight simulation, and temporary tail support rods since the tail is normally supported by the fuselage). Once I get the transmitter back I can go through the Ace One setup and see if I've installed it all correctly. If no problems arise she'll then be ready for her Ace One testing program!
(http://i.imgur.com/eKneD7w.jpg)
did some setup earlier on 1.48 and everything was working (12 channels).
Installed 1.49 (16 channel) just now and that all works - I can control 16 channels just fine... But the Ace One won't power up the servos.
Plug in a Jeti rx and it powers up fine. Plug back in the EzUHF, nada.
BUT, all channels report fine in the Ace One software monitor...
Brain exploding.
EDIT - won't initialise with the longer 16ch frame rate. Put it to 12ch and it comes to life. Humph.
This is a problem... DJI seem to have arbitrarily set it to not initialise with a longer frame rate than XXms despite the fact that it can see the channels just fine and reports them in the monitor.
There are only 2 solutions I can see to this...
- Either run 2 rx's (which means more antennas and wiring and space). One rx outputs a 12ch ppm stream which works with the ace one, while the second outputs the auxiliary channels.
- Option 2 is completely custom ppm decoder hardware for the mechanics that will double the pwm output frame rates by playing the same frame twice... That would make the Ace One see a frame rate of 17ms rather than 34ms and hopefully keep it happy.
One step forward, 10 steps back...
I'm going to play with it at 12 channels for now - at least that lets me get some flight testing done with the Ace One.
EDIT - a third option just came to mind. Limit the muxed ppm to 12ch which seems to work fine and leave the auxiliary channels (13-16) only outputting on the servo pins, not in the muxed stream.
Don't know if that is technically feasible. Something to discuss with Anthony!
(http://www.memegasms.com/media/created/q3vw5v.jpg)
So I was discussing with Anders about the possibility of using the Channel wizard as this custom decoder and he mentioned that it already has a fixed PWM output refresh rate of 50Hz.... So Ka'ching I thought - that will solve the problem.
However it also occured to me that perhaps the 12 channel decoder also sets it's own refresh rate while the 8ch is dependant on the incoming PPM frame. I pulled the 12ch decoder out of the eurofighter cockpit and just hooked it up to test. It works! Ace one initialises as it should when using this decoder - it must have a fixed PWM refresh rate.
So I now have a fully functional 16 channel native EzUHF solution. Need to do some testing just to make sure it's all behaving but wow that's great news... I was getting a bit annoyed with the setbacks.
So unfortunately the world is ending. Been nothing but rain and storms all day... back to work tomorrow with long days all week as well. No flight testing any time soon :(
However I did mount my new ppm decoder (minus front cover just at the moment) and I came up with this temporary EzUHF mount for the test flights.
(http://i.imgur.com/9YVGwbP.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/b9SEGEW.jpg)
Guys you know how I'm never happy with anything?
I'm finally happy with something :)
While working on my heli it fell on its side and bent one of the feathering shafts of my head. I disassembled it and found the feathering shaft is not an obvious replacement... I will be contacting the guy to ask how to replace and for a replacement part but in the mean time I've been quietly grumbling about the space taken up by the swash follower and the non mechanical phased head anyway.
So we are now on our *counts fingers* 1,2,3, 4th head. But this head is a Zeeflyboy Hybrid Special edition and I'm finally happy lol.
So to summarise:
Head 1 - smooth and looked a little like rotary porn but was very heavy, mechanically phased head but poor linkage design to achieve it (recently noticed a new v2 that loses this arm design)... some machining variances. Poor swash design meant there were some interactions between elevator and aileron (eg an aileron action would cause the swash to twist slightly, introducing some elevator).
Head 2 - light weight and well made, great design of phasing arm... swash was a bit oversized for the purpose and wrong colour (silver despite black head). Turns out the head was perhaps a bit too light weight as flight loads from my heavy copter seem to have tweaked the hub out of true.
Head 3 - Extremely nicely made, a great head all in all. Swash follower design means there is a limit to how low the head can be taken and requires electronic phasing. Never tried it before bending the feathering shaft, but will repair and save for another project or sell. Swash is light weight and built to a very high standard with no interaction errors or slop.
So now we get to head 4...
I bought this just to see how I liked it, and I did indeed like it very much. It comes with a fiendishly clever swash that uses the arms at the bottom for mechanical phasing but has three remaining problems - it is still a poor design in terms of interactions since the swash-servo links are not in line with the axis of rotation around the main shaft, and it weighs just a gnat's whisker short of a metric ton (190g compared to the 39g of my german made swash). Lastly the design is a bit too clever for the level of execution and this introduces a little unwanted slop. I must admit I fitted it and it did look pretty boss though.
here is the uber swash:
(http://i.imgur.com/1L7jHKx.jpg)
So what to do?
The answer of course was to combine the best bits to build one super head that I could finally be happy with.
So I started with the swash from my german head. It's by far the lightest and highest quality, and also has the swash to arm balls closest in to the centre giving the highest resolution possible on aileron/elevator movements.
I then looked at adding the great mechanical phasing arms of the second head. Unfortunately due to the different design geometries this wasn't a direct fit... well it could have been but I would have had a few degrees of phasing error that would need to be programmed out and that was something I was trying to avoid. What was needed was some careful measuring, a longer blade grip screw and a spacer to move the arm into the correct position to produce a perfectly mechanically phased head.
I ended up creating this prototype spacer and printing it out - 4.5mm long including the 0.5mm lip which keeps the bearing of the grip arm moving smoothly even when tightened up. While this does work fine it was mostly for design verification and I will probably look for someone with a lathe to make me the spacer out of aluminium for the final version (speaking of which anyone got a lathe and want some beer tokens?).
(http://i.imgur.com/Qk5A2HF.png)
And finally of course I added the latest head and put it all together for my special sauce head... End result is a beefy strong head with no swash follower required and perfect mechanical phasing with no unwanted interactions between elevator and aileron visible at all, no slop and good values on the aileron and elevator mixes due to the high resolution. Zee = Chuffed.
(http://i.imgur.com/RWkMzi7.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Zl3T2s7.jpg)
There is also a lot of space on the shaft now to lower the head, so I'll need to cut and drill another main shaft - No rush for that though as it changes very little other than cosmetics so it can wait. I will probably also add the head button from my german head but at the moment I'm enjoying the beefy industrial look.
This should lead on to the question:
Why don't you 'market' your best-of-the-best head ?
Simple answer, because it's not worth my time lol.
Plus the head that donated the pitch arms is quite an elusive head in its own right, spares are non existent as far as I can tell. The only way to get your hands on the arms is to buy the entire head. That means I would have to get custom arms made up, the cost just isn't feasible.
However, it means I have a truly unique head at least!
So mechanics test flight is scheduled for tomorrow. Weather is looking co-operative and flight packs are charged, Ace One is set up... I just spent a little time finishing my Taranis setup too so here's a quick tour. The two toggles at either side for guns/missiles will be replaced by push button switches - just waiting for some SPDT pushbuttons to arrive from china.
I like how it gives you a quick rundown of the current modes and selections when you switch it on - much easier than looking at the switches and trying to remember what position they should be in. Generally I've aimed for a setup that requires all switches in the full up/back position on start, but it's nice to have audio confirmation.
Taranis Voice setup for AH-6 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkKNM_A-WVc#ws)
So all being well, hopefully I can complete both the first manual test flight required by the Ace One manual, and some auto modes testing plus general tuning. I'm not sure whether my friend will be available to film it so there might not be any video this time, but I hope it won't be hugely different to the test flight I already posted many months ago lol. Need to get back to work on the fuselage and cockpit, all being well tomorrow I hope to fit the two together soon.
Good luck for the test flight, hope all goes well and works as expected.
The copter is looking EPIC! :D
But damn I so hate the Taranis... <CLICK> <blurgh-blurgh-throttle-blurgh> <CLACK> <flight-mode-blurgh-blurgh-active> <PLANG> <camera-view-blarrrgggh>
Its like a posh American talking type-writer trying to speak with a half a banana in its mouth! Everything about it just screams cheap Chinese components... I can't believe you are going to trust it to fly your life's work? :o
:laugh:
Lol...
It's a good radio! I have no qualms about using it. The audio quality is a bit shit, I compared it to another guy's and mine seems to be especially bad for some reason - I have ordered an upgraded speaker and have been reading up on speaker mods for it, hopefully that will solve the issue.
So good news is that my friend should be able to come help me with the heli - hopefully that means some video.
Also, Juan has been in for some shoulder surgery... I wasn't happy with how the arms were sitting so shortened the shoulder width a little. He looks better now methinks.
(http://i.imgur.com/bpn7klD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/fupq8zW.jpg)
And I just designed and printed up this little M4 spanner doo-hickey - perfect for nipping up those blade bolts quickly!
(http://i.imgur.com/K8wYbtC.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/G8rnoBR.jpg)
Things did not go well. Not well at all - Took off and it was like trying to ride a rodeo bull. I have not yet figured out what was wrong... All control directions were correct, all automatic corrections were in the correct sense, it was just almost impossible to fly.
Ace One test does not go well (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNvaE6aC9B4#ws)
Basically initially it just felt incredibly unstable which suggests to me gyro gains that were way too low so as to render themselves insignificant. I could just about keep it in the air until the tail turned under the torque of a heavy elevator input turning it uncommanded and then it was game over and I decided it was time to give up rather than decapitate myself or my friend... smack, thud, whine of stripped teeth.
Pre-flight I check all control surfaces move in the correct sense, and that was borne out by the fact my corrections did go in the right sense. I also check that the gyros compensated in the correct sense and that too is borne out by the fact that it didn't just flip as it would have were they incorrect. So everything checks out in that regard. Mechs I know were fine, that's plain to see... for aileron the blades over the tail and nose moved, for elevator the blades at 90 degrees to the boom moved. Exactly how it should be. That only leaves the IMU and its associated settings to dive into.
