OCD – Skywalker Revolution 1720mm Build

[ClippedWing]

I must admit, I am a bit late to the skywalker 'scene' as it were, this my first one!

I recently brought one to fill a gap in my hanger of a long range FPV model!

Components I will use:

3DR Pixhawk
   90amp sensor
   MinimOSD
   Ivor Bluetooth module

Turnigy 60amp ESC
Propdrive v2 910kv brushless motor
Aerodrive 12x9 carbon prop

Turnigy 4s 5000mAh lipo

Hitec Full metal servos

ImmersionRc 600mW VTX
ImmersionRc EzUHF 8C RX

Gopro Hero3
600 TVL board camera
HK 3 way camera switch



Lets begin...

Wings:

So, having read a few reviews, the inboard aileron location has poor performance so the first thing I have done is re-located them to the out side, on the section with the dihedral.

They are 12inch long, 2inch wide, starting 1 inch from the wing tip







its always nerve racking cutting into new wings, but I am sure it will be worth while!


Wings: EzUHF/VTX

I quickly decided that I would like to the ImmersionRC EzUHF and the 600mw VTX out in the wings, but I just did not want to cut holes and be done with it. I wanted something a little more secure, maybe a little more crash resistant (and to look nice too)!

I was left with 2 holes where the old servo locations were, I already had a starting place, and there was already a nice wide channel down the spar cover for servo wires, so these locations were ideal! As I am running PPM Muxed from the RX to the Pixhawk, I will only need one servo wire to power and use all of the 8 channels available to me! Bonus!

So I turned to my 3D printer to provide a few boxes that would sit nicely in the wing.

Here is my V1 design


I was quite happy with the first design, they were just boxes for size. Next was to build some location slots into them for a nice snug fit.

Both V2 parts turned out very well, as you can see they have a nice fit.




Here is the factory locations for the servos, the boxes are designed to fit in after extending them.



I like to take my time and not rush, so the above was completed over a few days.
Now it was time to get them fitted into the wing, they look really clean. Much better than hacking foam out and just leaving it!


Here is the boxes I designed fitted;
V2_ImmersionRc_EzUHF8Rx_Wingbox
V2_ImmersionRc_EzUHF8Rx_Wingbox_Cover






V2_ImmersionRc_600mW_VTX_Wingbox
V2_ImmersionRc_600mW_VTX_Wingbox_Cover




Both electronic pieces will have the antennas going through the wing, of course leaving just a hole was really ugly!



Up next for the 3d printer was some nice covers.
V1 covers were designed to sandwich together, and they drop into the locating hole provided by the wing boxes. They looked great on the design suite, but in real life never really cut it. Its fast 3D prototyping and printing really comes in handy for these kinds of reasons!

On the left is V1 and on the right, much more of a simplistic design!



Both are only 0.4mm thick, so I will make a small recess for them to sit flush with the wing.
I am also very happy with the neatness of these!


ImmersionRc VTX has a 10mm hole




8mm hole for the ImmersionRC UHF



Wings: Servos

I already had the the new aileron location, and were already cut out. Now I just had to make some pockets for the servos.

To get perfect alignment between both left and right wing, I quickly designed a jig/template and printed it out 0.4mm thick. It was a brainwave I had, they don't come often!

The servos are 30mmx40mm and I wanted them both 100mm from the trailing edge. There was a 4mm stop on the end to locate it on the TE



Now all I had to do was measure in 6inch and tape down my jig and make a simple mark. This will give me a 20mm bias toward the root edge of the aileron.




Checking with a rule, it was a near perfect match with both wings!
Next it was simple to cut and pluck some foam and place in the servos.



The servo wires will have its own channel in the wing, well away from the VTX & UHF wiring so to cause less interference (cant be too sure)

That's it for now, hope you have enjoyed my first part.

Please sub if you have enjoyed the read, more soon!

[Njoro]

They have come out very good, what printer and software?

[ClippedWing]

Thanks!

I use Rhino CAD, into Simplify3D and printed on a CTC Dual that i converted to Laser/1x Extruder

[ClippedWing]

Having trouble with posting images today!

[Coyote]

Nice and neat, I like :)

[ClippedWing]

Thanks Ian  :D

[FPVSteve]

This thread is destined to make me feel bad about my Skywalker build. I don't know why I even looked :laugh:

[Dillwhacker]

Don't fret Steve, every thread I read makes me feel bad about every one of my builds...

[iwan_canobi]

Awesome, this is looking great so far! Did you buy this from Snoozedog? If so then it was mine to begin with, glad it's finally getting built! :D

As per one of the other threads though, your diversity antennas are wasted in that configuration as they are both on the same plane, so if you bank they will both be out of the signal path. Better to have them in a V. It will work fine the way it is, just defeats the purpose of diversity a bit.

Do you have some more details of the laser conversion? I've been thinking of doing the same thing with my Malyan M180 (another makerbot clone) so the process should be similar to the CTC.

[SnoozeDoggyDog]

This thread is destined to make me feel bad about my Skywalker build. I don't know why I even looked :laugh:

I sold him the Skywalker! I feel like my wife has left me for a man with a bigger penis..... I feel very inadequate  :goodnight:

[SnoozeDoggyDog]

Awesome, this is looking great so far! Did you buy this from Snoozedog? If so then it was mine to begin with, glad it's finally getting built! :D

As per one of the other threads though, your diversity antennas are wasted in that configuration as they are both on the same plane, so if you bank they will both be out of the signal path. Better to have them in a V. It will work fine the way it is, just defeats the purpose of diversity a bit.

Do you have some more details of the laser conversion? I've been thinking of doing the same thing with my Malyan M180 (another makerbot clone) so the process should be similar to the CTC.

Iwan. It's not the one you sold me. It's a long story. The one clipped got was a brand spanker. No pre cut holes etc.

P

[iwan_canobi]

Iwan. It's not the one you sold me. It's a long story. The one clipped got was a brand spanker. No pre cut holes etc.

P

Ah ha, did you end up with 2?

[SnoozeDoggyDog]

Ah ha, did you end up with 2?

Cough ... Erm .... 3

[CurryKitten]

Looks lovely.  Wonderfully over-engineered.... and by that I mean that I'm just jealous because I could never do such a neat job

[ClippedWing]

Awesome, this is looking great so far! Did you buy this from Snoozedog? If so then it was mine to begin with, glad it's finally getting built! :D

As per one of the other threads though, your diversity antennas are wasted in that configuration as they are both on the same plane, so if you bank they will both be out of the signal path. Better to have them in a V. It will work fine the way it is, just defeats the purpose of diversity a bit.

Do you have some more details of the laser conversion? I've been thinking of doing the same thing with my Malyan M180 (another makerbot clone) so the process should be similar to the CTC.

Yes it is  :P

The antennas are not ideal i know, i would rather put it out on the boom, but i will already need a lot of nose weight as it is! I will use a L configuration. Not the best but this will be a start. If its poor i will get some extensions and do a V on the wing.

My long range is sub 8km...i have learned that my long range is the distance i am prepared to walk on any given day  :laugh: some days my LR is 1km some times 5km!

I might even put a camera in the front and use it for mapping (will help with the CG)


Laser for the CTC was a total bitch and i would just recommend buying a laser platform with real Gcode. There was so many teething problems!

Firstly the CTC runs on 24v, the laser on 12v the TTL driver 5v. So that was 2 converters. I had to solder on the EXT fet to the board (not a hard job) to fire the laser (M106 & M107).
Because these mightboards use binary, it wont recognise arcs in most programmes so i had to make custom profiles and faff blah blah...it was just a pig really   :P