Hey, What's Up Anyway?

Well, it has been a while since I have posted here but I have not been absent from the multirotor world. After a couple of years in the East Bay Radio Controllers club, I have been posting “Quad Talk” as some of our members begin their multirotor adventure. You can read my monthly pieces and see what else EBRCers are doing these days. Lots of fun.

 http://www.eastbayrc.org/index.php

For this blog, I will begin posting again as I receive, test and fly my new DJI Phantom 3 Pro. As always, there will be excitement and rewards.

Welcome Class of 300

Now we begin a new chapter in crashing. This time really fast with the arrival of Class 300 sport quads to the blog.

I have no idea as to how I got onto this band wagon but most likely I was inspired by Professor Scratcher’s adventure in DIY building a couple of quads up there in Whidbey World, WA. However it happened, after clicking through maybe 145 different websites, I have entered Rod Serling’s Zone.

Like the good Professor, I too will join the DIY fray with two quads. The first is a Blackout 330 frame produced down under. http://www.minihquad.com. These guys seem to be building an incredible airframe with very appealing build features such as a power distribution board to help keep the wiring clutter to a minimum. (Yeah, I know others do this as well.) There is also lots of YouTube help for assembling and tweaking the little beast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCsS3sXxsLc

I came across my second craft as I was looking for technical support for my NAZE32 Mullet control board intended for the Blackout.  I connected with Chris from Armattan Quads and found they make ARF quads with excellent specs, unbelievable personal support and at prices below scratch building. I expect that my Blackout 330 will cost close to $500 by the time I am ready to fly it into a tree at 65 MPH. Armattan’s top of the line gear is less than $300 sans Rx, battery and FPV. http://www.armattanquads.com/

The Blackout 330 Specs: Cobra 2208/2000 motors with Cobra 20A ESCs, NAZE 32 Mullet and PZ0420 2.8 camera feeding an Immersion 600VTX. On land I use a Spektrum DX8 TX and Fatshark Attitude gogs.

As for the Armattan CNC 355, I’ll let Chris at Armattan describe it in this YouTube vid that he prepared for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvc-nrp2zZc&feature=youtu.be As I said, incredible customer service!

To wrap up this post, I’ll direct you to our local Game of Drones group. To my complete shock, there are 400 folks here in the Bay Area in this group of flying nuts.

http://www.meetup.com/GameOfDrones/

Sparkle, Sparkle Little Quad

I was inspired by Cirque du Soleil’s cool demonstration of quadcopter use in special effects where they outfitted some different quads with lampshades and then harassed a poor lamp technician. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YqUocVcyrE

In the past six months I have built a few different 'costumes' for my second Phantom 2, named Sparkle. (Blog post on 11-20-14) First was a lampshade, then a few other LED dominated designs that are spectacular at night.

During the past few weeks I attempted to build my best imitation of a Star Wars battleship. With this project I have learned some things that I should have learned at the beginning of my quad adventure. VRS!  Yes, VRS; that state of air worthlessness that will suck your little investment down to earth like a V-22 Osprey hunting for bin Laden.

 

I began flying rotors with those cute little Syma $30 helicopters around the house. Slamming into walls, sucking up against ceilings and falling out of the air as I tried to descend even under full throttle.  I then advanced to quads, beginning with my Hubsan, just to continue my advanced skills into slamming, sucking, falling out of the air and blaming the manufacturer for releasing such a piece of rotor-poop. You’d think that I would have found an explanation to this calamity sooner than the day before yesterday.

If you have ever experienced the ‘flight characteristics’ described above, you have experienced Vortex Ring State (VRS). This sometimes tragic phenomena happens when descending straight down too fast and your rotor craft is flying right into its own prop wash.  A similar flight anomaly happens when you fly too close to your home ceiling or when you come very close to the ground. The natural blade turbulence that provides lift for your rotor blades is disrupted and your normal lift is upset.

Back to Sparkle and the Star Wars ‘costume’. In building the battleship modification, I used 3/8" EPO foam attached to DJI prop guards. (Prop guards are the basic building foundation for all of my Sparkle costumes as they are easily removed from the base P2 with eight little screws and I can change costumes.)