Here's some pics of the damage that is plain to see, inspecting the rest will take time and at the moment obviously I can't be arsed:
Main gear stripped because I was a too slow on throttle hold (idiot)...
(http://i.imgur.com/xH9iZ5R.jpg)
Landing skid snapped... not bothered by that, was going to get some taller skids anyway.
(http://i.imgur.com/Vjykdx5.jpg)
Tail is a complete mess... You can see the main unit has separated from the 6-5mm step down... That was sleeve locked AND fastened with a grub screw with loctite so I can't imagine it came loose in flight. Tail shaft is bent, I haven't examined the blades yet - I'm just assuming they are toast from all the mud lol. Thankfully the fibreglass tail seems unscathed.
(http://i.imgur.com/O3LGEU4.jpg)
The only main blade showing damage:
(http://i.imgur.com/iyFyYdT.jpg)
and the m2 screws that acted as fuses and hopefully saved my head and servos:
(http://i.imgur.com/ZBiaAeG.jpg)
I think the only way forward is to increase the gains and construct some training gear to do some low level hovering over tarmac. If it starts wallowing it can just be dumped knowing that it won't (shouldn't) tip due to the training gear.
So far the repair bill is looking:
- 4 x Tail blades........................... £50
- 5 x main blades......................... £180
- Main shaft (precautionary).......... £12
- Tail shaft.................................. £9
- Boom...................................... £15
- Torque tube.............................. £10
- Skids....................................... £15
- KDE Main gear.......................... £25
Total cost about £316 ($510) = ouchies....and that's just what I know about. I hope the head is not damaged.... looks like christmas is cancelled this year :(
Ouch! Can't imagine how gutted you must feel right now, that repair bill is certainly hard to stomach!
Hopefully you can get to the route of the problem quickly, I suppose a little mercy is that you didn't have the fuselage and cockpit installed at the time!
:(
Yeah it sucks, but what is really annoying is not knowing the cause.
If you crash and then you realise you did something wrong, that's fine. You swear, you call yourself an idiot and then you rebuild it and put it back in the air.
If you crash and don't know why, you rebuild it and then? If you try to fly again you will get the same result, so you try changing something... Eg the gains. But what happens if that wasn't the reason?
THAT is what has me vexed, more so than the crash itself.
Oh dear, I feel for you, like you say, a known problem can be addressed, an unknown one leaves you with no options to fix it
Nasty, that sucks matey. I know that 'unknown issue' feeling and it's not nice.
I hope you get it sorted.
Muds
OUCH! :o that's not good buddy :(
...I blame the Turdanis! :D :P
Damn, that was a shame - heli blades are a lot :o
Last time you flew, electronically things were much the same weren't they (at least in terms of the flight control systems) - and back then there was just a little tail wag to sort out. I can see why it would be tough to just rebuild and hope it's a gain twiddle. I hope you can get some concrete theories on what the issue was.
Ow.. sorry to hear that. Know some of the pain since I just stuffed in my plane that I put a lot into (but not as much as you have into this one).
A few days off building to philosophize sounds fair enough.
Ideally a sim , but I only know of the ardupilot ones http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/ArduCopter2SIM (http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/ArduCopter2SIM) Might be a starting point though
regards
Andy
Nooooo, sorry to see it didn't go to well. Although pricey, the damage isn't as bad as it could of been for a heli. As im sure you know, they generally don't crash lightly.
Was that last test flight done on the same Tx? So only the firmware had changed?
Maybe check the rates? I cant really tell from the vid but it looked pretty twitchy as well as unstable.
Like you say, some kind of training gear and an big smooth open space should save that happening again tho.
Good luck and keep the faith. We all want to see this beast fly, but I bet you want to see it more than all of us. ;D
Yeah... Assuming the head is okay then the damage could have been much worse - biggest cost is just the blades.
So I've sat down the bank manager and had a chat... Almost all my replacement parts are now enroute, just need to find the KDE 164t main gear in stock and buy/build some training gear for Ace One testing.
I haven't yet verified if there is any crash damage with the head, need to take a look at that next... I will also play around with the gains and cyclic rates to see how much the swash reaction to movement changes. After much thinking and watching of that depressing video it's all I can come up with for a reason.
I also bought some thunder tiger PV6008 MD500 landing gear rather than replace the align bollocks. The PV6008 has a couple of advantages - much stronger (obvious benefit with 7kg of heli), much taller (about the same height as the mechs will be once installed in the fuselage - much improved tail clearance), and should my plastic landing gear in the AH ever give up the ghost, these could be a potential replacement.
FPVflyer (who sold me the Ace One) couldn't believe it when he heard. He wants to come over with his 600 SAR rig that is soon to be retired and use it as a sacrificial guinea pig to check the Ace One out.
Ah man that was sickening to watch.
I hope the damage is minimal with the head and you can get her back in the air without too much agro.
Sorry to see mate, chin up.
Quote from: skyscraper on November 01, 2013, 11:00:32 AM
Ow.. sorry to hear that. Know some of the pain since I just stuffed in my plane that I put a lot into (but not as much as you have into this one).
A few days off building to philosophize sounds fair enough.
Ideally a sim , but I only know of the ardupilot ones http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/ArduCopter2SIM (http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/ArduCopter2SIM) Might be a starting point though
regards
Andy
Wow, never knew that sort of thing existed... Cool!
Unfortunately I don't think there is one for 7kg 5 blade Helis with Ace One fitted lol... Training gear is about my only testing option I think.
Steve - all replacement parts now ordered and the head is looking okay from my first look. My wallet is lighter but the bitch will get back in the air.
So I've been studying the Ace One manual again...
While the suggested default gains for a T-rex 600 are 100/100, if you look at a logo 700 in the table the recommended gains are 150/160 or a maxi Joker 3DD is all the way up at 200/250... Other parameters such as direct input and flybar weight are also double or more the values of a 600 when you look at the Joker recommendations.
Since my heli is far heavier than a "normal" 600 and running a much lower headspeed, I guess it likely has more in common with a Logo 700, in fact more like the Maxi Joker 3DD as regards the gain requirement.
That gives me hope that this was a simple gain issue. I was running the default 100/100 and if it does indeed need something closer to the maxi joker then that is, one assumes, a potentially huge difference in gain. This does fit with the observations, which were that it was like flying without a gyro... If the gains needed to be over 200 and were at 100 then that could certainly explain some stuff.
However I'm not really up for smashing another €260 worth of blades and whatever else along with it, so will proceed with caution... I've now ordered all replacement parts and some large 550-700 size training gear. Hopefully all these bits will start arriving next week and I can start putting Littlebird back together.
I'm a bit stuck now of course waiting for parts, I could work on the fuselage and cockpit but at the moment I'm still licking my wounds so to speak. Will pick up again next week with some new motivation hopefully.
In the mean time I decided to do something else... About time I started doing a bit of work on the ground station I started a way back!
First job, wire up the locking connector that will attach the Rx/AAT and fit the IMRC powerbox that will form the backbone of the GS... So 3S goes to the PowerBox which outputs 4 filtered feeds. One goes to the screen, one goes to pins 1/2 on the 6 pin locking connector for rx, one goes to pins 3/4 for AAT power (servos etc) and one will go to the DVR.
(http://i.imgur.com/IGQLSCJ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/IFbsQk6.jpg)
On top of that I have video and one audio channel from pins 5/6 of the locking connector going to the powerbox. One will go to the DVR which will then pass through to the screen, and two will go to goggle connectors 1&2, with the 4th going to a 25mw 5.8ghz vTX for wireless relay.
And here you can see the underside of the bottom plate. Power goes via a main power switch to a voltmeter/ammeter and from there it will go to the powerbox and goggles. You can also see the speaker I pulled from the monitor while disassembling it, this will play audio from the aircraft.
(http://i.imgur.com/KTieWTl.jpg)
So first up, I have to give a big shout out to Ian Davidson. He took a break from (not) flying Hello Kitty to turn me out some pieces on the lathe - He's made me the spacers I needed for the head and also some small bushings that I'll explain when they get here.
(http://i.imgur.com/eXdI3RQ.jpg)
So next instalment in the ground station build - I needed to modify the DVR. Due to space constraints I can't use the plugs at the bottom and I also wanted a simple push button record/stop record which involved doing some wiring anyway.
Here's the DVR stripped out of the box and wired directly - Thankfully Foxtech have a document showing all the pin outs which makes life easier - I have soldered video in, video out, start/stop record and power.
(http://i.imgur.com/LvQfHeD.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/P4fLdoX.jpg)
So I then cut a big hole in the side of the case for the wires to exit, put it back together and printed out a gasket for the wires... I also printed out a mount to secure it to the top plate... could't find any m3 grub screws so have just gone with a normal screw until I find them.
(http://i.imgur.com/iKu7g6K.jpg)
It's a new week, and with the first post comes the first repair/replacements to the AH-6....
This funky little tail arrived today. I've spent a bit of time on it getting it to move smoothly and also getting sufficient pitch, but mostly done now... This as mentioned has the advantage of being pretty scale, and also happens to weigh about 30g less than the tail it replaces - thats quite significant when it's mass hanging all the way out on the tail and should help with CG.
(http://i.imgur.com/XLV8Rax.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/v1rBT01.jpg)
What will be really interesting is whether or not the tail has more power as a result of this staggered blade formation... time will tell.
So, All has been quiet on the western front lately. Still waiting for the postman to bring me some essentials but I've now hit some further delays too.
First up, the tail blades I received were a bit weird - one set was fine but the other set had a mismatch between blades - one was a real matt colour and the other was a more glossy black which matched the other pair. Unfortunately it's not just cosmetic as the matter blade is also lighter - they don't balance.... I will have to order a new set and return these in the mean time.
On a related noted, I bumped up one size in blade - I ordered the 105mm rather than the 95mm.... quite by accident in actual fact, I thought I was running 105's already. I decided this was quite a happy accident on the order and I'll stick with 105's for now - it should give quite a bit more tail power to counter the high torque and low rpm (just look at how much larger the blade is overall!).
