Quadcopter Basic Build

Published by AJ Alacan on December 9, 2014December 9, 2014

m in the process of building a quadcopter. For those that aren’t familiar with that. It’s a multirotor rotorcraft with more than two rotors. I started with a mini quad hubsan x4 to practice and learn how to control and fly a quad, then like others i went to high and a gust of wind blew it away… probably in some neighbors palm tree. After that I started reading thru RC groups and youtube videos. There sooo much content on quad and larger rotorcrafts. I wanted to start as simple as possible with the option to upgrade later and add on more features like GPS, FPV…

To start I went with a 4 motor setup(quad). They’re plenty of kit frames you can buy and most are all the same. Most parts come from china, so shipping can take long. I have Amazon Prime, so I get 2 day free shipping on most parts. But back to the frame, It’s based on a x525 frame. I’ll post links below to all items. You can actually build your own frame out of wood or carbon fiber tubes. Weight is a big concern when choosing parts. Durability is also a major role, especially when learning to fly. Prepare to have extra propellers on hand for the first few flights.

Next on my list were the Electronic Speed Controllers (ESC) and brushless motors. ESCs control the amount of speed for the motor. I found a kit that had both and I probably saved a few $$. I had to program each ESC using a program card, and then program again to set the max throttle on my 6 channel radio. Then the brains of the bird. The flight controller. Here is where I kind of needed some help. The most popular board is the kk board. The kk board is cheap and should work. The problem was I got the 1.0 version that didn’t have an LCD. So it was a bit more difficult to program. At the same time I didn’t realize my propellers were on reversed. Propellers have a number on them followed by an R or L that shows the direction of the motor (10×4.5R or 10×4.5L). So I ditched the kk board and ordered a Naza M Lite. The Naza software was easy to use and then I realized my issue with propellers.

After a few test flights my next step was to add a camera. Most people add a GoPro, but I didn’t want to spend $300+ for this yet. The next best affordable 1080p video camera is the Mobius Action Cam at around $80. It’s a very small lite cam. So my next problem was the vibration jello effect. Some use foam and Velcro to isolate vibrations. But I wanted something nicer. I found a 2-axis gimbal. These gimbals have a separate control board to auto level a small camera. It also has rubber dampeners to eliminate vibrations.

Pending is my FPV system. First person view, in which I can see what the quad sees, and fly it remotely thru the use of a ground station that receives video from the quad.

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