As you can see in the photo, I placed the rotors in ‘holes’ in the ship’s hull. (That was the first vortex disrupter.) I also decided to place a cool looking over head light structure. (2^nd disrupter) Then came Flight Test 1. Not good. Though Sparkle Wars did fly, it was very unstable. Why? I had disrupted enough of the required blade turbulence to place Sparkle on the edge of rotor stall.

My second modification was to make the overhead LED frame much thinner thus hoping to lessen the flow disruption. That worked better and Sparkle Warrior flew pretty well until a moderate gust of wind picked up and Sparkle began a Vortex Ring State stall that I simply could not power out of even though the terrific DJI stability logic tried to resolve the problem. In fact, adding power in a classic VRS stall makes things worse.

The best way to escape VRS, is to fly forward or sideways and get out of your own prop wash which is basically directly below your aircraft. Of course, you will need some air between your craft and Terra Firma. Or, you could 'just hands off hover'. Again, this happens quickly and many times the craft is starting to rotate making orientation very tough. Damn that gravity thing.

For me? One last Starship mod session with Sparkle before we move on to our next escapade.

In the meantime, mind your VRS, Grasshopper.

Final Note: Yesterday I removed the Star Wars costume from Sparkle as it simply was way too unstable. I never knew when it would veer off into a 'hard landing'. Apparently, that is why we never see rotor aircraft with rotors fit inside of 'holes'. It only works for fan ducted amphibious craft.

Fear of Innovation

The introduction of the Kodak camera of May 1888 was a dramatic event. But its appearance on the social scene was so sudden that it caused national hysteria fearing invasion of privacy. (Sound familiar?)

The appearance of Eastman's cameras was so sudden and so pervasive that the reaction in many quarters was fear. A figure called the "camera fiend" began to appear at beach resorts, prowling the premises until he could catch female bathers unawares prompting signs such as "PEOPLE ARE FORBIDDEN TO USE THEIR KODAKS ON THE BEACH." For a time, Kodak cameras were banned from the Washington Monument. The "Hartford Courant" sounded the alarm as well, declaring that "the sedate citizen can't indulge in any hilariousness without the risk of being caught in the act and having his photograph passed around among his Sunday school children." Some cities outlawed then altogether.

Virtually any new innovation that comes suddenly upon the public landscape is met with fear. Before the opening of the first major railway line, the Liverpool & Manchester in 1830, there were fears it would be impossible to breathe while travelling at such a velocity, or that the passengers’ eyes would be damaged by having to adjust to the motion. Thundering along at previously unimaginable speeds, early steam locomotives were a frightening prospect for their Victorian passengers.

Of course, today those mass hysteria terrors seem silly just as today’s ‘fear of drones’ will wither over time. The classic ‘they will take a picture of me naked through my bedroom window or sunbathing nude in my backyard’ will seem, well, just as stupid as it appears here in this sentence. In fact, in most states being nude in your backyard or your bedroom window is actually illegal. Indecent exposure laws prohibit displays of private parts in any manner where another normal person, engaged in normal activities can see your indecents exposed. If you live around other homes, particularly two story homes, be careful of exposing your indecents, drones or no drones.

If at First, Try Stealing Second

Up until this point in the Blog we have been dealing with DJI Phantoms equipped with GoPros or various attached ‘costumes’.  We also have been following the adventures of Professor Scratcher as he builds a couple of quads from…drum roll please, SCRATCH.

Well, as to not be out failed, I have also decided to build a quad from scratch. My future failure of choice will be constructing a Blackout 330 Racer. This is not exactly scratch built as there is a basic plan and configuration created by the Blackout guys in Aussie Land.

Here is what I have ordered so far. Blackout 330/360 Frame w/ Power Distribution Board with extended arms. Power will come from 4 Cobra 2208/2000 motors. I will use 30amp ESCs and NAZE 32 controller board. Props will be 6x4.5. I will need an Immersion OSC 5.8GHz 600mW video transmitter for First Person Video as I already have Fatshark Attitude gogs.

I still do not know what controller I will use as my only fixed wing Tx/radio is a Spektrum DX6i. Not sure that I have enough channels for the Blackout. (My DJI radios will not work with the Blackout.)

For now, we wait for those proverbial slow boats from you know where. Oh, and the frame is pre-order only. So, we wait.

Here is an overview of what we are expecting to build. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpONltj1uM0

Heavy Ass Lifter

Now you have a stable flyable heavy ass lifter (HAL) which seems to always be about a quart low on electrons. What are the next goals, milestones and to-do’s?