(http://i.imgur.com/OH4Vwf3.jpg)
In other news I've been dissecting my new tail and I'm not 100% happy with the design. The biggest faux-pas is that they have designed it so the m4 screw takes all the shear load at the base of the grip. Putting shear loads against a thread is a recipe for disaster, especially loads that are constantly cycling. This is a stress fracture and blade separation waiting to happen - those of you familiar with T-rex 700's may remember when they threw tails in relative abundance - same design flaw at work... To add to my distaste, the grips are only using 2 small radial bearings with no thrust bearing, and the bearings have some play. Nail in the coffin is that due to the design, blade spacers are required too. If you look carefully in the below pic you'll see the black spacers I printed up on my printer.
Here you can see how the screw goes directly into the shoulder that the inner bearing sits against - all shear forces are directed at the thread here:
(http://i.imgur.com/fk6U67a.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Yd17kw7.jpg)
so what to do... I happen to have some beautifully engineered german grips going spare from my crashed tail. These have dual beefy high quality radial bearings, and a thrust bearing at the end. There is a small weight penalty for this of around 2g per grip, but this is somewhat offset by the fact the original grip requires blade spacers.
the two grips, german on the right and unknown origin on the left:
(http://i.imgur.com/MVCMcXr.jpg)
As you can see in the below pic, the german tail was designed with steel tail shafts so that all shear load is focused on a solid shaft rather than a threaded section - this is the way it should be done....
(http://i.imgur.com/J7HwliS.jpg)
So I needed a part to make these two different tails come together. That is where good old Ian Davidson steps up once again with his lathe! Hip hip...
This is the part I designed for him to make:
(http://i.imgur.com/NOTzt6g.jpg)
It replaces the aluminium shaft you can see in the pics and acts as a feathering shaft for the german grips. The downside is that due to this being steel it should weigh about 7.5g per shaft for a total of 15g... aluminium would be substantially lighter but I'm just not sure I'm comfortable with it being strong enough at 4mm. I've done some sums and overall the whole tail mech (hub, grip, shafts, slider) ends up at about the same weight as the original german tail. So while I don't really gain any weight overall I do lose out on the savings I thought I initially had with this new tail. Such is life.
In other news I also completely stripped down my head for a thorough check... I ended up replacing the bearings in one grip as they weren't smooth but it's now all fine with the new bearings. The assembly guys were a bit trigger happy with the thread lock and getting it apart was not easy and involved copious use of a butane torch... the reason why I hand't yet ventured inside I was happy the thing was thread locked and safe, but it's just as well I did persist as the thrust bearings weren't even greased.
So I'm not going to put it back up in the air until I have the replacement for the new tail blades and the feathering shafts from Ian. By then all the other parts should have arrived anyway and we can go attack this once more. In the mean time I've got a few days off coming up so will probably try and motivate myself to do some fuselage work.
oh, and one other thing I did was to design a new boom clamp for the tail supports... I needed a bit more clearance on the Ace one plugs on the main controller so printed out this new clamp with lower support rails... I also of course designed it with a channel to allow the tail pushrod through. Not a big deal but previously it had to snake up and over the tail support rod. This was also a good chance to test my new E3D metal hot end I've installed on the printer - This has improved my print quality quite significantly - the clever design means only the bottom 2mm of plastic are molten meaning you have better control over the filament extrusion/retraction and less force is required. end result is better prints with less artefacts and stringing.
(http://i.imgur.com/cHCQfiv.jpg)
things are slowly getting back together:
I fitted and wired up the two pushbuttons in place of the 3 pos switches on the taranis, happy to say they work perfectly.
(http://i.imgur.com/0R7XHzc.jpg)
I fitted my new tall landing gear to the mechanics (funnily enough this is actually about where the mechs sit when installed in the fuselage, just looks funny as hell without the actual fuselage! Anyway, this should give ample tail clearance during my testing which will make life easier:
(http://i.imgur.com/AGcCmbC.jpg)
And I printed up this central hub to make my training gear...
(http://i.imgur.com/NlhFcsy.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/UKUPeGW.jpg)
This is how the training gear will be installed - will just zip tie to the skids. These are pretty big - should mean that if the ACE one misbehaves again I can just dump it down without fear of a tip over.
(http://i.imgur.com/QJ32Awm.jpg)
The one problem is that the training gear and big landing gear add quite a bit of weight - with the 2kg needed to balance the mechanics it'll now be heavier than it will be in reality. I could put the nose weight further out but I think it's more trouble than it's worth.
So now I just need my replacement main gear, Ian's tail shafts and to sort out some odds and sods with the head.
Got home to find the speakers I had ordered for the taranis arrived... forgot about those!
quick mod to do and WOW, massive improvement. She now sounds almost as smooth as my Jeti and even at half volume she's loud enough to be heard....
So here are the two speakers, stock on the right. The replacement is a much bigger speaker!
(http://i.imgur.com/q0XlUB2.jpg)
I printed up a little adaptor to mount the new speaker, from start of design to sitting on my print bed complete was about 15 minutes - not bad going lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/fDz131P.jpg)
Here you can see the stock speaker mount next to the oversized new speaker - hence why this adaptor was useful
(http://i.imgur.com/9SX4j8x.jpg)
Adaptor installed and secured with a little CA
(http://i.imgur.com/NZAJle1.jpg)
And final install complete
(http://i.imgur.com/siXUK2o.jpg)
I've been reading that some foam over the back improves the sound further, so when I find some suitable foam I'll put some in there too but for now I'm chuffed - huge improvement.
Ian sent me a pic of the lovely steel tail feathering shafts he turned for me today (and a little main shaft topper in alu) - I think you'll agree that looks like a top job! He assures me they are as accurate as he can manage so we'll have to break out the old verniers and assign him a grade between A* and F when I get them.. lol. Cheers Ian!
(http://i.imgur.com/HVW5z7F.jpg)
In other news my new main shaft set arrived along with a new main gear... I decided to go with the DFC version as it's a shorter shaft and drops the head right down... this meant I had to ditch the top thrust bearing block and go with a normal one as the DFC shaft has a fixed retaining collar machined into it... not a big deal as this heli is designed to remain in positive G anyway and the thrust bearing at the bottom takes all the loading.
Three advantages of this approach - lower head for better look, and weight loss (lost about 18g with the shorter main shaft, no retaining collar and lighter bearing block). The disadvantage of this approach is that the main gear can't be spaced down anymore and the thick KDE gear just slightly slightly rubs on the top of the frame... I will need to do a little file work to give it some more clearance.
(http://i.imgur.com/UFEDcPh.jpg)
I also got around to fitting the spacers Ian turned for me to replace my printed ones - looks good in aluminium!
(http://i.imgur.com/PLAg25k.jpg)
I also have a dirty confession - Just ordered myself a new plank. Until I finish the AH-6 it'll be LoS only but it'll likely become my next scale FPV project after that... I'm thinking full scale cockpit (see pic below) with independent cameras for the passenger/pilot with separate video links and full pan/tilt/roll head tracking for each... anyway it's a Sebart Pilatus PC-21.
Hacker/SebArt Pilatus PC-21 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCwqtWCsQBE#ws)
(http://i.imgur.com/46QyAl1.jpg)
So I got a little time today to install the tail shafts Ian sent me... they look great!
Just a reminder of what they look like:
(http://i.imgur.com/HVW5z7F.jpg)
Grips installed to check for fit:
(http://i.imgur.com/dIafcjA.jpg)
And tail assembled:
(http://i.imgur.com/xFIfSSQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/eYowMGn.jpg)
So now not only do I have a hybrid head made from multiple different heads, I also have a hybrid tail lol. Haven't spun it up yet to check for vibes but from hand spinning it looks pretty smooth.
Thanks Ian!
Just a few small things left to do on the head and then the heli is all back together after the "incident of which we shall not speak".
Been playing a bit today with scale suitable Pan/tilt/roll concepts in my head and I've come up with this little doohickey...
The basic idea is very similar the the Pan/Tilt but of course with added roll. It will use some tiny 2x5x2.5 bearings to keep everything tight and smooth... for an idea of scale the camera mount at the top is 20mm wide.
The idea will be to have 2 servos mounted side by side below, with control links going up to two hell swash style control balls. A y-tail mixer will take care of mixing, meaning that when you try to tilt (elevator to the y-tail mixer) both arms will move up or down together... try to roll (aileron to y-tail mixer) and one arm will move up and one move down).
Not sure yet whether this will make it into the AH-6, but certainly it will be a strong contender for the PC-21... anyway I'm going to order it from shapeways (my printer can't cope with this lol) and try it out for giggles.
(http://i.imgur.com/yIj5dnG.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/DARY4FH.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/qSjr5dd.png)
Hi,
Do you mind me asking what 3D printer are you using? I've been pretty much right through this thread and didn't see it mentioned, you seem to be making some quite tidy printed bits........
Regards
Andrew
The really high quality stuff is from shapeways, the DIY stuff is using my makergear m2.
Has Juan gone home for the holidays ?
Are we now thinking and planning for the next project, rather than finishing off this one ?
Whatever, I'm suffering withdrawal symptons due to lack of more input.
Is there a support agency I can register with that offers help to people with these same personal problems ??
+1 ;D ;D
Lol
Just taking a frustration born break. Rebuild after the crash shows some excessive vibrations in the tail and head (mechanics run smooth as silk and straight as a die without head/tail attached).
Nothing that can't be fixed, but requires more time/money. Ace one rudder is also exhibiting strange behaviour - a constant slow drift to nose right which changes with gain. No way in the software to re-calibrate or otherwise assess the IMU. Have emailed DJI but no response yet.
So it's just on hold for a bit while I chill out and put it to the back of my mind for a bit!
In the mean time I have been distracting myself with this little project - a micro quad I've been designing the last week or so:
Still honing the design and optimising and will probably start building after christmas. So this is the current design, those of you who have seen the previous renders will notice the new motor mounts - these allowed me to drop some weight from the mount itself, plus lose 2 screws per mount for a total of 8 less screws and 16 less nuts (will now tap into the plastic directly).
