Building a CC3D

[kibi]

I have been keen on a CC3D FC for some time, but they are quite scarce and if you do find one they are rather over priced. I thought being that Openpilot is, well, an open source project I';d be better off building one. I downloaded the PCB files from the Openpilot Wiki page and sent off to have the PCB';s fabricated using my favourite PCB fab. The PCB fab. that I use does stipulate a minimum order of 10 PCB';s but at $1.50 each I am not moaning. Standard green PCB';s are even cheaper, but I really wanted black ones.

Twelve PCB';s arrived last week from iTead Studios. This example is a bit dirty because it was rattling around in my toolbox for a bit. :)





As always, there is a certain sense of elation that imbues when one of these boxes arrives! :)



It wasn';t all plain sailing though. The Americans at Digikey did get rather excited and started asking me a whole load of awkward questions surrounding the purchase of the Invensense MPU-6000. They wanted to know what I was using it for and why. Apparently it is a restricted export item, although it';s originally imported from Taiwan, go figure.    In the end I told them that I was building a "Stabilisation Controller" and they let me off. I don';t think they would have been amused if I';d told them I was building anything that even remotely resembled a flying anything. I doubt I';ll ever be able to get my head around the unique way in which Americans think. I may well order the MPU-6000 direct from Invensense the next time to save the hassle, although Digikey are doing it at a really attractive price.

So, amongst the rest of the components, I have the Gyro / Accelerometer and the ST ARM. The components arrived some time ago, I was just waiting for the PCB';s.





When I find some time I';ll get the ball rolling with this project and update as and when.

[Britishguy]

nice i have a cc3d on the shelf but want to build my own at some point

if you have a spare pcb would you sell one in the future?

[nub]

cool, how much are the components going to end up costing ya?

[xxpitt]

did you ask them to put the logo';s on the board? never done anything like that before so don';t know how it all works, how many parts do u need to solder to it for it to be complete? and if your making 12 will u be selling some? or even would u consider selling all the componants require to make a board? as i wouldn';t mind having a go myself just for a challenge

[shazzy]

as i wouldn';t mind having a go myself just for a challenge

me too! would be very interested if you were to sell any surplus boards and components!

[kibi]

A set of components cost me £20 plus the import duty, so about £22. I ordered double in order to take advantage of Digikey';s free shipping (£12 worth) for orders over £50. I did have other parts for other projects on this order so my order was indeed in excess of £50.
The XML parts list already formatter for Digikey is available on the Openpilot Wiki page. Having said that, it is a bit out of date. The Gyro is not on the parts list as at the time it was not available from Digikey. There is also a capacitor on the list that is end of life, but was still in stock when I placed my order. It';s a common one so easily replaced with another.

The logos were already on the board as they are part of the design files in the first place. No intervention was required on my part.

I shall assemble two boards and see how long the assembly process takes before I decide whether or not to do any more for sale. Being open source I can';t charge my time, so if I were to sell ready assembled PCB';s, the price should really be a materials only sort of deal. It is supposed to be strictly non-profit otherwise it defeats the whole point of it being open source. Of the two PCB';s, one is obviously for me and another member of this forum has first refusal on the second PCB should I decide to let it go.

As I have 12 PCB';s I';d be happy to sell blanks to those interested in the DIY side.

I word of warning to those keen of building this controller themselves, this board is small, has very small pads on it and utilises some very small components. I have a solder paste dispensing controller so pasting it would be easier that way. A fellow on youtube has pasted this PCB using a toothpick to lay the paste. Good eyesight would be a bonus, I do not have 20/20 vision anymore, but I will use my microscope. Once I have placed the components on one side I will have to reflow the PCB in a reflow oven. I have a reflow oven that I made out of a £9.99 toaster oven from Argos and a £6 PID controller.
The other side of the PCB will then need to be pasted and loaded and reflowed by hand with a hot air gun so that the components on the other side don';t fall off.
I am not trying to say that it can only be done with specialist equipment, but it certainly is easier.
I';d recommend watching this video before embarking on your own DIY mission.  How to build your own CC3D from components

[nub]

aye having the right equipment makes the job a lot easier though

your reflow oven sounds interesting any links to info on that?

thx.

