Butterfly X250 Mini quadcopter

[teslahed]

I've just finished building my new mini-quadcopter;



I got a cheap 'carbon fibre' frame from goodluckbuy;

http://www.goodluckbuy.com/butterfly-x250-330mm-shaft-mini-quadcopter-fiber-carbon-frame-55-gram.html
( Butterfly X250 330mm Shaft Mini QuadCopter Fiber Carbon Frame 55 Gram )

Some 12 amp hobbyking blue series ESCs (not yet flashed with the simonK firmware);
( http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__11429__HobbyKing_12A_BlueSeries_Brushless_Speed_Controller.html )

Some A1510 2200kv Brushless Motors from Dealextreme - which i would not recommend, the quality is terrible and I had to superglue the axle in place to stop it turning separately to the motor;
( http://www.dealextreme.com/photogallery.dx/sku.45731 )

and some 3 bladed 5 inch gemfan props;
( http://flyduino.net/5030-3-bladed-Propeller-Set-Green-4-pcs-2-CW-and-2-CCW )

and a Paris Multiwii flight controller;
( http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php/topic,60.0.html )

I had to set the Low Pass filter to the worryingly low setting of;

Code Select Expand

#define MPU6050_LPF_20HZ

To get it to fly smoothly and lower my PID settings quite a bit as well;



But the results so far are a fun little quadcopter that will flip and (probably) loop and can be flown around some very small spaces where i wouldn't risk anything larger.

Mini Quadcopter first outdoor test flight

In the long run I'll replace the motors but i can't afford to do that right now unfortunately so i have to hope the superglue holds.

[icedfusion]

Nice vid of the new quad!


ice.

[Gaza07]

Very nice Chris now where's that wants list   

[teslahed]

I want 4 new motors for the thing - decent ones that will run smoothly!

But apart from some vibration issues it does seem to fly very nicely - it's almost as quick to accelerate as the larger one and it flips and loops better than i expected it would.

Also i can fly it in the road outside my house without worrying about killing someone - a big plus that.

[neagron]

Hi Chris,im putting my 250 together again I gave up with those motors terrible,ive got some hobbyking ones,ile post the detail's on saturday,im using the Bambucopter Crab 25 frame it certainly did loop and roll with your motors untill shaft started sliping,put grub screws in then motor's terribly out of ballance,Marty.

[teslahed]

I';ve rebuilt and re-tuned with the new motors as recommended by marty (neagron);

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5431

And they seem to work really well;

X250 Mini Quadcopter first proper acro test outside

The whole quad is a little bit heavier but it seems to fly a lot better now than before. It should be a lot of fun for acrobatics in small spaces.

[Gaza_07]

Very nice Chris and flown very well as always 

[teslahed]

PTDC0004

http://youtu.be/R2dfhBie6Cc

http://youtu.be/ijOrybGtZAA

[Gav]

Stop flying and do your ironing you naughty boy. 

Ps  how much did the build cost in total? ;D

[teslahed]

I will post a parts list and try and work it out;

Turnigy nano-tech 950mah 3S 25~50C Lipo Pack (UK Warehouse)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=29022
$8.83

AX 1806N 2100kv Brushless Micro Motor (19g) (UK Warehouse)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__29667__AX_1806N_2100kv_Brushless_Micro_Motor_19g_UK_Warehouse_.html
$9.53 x 4 = $38.12


Hobby King 2.4Ghz Receiver 6Ch V2 (UK Warehouse)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=29039
$9.58

HobbyKing 12A BlueSeries Brushless Speed Controller (UK Warehouse)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=28404
$7.53 x 4 = $30.12

5030 2 bladed Propeller Set Green 8 pcs 4 CW and 4 CCW
http://flyduino.net/5030-2-bladed-Propeller-Set-Green-8-pcs-4-CW-and-4-CCW
6,50 €

$64.06 + 6,50 €
£39.43 + £5.29 = £44.72

Frame;

http://www.goodluckbuy.com/butterfly-x250-330mm-shaft-mini-quadcopter-fiber-carbon-frame-55-gram.html
$32.79 = £20.18

So £65 total

and then a bit more on top of that for postage.

Let me know if i';ve missed anything!

Although i think there are some slightly nicer similarly sized frames i might get instead if i was building it again.

[Gaza07]

Very nice Chris it looks very stable 

[rundtmeg]

Hi there,

why did you choose 3 bladed props for this quad?
can some recommend some 2 bladed props? some good tips?

