Admin's new flying robot

[Admin]

. . . is clearly in the prototyping stage . . .

Failed Robot Flight Tests

[MrWizard]

Interesting concept... 1st thing comes to my mind is the neighbor kicking in your door, it's loud. 

[jwatte]

Nice :-) Do you have any gyro feedback yet, or is it purely manual?

I'm thinking the tipping might either be because manual can't control for instability quickly enough, or because you're using a gyro but there's some bug.

[waltr]

Thanks for posting such early results.
I did get a few chuckles.

so "back to the drawing board"

[Soeren]

Perhaps market it as a device for airing your bed sheets

[Admin]

Despite what I called the video, the tests were very informative.

I learned that:
- flexible plastic can really absorb a crash
- it is not mechanically stable
- it can actually fly
- it won't break despite using cheap components (saving me time/money)

Perhaps market it as a device for airing your bed sheets

lol . . . the soft sheets were intended to soften a crash . . . but instead they got sucked into the blades and were slightly scuffled up . . . if you look carefully, you'll see a cloud of haze come out of the fan as it crashed

I'm thinking of making a ball-shaped wire frame around it so I won't be concerned about crashes during tests and such.

[Soeren]

I'm thinking of making a ball-shaped wire frame around it so I won't be concerned about crashes during tests and such.

I recently saw a toy helicopter of sorts with a large plastic mesh ball around it (nearly bought it out of sheer curiosity ) - wonder how it affects aerodynamics though.

I'd think that hanging it from a high ceiling in a thin bungie cord (climbing gear shop) would do for initial tests?

[ballbreaker]

what if u used the double blades design used in the toy rc helicopters maybe it could provide your desired lift

[flokos]

Holy crap , I had the same exact idea i mean the same . The whole box thing and the ducted fans on the sides a year ago but didnt had money.So whats my opinion ? thats is cool stuff .What you need to do to make it better is to put the fans away from the box make it look like small wings and the fans go in the ends . Also you might want to put some flaps with couple of servo moving them to get it stable enough to fly or  make the stand the box goes on bigger  and put 2 more fans . Thats what I thought and when i find money Ill try it .
Keep up the good work I will have an eye on this one .Do you have a blog or something ?

[Admin]

This forum thread is the closest I'll get to a 'blog' for it . . . but at some point I'll post up a tutorial on what I learned and how to make it.

And yea, this bot cost me $500 . . . I consider it an investment into my personal education

[SmAsH]

Few questions(assuming you designed and built it, not bought), this is incredibly intriguing as i am working on something slightly related.
-Why not opt for 4xrotors each pair with an opposite tilt direction? ie, one pair N-S and one E-W for omni directional control.
-Why have such a small wingspan? Obviously size is a large component, but stability seems to suffer
-What kind of battery and mah are you using? Those motors sound like they suck a fair bit of juice at higher RPM's
Cheers dude, looks like a really decent concept.

I'm thinking of making a ball-shaped wire frame around it so I won't be concerned about crashes during tests and such.

I recently saw a toy helicopter of sorts with a large plastic mesh ball around it (nearly bought it out of sheer curiosity ) - wonder how it affects aerodynamics though.

I'd think that hanging it from a high ceiling in a thin bungie cord (climbing gear shop) would do for initial tests?

I used to own a helicopter with something like this, sort of an atom looking shield around it comprised of a very light but rigid plastic, didn't seem to affect aerodynamics much, unless at higher speeds. Damage was definitely saved at low altitudes, though.

[Admin]

-Why not opt for 4xrotors each pair with an opposite tilt direction? ie, one pair N-S and one E-W for omni directional control.

Each rotor is ~$100, each with another battery ~$30, and each with another motor driver ~$30. Two more rotors would have cost me ~$300 more, so I wanted to save money. If I had a money tree, I would have gone with four rotors.

-Why have such a small wingspan? Obviously size is a large component, but stability seems to suffer

I am machining the frame with a CNC, so it unfortunately limits the frame size to ~15 inches long
.

-What kind of battery and mah are you using? Those motors sound like they suck a fair bit of juice at higher RPM's

45C 2000mAh 6s lipos:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__16476__ZIPPY_Flightmax_2000mAh_6S1P_45C.html


Also, I've been really busy lately so it's been sitting collecting dust. Still working on the IMU + balance controller in software . . .

[jwatte]

I am machining the frame with a CNC, so it unfortunately limits the frame size to ~15 inches long

I would think it limits each piece of the frame to 15 inches. A couple of bolts would let you extend that ;-)
That being said, I would agree that the rigidity of a uniframe is nice!

[SmAsH]

-Why not opt for 4xrotors each pair with an opposite tilt direction? ie, one pair N-S and one E-W for omni directional control.

Each rotor is ~$100, each with another battery ~$30, and each with another motor driver ~$30. Two more rotors would have cost me ~$300 more, so I wanted to save money. If I had a money tree, I would have gone with four rotors.

-Why have such a small wingspan? Obviously size is a large component, but stability seems to suffer

I am machining the frame with a CNC, so it unfortunately limits the frame size to ~15 inches long
.

-What kind of battery and mah are you using? Those motors sound like they suck a fair bit of juice at higher RPM's

45C 2000mAh 6s lipos:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__16476__ZIPPY_Flightmax_2000mAh_6S1P_45C.html


Also, I've been really busy lately so it's been sitting collecting dust. Still working on the IMU + balance controller in software . . .

Hmm, i see. Fair call then haha. Seems very well designed considering the limitations in that case. Good job Would be very interested if you ever do a write up, though

[Razor Concepts]

I think the tricky part for these avatar-gunship like crafts is the pitch direction. Yaw and roll are easy because the response is very fast, but pitch is like a slow pendulum which makes it a pain to stabilize

[SRobotics]

I like your idea with these maneuverable propellers, I like more than the parrot ar drone.

[sohailsameja]

are there picsures