Flight controllers and accessories.

When people think of Drones they just see the Quad, they do not see behind that device and so it seems very easy to build and operate, In truth it can be simple just buy a Phantom, use your existing tablet and away you go. It works, well most of the time! but where do you go from there?  This is like building an Igloo from snow, you only have the snow and there is only so much you can build with snow. what you really need is bricks and timber and glass to build a house.

The intention here is to re-use or add to the basic system as you gain skill and knowledge without breaking the bank or getting to a point where you give up. Everything that is discussed will be part of that re-usable process with the exception of the Little Hubsan mini quad which will remain intact and unaltered, simply because its so much fun and it builds your skills almost at a moments notice.

The Main components needed are a suitable Frame (SK450) Suitable Radio (in my case Futaba 6-7 channel) Motors and batteries, Speed controllers and the all important Flight controller. This post will deal with this all important part.

The flight controller should be considered the heart and soul of the Drone. If you try to fly a Quad WITHOUT a controller its a bit like balancing a plate on a stick and having a hard boiled egg on the plate . For a while it can be done while everything is perfectly balanced but when it starts to get away from you things go very bad in a heartbeat.

The flight controller solves this problem by using gyroscopes and acceleration sensors to determine where the drone is moving to and how fast and then applying a corrective action to the speed controls to bring everything back into balance. This happens hundreds of times each second and should be unseen by the operator. The choice of controller is not a simple as it would appear!.

Basically you have 2 choices:

buy a closed source unit such as a DJI or Naza and you have almost instant success BUT only on the specific drone that the unit is programmed for. you cannot add more functions and GPS way-point flying is usually not available, you cannot add cameras or telemetry systems to help you in the future.

The second choice and my preferred solution is to use an “Open source” programmer and controller so YOU are in total control of what you do and how you assemble and tune your aircraft. It is true that this WILL take longer and you will need to learn more about the operating system but you do not need to be a programmer or a Geek. you just need some help. The solution is simple;-

I use an Opensource controller that is a Pixhawk manufactured in the USA by 3DR. This unit is totally programmable by the user for either aircraft, multi-copters, ground based rovers or even power and sailing boats. There is an online community of developers and enthusiasts from all over the world to answer questions and give advice to you. This device has a built in GPS module, barometers for height as well as all the sensors you need for flight, you can add a Telemetry radio to send information to and from the Drone such as battery condition, speed, height and GPS location. This information can easily be displayed on a tablet or laptop. More on this later.

It is this support from the community that makes this the best option. for example, one guy was flying his quad and noticed that the battery monitor system was being ignored by the controller when it should have been turning the quad around and sending it home before the battery went flat. he advised the community and one of the software developers checked and found the bug and put it right the SAME day. the guy was able to fly again as soon as he downloaded the new firmware. he was happy and the community was happy. another instance was when a member asked if it was possible to add an additional flight mode for camera mapping operations, the new mode was added with additional features within a week. These are now standard features in the system. This will NEVER happen with a closed source device.

It is this constant development that keeps your system at the fore front of this expanding technology and allows the system to grow with your knowledge and successes.  I will soon add this to my parts listing for the Multicopter and the Fixed wing aircraft.

 

Getting started with Drones

When we look at the glossy pictures of Drones on the web and in magazines its all too easy to let your eyes rule your mind, Remember that the adverts are trying to SELL the product on display!! Do you really want to get into a 1500$ DJI Phantom like this one DJI Phantom 3 on day one just because the advert tells you its easy to fly and control. DJI Some people will be lucky or just have natural flying skills and they will succeed. The rest of us normal mortals will end up looking at a pile of parts after the UAV has hit a wall or dropped like a brick from 100 feet onto the roadway. A word to the wise, This is a developing technology, nothing is perfect yet, bad things happen.

The preferable way to get into this is available and its cheap. As a newbie you need Cheap, easy to use, safe and REPAIRABLE,  The only way to learn to control these devices is to fly them, Bounce them off the walls and floor, chase the cat or dog until the drones goes where YOU want it to go, not where it thinks it should go. This takes “Stick time” Ok, I see the more advanced Drones that you can use with a tablet or wave an Iphone at and it will go to a GPS point and take your picture. Great, love the technology BUT……. What do you do when on the third flight it suddenly turns around and heads for the hills at top speed because you have an out of balance propeller caused by hitting the table leg last night? If you are lucky the battery runs out before it goes out of sight and you get it back, IF you are lucky.

Seriously you need a simple and easy to fly Drone WITH a Radio control system, this keeps YOU in control, if it try’s to fly away you can cut the throttle and it lands. simple . NO loss.

Crashes, you WILL crash, you will need spare parts (hopefully not too many) you will curse when you turn Left instead of Right and hit the wall, you will lower the throttle and fall to the ground when you get disoriented. The good news is this will happen less often each time you fly. it will take some time so stick with it.

The BEST training Quad out there is the Hubsan X4 H107C ,hubsan It’s small , no assembly to do, it’s cheap (60-75$) and comes with everything you need, buy some spare propellers and batteries and go fly in the time it takes you to charge the batteries. on the subject of spare parts did you know that EVERY part for the Hubsan is available as a spare part? What more could you ask?

