What
are some resources for support?
PROF: Some of the best
forums I’ve found are:
I just recently found http://oscarliang.net , there is a
bunch of great information on scratch built quadcopters. Another good one is Robot Kingdom, he built a HAL like mine.
There are many others but
these really helped me through the tough times.
Starting from Day 1, what freakin happened?
PROF: Net-net, I built a quad that flies! Go get some popcorn,
this is going to take a while to explain.
But back to your question, on Day 1, I started 3D printing a
V-tail quadcopter and ordered a shit load of parts that I knew nothing about,
bad way to start. Did I mention, do your homework?
I ordered a very basic MultiWii FC board and a Spektrum DX6i
transmitter, all the motors and other “stuff” and proceeded to build a quad,
cool.
I tried and tried to make that thing fly but it was not to be.
Then a friend came to my rescue and sent me a HK (HobbyKing)
KK2 FC board. They are much more programmable and more stable in flight.
Excitedly I installed it and immediately crashed my V-tail yet again. This time
I busted it up pretty good.
It was at that point I decided to remove all the parts, order a
quad frame kit and start all over as the 3D design had structural problems.
With growing confidence in my building skills, I assembled my
new Turnigy HAL and installed everything. After a few mishaps, some broken
props, bent motor shafts and broken- landing gear I actually got it to fly,
woot!
Of course I wasn’t happy with just flying around so my friend
sent me a Tarot 2D gimbal since my original goal is aerial photography. My
friend had started to build a scratch built Tri-copter but soon opted for the quicker
path to aerial videography using a DJI Phantom. He no longer needed the gimbal
and that was the beginning of a whole new experience and another flurry of
parts procurement. Oh, and that ‘another friggin opportunity to grow’.
I decided that the KK2 FC was not going to cut it as a camera
platform and decided to step up to a DJI, NAZA-M Lite MC with GPS, yeah baby!
Oh wait, to control the NAZA and gimbal I needed more channels
than my DX6i had. I ordered the Taranis X9D Plus, fully programmable,
transmitter. Well crap, with all this new whiz bang “stuff” I fell from my smug
perch high on the learning curve to the very bottom yet again. I really had no
idea what I had gotten myself into.
Up this point, it seems like nothing has really
turned out that great but let’s continue because I love drama.
While waiting for new “stuff” to come from China and around the
world I still had a pile of parts from HAL-1 lying around. Oh what to do. I
know, I’ll build another quad! (Please no comments, I already know what you’re
about to say and it ain’t nice.)
I had most of the parts I had removed from HAL-1 and a
transmitter to control them so why not? I ordered a HK SK450 Glass Fiber
Quadcopter Frame. I put it together with all the leftover parts and within a
couple of days I had built “SKIP”, my new quad that actually flew. Not great
but it did fly. The problem is that I am not a very good pilot yet because I
spend all my time building, rebuilding, reprogramming and making new friends on
the various forums. I simply have not flown enough and that has got to change one
of these days.
In the meantime, back to HAL-2. All the parts came in and I put
it all together. It looked really terrific. Then the next learning curve came
into play; programming the NAZA to talk to the motors and receiver, HAL-2’s receiver
to talk to my transmitter and the transmitter back to the NAZA and the gimbal.
As simple as that sounds I spent weeks learning how to do it.
There are literally thousands of combinations available with
the Taranis transmitter and the NAZA; it feels like I tried every single one.
In the end though, I have a quadcopter that does fly. I’ve
crashed it several times including once through a cedar tree and onto my
neighbor’s house. It’s not ready for prime time yet as I’m getting really short
flight times but I’m working the issue.
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