Some design notes:
- Motors form a 200mm square (~8") and runs on 5" props.
- Frames cut from 1mm CF plate
- Arms 12mm x 10mm ID CF tube
- Mobius Mount on front
- Recessed FC mount in CG position (specifically designed for the new ET Vector)
- Booms feature small notches at either end to ensure alignment with a corresponding tab in the boom mounts and motor mounts
(http://i.imgur.com/TjR5JWw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/fvwmW5V.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/u0pdA6t.jpg)
More info here: http://fpvlab.com/forums/showthread.php?23724-Developing-the-ZQ-M-quot-Vortex-quot-quad
That's a lovely looking frame. Be waiting with interest to see what choices you make in terms of motors, escs, number of cells to use etc etc.
You don't think the Vector is a little overkill for a mini-quad ?
thanks
Yeah it's overkill, but it only weighs 50g including the current sensor and GPS (if I decide to use that too), so it's not totally ridiculous. What really appeals to me is that it is a flight controller and OSD in one, which simplifies things greatly on such a tiny frame while still allowing you to get the full experience.
I will certainly try it anyway, if I decide it's overkill I have a lot of other things to put the vector in lol.
I don't think it's overkill. Small doesn't mean budget imo.
Okay so big thumbs up to Rob Lefebvre (an Arducopter developer).
I was chatting to him re pixhawk/arducopter and he pointed out the tail issue I was seeing could be magnetometer related. He suggested I try rotating the helicopter and seeing if the drift reversed.
It hadn't occurred to me that the Ace would be using mag in manual mode, I had assumed it was only something that would be used in auto modes.
Anyway, I did his test and while the drift didn't reverse, it did change in speed. I re-ran a compass calibration in the apartment and then tested again. Drift was markedly reduced and in some orientations the tail servo finally fell completely silent and all drift stopped.
So, looks like the tail issue is most likely just the magnetic environment of my apartment. Teaches me to make assumptions about how the system works too.
So, that looks like one problem down (knock on wood!), I now just have two more glaring issues to address - tail vibration and the head imbalance.
The tail should be a simple matter of some time spent... I will remove one tail shaft and balance a single pair, then add the second shaft and tweak until the whole thing is smooth.
The head I can't figure out. Something must have been damaged in the crash (and it's not the main shaft, I've tried 3 new shafts) but I can't see any obvious issues. Vibration level is totally unacceptable though.
Sooooo.... I have made contact with the company that makes this super premium 5 blade head on their 5 axis CNC. It is insanely expensive, I was quoted €539.50... When I asked if that included the swash he said no, lol. That's mental. However, luckily I am mental so have ordered it - if this doesn't spin as smooth as silk it'll be going right back to Germany lol.
So, things will resume in due time.
In the mean time, check out how my little micro quad has turned out so far, I'm pretty chuffed with that!
(http://i.imgur.com/hw8sqyl.jpg)
That is one great looking quad copter. I see you've used CF for the rods and plates. What parts are 3D printed?
The red bits? :D
This whole thread has just blown me away. Amazing.
yeah, red bits are printed... rest is cut on the CNC
So good neeeews
I had to get a new swash, the old one I had intended to use caused the head to bind as the balls were too close together, and I didn't like the PSG adaptor as it raises the swash balls above the axis of rotation which is ney good design. So ordered a new swash with spacing similar to the PSG adaptor. It arrived today and I fitted it all together, just span it up and BOOOM - smooth as a ken doll's smooth bits.
So two problems now struck off the list... next for attention is the tail.
(http://i.imgur.com/I7rjY5n.jpg)
Dude your skills know no bounds, super impressed mate!!
love the mini quad too, if you need a beta tester I just so happen to have all the parts needed to put it in the air, would be with CC3D though not vector ;-)
thanks matey, but not really true! they definitely know some bounds....
Re the micro quad, we had a good laugh with it at the IMRC lab yesterday but anthony managed to break a motor mount where it attaches to the landing gear leg. Had a good idea to replace the CF leg with stiff rubber and it should eliminate the weak point... other than that it stood up to several tumbles with no damage so pretty happy.
video here:
First test - ZQ-M Vortex (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOBF4PYVyF0#ws)
and back to the AH-6:
sooooo.... This tail was giving me a headache.
The problem is that due to the floating shaft design it is extremely difficult to get the shaft precisely centred and I think this is what was leading to the majority of my vibrations.
I thought about my problem for a bit and came up with this solution. I printed out a tail locking block... I measured the distance between grips (20.2mm) and printed out a block with 20.3mm width that could slip over the tail hub and spindle, with a hole to allow me to then insert and tighten the retaining grub screw. the end result is hopefully a better balanced tail!
first do the front
(http://i.imgur.com/02wjbni.jpg)
And then flip it round and do the back. Note the hole to allow the grub screw to be inserted/tightened - nearly forgot that lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/Sb7ewRP.jpg)
end result looks promising:
(http://i.imgur.com/hlIKa2D.jpg)
spool up check - the vibrations are a lot better now.
Of course there's always going to be vibes with the big gears, big motor, torque tube, tail gears etc etc but it's now about as smooth as any heli I've had... Need to check with tail blades later but they should be pretty good - if not I may need to look into dynamically balancing the tail with the blades in place.
AH-6 Mechanics vibration check (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogjwhyb-gyM#ws)
So, not the most exciting of posts but one I am posting just for completeness - can't leave the mundane stuff out! The Scorpion motor was not new and something I had been meaning to do was change out the bearings for some new ones. While I was at it I decided an upgrade to ceramic hybrids was in order, and it also means I can pretty much leave them maintenance free for a long time until changing them out for some new ones... very convenient for a scale body. (they also spin more freely and up to higher rpm, so in theory they produce less drag in the system freeing up power/efficiency).
Motor pulled apart (just a case of removing the cir-clip and spacer) and next to the new ceramic bearings that will be installed:
(http://i.imgur.com/wNM6czC.jpg)
I decided to do things properly for once rather than my normal way, and got the proper Scorpion bearing removal tool... glad I did as it makes this process a piece of cake. First up attach the collar to the motor mounting holes and insert the bearing puller... tighten up the screw in the end which expands the shaft and wedges into the inner race of the top bearing, then proceed to wind it out.
(http://i.imgur.com/rVnLfGn.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/kk8DXic.jpg)
Then you just insert the small bearing pusher tool and push the bottom bearing out
(http://i.imgur.com/u7vTyek.jpg)
next just push the new bearings in, using the supplied tools and make sure they are firmly seated...
(http://i.imgur.com/MxUGLZC.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/eFFhaXb.jpg)
et voila, better than new!
(http://i.imgur.com/uMuzJh2.jpg)
I'm glad I did do this as the top bearing was actually quite rough and had some slop, if the bearing fails it can take the whole motor out so it's worth making sure everything is in tip top condition. Might have dodged a hidden danger there! Found a great price for these bearings on alibaba and the quality appears to be very high indeed - I'm tempted to fit out the whole helicopter with them tbh!
I have managed to find a chap that can help me out with something I have wanted for a long time - a real working primary flight display with Artificial horizon, Speed tape and altimeter.
The way he's doing it is with an arduino board using an imu and gps, this sends the info to an intelligent display which then turns it into the graphical representation. The screens however are either too big or too small for the dash so I have had to downsize slightly to a 1.5" screen and that necessitates a re-design of the dash panel.
So I had a bit of time to start re-designing the dash, Im going with a different modular approach this time.
Previously I designed the whole dash as a single printed piece, this time I'm going to design the flat section and cut it out on the CNC machine. The inserts will then be designed separately and printed individually, then assembled together after painting.
This should make it cheaper, easier to change in future if i ever want to swap things around and also make it easier to paint.
so here is the start of the dash (still several cut outs to do) which will be cut on the CNC.
(http://i.imgur.com/SgiYxv1.jpg)
and here it is with the assembled pieces so far:
(http://i.imgur.com/GGXbNhU.jpg)
I decided to make an entire panel dedicated to LED warnings/info, so now you have (from left to right) missile LED, Minigun LED, Mode selected (Manual, Atti, Gps Atti) with red/yellow/green leds, and on the right surrounded by hazard lines the Emergency backup led which indicates a BEC failure and activation of the backup power.
(http://i.imgur.com/OjmbquT.jpg)
on top of that it will have the functional working AHI on the right screen and perhaps a navigational display or similar on the left.
Have you seen the minnaza OSD project? Sounds like it would work here too. Takes inputs from the naza and uses a minim OSD to interpret the signals and display the results. Would be easy to hack it to light leds on the panel...
Looks great by the way.
/Steve
Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk
I'm not using the naza, not sure if it would work with the ace one?
I don't need that anyway tbh - the only led input from the controller that I require on the dash is the mode selector and that is easily achieved with a DElight controller that listens in on the mode channel and is programmed to switch a given led at each switch position.
cheers for the thought though!
so here is a rough idea of what the new dash will look like with a splash of colour...
(http://i.imgur.com/717a7de.jpg)
and just out of interest this is the rear view of the dash panel which I will cut on the CNC this time. Just need to decide what material to cut it from!
(http://i.imgur.com/axvUIFn.jpg)
so here's a little mockup of the dash - should look something like that except hopefully a bit better with some detailing and weathering etc
(http://i.imgur.com/DaLuwWU.jpg)
and a check at the back to make sure the screens will play nice
(http://i.imgur.com/uTNWW0A.jpg)
Beautiful work Zee!
Hopefully, with the new and improved avionics, Juan will be able to fly the thing without crashing it !!
we can but hope!
Had some light weight sound deadening foam lying around so decided to fit a little to the insides of the heli to try and reduce the sound bouncing around in there... sometimes scale helis can sound a little "hollow" imo so hopefully this will help.... the Fractals are now hidden behind the deadening.
