Own Design Quad Frame

[Gaza07]

We have been discussing quite a bit in the forum chat about home designed frames, this is the place to post about them, any one got any designs yet ?
Any members with the facility to cut peoples designs out for them at cost 

I must add a cnc thingy majig to my wants list (which is rather large)  ::)

[teslahed]

I think this is an excellent idea, even just to start thinking about.

I would suggest for the first go at a project like this it makes sense to keep things simple and cheap, to increase the chances of success and also to allow as many people to take part as possible. A small quadcopter is a good way to do this.

I've flown a bunch of different quadcopter sizes and quadcopters built around 8 and 9 inch props seem to fly better than others if you are just interested in fun flying rather than carrying a payload. Larger props seem harder to get balanced properly and also the equipment starts costing more - smaller ones tend to get fiddly and hard to fly well.

My experience with these two frames;

http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php/topic,97.0.html
http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php/topic,12.0.html

Suggests a design where you make use of this cheap carbon fibre and some kind of clamping system;

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9012__Carbon_Fiber_Square_Tube_750x10_5mm.html



The carbon fibre is cheap enough you can run it all the way to the centre for maximum strength and light and strong enough to offer some advantages over aluminium even in a small quadcopter design. I think a well designed clamping with a set of bolts at the inside edge and outside edge and one in between (6 bolts per arm) would offer a lot of strength.

I'm not suggesting the motor mounts or frame design of the sporan be copied though - i think the motor mounts should be a totally different (smaller) design and the frame of the sporan is probably bigger than it needs to be too - especially with the strength gained running the carbon fibre straight through the centre.

I've not looked in to designing anything in CAD yet - these are just the ideas i have come up with to start with.

[secretman]

my first quad home depo made lol
black vortex in it, apc 230,
aurora9 as tx
30amp turntigy esc
and 150w 1200 kv motor

[Smeagol]

Any members with the facility to cut peoples designs out for them at cost 

Smeagols about 

Haven';t done any glass or carbon fibre, but willing to help. Do we have a source for sheet materials 

[Gaza07]

yea we could do with finding a good supplier for fibre glass sheet 

[teslahed]

I';ve started having a go at this the last couple of days because someone local to me has just finished building a laser cutter.

For my first attempt all I';ve done is recreate the outside dimensions of the flyduino frame i like;



and added tabs front and back for minimal FPV gear (just to be different);

[smg id=103]

I';ve not added any lightening holes yet because i may be using plywood on the first attempt. I can add those later if i get the chance to try this with stronger materials.

The holes are all 3mm diameter for the M3 screws, and the inside ones are sized so that standard 50mm power distribution boards and flight controllers can fit straight on.

I decided not to bother with any kind of clamping system for the first attempt because I';ve had such good results reinforcing and drilling the cheap hobbyking carbon fibre I thought i may as well keep things simple.

[Smeagol]

I believe laser is not good for CF due to fumes, waterjet is apparently best as it takes the dust away too.

Looks like a neat simple design, worth playing around with component placement, or are you putting the ESC on the arms

I had another play at making my own fibreglass sheet, much better this time, and will improve, then i';ll get some CF to play with and some carbide cutters too. I';m sure i';ll machine a new spider frame instead of using the first one I made.

Also going to machine some spare motor mounts too, i';m sure they are a magnet for impact.

[teslahed]

Looks like a neat simple design, worth playing around with component placement, or are you putting the ESC on the arms

I put the ESCs on the arms so they get a bit of airflow (and to save space at the centre). I will probably improve that design a bit before i think of getting it cut - but i was going for the simplest possible design without any extras for the first attempt. So far I';ve got the screw holes in the right places - and that';s about it.

Also going to machine some spare motor mounts too, i';m sure they are a magnet for impact.

I bet they will come in handy.

[Smeagol]

I read previously about the ESC in airflow, with the design of my spider they will be tucked in the middle adjacent to the power distribution board.

