AH-6Z Littlebird Night-Ops build project

[CurryKitten]

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

[Zeeflyboy]

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









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.



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):






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.

[Zeeflyboy]

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.




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.




And finally on the pod I've changed the mount post/tab arrangement slightly, and added a standoff for the bearing.




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.




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.






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.

[Zeeflyboy]

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

in a nice IMRC red








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

[Zeeflyboy]

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

[wgt40w]

To avoid having a fan for the vtx, could you 'funnel' some downdraft from the main blades to cool vtx ??

[wgt40w]

EZUHF 'cradle' + telescopic aerial plug.

I would be happy to buy one of each from you.

[Zeeflyboy]

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!)

[wgt40w]

Will await further developments with my usual great interest !

PS Not that fussy what is / isn't engraved on mouldings / castings.

[Zeeflyboy]

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://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://www.shapeways.com/model/751281/collective_stick.html?key=751e23d83d14983c9de75249  6b3688a8



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://www.shapeways.com/model/750568/970ea4b197ea656b89c70ed7971cbc1d?li=

[skyscraper]

Gee. Looks great!

Wouldnt it be more economical to get your own 3d printer though!

regards
Andy

[wgt40w]

Wonder if I could invest in a few Shapeways company shares - think their annual revenue is on a dramatic increase thanks to this project !!

[Zeeflyboy]

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

[Flyn]

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

in a nice IMRC red








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

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!!

[Zeeflyboy]

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.