(http://i.imgur.com/Gu05wUa.jpg)
I also upgraded the tail servo to a more torquey unit to cope with the 4 blade tail better and also because it can cope with the 6v BEC voltage I want to run at while the futaba technically isn't rated for it (though common wisdom says it survives ok). The replacement is a MKS HBL980 which the specs say has
Operating Speed (6.0V): 0.04 sec/60° degrees at no load
Stall Torque (6.0V): 62.5 oz/in (4.5 kg.cm)
Gear Type: Titanium Gears
Sexy!
(http://i.imgur.com/IucnOMX.jpg)
And if you watch the videos I posted you may notice the head is always spinning before it starts up. The reason for this is that this particular YGE ESC just cannot be made to do a smooth initial start. It spools up nice and slowly but the very initial motion is always jerky and jerks the blades out of alignment which pisses me off so I have been pre-spinning the head to stop the sudden kick... I used to use this ESC in my 600 Pro too and it had the same issue there. Anyway I've finally given up on ever getting it to start smoothly and have instead removed it. I have pulled the Kontronik Jive 80HV from another craft and will be fitting it to this instead
Due to the lower profile I can move this further forwards under the motor which will help with CG, and allows room to fit some caps as you can see in the pic (esc wires will run back by one side).
(http://i.imgur.com/lUeayif.jpg)
And here I have wired up one of the weapons pods. The idea is fairly simple, there is a 6 pin plug that carries all the required wires and will slot into a 6 pin receptacle in the fuselage. I printed up a couple of joints for the wires to run neatly into the main body of the arm.
(http://i.imgur.com/QWu2KLX.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Cftb0vd.jpg)
Lovely Scale work Zee!
Ta, but i haven't really done much new there lol
Here is a design I came up with for an anti vibration ace one mount.
(http://i.imgur.com/XqSJm2r.jpg)
Printed out the mount, looks like it all fits... with the mass of the Ace One I've gone with the stiffer dampers - we'll see how it how it works out.
(http://i.imgur.com/nBftaAf.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/TwsUWF8.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/PQEbMBc.jpg)
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on March 01, 2014, 05:38:28 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/nBftaAf.jpg)
Its a damn fine work of art but isn't the IMU already dampened inside the ACE One?
Actually I don't think it does... all reference I've seen to the inherent damping ability refers to the mass of the aluminium case.
Here you can see a picture of the internals - there is no obvious vibration damping such as you would find in the Naza for example.
(http://i.imgur.com/mFc8bUr.png)
on top of that see this reference to the importance of isolating vibrations in the manual:
(http://i.imgur.com/qZvqbhU.png)
and the final evidence I would like to submit m'honour is the below IMU vibration damping kit for the S800 (which uses the Wookong, same style IMU as Ace One)
http://www.dji.com/product/s800-vibration-absorber-kit (http://www.dji.com/product/s800-vibration-absorber-kit)
QuoteS800 Vibration Absorber Kit
The kit contains six dampers and an IMU mounting plate. You can install these easily onto your S800 without making further changes, and flight performance can be greatly improved. All you have to do is install the six dampers between the S800 frame arms and the landing gear. The air-core damping ball within the dampers will absorb the high frequency vibration. It effectively reduces the high frequency vibration influence to the IMU and gimbal, and makes the S800 flight more stable.
happy? ;)
Happy as Pig in s**t
Ah, I thought it would be similar to a Naza/Wookong :) that's a beefy old IMU shield jeebus!
Little update...
So for those that haven't seen it in my micro quad thread, here is my new CNC table... much more spacious than the old one!
(http://i.imgur.com/ObDRw0t.jpg)
And here it is getting started on my latest part for the AH-6...
(http://i.imgur.com/v2JVI9a.jpg)
These are something I had been meaning to make for a while... proper braces for the bottom plate. I had whipped up a temporary solution that was functional but heavier than needed and as I came to move the ESC I realised I could really do with some extra wiring space on the floor pan. So this is what was in there before - just a 10mm square piece of alu.
(http://i.imgur.com/ezZNTLb.jpg)
And these are the proper replacements after drilling and tapping:
(http://i.imgur.com/FzKZTXr.jpg)
So as you can see this now gives me much more room to comfortably run my ESC wiring, and of course shaves off some weight in the process.
(http://i.imgur.com/FmkOWSR.jpg)
Machined out my new dash today from 2mm G10:
(http://i.imgur.com/XOtu3GQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/kyihqNq.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/F4cprZ9.jpg)
The inserts have been ordered from shapeways last week and should arrive within the next week or so. I also ordered the screens, though initially they will just be animated images rather than functional, but I didn't want to add yet more delay waiting for that, and now that I'll be using those screens it will be simple to upgrade to functional software later.
On a side note, it's amazing how much more productive you are when you aren't constantly fighting you machinery lol. I'm really loving how reliable and precise the new machine is.
-----
So the screens arrived, again just animated for now... not yet functional. Unfortunately shapeways is being pants and hasn't shipped my latest order despite it being due 2 days ago, so I still don't have the extra pieces for the dash.
anyway, the screens:
(http://i.imgur.com/OpXmU77.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cuuQU6l.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/7woMNvI.jpg)
Are they little displays with SD card readers? :o
What formats can they play?
yes but not actually using the SD cards, this is all programmed in the existing memory.
Once done they won't be playing anything - they'll be doing a real time display based on info from a small IMU and GPS board.
Printed up some special brackets and mounted the screens. Decided I really need to flip the nav display for space reasons, so now I need to figure out how to invert the display. All things are possible though. Well, most things.
(http://i.imgur.com/IFpKvKM.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/cFef3qY.jpg)
Just waiting for the surrounds etc from shapeways, Screens have a real nice anti glare finish...
(http://i.imgur.com/8YjJ9jT.jpg)
Definitely did slow down but should start to pick up again shortly!
Today I just produced this... An EzUHF mount. I made a 3d printed prototype to test it a while ago but now decided to do the real thing out of aluminium.
This was the 3d printed prototype:
The clamps generate sufficient force that you can just push the EzUHF into position and it will stay there, the tabs prevent it over extending when used as a transmitter stand, and the bottom extends far enough to protect the plugs on the bottom.
(http://i.imgur.com/dUwOy2u.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/HhB03HC.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/BQeis9L.jpg)
I am SUPER chuffed with how this came out, I almost feel like I'm getting the hang of this stuff! Next step will be exploring 2 sided machining but for now I'm really happy with out this came out.
getting started:
(http://i.imgur.com/nJgPRfZ.jpg)
taking shape:
(http://i.imgur.com/fcKQtNI.jpg)
et voila!
(http://i.imgur.com/mcJ3MaK.jpg)
Glamour shots:
(http://i.imgur.com/t7isAA8.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1Y29Ekh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/jVAHtvT.jpg)
Cheers - it's an X6-1500GT
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on April 24, 2014, 06:47:24 PM
Cheers - it's an X6-1500GT
Is it a 4 axis machine?? - I assume the 4th axis was used to cut the 45 degree chamfer around all the edges
It does have the option for a 4th axis, but I don't have it. The chamfer was simply done with a v-bit
Understood.
Err, any more news on this project ?
Does it fly stably yet ?
It hasn't flown since the crash.
However, I did finish off the rebuild and wiring yesterday. It now has the kontronik ESC instead of the YGE (and the spool up start is now nice and smooth), and I have set the ACE One up for the new head.
I was going to give it a go today, but it was raining like mad. Hopefully at some point soon I'll get another chance to try it out. I must admit to being quite nervous this time... normally I'm very comfortable flying heli's but the issue is that I don't know that I can trust the flight controller after last time.
Anyway, hopefully friday afternoon perhaps after work.
I hope all went well.
Did it ????
I've been in the process of buying a house ready for my move back to the UK... no end in sight for this project yet I'm afraid lol.
I will just catch you up on proceedings though:
I actually nearly flew the mechanics for the first time since the crash, but it was raining :(
I've set up the Ace One again, it's all screwed back together with a blend if titanium and aluminium to shed a little weight, fitted the kontronik Jive 80HV (start up is much smoother) and set up the new tail... It was basically ready for another go, just waiting on free time and good weather to coincide.
However, you wouldn't believe what I managed to do the other day...
I was spooling it up with the tail blades (no mains) to test out the tail, and the thing drew so much air through that it pulled a loose cloth up and through the tail... sigh. I can't believe how stupid I can be sometimes! I hit hold as soon as I saw what was happening but it was already too late lol.
So I broke the tail pitch lever, bent some push rods and also completely stripped out the forward tail drive gear. AWESOME. The damage was very limited at least, the tail itself seems fine and I didn't damage any blades etc.
I needed to replace the gears and align have since released a much stronger and longer lasting (plus less warped) black material. Unfortunately the forward torque tube gear didn't fit the standard tail boom, so I had to design a new one with adjustable mesh. While I was at it I replaced the bearings with ceramic hybrids - something I had avoided doing previously as it was all assembled.
Here's the newly re-designed tail boom block with upgraded gears and adjustable mesh:
(http://i.imgur.com/XwnJg1t.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/dxyOGT1.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Bf2emHm.jpg)
Next up I just need to figure out how to best repair/replace my tail pitch arm as the part isn't available separately for that particular tail:
----------
So I've been busy buying a new house, which I now can happily say I own :)
One of the first things I set up was the CNC lol, so that is now up and running again... I'm in serious need of some better lighting in the garage to use it more easily but that'll have to be done some time when I have money again!
Well as we know I managed to destroy a couple of key components of my tail, so as usual I've taken the opportunity to do things better... I was never happy with the side to side slop in the stock tail's pitch slider links and I really prefer a dual point slider design. On top of that the tail I was using was heavy and had no locking pin to help sure the tail, thus was purely reliant on friction from the clamp.
Soooooo as you have seen a few times, when I rebuild I upgrade.
that has lead me here...
This is the current tail unit I am working on... all fitted out with ceramic bearings on high speed parts now of course. At some point when I find some spare time the shiny metal parts will get painted black to match the rest of the tail, and I may bug Ian to see if he can turn down the ends one of the new black geared tails shafts to 5mm in order to get that last gear in the newest hi performance black material.