PROF: Take some Prozac and a nap!

OK… I’m not that bad but…

My next and biggest goal is to learn how to fly HAL. I can get it off the ground and hover around a little bit but I’m not ready to go out and take videos over water and down cliffs like showcased earlier in this blog.

I’m still evaluating the short battery life. Initially I was getting two to three minutes on a charge. After many more hours on the forums I figured out the problem and it was an issue with the voltage sense on the NAZA. I’ve since disabled it, as I already have a voltage sensor between my battery and receiver which sends a signal to my transmitter when the batteries are getting too low. My transmitter signals a warning sound and verbally reads out the reading, very cool.

I now get five to six minutes but I want more. I’m evaluating different props and possible motor combinations for the future.

I also want to upgrade my GoPro camera from the Hero 2 that I have to a Hero 3 or 4. The two main reasons for that are weight and quality. My Tarot gimbal is designed for the weight of the Hero 3 or 4. The Hero 2 is much heavier and I had to add a bunch of counterbalance weight to the gimbal to save wear and tear on the gimbal motors. Once I drop all that weight my flight times will go up as well. The newer GoPro’s also have much better video quality and higher frame rates for smoother movies.

I plan to keep making small improvements to HAL and get in more flight time with both HAL and SKIP.

I’m sure at some point there may be another scratch build in my future after all I am “Professor Scratch” but for now I just want to fly and shoot great videos. Now if only the winter rains and wind would go away.

I am sure this adventure is far from over. Go get some popcorn and the movie will continue in short order.

 

What Would the Iron Chef Do?

What worked and what didn’t?

PROF: My 3D printed V-tail quad definitely did not work. I still have the frame and my someday give it another try but for now I just want to go fly and have fun.

My DX6i did not work with the NAZA and gimbal because it didn’t have enough channels for everything.

Plugging the wrong motor connector into the wrong port on the transmitter definitely does not work; it breaks props as the quad does a backflip during takeoff.

(Always those little details that cause big-time problems.)

Flying in a confined area with power lines, trees and houses doesn’t work either.

(Trees seek out and eat quads of all brands and flavors.)

Not doing enough homework up-front is a recipe for a long, expensive and winding road.

Learning to fly a micro quad around the house really helps develop “thumbs”. You really need good “thumbs” if you’re ever going to get good at this sport.

The combination of everything I have mounted on HAL and my transmitter seemed to work really well together. But recent events like really short flight times have changed my mind on the motors and props. Here’s a list of what’s on HAL.

Here is Professor Scratcher's  current confirmation.

Quad Frame:

Turnigy HAL Quad

HK Power Distribution Board

10” X 4.5” Gemfan Carbon Fill Propellers

 

Onboard Electronics:

NAZA-M Lite MC

Taranis X8R Receiver

FrSky FLV SS LiPo Voltage Sensor

HK Lipoly Low Voltage Alarm

Turnigy Multistar 3525-850Kv 14 Pole Multi-Rotor Outrunner Motors

Tyrnigy Plush 30A ESC

2 Zippy 4000 mAh 3S 25C LiPo Pack

 

            Total Weight:

4 Pounds 9 ½ Ounces [2027 grams]   

 

        Transmitter:

          Taranis X9D Plus Transmitter

 

              First Person View Setup:

Onboard SkyZone 5.8 Ghz 8 Channel Transmitter for FPV

Tarot 2D Gimbal

600 mAh 2S Lipo for FPV/Gimbal

On Transmitter SkyZone RC805 5.8 Ghz 8 Channel Receiver

Zippy 4000 mAh 3S 25C LiPo Pack for Monitor

600 mAh 2S Lipo for FPV on transmitter Receiver

ReadyMadeRC 8” LCD FPV Monitor

How would you go about the project differently today?

PROF: I would do a lot more reading and understanding of the dynamics and interaction between every single component before buying a single piece.

I think I would map out the project in either a flow chart or spreadsheet.

I would define my goals at the very beginning and not just casually go off thinking that “this will be simple, just stick some motors on some arms and go fly”. Believe me that just don’t happen.

The good news about all of this is that I probably know ten times more about my quad and transmitter than if I had someone standing over my shoulder telling me what to do or had bought an ARF.