Think they are to large:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261058425031?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Thanks for any help!

[teslahed]

Hi there,

why did you choose 3 bladed props for this quad?
can some recommend some 2 bladed props? some good tips?

Think they are to large:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261058425031?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Thanks for any help!

Yeah those would be far too large.

I used these ones;

5030 2 bladed Propeller Set Green 8 pcs 4 CW and 4 CCW
http://flyduino.net/5030-2-bladed-Propeller-Set-Green-8-pcs-4-CW-and-4-CCW
6,50 €

And find they work very well. None of the 3 bladed props I';ve tried have worked well.

The quadcopter has been crashed and rebuilt a few times;


Still works well but it weighs a bit more than it used to so I';m thinking of building a new frame for the parts.

[paulcobra]

I got myself a bambucopter crab 25 for about 18 quid posted. Its made from 2mm clear polycarb.

[teslahed]

If my current project to design my own frame fails i may have to have a look at something like a bamboo copter;


I';m going to get it laser cut, first out of plywood to test then carbon fibre if everything works the way it should.

[teslahed]

http://youtu.be/_0VKP5LdVYI

[Gaza07]

That';s a cracking little quad you have there and very well flown to 

[Leebo914]

Awesome wee bit of kit

[rundtmeg]

Yeah those would be far too large.

I used these ones;

5030 2 bladed Propeller Set Green 8 pcs 4 CW and 4 CCW
http://flyduino.net/5030-2-bladed-Propeller-Set-Green-8-pcs-4-CW-and-4-CCW
6,50 €

And find they work very well. None of the 3 bladed props I';ve tried have worked well.

The quadcopter has been crashed and rebuilt a few times;


Still works well but it weighs a bit more than it used to so I';m thinking of building a new frame for the parts.

Thx, btw. what is the size? 6x3" ?

[teslahed]

they are 5 x 3 props.

Here is another video;

http://youtu.be/Ov1qeqTuNnM

[paulcobra]

What power distribution board are you using?

[felixrising]

Bit of a noob question, but what prop adaptors are you using?

[paulcobra]

Decided to sell my mini quad frame now

[teslahed]

Bit of a noob question, but what prop adaptors are you using?

I had some 3mm collet style prop adapters left over from some old motors that happened to fit, so I';m using those. I believe the shaft size is 3mm so any prop adapters for 3mm shafts should fit the 1806 motors.

[felixrising]

Thanks,

I';ve ordered some grub screw ones http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=8888  and also some collet style ones from rctimer  http://www.rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=561&productname= as a kit  as I thought the grub screw ones might not balance so well.

I';m aiming to build a very similar one to yours, but with the Crius AIO Pro v2 board with optional GPS, I';ll let you know how it goes. Will post a bill of materials list if you don';t mind.

Thanks for posting all the links... invaluable!

[rundtmeg]

The quadcopter has been crashed and rebuilt a few times;

Cool! You are amazing!
What was damaged on these crashes? What was the reason for the crashes? Is this quad still alive? So the frame did not break?

[teslahed]

The frame crashed just because i was messing about with stuff and doing stunts over concrete.

The frame is broken now - kept being repaired with more and more superglue after every crash until it got too heavy.

I took the bits of and designed my own mini frame to replace the X250 with;

http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php?topic=1327.0

which is currently flying great!

[rundtmeg]

Thanks for your answer. Make my own frame is not my first choice yet. Did you see other great mini quad frames out there you remember you liked on the specs?

[teslahed]

http://www.bambucopter.com/simple-quad/

http://www.bambucopter.com/crab-25-miniquad/

The 25 cm sized crab frame looks about the same size as the X250. The ';simple quad'; looks slightly bigger - better for 8 inch props.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__28172__F330_Glass_Fiber_Mini_Quadcopter_Frame_330mm.html

The F330 is similar in size to the ';simple quad'; but a bit cheaper. I';d buy 2 so i had some spare arms though as it will take a couple of weeks to arrive.

http://www.buildyourowndrone.co.uk/DJI-F330-Flame-Wheel-QuadCopter-Frame-p/dji-fquad330.htm

similar but more expensive and UK stock.

[teslahed]

Thanks for your answer. Make my own frame is not my first choice yet. Did you see other great mini quad frames out there you remember you liked on the specs?

http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php?topic=1144.0;topicseen

There';s a crab 25 for sale on the forum. Looks like a nice frame for small motors with 5 inch props.