Bat Bone tricopter build

[C0d3M0nk3y]

What is the flight time you get on this setup? I get 3 mins MAX. I'm not even lift a camera. or a brick.

I run the recommended setup from FT. except I run a BMS max servo.

Everything was a big mistake. from the motors to the servo. TGY broke. BMS didn't fit. but I made it fit.

I'm averaging about 8 minutes, and I usually fly until I get to about 3.6V per cell.

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

After breaking 2 servos mounted under the tilt mechanism, I decided to move the servo to above the boom next to the tilt mechanism. I had to flip the entire mechanism to get the bolt hole out of the way, then switch the top half back to the way it was. I can't get a bolt into the hole now, so I put a zip tie through it to hold it in place. I attached the servo with some foam tape and zip ties. The push rods weren't in very good shape, so I replaced them with some tiny screws. Here's what it looks like:

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

I added the FrSky SP-GPS telemetry module.

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

I used some plywood to make a mount for my mobius.





It's probably not ideal, but it got rid of almost all of the jello I had when attaching the camera directly to the frame.

 

[cranialrectosis]

That's beautiful.

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

That's beautiful.

Thanks.

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

I built an rcexplorer style tilt mechanism and switched to FT's new motor mount discs for the front motors. This changed the motor to motor distance to 520 mm.

 

[cranialrectosis]

Bet that holds up a LOT better. How does it fly?

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

Bet that holds up a LOT better. How does it fly?

It flies great. I was getting some slop in the old tilt mechanism I had, so it flies much better now with that gone. I think I need to tweak the PI settings a little bit, but overall it flies very well.

 

[bmacw]

I just ordered the Bat bone kit. I'm trying to build a tri with shorter arm and that's more portable. Can you give some feedback on the length you have chosen? Can it be any shorter?

Also It was not very clear to me if the bat bone frame is designed such that you can just cut all three arms the same length since the geometry of the frame will take care of the rest.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

I just ordered the Bat bone kit. I'm trying to build a tri with shorter arm and that's more portable. Can you give some feedback on the length you have chosen? Can it be any shorter?

Also It was not very clear to me if the bat bone frame is designed such that you can just cut all three arms the same length since the geometry of the frame will take care of the rest.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mine is using 25 cm booms. This is the size the kit comes with. There's definitely some room to shorten them. I haven't really tried to shorten the booms on the Bat Bone. I think you might have to experiment with some different lengths of front and rear booms if you want to keep the motors equal distances. I'm not sure how much it will actually affect the flight characteristics if they're not equal distances, though. You might be able to get away with shortening them all to the same length.

 

[bmacw]

Thanks.
I didn't realize it was already shorter than David's tri-copter or the Talon, Titan booms.
I just ordered some breakaway motor mounts, so I will just use zip ties and experiment with the boom length.

This picture form AltitudeHobbies, makes it look really compact. probably just the angle though.

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

Today I finished several changes to my tricopter. This is what I did:

- Switched KK2.1 board to Naze32 acro. I mounted it in a 3D printed plastic case from ReadyMadeRC.
- Switched Neewer ESCs to RTFQ F-20A ESCs. I had to do this because the Neewer ESCs didn't work well with the Naze32 board.
- Switched FrSky X8R receiver to FrSky X4R-SB with SBUS to CPPM converter.
- Switched power distribution harness with bullet connectors to a directly soldered power distribution harness.
- Switched Mobius mount to new clean and dirty plates made out of plywood. This eliminated almost all jello from the Mobius video.
- Painted booms black.
- Dyed all nylon hardware black.















Since the Mobius mounting plates prevent access to the USB port on the Naze board, I picked up a USB OTG cable that I mounted to give me easy access to the USB port on the Naze board.

With the Mobius mounted, the weight is about the same. It's 865 g all up. If I remove the Mobius and the clean and dirty mounting plates, the AUW is only 760 g.

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

I installed a Tough Tilt. I'm also trying out some HQ 8x5 props.

 

[Texacate]

Is any one (besides me) experiencing frame resonance with the Bat Bone Tri frame? I have balanced both motors and props, but I still get a horrible resonance right in the middle of the rpm band where it begins to lift off. It's much worse with stiff props like Grauper.

Any comments / experiences on frame resonance would be appreciated. I think it might be the flex in the motor mount. Ive noticed FliteTest has gone to clamping style motor mounts. My BatBone has the older lolly pop shaped mounts.

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

Is any one (besides me) experiencing frame resonance with the Bat Bone Tri frame? I have balanced both motors and props, but I still get a horrible resonance right in the middle of the rpm band where it begins to lift off. It's much worse with stiff props like Grauper.

Any comments / experiences on frame resonance would be appreciated. I think it might be the flex in the motor mount. Ive noticed FliteTest has gone to clamping style motor mounts. My BatBone has the older lolly pop shaped mounts.

I don't experience this at all. I'm using the clamp style mounts. My original motor mounts didn't last very long.

 

[FPVology]

Curious as to how you died the nylon hardware. I am doing a complete scratchbuilt tri and using lexcan for the frame, and am brainstorming ideas to add some color to it.
Spraypaint rubs off on the booms, and looks somewhat dodgy.

Your build looks awesome tho. You've got some super clean builds.

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

Curious as to how you died the nylon hardware.

I copied the idea from Twitchity.

Your build looks awesome tho. You've got some super clean builds.

Thanks!

 

[godfinder]

My First Multirotor

Just finished my batbone. It's my first multirotor. Still tuning it.

 

[jipp]

looks great. congrats.
chris.