Cyberdactyl
Misfit Multirotor Monkey
Yea, cheap plastic props can require a bunch of mass on the hub. So much so, I'v also clipped tiny ~1mm pieces of thicker solder wire to submerge in the epoxy to help reduce the size of the blob I put on the hub.
Fortis TITAN Build
- Thread starter ikem
- Start date
Did a little fpv yesterday with the CC3d controller tri. Just about have it dialed in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7mUVbXEVXE
Jim Bridger
Junior Member
Oh crap! That sucks, Any idea what brought you down?
ikem
Senior Member
been having problems with the tail motor mount's zipties breaking.
Ok, I have a little update. I've been spending a lot of time trying to get my Apm2.6 controller set up on the Fortis platform. Way too much time actually. I have probably done the compass and accelerometer calibration a hundred times. Had it up today and ran through a few of the flight modes. Stabilization, good. Alt hold, good. Loiter, good. Then I decided to run the auto tune program...good. Liked the settings. Shut down and power cycled, took off. Stabilize, good, Alt hold, good. Loiter.......WTF? It goes hard left, then hard right into a tree. I'm about over this controller. This is the second one that I've tried. Had issues with a apm 2.0 a year or so ago.
The Fortis frame crashed well. A few things I did not expect, were how the servo mechanism detached. Also how the carbon fiber arm split. The O rings popped and absorbed a lot of the force. Didn't lose any props, haven't checked the operation of the servo yet, but everything seems to be functioning. Anyone interested in purchasing an Apm2.6. Think I'll be trying a Naze32 on this frame next.
yoadrian,
It's hard to tell from the last picture, but did you have zipties going over the pivot shaft of the yaw mechanism which held it to the boom? If you didn't this would be part of the reason why your yaw mechanism separated in that manner.
In your picture, where you have the two yellow zipties, those ones should loop around the pivot. See step 14: http://www.fortisairframes.com/titan-yaw-mech-assembly-instructions/
I've also had a carbon boom split. Due to the way square carbon tubes are made there is a seam where they tend to split. They can be repaired and strengthened if not broken too badly. Pretty much just follow this tutorial: http://www.fortisairframes.com/how-to-carbon-hybrid-booms/
The only thing I will add to that is that right after you glue the wood dowels into the booms, you will need to use zipties to hold the split portion of the boom together while the glue dries. The glue will expand as it dries, so the zipties are needed to hold the split pieces together so they don't splay out. I've successfully done this to a cracked boom I had and it's stronger than it was before. I would definitely suggest the carbon/wood hybrids to anyone looking to add that extra level or durability to an already durable airframe.
I'm actually running the Naze32 on my Titan right now. It flies pretty good although I still need to dial in some of the yaw gains because it has a little tail wag when you puch the throttle to climb real quick.
I'm not sure if anyone has tried it yet, but the new Eagle Tree Vector supports Tricopter, and it has GPS and features similar to the APM and Naza, but also includes a built in OSD. I've thought about running this on my Titan, but I've been too busy messing around with my Flamewheel 550 and QAV400 to really give my Titan the attention it deserves.
It's hard to tell from the last picture, but did you have zipties going over the pivot shaft of the yaw mechanism which held it to the boom? If you didn't this would be part of the reason why your yaw mechanism separated in that manner.
In your picture, where you have the two yellow zipties, those ones should loop around the pivot. See step 14: http://www.fortisairframes.com/titan-yaw-mech-assembly-instructions/
I've also had a carbon boom split. Due to the way square carbon tubes are made there is a seam where they tend to split. They can be repaired and strengthened if not broken too badly. Pretty much just follow this tutorial: http://www.fortisairframes.com/how-to-carbon-hybrid-booms/
The only thing I will add to that is that right after you glue the wood dowels into the booms, you will need to use zipties to hold the split portion of the boom together while the glue dries. The glue will expand as it dries, so the zipties are needed to hold the split pieces together so they don't splay out. I've successfully done this to a cracked boom I had and it's stronger than it was before. I would definitely suggest the carbon/wood hybrids to anyone looking to add that extra level or durability to an already durable airframe.
I'm actually running the Naze32 on my Titan right now. It flies pretty good although I still need to dial in some of the yaw gains because it has a little tail wag when you puch the throttle to climb real quick.
I'm not sure if anyone has tried it yet, but the new Eagle Tree Vector supports Tricopter, and it has GPS and features similar to the APM and Naza, but also includes a built in OSD. I've thought about running this on my Titan, but I've been too busy messing around with my Flamewheel 550 and QAV400 to really give my Titan the attention it deserves.
Mpbiv, you are correct. I missed the looping of the zip tie over the hing pin. I'm wondering if that perhaps saved me some additional damage? I had to tap it in pretty hard to get it to seat. Anyway, I have my power and esc cable running through the arm. I used some epoxy to glue it back together. I'll check it out tomorrow. I have an eagletree on my flip. I'm still trying to get the tracking station to work.....now they have a unit that includes a controller. ....Aaarr. I need more time to mess with this stuff.