[kibi]

Here is a picture of it. On top is the PID controller which is housed in the black casing. The PID controller actually cost me £12 now that I';ve checked. On top of the PID casing is a used Crydom Solid State Relay which I had got from eBay for £3 on a separate occasion. Inside is the thermistor which connects to the PID controller. The PID controller drives the SSR which in turn switches the element on and off. The standard temperature selection dial on the front of the oven has been bypassed. I have placed silver foil over the elements to block the IR which would scorch the PCB';s.

Just type in PID controller on eBay and the results will come up. There are some package deals which include the thermistor and the SSR.
We are obviously dealing with mains voltages here, so you have to know what you are doing.

[xxpitt]

oh reflowing... I';ve never even heard of this lol,

maybe this is beyond my talents with a soldering iron :) thanks for the head up kibi

[xxpitt]

actually all looks fairly simple till it comes to the programming, that';s where I would struggle I think,

[nub]

cool little bit of kit that

would be ok if your using it on a kind of regular basis but just for a once off thing might be a bit more hassle than your wanting.

i build a heat tunnel using a PLC for the control side for a large company many moons ago.

[xxpitt]

well anyway, if you enjoy building them, and you end up building the lot, i might buy one off you if thats ok

[kibi]

actually all looks fairly simple till it comes to the programming, that';s where I would struggle I think,

Yes, I forgot to mention about flashing the bootloader. An ST programmer is yet another bit of kit that';s needed (I already have one). I am starting to realise why this project is perhaps not so DIY friendly for most people.

well anyway, if you enjoy building them, and you end up building the lot, i might buy one off you if thats ok

Certainly, no problems at all. I think it will be fair of me to offer them in the order of who';s hands were raised in this thread. If or when the the boards become available for sale I shall PM people to find out if they are still interested.

[nub]

geez a shout when it happens then plz, if i have cash at the time i';ll take one of your hands

[kibi]

I had the day off today, so I got around to assembling a board.

First, I set about arranging the components in a logical order. Most of the passive components look the exactly the same and have no identifying marks on them at all. I used a piece of board with double sided tape on it. I then placed the components as per their circuit designation numbers onto the tape. Now it will be a lot easier to just look at the board designation number and pick up the corresponding component.



I have now placed the components on one side and baked it. There was a hiccup with two capacitors which became too close to each other. I sorted this out with a soldering iron.



Then the bottom side components are mounted and soldered by hand this time. I was not sure if the Invensense gyro would hold on to the PCB upside down since I have not soldered one of these packages before. All the other components would have held on upside down by the surface tension of the solder whilst the bottom side components were soldering in the oven.



I then soldered the connectors on and wired the CC3D up to an ST programmer to install the bootloader onto the ARM.



With the bootloader installed and the firmware flashed using the GSC software, I configured the initial settings and wired up a receiver. I am using PPM for six channels.



So far so good. Next time I shall install the board in a frame, probably a DJI F450 and see how she flies.

[nub]

great stuff!

looks like its went pretty well.

[kibi]

Well it flies, which is rather rewarding. There is still quite a bit of fiddling around to do in the GCS to get it to fly how I want. It';s a bit wooly at the moment, but there is plenty of scale available to make it nice and snappy.
I installed the controller in a F450 frame.



Unfortunately, the only receiver I have spare at this time is three times the size of the CC3D. I shall get one of those little four channel jobs seeing as I am communicating with CPPM. The 4ch FrSky Rx is not much bigger than a CC3D.

[nub]

that';s a very interesting way to mount the board on a DJI frame, nice protection.

[kibi]

Yes, like you say, I was after protection. Knowing that the DJI frames have power traces on the bottom plate I couldn';t go about drilling hole through it. Drilling holes in the top plate is fine, so a less than conventional mounting method had to be employed.

[flybywire]

THis is a useful thread Kibi, I was thinking of having a go myself for the sport.  I did find this guy who';s done the same, enjoyable video.

How to build your own CC3D from components

I always thought that components fried in extreme heat, but these things positively bathe in it.

[F.P.V. Aaron]

Nice work there, super project and must say a lot of respect earned as that looks like a complex job!! i fly nothing but cc3d and find them an awesome flight board. Can be a little tricky to fine tune but worth the trouble!