(http://i.imgur.com/aENEVbJ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/v3Y4PBu.jpg)
So that gives me a much more robust tail attachment with lock pin, and I designed a new tail piece that will also hold the pushrod. The pitch slider mechanism is vastly superior to what I had before and is buttery smooth with no slop... and it's lighter than the old one. Brucey bonus.
tail pushrod guide and tail lock piece:
(http://i.imgur.com/TguvDBZ.png)
But that's only half the plan of course and the rest requires me to make more custom parts. First up we have this new pitch slider mechanism that I need to cut on the CNC:
(http://i.imgur.com/XyDcOWQ.png)
Combined with some little nylon (or maybe alu, not decided yet) anti-rotation pitch links, control balls and m2x8 screws to build a pitch slider that looks a little something like this...similar idea to the old one but much more solid design.
(http://i.imgur.com/8dV2MfH.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/oQol3Km.jpg)
My one big problem is I am not sure as to the type of thread used on the pitch slider bushing. I am guessing it is a m8x0.5mm extra fine thread... It's about as close as I can estimate anyway - I ordered an m8x0.5mm tap and so we'll find out soon I guess lol. The next problem is that towards the maximum inwards travel, the aluminium pitch link part will strike the arm. To solve that and help get full travel I have also designed a new shortened mounting arm for the whole slider mechanism... This along with the tail lock will be printed at shapeways using the sintered nylon for strength.
(http://i.imgur.com/xFeJXtU.png)
-------
so today I got a chance to make some parts...
Cut the tail piece of of alu
(http://i.imgur.com/AqD92RM.jpg)
Threading with the M8x0.5 which I am hoping is the right thread!
(http://i.imgur.com/QKFv6Gh.jpg)
And the part along with some plastic arms I cut from black nylon. Obviously it all needs cleaning up a bit and I need to print out a little jig to make sure the holes all get drilled in just the right place.
(http://i.imgur.com/wh9Nlbl.jpg)
-----------
So this is my little drill jig I came up with to make sure the holes all ended up nicely aligned. 3D printers are so useful!
(http://i.imgur.com/QKafMKG.jpg)
And here is the drilled part after a little polishing with a dremel brush thing just to get a slightly better surface finish.
(http://i.imgur.com/w9l9R6n.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/W2cppqQ.jpg)
balls fitted
(http://i.imgur.com/JtR1FCK.jpg)
And hooray - I guessed right about the bushing being an M8x0.5 extra fine thread, all fits! You can also just about make out the new shorter slider mechanism side mount that I designed to increase clearance - it finally arrived from shapeways.
(http://i.imgur.com/NjKuV5h.jpg)
Just waiting on some screws and pushrods that haven't yet arrived for some reason and then I can get this tail up and running.
And there was me thinking you had abandoned the project.
Seems it's more a case that could not be further away from abandonment if you tried ! Gosh you have been busy.
(Next time any delay might be the patter of little feet - that usually can happen after a move back to the UK and a house purchase!!)
Quote from: wgt40w on July 16, 2014, 06:38:21 PM
And there was me thinking you had abandoned the project.
Seems it's more a case that could not be further away from abandonment if you tried ! Gosh you have been busy.
(Next time any delay might be the patter of little feet - that usually can happen after a move back to the UK and a house purchase!!)
Too much invested to abandon it lol... it might take a while but it will get done eventually ;)
So another day, another jig. Turns out it's surprisingly difficult to drill a hole centrally in the like pitch links and there's not a huge amount of spare material so I needed to be accurate.
To help I whipped up another jig:
(http://i.imgur.com/FKcfIII.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rAJvpjk.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1tv3rdj.jpg)
End result is a nice straight and central hole:
(http://i.imgur.com/kqQcMrv.jpg)
Cut down some push rods:
(http://i.imgur.com/PnzDDUy.jpg)
And finally we have a working tail again, it's much improved compared to the previous version:
(http://i.imgur.com/kvnW7eP.jpg)
I realised I really need to build a storage and transport case for this thing. I had planned on doing it once finished but of course things dragged on and now I'm looking at having to transport this back without damaging it.
I saw this box while looking at pictures on the internet and thought that could be quite a cool quirky idea... so I am setting about building a box using that rough idea as a basis:
The inspiration:
(http://i.imgur.com/VHVtXoc.jpg)
My attempts:
(http://i.imgur.com/s8WUXbi.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/JXGRRIe.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/yAMXGWo.jpg)
So the box is now more or less built, I just need my lid latches to arrive and put a handle on it, then give it a paint job. Perhaps add some rolling wheels on the back because it's going to be a big thing to move around. I had the idea that I can use the lid upside down as a landing and take off pad too if needed so might hook up some battery powered strobes on there for fun.
Next job on the box front will be figuring out the internal design to safely secure the heli in place for transport.
So where are we at with the actual heli? Well I am just waiting for some new ball links for the cyclic rods as I fitted a slightly longer main shaft. With the new head and a DFC shaft it was making me nervous about boom strikes... the new shaft is about 15mm longer which moves the head up in line with the top of the T tail but does mean I need longer ball links. They should arrive this week from quickuk.
I have also re-jigged my ballast - previously it was just a strap holding the weights to the front aluminium bars and wasn't very sturdy or easy to play with. I cooked up this little design which seems to work well... just printing up a spacer to bring the OD of the tube up to the ID of the weights and then that's done.
(http://i.imgur.com/qFtupsn.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/jcf5TSL.jpg)
Soooo... she's almost ready to have a take 2 on the ACE One test. I've set it all up now so it should simply be a case of putting the new ball links on and levelling the swash, then off we trot.
well guys, the sun was shining and the wind was blowing (doh), and I decided to give it a quick run before work... The school just across from me has a small carpark and since it's summer holidays the car park is empty - ideal for some testing:)
Unfortunately the wind was going to make it impossible to really get a proper idea of how she's flying or to get any serious tuning done, but I just wanted to see if it flew.
My report:
First hop.. spooled up, thumbs shaking on the sticks a bit with flashbacks from last time, and then it popped up into the air at first, then started to develop a rotating oscillation that progressively started getting worse. Before it got out of hand I quickly popped it back down on to the ground and spooled down. The training gear performed it's job admirably!
I adjusted some gains and then tried again - she fliiiiiiiiiiiiiies. It was manual mode only (the instructions for Ace One say to get it flying in manual before even attempting to mess with auto modes), it was windy, I only hovered around a bit, but she FLEW. All in I probably flew for around 10 minutes across several tests, tweaking the gains a bit to get it flying better.
I didn't have a camera man handy, and flying a heli in manual mode requires all my digits, but I figured you guys would probably castrate me If I didn't show you something after all this time, so I put my iPhone on the ground and recorded a short test hover. I'll upload that video now. Like I say - it's far from tuned, but it's proof of concept if nothing more ;)
WAHOOO!!!
And here is the video. As said, nothing special... but proof she flies :sparta:
Ace One take 2 (just a quick hover) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Scr0bBEbW8#ws)
Looking good Zee, congrats on a successful maiden. :D
Congratulations bud!
That thing sounds sexy as hell on spool
Great news mate, seems to be holding up fine now
Cheers guys, was really nice to have a successful flight (well, hover mostly lol) with it.
I think it's going to need a fair bit of tweaking to get it flying to how I want, but I'm just happy the Ace One isn't broken!
Next big step will be testing auto modes, but once that's done the opportunity for big setup related crashes should mostly be behind me! I want to shake it down with a few more manual flights and tuning before I move on to that stage.
And of course, I better get back to work on the fuselage.
Take you time on the tuning! Nail it right in!
When I say take you time, try and get the tuning done within 1 year lol!
How is the Ace One For turning? Is it a right faff?
Erm, not sure yet really but it doesn't look any worse than a typical heli FBL controller.
In manual mode you basically have 4 things to balance out: gains (fore/aft, left/right, tail) direct input, cyclic rate, flybar weight.
Then in auto modes you have the separate gains, stick delay, velocity tracking.
I have the added complication of tweaking the e-phasing to minimise aileron/elevator interaction too... I think I should probably start with optimising that.
Compared to some heli systems though (such as my sk720 for example) there are very few parameters overall to mess with - Hopefully it should be relatively easy to dial in to a satisfactory level.
We talking my satisfactory level or your satisfactory level lol!
Im looking forward too seeing the mech and canopy on now! 99% of people would of given up by now, how do you keep going?
Look forward to more news soon
I bet Juan can't wait to get in it now!!
While my batteries are charging for another couple of test flights this afternoon, I've just been doing some work on the project i've now dubbed AH-6 Xtreme for my work folder ;)
Couple of improvements over the current frame so far:
- Tail servo moved in from the tail boom to the frame to help CG.
- Middle bearing block accepts a large angular contact bearing (accepts high radial and thrust loads in one).
- Improved servo geometry, also with no linkages or levers - all direct to swash.
- Ace One IMU mount moved inwards closer to the CG, better for accelerometer accuracy and also helps with overall CG.
I am planning to use a dual belt drive system with compound gearing. I should be able to achieve around 14:1 on the motor to main rotor and then 5:1 on main rotor to tail - this will give more tail authority even with the low main rotor RPM... an improvement over the current 12.5:1 and 4.5:1 of the current setup. I keep reading how smooth the dual belt setups are too so should hopefully keep vibrations low.
I can't design the drive system until I have pulleys and belts in hand though, so now work stops for a while :(
(http://i.imgur.com/IYKGBJQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/8OuYmt4.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/QaJsfyG.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/xHm99jM.jpg)
good view of beefcake 10x26x8mm angular bearing:
(http://i.imgur.com/2AXd1qp.jpg)
So, just got back from two more test flights, second one without the training gear ;)
I've got the cyclic behaving fairly nicely in manual, but the tail I can't quite get right, either too loose or too bouncy. I think I have a mechanical gain issue there so I need to get/modify a shorter servo arm there methinks.