You can fly indoors or outdoors (Watch out for Wives, Husbands, Mothers, Fathers and the Wind in that order), Make each flight have a goal, don’t just wander the Drone around. once you have the hang of the basic controls get used to hovering, moving towards you and away from you, fly and land on a specific point on the driveway or land on a table. All these are the most valuable skills you can learn.

A little tip for indoor flying.. Keep away from the ceiling, As you get close the airflow into the propellers is reduced and the motors speed up, the Drone then hits the ceiling, stops the propellers and falls to the floor. ouch

Later when you graduate to the bigger and more complex GPS camera Drones and your Drone loses the GPS signal leaving you with NO alternative but to hand fly your machine back home you will be glad of every flight you made with the Hubsan and your newly developed flying skills. Have Fun.

Drones are FUN

Drones are GOOD, Drones are FUN, , and Droning is a big adventure just waiting for you.

To get to the nitty gritty first. 3 years ago I was a Newbie just like you. I knew that UAV’s looked like fun and I loved photography and at first sight these 2 things went together like fries and a burger. They still do!. In those dark ages of 3 yrs ago I knew Radio controlled models well and flew most weekends at the local club site. I still do fly at the club but not as much.

I looked at many drones to see which was the best way for me to get into this hobby but at the same time keep my wallet and my Blonde person Happy….Happy Spouse, Happy life!

Talking of Happy people…. Before I start please go and check the legal Stuff page and make sure you operate your UAV legally and correctly for your country, especially respect the location of airports and other prohibited areas for your flights. In some countries Registration is required for UAV’s over a certain weight or size. Please follow the rules and always give way to full sized aircraft even if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. it happens. 

Ok, Back to UAV’s 

So the choice was huge, Quadcopters from 40$ to 4000$, 4 rotors to 8 rotors, a bunch of electronics that meant very little to me and tales of “Flyaways” and UAV’s dropping from the sky like flaming meteorites. Fixed wing planes that took to the sky and were not seen again, wings folding on launch with too many batteries and the dreaded exploding battery lipo issue all stood in the way of a happy flight.  There MUST be a better way?? Well, there is, read on.

This blog will take you through the path to a well controlled and capable UAV that you can fly everyday knowing it will return in a safe manner. you will learn from the mistakes I made in the past and gain expert knowledge for your own UAV operation whether its for fun, for photography or mapping of large areas for research or for crop analysis. Each activity has its own challenge that I will address in this Blog, give me time, its a long and complicated story I hope you will enjoy. If you wish to ask questions please do so, you are welcome to use the contact page from the menu at the top of the site, I will try to reply ASAP. I have added pages for Mulicopters and for Fixed wing builds and in these pages I will try to list the parts that I use with a supplier or a link. this will save you a lot of searching time.

My first UAV turned out to be a home made flying wing simply because I had plenty of 6mm sheet foam ready to use. I did some doodling and built my first UAV. For the first few flights it was a simple RC aircraft, I changed a few parts of it until if flew well and then started to add the UAV stuff.

Everyone has there own preferences but this is what I considered important an why.

1) The radio system MUST be 100% reliable, as I had been using Futaba since I was a boy that was and still is my first choice, yes, there are cheaper units out there that have more features BUT I know if I choose Futaba I don’t have to look at the radio if something is not doing what it should be doing, its not the radio! I use the Futaba 6EXA or 7C for everything.

2) Lipo batteries, Turnigy Nanotech batteries last a long time, give good power and have a low internal resistance, pick a size you need and get some spares. The price is always good. Make sure the connectors match your ESC and your charger. My preference is the XT60 style connectors,

3) Lipo chargers, Always choose a balancing charger and preferably a unit with AC/DC capability so you can use it at home and in the field.

4) Motors, Unit you get REALLY confident and experienced then go for a middle price motor, give the super motors a miss until you are confident the next flight will not be one where you throw the plane into the dirt. Same for propellers. Give Carbon fiber propellers a BIG miss for now, they are incredibly dangerous parts and need to be treated with respect.

5) Servos, always try to choose a servo that is suitable for its intended function, do not under size the servo to save money.

6) ESC, same as 4) go for middle of the road, the cheap ones explode, the expensive ones are an overkill and still burnout if you dive into the dirt on your first flight. here is where thought begins to win?.

My friend has deep pockets and built a foam wing the same as mine but equipped it with an expensive motor, batteries and carbon fiber prop, We would fly around in formation just having fun and his was a few miles/ hour faster but otherwise the same. On our landing field there is a tree in just the wrong place at the approach to the runway. On his last landing of the day the tree grabbed the plane from the sky as they do. The motor was still running and the prop was stopped by the tree, the plane spun around the motor and destroyed itself, the motor overheated and burned, the ESC melted and died. History does tend to repeat itself however…. several weeks later MY plane hit the same tree but this time the cheap plastic prop broke and lost both blades, the motor carried on running and the plane fell to the ground. total damage = 1 off 4$ plastic prop, damage to my friends plane = total loss. only the receiver survived.  more expensive is not always better.