A quick LOS GoPro trial on the quadcopter I've been using lately.

[al-xg]

Well I thought I';d post a picture of the quadcopter I';ve been playing around with lately.
At the moment it is using a Crius AIOP v1 running MPNG.
The frame is made from printed circuit boards, the idea being, of course, to also use them for power distribution but I still haven';t got around to that.
The AUW is 888g with a 2.2A 3S LiPo.
Motors are DT750s with 11x4.7 gemfan props.
SimonK flash HK F-20A ESCs
The booms are ~10mm square carbon tube (round bore) from HK.

[attach=1]
My desk and room have been in that state since the last uni hand in

I borrowed a friend';s GoPro the other day when it was sunny (but still very windy, it took quite some fighting) and just taped it straight on to the frame.
http://youtu.be/y7FYw3sSvpo

So the camera work is poor and my friend hadn';t done any slacklining in ages (also, it apparently is quite distracting having a giant angry bee hovering around when trying to balance), but ah well a good first test.

[Gaza07]

Nice looking copter its always hard to keep it in one place when its windy, although probably a bit easier than walking the tight rope 

[Biffa]

That';s a nice looking frame

Need a few more close up pics to really appreciate it though

[al-xg]

What is quite interesting is how much the flight time seems to improve on windy days, I';ve got more than 15min out of the 2.2Ah batteries a few times already, which is more than my estimations for just hovering.
That said, the effective translational lift is quite obvious with really strong gusts, the copter will sometimes fly straight up with very little throttle.


As for the frame design, I';d change a few things on it already, I';ve been wanting to make a folding version for a while now.
I';d probably have the basic flight electronics sunk in too, and reduce the number of bolts to undo for basic disassembly.
I did find that when used the laser ply frame the torsional rigidity was quite poor so I';d make a few changes for that too.

I';ll try and take a few  extra (less cluttered) pictures. I also have the DXFs somewhere.

[al-xg]

I still haven';t had much time to play around with this quadcopter but I thought I';d post a little update.
I made a quick laser cut body to hide the electronics for my grad show last weekend. I';d always wanted to try out laser cut kerfing and well, there were a lot of design projects at that show so I thought a tidier version would be more appropriate. Of course it is mainly for show and this is before the other sensors were fitted.



Once I get my job sorted out I should be able to do some proper testing with the new obstacle avoidance module.

[FlyinMarty]

The frame does look rather good, I actually prefered the original, but each to their own.

[al-xg]

It is still the same frame, just with a load of laser ply added on top ::)
It will probably come in handy for hiding the circuitry now the obstacle will be running on an Arduino Mega.

I';ve just realised I never got around to posting the DXFs of the frame plates. Not that I';d use them again without some tweaks. Having to cart the quad around London for the grad show really made me regret not making it folding from the start