I had a very quick flick into Atti a couple of times but it quickly started a rapid drift backwards and left - will need to recheck my swash is level.
However, another 20 minutes of airtime and it's still in one piece!
I'm quite happy to see the AhZ hoovering in one place for 20min, anyone else lol?
Videos videos videos!
doesn't make for very exciting videos! wasn't just hovering though, was some very careful moving around too ;)
Hopefully going to fly tomorrow too after some tweaks tonight, so we'll see if anyone is around to grab some more video.
hmmmm... mixed bag.
Flew another two flights, I have manual mode flying ok-ish, and the tail is better after shortening the servo arm - I think it could stand to go another 2mm shorter or so to get it just perfect. In order to have it not constantly drift to the left and back I had to trim my swash out of level.
I also played around with Atti and GPS atti, including switching between manual and atti/gps atti in flight.
That's where the mixed bag comes in - it didn't crash (yay!) and switch over was smooth between modes. The issue is that upon selecting Atti the helicopter starts a strong drift left and slightly backwards, even with the swash trimmed to fly level in manual mode. humph.
So anyway, on to testing GPS atti and it holds pretty decently in the hover after an initial bump to the left due to having to pass through atti to get there. Weird one though - push forwards and the heli drives about 20-30 degrees left of track rather than straight ahead. And yes I calibrated the compass, twice. The DJI ace one wiki says that if it tracks to the side, then you should rotate the compass. Thing is that's a big offset and where I am is near to 0 degrees declination. I've never had to twist my Naza pucks.
Sigh... I really feel like a product this expensive should be a bit more straight forward. I need to do some reading up on my problems and see if I can find someone experienced with the Ace One.
That Ace One will be the end of you!
Did you get the ace one looked at after your first crash? I cant remember? Turning pucks and compass` ofset manualy sounds bizzar to me, and wouldnt sit right with me either!
The whole point of the system is to make your flights stable, not drift when it wants too!
Im waving a red flag on that Ace One unit you have!
Yeah, it's a bit frustrating.
The more I read about the pixhawk and the direction it's starting to take now that they are beginning to leave the APM hardware behind (e.g. enhanced kalman filters is a big one for system reliability and rejection of bad data) the more interested I get.
The new mechanics I showed above will be wide enough to accommodate a pixhawk, so I've got my bases covered should I wish to switch. The big issue is money now lol, having bought a house and moving back to the UK with a pay cut the toy funds aren't quite what they used to be.
Oh boo hoo, you already have the best toys! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Is there not somone local to you with ACE One expert knowledge? (Dont look at me im a hammer and brute force kinda guy)
I would leave the Pixa for a year, let them work the bugs!
Again, for the money that Ace One should be more than enough to sort the AhZ out! Might even be worth a send to the DJI folk (not that i heard there very good at helping customers) Does the unit do data logging?
I've never had a reply of any actually use from DJI, and that's when I get a reply at all.
There is a DJI expert (Chris Bergen) I've asked for advice, and he has kindly suggested the problem may lie in my swash timing. It's currently set at negative 40 degrees to bring the mechanical phasing to 90 degrees but he suggests this, while the best place to start, may need adjusting in flight testing.
It would explain a couple of anomalies... That circular oscillation I mentioned on the very first test when the gains were a bit higher. Normally if a gain is too high in an axis on a heli I would expect a bounce in that axis. If the phasing is off to the extent that the FBL unit's correction in aileron is actually also introducing elevator then you may end up with this rolling correction resulting in the rotating oscillation I saw.
So, next job will be resetting the swash to level and try playing with the phasing angle.
I guess if the 'Lead In' is off, the cyclic input is introducing a lag in an unwanted axis somewhere, and the FC not quite sure how to respond.
That would make sense i guess, but how are you going to change the phasing in angle while the FC just wants to correct it all the time? Sounds like a right head ache, and perfect for a bit of hammer time to me :+
Touching back a few years, I think i cheated a little and use a STM or SMT (Not sure if its Swash Time Mix or Mixing timer lol) to sort out a Heli but it still never quiet got it 'Perfect'
Trying to work out phase lag, Meh rather you that me! This kind of stuff is on the limit of my aerodynamic knowledge :-[
Pretty simple, there is a slider that allows you to adjust phase angle electronically... At the moment it's at negative 40 degrees in order to give a mechanically 90 degree phased head.
My plan is simple, and more akin to your hammer method than any advanced aerodynamics calculation. I'm just going to increase the gains right up to the point that the oscillation just starts again. I will then change the phasing to negative 37 degrees and see... If the problem gets worse, then I will try negative 43, if the problem reduces but is still there I'll try negative 35 etc. Once the oscillation goes away (if it does lol) I'll increase the gains until it comes back and continue fine tuning phase angle. If the oscillation reverse direction, it probably suggests that I've gone past the correct setting and need to dial it back a bit. Once I get the gains high enough that it starts bouncing on axis but not oscillating, I'll know I've found my phasing angle and then dial the gains down enough to stop the bounce.... Then I'll try atti mode again and see if my problems persist.
That's my theory anyway. I'm just glad I built this training gear because intentional forcing the heli to oscillate would get my knickers in a twist otherwise.
So, all in all it looks like you are going to build a mark II chassis and mechanics + mark III on the electronics side !
You sure are a glutton for punishment - but at least you will be giving your 'followers' much more to enjoy reading about and being even more in awe of your ability to learn and apply building / machining and electronic skills !!
Well I'm optimistic that with the help of Chris Bergen I may be able to sort my Ace One issues out... if that is the case then I will (at least for now) continue to use it.
The new mechanics are really just a "because I can" thing... back when I started this thing I didn't have the same knowledge or skills that I do now and settled just for something that is essentially an (admittedly fairly extensively) modified t-rex 600e.
Now with the equipment I have, and the design skills I'm still learning, I feel I can aim a little higher and design something from scratch that will be targeted specifically at what I need. The main points are high gear ratios achieved through compound gearing to better suit low head speeds, high tail to main rotor gear ratio to enable better tail authority at low head speeds, and finally reduced vibration and noise by running a dual main belt drive from motor to main shaft.
Like I said it's really just something I'm going to develop on the side - once the Ace One (or pixhawk if necessary) is running as I would like, I can install the present mechanics in the fuselage without waiting for the new one.
Been doing a little design work on the mkII mechs... even modelled a Kontronik Pyro 650 to help me figure out placement of everything. The Pyro will probably replace the Scorpion, it puts out a max continuous power of 3kW (about 4 horse power) which is way more than this needs but weighs 290g vs the scorpion's 460g.... that's a huge difference. Supposed to be an extremely efficient motor too, and considering I shed 170g (or optionally gain 170g of battery capacity) that should help flight times.
The catch is that the pyro 650 only comes in a minimum of 620kv which is waaaaay too high, so I have sent an email to Gmauro (the brushless motor rewinding king) to get a price on one rewound to around 420kv.
anyway, a quick look at the mechanics starting to develop (ignore the frame at the front, it's still based on the old frame's dimensions:
(http://i.imgur.com/vGFSMj3.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/249cPlJ.jpg)
Had a little time at home to start the first part of the mkII mechanics - the main gear. On the current gear setup I have an aluminium hub housing a single radial bearing and a one way roller bearing, which is then screwed into the gear. Because I'm making this gear out of aluminium I have no need for a separate hub and have designed the gear as a single piece, plus added a second radial on the bottom.
the design:
(http://i.imgur.com/vYF4W2F.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/2heLr4V.jpg)
and I'm cheating a bit here, using a pre-made pulley:
(http://i.imgur.com/qmGnfwh.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Hxx3Uaz.jpg)
So I pre-machined a jig to centre the piece in X and Y, plus level the bed at the same time.
(http://i.imgur.com/amIj7w9.jpg)
Then I glued the part in (using a glue that can be dissolved in acetone)
(http://i.imgur.com/mtHWMH4.jpg)
and after machining, I cut down the surrounding mdf and soaked the part in acetone for a couple of minutes, the glue dissolved and the part was released:
(http://i.imgur.com/E5zXjoa.jpg)
So that's only one side obviously but I ran out of time and had to come back to Geneva. The next job will be flipping it over and machining the bottom side.
Now that i'm back though I'll be doing those adjustments to the ace one and seeing if I can get this thing flying a bit better.
A bit more design work... it's going to be a fixed belt drive system - distances between pulleys have been specced to the most suitable length of belt available, and any belt adjustment will be automatic in the form of sprung tensioners.
Tomorrow i'm on standby for work - if they don't call then hopefully i'll get to do a couple more test flights to see if I can nail down the Ace One.
(http://i.imgur.com/1Q2AVjY.jpg)
I hope you get a few flights in today and are able to adjust it a bit more to your liking!
I love your simple ways of getting over engineering projects like gluing the block to the board!
Fingers crossed it goes well!
not today, tomorrow - worked today :( hopefully they leave me alone tomorrow and I can play lol.
So just one more pic cos I think it looks cool - a close up of the drive train now that i've mocked up some pulleys.
(http://i.imgur.com/lUi1yiE.jpg)
So it's a compound drive... 14T on motor driving a 40T for a drive ratio of 2.86, then 14T driving a 60T with a drive ratio of 4.28... so unless my compound gear maths is wrong that gives a total drive ratio of 12.24 in a space less than 60mm wide. Assuming a 420kv motor on 12S, that's a rough max HS of 1523rpm... at 80% for a good governor that's 1218 or so. Should be pretty much in the sweet spot I'm aiming for.
The tail drive will be 60T to 12T for a simple 5:1 ratio (slightly higher than the current 4.5:1 in order to give more tail authority).
Assuming I manage to build it all as planned, should be a nice smooth power system too with the belts reducing gear mesh noise and vibration.
Whose going to join me in betting that within 6 months - after successfully testing the Mk II mecs, Zeeflyboy will be considering the Mk III mecs - all shaft driven !!!
PS See you've (Zeeflyboy) just bought a cnc from Gordon C - seem to remember you buying your first one whilst in Switzerland - does this mean you will now have 2 ?? or has the first worn out ??
