Check Out My 3DR Solo Modifications!

3DR Solo Quadcopter & Mods

I just picked up my 3DR Solo this last week and have been flying it whenever I get the time. I also wanted to register with the FAA since it only costs $5 to do so. I am now licensed to fly legally, and will soon be getting my Part 107. You can contact us with questions here.

If you still hurry you might be able to purchase one from Best Buy or another local Computer store, if you already own a GoPro you should definitely pick up while you still can. I will upload some more mods as I do them, so far I plan on upgrading the GPS, HDMI cables, and adding some Moon gel.

You can use your cell phone to view the live video feed that is streamed from the 3DR back to you on the ground, but I decided to upgrade to a tablet instead. I decided I needed one with good battery life and it must have GPS in order for the “Smart Shots” to work. So I went with a Lenovo Tab from Amazon, it works really well and its much easier to plan out missions on. However there are many compatible tablets that can be used such as the ever popular iPad lineup

Time For some upgrades!

I decided to use my #Flashforge 3D Printer to print out some upgrade parts from Thingiverse. I went with a new Gimbal clips that prevents the GoPro from falling out of the Gimbal while your flying. The clip that comes installed from the factory requires that you remove the GoPro in order to remove your Micro Sd Card.

The picture shown on the bottom right shows a simple upgrade that can be 3D Printed if you know or have your own printer, it allows you access to your Micro Sd card without the need to remove your GoPro.

Carbon Fiber Gimbal Clip for the #GoPro on the 3DR Solo, download from thingiverse http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1479896

If your running the 3DR Solo with a Gimbal like I am you might also want to consider some leg extensions, that will help your GoPro & Gimbal clear the Grass or any obstacles low to the ground. They are easily installed, all you need to do is remove the old clips and snap these in their place!

Made for the 3DR Solo

3D Printed Fidget Spinners | San Antonio

3D Printed Fidget Spinners

Some of my most popular 3D printed designs

Hey folks! Today I am gonna talk to you about some of my Fidget Spinners! Until this year I had never heard about these so called “Hand Spinners” or “Fidget Spinners”. Well after printing out a few frames that I found online I decided that I would design my own frame and see if I could get good or better results. Two frame designs in I found the design that I would keep and called my own. I used my Flashforge Creator Pro 3D Printer to print out some frame prototypes so I could check if my measurements were correct.

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I am now comparing the spin types and the speed of two bearings: the first bearing is by Spitfire and they work well, good spin times and fairly smooth. The second bearing is by Bones and they are also good bearings, they spin smooth and for just as long. The only difference I can distinguish is that the Bones Bearings spin a little quieter and smoother than the Spitfire Bearings.

The Spinners show below are printed with Hatchbox PLA and to be honest I feel that the PLA material is far superior than ABS when it comes to Fidget Spinners. I’ve printed Spinners using both ABS & PLA, and I prefer using PLA for the Spinners. I have had way less stress fractures that you commonly see with ABS, the PLA also has a great surface finish.  Most of the spinners I’ve made spin for at least 30 seconds and up to a 1 1/2 minutes!  A lot of people don’t care that it spins for more than 15-20 seconds, well I prefer long spin times, so these work out for me and most other people seem to like this design as well.

 

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Quadcopter Build On Father’s Day

So Father’s day was last week and I decided to build my Dad a new 250mm Quadcopter so we can finally race each other. I wanted to make a build video but went with a Time-lapse of the build and its pretty cool IMO. I still need to test fly it and finishing the PID tuning. So far I have some issues when trying to spool up the motors, I am going to troubleshoot it this week. Click HERE to find out more info on your own custom Quadcopter Build.

Using my Flashforge Creator Pro 3D Printer I was able to make some custom parts for this FPV Quadcopter, one of which is a low profile spacer that allows you to put all of the electronics inside the frame including the ESC’s which makes for a super clean build as show below.

The Flight Controller is running Cleanflight but I might switch it over to Betaflight, I still need to look into the recent changes of both Cleanflight and Betaflight.

Its running:

  • Skyline32 Flight Controller
  • FlySky TH-9 Transmitter
  • 2500mah LiPo Battery
  • Carbon Fiber 250mm Quadcopter Frame (ZMR250)
  • Power Distribution Board
  • 2000kV motors

Soon I will be posting a test flight video of this aircraft.

Building A Sub 250g Carbon Fiber FPV Quadcopter

Most of you know that the FAA has stated that all multirotors that weigh more than 0.55 pounds must be registered in order to prevent fines upwards of $250,000. So there has been an increase in sub 250g Quadcopters and Tricopters. Well today we are gonna talk a little about my FPV Quadcopter and what they look like.

My personal FPV Racing Quadcopter that is under 250 grams!

The frame I chose for this build is an: LHI 210mm Carbon Fiber Frame : Overall I am very pleased with the quality of this frame, very sturdy and lightweight coming in at 70g with all the aluminum hardware. In the future I will be using my Flashforge Creator Pro to 3D print some much lighter spacers to replace the metal spacers that come with the LHI frame.

During this build all of the wiring was done in a minimalistic fashion, I would measure the wire bundles allowing just enough wire to go from A to B then add about an inch to allow for some slack.

Quadcopter Mini 250mm | Flashforge Creator Pro

Cyantechio 3D Printed Multirotor 250mm
Cyantechio 3D Printed Multirotor 250mm

3D FPV Quadcopters

I have yet to actually fly FPV… I don’t trust myself with my eyes off the aircraft flying at over 45mph!

The Hardware

Flight Controller

Almost all of my 250mm Quadcopter builds use a Naze32 Flight controller which are great boards in my opinion. You can easily update the firmware and make changes using Baseflight or Cleanflight depending on your personal preferences. I personally prefer Cleanflight, it is always getting updates and having things added plus I just like the way my Quads fly when using Cleanflight.

Motors

I am using 2200KV motors made by DYS, I have about 4 sets on different Quads and I think they are pretty good. I’m sure you can get much better motors but these work great and I haven’t had any issues with these motors.

ESC’s

For ESC’s I have decided to go with a set of Hobbypower 12amp Esc’s that have been flashed with Simon K firmware. I am able to get pretty good flights from these esc’s, they don’t get hot and seem to work very well.

The Frame

One of the problems when looking for a Quadcopter frame is finding one that is light, strong and cheap. Which is why I have decided to use 3D printed Quadcopter frames. They are cheap, lightweight, strong and when they break you can just make another one!

Mine is made from PLA which is strong and rigid, comes in many different colors and is much easier to work with that other materials like ABS. A normal frame can be printed in about 8-12 hours depending on the particular settings for that print.

Transmitter

When I comes to R/C Transmitters I prefer Futaba ever since I was little that name has been a common word. Since I have several aircraft like the DJI S900 I needed something with a lot of channels so I decided to go with the Futaba 14sg. It allows you to use up to 14 channels with the correct hardware and settings.

Accessories

So most of you reading this probably know what FPV is, for those of you reading that don’t know what FPV is, let me explain.

FPV

FPV or First Person View allows you to see from the perspective of a pilot sitting in a aircraft. Its like your sitting in the Quadcopter flying, it is quite an experience. In order to fly FPV you need a few things like a mini camera, video transmitter/receiver, batteries to power everything and antennas for your transmitters and receivers.

Most people will have two cameras: one to view FPV and the other to record the flight in HD.
I personally use a Sony CCTV camera with a Fatshark 250mw transmitter.