Hey guys,
Been having a good time so far with the titan flying LOS but finally got an fpv system all hooked up. All the sudden I'm having serious tail servo issues. Right at the point the tricopter is about to lift the servo freaks out and slams back and forth. I was hoping maybe you guys have an idea why? The only thing I changed was the props to the better nylon/carbon gemfans. They even balanced better so it doesnt make any sense. I'm going to try going back to the old props to see if thats the issue but I'm tired of messing with it for the day. Here is a quick vid of whats happening, any help would be much appreciated!
Edit: I lied, I also changed the pids back to the default recommended on the fortis site. Maybe that has something to do with it? He recommends 50 50 25 20 on yaw, pitch and roll. I'll have to mess with those tomorrow as well. Any PID recommendations from you guys? I'm running the 16 inch booms. I also remounted the kk2 using one adhesive pad that yoadrian recommended but I would think that would only help with vibrations?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q15Y5I6vcjg&list=UUFvxejB9sd2BTp5N_hYEOxg
Been having a good time so far with the titan flying LOS but finally got an fpv system all hooked up. All the sudden I'm having serious tail servo issues. Right at the point the tricopter is about to lift the servo freaks out and slams back and forth. I was hoping maybe you guys have an idea why? The only thing I changed was the props to the better nylon/carbon gemfans. They even balanced better so it doesnt make any sense. I'm going to try going back to the old props to see if thats the issue but I'm tired of messing with it for the day. Here is a quick vid of whats happening, any help would be much appreciated!
Edit: I lied, I also changed the pids back to the default recommended on the fortis site. Maybe that has something to do with it? He recommends 50 50 25 20 on yaw, pitch and roll. I'll have to mess with those tomorrow as well. Any PID recommendations from you guys? I'm running the 16 inch booms. I also remounted the kk2 using one adhesive pad that yoadrian recommended but I would think that would only help with vibrations?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q15Y5I6vcjg&list=UUFvxejB9sd2BTp5N_hYEOxg
Last edited:
1600g is pretty heafty . . . and a 3S4000 @ ~350g is no light battery . . .
. . . but have you considered moving up to 4S? With the extra power you get from the voltage boost, you move your motors onto a different thrust/power curve at a point much farther down. Adding more battery weight after that will give you better flight time and still maintian flight performance. *BE ADVISED* Going to 4S, you'll need to drop your prop size to accomidate the higher RPM.
. . . but have you considered moving up to 4S? With the extra power you get from the voltage boost, you move your motors onto a different thrust/power curve at a point much farther down. Adding more battery weight after that will give you better flight time and still maintian flight performance. *BE ADVISED* Going to 4S, you'll need to drop your prop size to accomidate the higher RPM.
I'm with Craftydan on this!
Go 4S! Especially with that much weight. If you can find ways to lighten it, that will help too!
I originally built my Titan to run 3S and then added a gimbal. It was sluggish with all the weight and mine only weighed a tad over 1.2kg. It wasn't long after adding the gimbal that I ended up crashing it because I couldn't climb out of fast forward flight quick enough to avoid a burm.
http://youtu.be/TSOY0EjKJF4
After that happened I rebuilt her and ran 4S. It performs much better this way. I am currently running the following power setup:
Lumenier 3300mAh 4S Battery
Lumenier 30A SimonK ESC's
T-Motor MT2212-13 980kv motors
Graupner 10x5 E-Props
Still under 1.3kg AUW
I get about 12mins of flight time powering everything off the one 4S battery, and usually I still have 800mAh in reserve upon landing. So I am not really taxing my power system much and the motors still run cool even on the 10" props.
It's agile enough to film this with the 4S setup: http://youtu.be/scRdGuy4_84
Go 4S! Especially with that much weight. If you can find ways to lighten it, that will help too!
I originally built my Titan to run 3S and then added a gimbal. It was sluggish with all the weight and mine only weighed a tad over 1.2kg. It wasn't long after adding the gimbal that I ended up crashing it because I couldn't climb out of fast forward flight quick enough to avoid a burm.
http://youtu.be/TSOY0EjKJF4
After that happened I rebuilt her and ran 4S. It performs much better this way. I am currently running the following power setup:
Lumenier 3300mAh 4S Battery
Lumenier 30A SimonK ESC's
T-Motor MT2212-13 980kv motors
Graupner 10x5 E-Props
Still under 1.3kg AUW
I get about 12mins of flight time powering everything off the one 4S battery, and usually I still have 800mAh in reserve upon landing. So I am not really taxing my power system much and the motors still run cool even on the 10" props.
It's agile enough to film this with the 4S setup: http://youtu.be/scRdGuy4_84
Is this gimbal mount available anywhere yet? I have a Titan, and a gimbal laying around that I could mount to it if i had a vertical surface to mount it to like this.
