First home build mini Tricopter

[lynxaz]

Yah i will have to look around for one but i am not good at modeling or well to justify buying one.

 

[jipp]

So last night I added landing gear to my mini try, by using large cable ties.
It works but I'm pretty sure they wont last very long, reason being the front ones carry almost all the weight and will eventually squish flat under the weigh so will then have to put new ones on.
Is there a different way of doing this or must I perhaps find stronger cable ties"?
Sorry, no pics

do you have a picture im not sure which way you want.

chris.

 

[CharelZa]

Here is a quick picture (bad one) with the cable ties "landing gear", as you can see it is already starting to sag/squish under it's own weight and that is less then 24hours after installation and without a battery.

Any ideas to make it more durable but still light weigh?

 

[CharelZa]

sorry, double post...

 

[jipp]

id say different zip ties.. at my local ace hardware you can get them in all different widths/thickness. some of them are crazy heavy duty.. that would probably snap your arms as they would not give any bounce. heh.

also what size hobby grade plywood did you use?
Chris.

 

[Craftydan]

I've used cable ties in past, but even when they weren't too squishy, I've found they're too bouncy for my taste -- drop a few inches for a landing and the quad is just as likely to bounce and flip over as not.

My go-to landing gear for multirotors has been 1/2" disks cut from 2" PVC or ABS pipe, zip-tied onto the boom. Just a touch of flex in them to take a hard landing, but still stiff enough the skids are solid . . . and did I mention cheap?

Just need a good way to cut them, and my chop saw makes quick work of it -- set a stop and I can cut a dozen rings in about the time it takes to set up the first one. a PVC pipe cutter will probably also do the job, but that can get tedious.

 

[CharelZa]

Thanx for the reply's guys.
The bouncing part is what is worrying me, and do not want it to tip over cause the FC is exposed and also obviously the props..
Thanks for the PVC idea, think I will give that a go.

The ply that I used is 3 or 4mm aircraft grade plywood.
Super light and super rigid, i love it, but very hard to come by over here in South Africa

 

[ScottyWarpNine]

I've tried zip ties many times in varying thicknesses and I have not found any that I like. I ended up 3d printing landing gears that zip tie to the booms. The zip ties break in hard landings to protect other parts. This is all on a full size RCX tri though.

 

[CharelZa]

Thanks for the post.
I'm still using the zip ties and so far they are holding up but I know it won't be a permanent solution, I will have to try some of the suggestions on here sooner or later.