MkIII will be turbine driven :) lol
Re the CNCs, think you've got the timelines a bit messed up. I bought my first CNC from Gordon here almost 2yrs ago... I need to get around to selling it actually.
The CNC I am using now is a considerably more powerful beast (X6-1500GT) with much bigger stepper motors, ballscrews etc and a larger working area. To give you an idea of the difference, the spindle for the old CNC was a 100W proxxon router, on the current CNC it's a 1.5kw liquid cooled brushless spindle...
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on September 11, 2014, 11:41:02 PM
MkIII will be turbine driven :) lol
Re the CNCs, think you've got the timelines a bit messed up. I bought my first CNC from Gordon here almost 2yrs ago... I need to get around to selling it actually.
The CNC I am using now is a considerably more powerful beast (X6-1500GT) with much bigger stepper motors, ballscrews etc and a larger working area. To give you an idea of the difference, the spindle for the old CNC was a 100W proxxon router, on the current CNC it's a 1.5kw liquid cooled brushless spindle...
Glad to might think about a Mk III - means this very enjoyable and interesting Thread will last longer !!!
CNC - first one 2yrs ago - gosh, doesn't time fly - it was a result of reading about yours that I eventually bought a similar one.
Glad to have inspired you, just don't send me the bill lol.
Just been out for some more test flights, not a whole lot of progress tbh. In manual mode the -40 degrees I already had set for phasing seemed the most correct position, I tried a range from around -37 to -43.
It's flying ok in manual mode, still not as locked in as I'm used to with traditional FBL controllers but manageable. In atti there is still this persistent left drift, and in GPS it holds position fairly well but will still fly off to the left at an angle if you push straight forwards.
If I'm honest, it could be flown like this. I could go into the taranis and add a right trim input activated with the atti and mix in a little right stick with forward stick in GPS atti to get it flying straight... After about 6 test flights with very little signs of improvement I am tempted to do that just to get it flying.
I am however getting ever closer to throwing in the towel and getting a pixhawk for this thing. The only thing holding me back is that nagging doubt about reliability and possible susceptibility to vibration.
With the tremendous effort, skill and detail you have so far put into this project - to be "flying ok in manual mode, still not as locked in as I'm used to" is disappointing.
I would really hate it if you assembled the detailed body back on and had a major accident.
Please, please, persevere while the heli is in chassis form to sort out the or a controller to give you the stable level of flying Juan deserves.
I'm pretty much committed to the pixhawk now, I've been doing a lot of research and talking to one of the chief developers of the traditional heli side.
It's really getting incredibly advanced now - they have even recently implemented extended kalman filters (basically an improved method of filtering out bad data that could be introduced by sensor failure, vibration etc) and even use the dual IMUs and have support for dual GPS etc.
Rob showed me this video of a fully autonomous flight on the latest firmware... it just amazes me that this thing is doing this completely without human intervention... especially those nice curving spline nav turns. It's worth noting that the Ace One GPS speed is limited to around 10m/s - this flies at around 30m/s in this video. I am also loving the fact that it can RTH and land, the Ace will just RTH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQj50ykhEnQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQj50ykhEnQ)
Also a bit more work on the mechanics and it's starting to flesh out a bit:
(http://i.imgur.com/kjyaSFy.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/D9sQSh5.jpg)
At the moment it's slightly simplified. There will be an idler pulley to increase tooth engagement on the smaller tail pulley and tun a couple of tensioners too once I've got it all figured out.
Your CNC work ,desing and patience are amazing !!
Quote from: marcin on September 21, 2014, 02:46:40 AM
Your CNC work ,desing and patience are amazing !!
You want to know the worst bit....?
He had no CNC / 3D design experience before starting the AH :o :o
Even more impressive :)
:gotit: :respekt:
bah hardly, you want to see impressive check this video out - he even made his own freakin JET TURBINE on hand operated machines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1lK-mYSdY4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1lK-mYSdY4)
Now that is skill!
Holy crap, thats seriously impressive! And it only won 2nd place?!? What was first! :o
This!
http://youtu.be/yC4jG-wuVoc (http://youtu.be/yC4jG-wuVoc)
Just add FPV :laugh:
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on September 22, 2014, 11:31:45 PM
bah hardly, you want to see impressive check this video out - he even made his own freakin JET TURBINE on hand operated machines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1lK-mYSdY4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1lK-mYSdY4)
Now that is skill!
Now that is an amazing accomplishment ! :)
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on September 22, 2014, 11:31:45 PM
bah hardly, you want to see impressive check this video out - he even made his own freakin JET TURBINE on hand operated machines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1lK-mYSdY4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1lK-mYSdY4)
Now that is skill!
Whilst the winning finished plane is awesome, what I particularly enjoy and prefer about this Zeeflyboy Thread is that he is sharing with all of us the up's and down's of the 'journey' and learning curves to completing a project. Having not follwed the build step by step of the Russian winning jet I can't quite appreciate it as a project, as much as this AH-6Z.
The Russjet obviously is insanely good, but I find the F16 infinitely more impressive.... the Russjet was built by a whole team of professional engineers the guy hired, it was more like the development of a real (albeit tiny) plane than an rc model.
The F16 it appears was built by this guy alone, and building a jet engine without the use of CNC machines is just another level of crazy. I mean I know a centrifugal fan jet engine isn't the most complicated thing in the world, but it's still extremely impressive and seemingly carried out to an impeccable standard.
Obviously both are in a whole different league to what I am doing here, which is just building a simple model helicopter not even particularly to scale. I just wanted to point out that my "skills" are as nothing compared to that guy lol - I honestly believe that given the right resources there is nothing I have done that anyone else couldn't do if they had the motivation or desire... Indeed I've learned the vast majority of the stuff "on the go". Hopefully my threads inspire guys to give those projects a go that they have been thinking about but not sure whether they can do.
You've certainly inspired me - although for certain reasons I know I will never get anywhere near the levels you have reached.
I still really enjoy following your journey.
Ah, yeah I've watched the vid for the russjet one before, seriously impressive but as you say, it looks like a professional outfit.
I always like to stop into this thread just to marvel at the details, I've never built or flown heli's so I don't even know what most of the stuff you are talking about or making is, but it's always really nicely done! :D
I'm too impatient really so I always end up rushing my builds. I think a long term project would be good to try! You must have the patience of a saint to go to the level of detail here! I salute you man!
been a bit busy moving home lately!
Glad to report that the AH-6 has made it the 600 miles back home unharmed, but as you can see the garage has some sorting out to do lol.
(http://i.imgur.com/9F0nT6G.jpg)
Today I did however sneak away and machine the main shaft tail drive gear... Machining top side:
(http://i.imgur.com/wC9JZiv.jpg)
and bottom side:
(http://i.imgur.com/2Tvhgma.jpg)
and finished part (well just a hole to drill on the collar):
(http://i.imgur.com/uHw4g52.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/6hOIP7V.jpg)
Got the lower drive plate/motor mount milled out today
(http://i.imgur.com/d2Wkt0y.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/fjP8soL.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Gyuf0Tv.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/CtKugy6.jpg)
And where the tail drive gear i made yesterday will sit in the train:
(http://i.imgur.com/TnpF1V7.jpg)
Zeeflyboy
Trust you are more or less fully resettled now.
Has Juan learnt English yet ??
What CNC do you use? Is it a homemade project too?
Quote from: Zeeflyboy on September 11, 2014, 11:41:02 PM
MkIII will be turbine driven :) lol
Re the CNCs, think you've got the timelines a bit messed up. I bought my first CNC from Gordon here almost 2yrs ago... I need to get around to selling it actually.
The CNC I am using now is a considerably more powerful beast (X6-1500GT) with much bigger stepper motors, ballscrews etc and a larger working area. To give you an idea of the difference, the spindle for the old CNC was a 100W proxxon router, on the current CNC it's a 1.5kw liquid cooled brushless spindle...
KRIKEY - above is an extract from a couple of pages earlier in this Thread. Answers your cnc question.
Quote from: being there on December 08, 2014, 06:19:22 AM
It is 05:10 am and I have just sat and read all 43 pages of this amazing thread and I am speechless.
I was feeling quite pleased with myself having just built my first FPV ship and then I saw this thread and suddenly my plane looks like one of those 20p gliders you buy from the newsagents.
Zeeflyboy I am in awe at your skill, ingenuity and imagination. I almost think I should ground myself and take up stamp collecting, I mean how can a m mere mortal compare to this.
Keep up the great work Im looking forward to the next posting with baited breath.
Totally agree with you. Here's an earlier project of his to keep you awake all night !
http://www.fpvhub.com/index.php/topic,5378.0.html (http://www.fpvhub.com/index.php/topic,5378.0.html)
Hi guys,
sorry for the lack of updates but the project has been shelved the past couple of months as I get settled in and get some DIY projects in the new house out of the way.
Next week I hope to sort the garage out a bit and then I can start doing some work on the mechanics again with a bit of luck... I am looking forward to starting up again!
Thanks for the patience and the kind words I missed. Hopefully there'll be some more work done within a couple of weeks.
Just in case anyone is interested, you may or may not be aware of another little project of mine called the Vortex (think I mentioned it briefly in this thread). Anyway that project is now near completed and commercialised via immersionRC, production should finally start later this month... it's a small quad with fully integrated electronics - 5.8GHz Vtx, Flight controller, OSD, current sensor. OSD even allows you to change vTX channel or tune PID's from the menu.
Anyway I thought I'd mention it as you can now see the pic up on immersionRC's website:
(http://i.imgur.com/jawVgdq.png)
I got my almost final pre-production models just the other day
(http://i.imgur.com/rvq70Vr.jpg)
and here's a little flight video:
One minute onboard , ImmersionRc's VORTEX... fasten seatbelt ! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b92h9ZjVMx0#ws)
Awesome!
Very nice :)
I thought I heard your name getting mentioned in that Immersion sponsored flite test video a while back :)