When I eventually get the parts I will lay them up on a template to see how they fit, and make any adjustments necessary.

I made myself a small sheet of CF using my left over glass fibre resin, worked real good. It';s about 2.8mm thick, i';ll probably use it for cutting tests and make a new piece around 2-2.2mm thick to make the proper frames.

Surface finish looks real good, polished shiny surface one side, matt on the other, with that lovely weave pattern. Strength is very good.

[teslahed]

I';ve had another go at designing my own quadcopter. This one uses M3 bolts to clamp 10mm square tube sections to make the arms and I';ve even had a go at some simple motor mounts too.

Hopefully I will get a chance to laser cut this later this week. I';m going to try plywood first and if everything works ok I might try cutting it from carbon fibre.

It';s a small framed quadcopter design i will use to replace the old mini quadcopter frame I currently fly with. I can just move all the components across from that if i get the new frame working well enough to test fly;

http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php?topic=540.msg8741;topicseen#new

Because it';s a small quadcopter (300 - 400 gram total flying weight - 70mm square centre section) I am going to try putting it together using nylon m3 bolts. In a crash these should break first and then be easy to replace.





I';m pretty sure i have all the holes neatly lined up but I';m not going to risk expensive carbon fibre until I';ve had a chance to test it with plywood. If anyone is any good at Inkscape and does want to have a look at the original file just give me a shout and I';ll email it across - any advice would be appreciated as I';ve not laser cut anything before.

[Gaza07]

Very nice Chris although Im not sure you will get the required clamping force from nylon bolts before they strip, but well worth a try 

[teslahed]

The frame i am replacing uses nylon spacers to separate the two carbon fibre main plates so I';m hoping nylon bolts will work similarly well - otherwise i can always just use metal bolts, but that will add a bit of weight.

[guest325]

I';ve had another go at designing my own quadcopter. This one uses M3 bolts to clamp 10mm square tube sections to make the arms and I';ve even had a go at some simple motor mounts too.

Hopefully I will get a chance to laser cut this later this week. I';m going to try plywood first and if everything works ok I might try cutting it from carbon fibre.

It';s a small framed quadcopter design i will use to replace the old mini quadcopter frame I currently fly with. I can just move all the components across from that if i get the new frame working well enough to test fly;

http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php?topic=540.msg8741;topicseen#new

Because it';s a small quadcopter (300 - 400 gram total flying weight - 70mm square centre section) I am going to try putting it together using nylon m3 bolts. In a crash these should break first and then be easy to replace.





I';m pretty sure i have all the holes neatly lined up but I';m not going to risk expensive carbon fibre until I';ve had a chance to test it with plywood. If anyone is any good at Inkscape and does want to have a look at the original file just give me a shout and I';ll email it across - any advice would be appreciated as I';ve not laser cut anything before.

No idea about Inkscape but have used Coreldraw and Adobe illustrator, but these are not really suitable formats for cnc machinery, there is a free 2D CAD package called Draftsight that is available for Mac, Windows and Linux that I use which is quite good (similar to Autocad) and also I use Solidworks 3D CAD at work but at home soon.
I would be happy to work with anyone who wants to take a design forward, also in 3D you can see what it';s going to look like and check that all parts fit together properly.
Any interest please get in touch.

[teslahed]

So far it';s going together well;







Hopefully i will get to test fly it later this evening or perhaps tomorrow.

[guest325]

Looks good, hope the maiden goes well!

[Gaza07]

Very nice Chris you must be well chuffed to go from your cad drawing to the finished frame 

[teslahed]

Looks good, hope the maiden goes well!

I still need to do some PID tuning but the first flight went pretty well;

http://youtu.be/Zh_IpEORl3I

Hopefully the weather will be good enough to get it outside tomorrow.

[powerlord]

Well that';s effectively what dji use isn';t it ? And their clones. Both my quads have pcb main plates with the built in power distro