RCExplorer Mini Tricopter Build thread

[LitterBug]

Just got back from the most awesomest FliteFest EVAH! David Windestål's RCExplorer Mini tricopter kit arrived while I was away, so it is time to start a new build thread so I have notes to refer back to and hopefully to benefit or inspire others to build this fine kit.


Off to unload the truck. Gotta have my tools and build mat to start the build!

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[LitterBug]

Broke the seal on the kit last night for initial inspection and trial fitting. Also took some time to watch this assembly video that David made when he originally released the frame. Always a hoot to watch his build videos.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[ElectriSean]

Worst jokes ever... Fun build though

 

[LitterBug]

Did an initial mock build with the Used F40 motors, DB's junk camera, and a new RCExplorer servo to get a feel for how it all goes together. Going to disassemble it partially and mod the top center plate with beveled FC mounting holes in a 30.5x30.5 pattern. Took it out to the field last night and got a pic of the mock build next to it's Baby Tri Buddies.


Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[LitterBug]

Moving ahead with the build.

Finally got around to knocking the dust off this build. Am using the same airDTF DTFc flight controller on this build that will be using on the HK Y-3 rebuild. Disassembled the core frame last night so mount holes could be drilled for the FC stack. Tried to put it as close to the center of gravity possible without blocking access to other parts. Ended up blocking the side arms from folding. Not a big deal for me on this build, but I may go back later and try to use tapered fasteners and beveled screw holes to allow the arms to fold. Might need to use a thicker plate for that to work correctly. I'm reusing the DYS XS30A ESCs that were previously on Baby Tri#1 with the s-l-o-w 2000kv motors. Spent time last night removing the baby motors from the ESCs and adding wire extensions on the used F40 2300kv motors that I bought.


More to come.....

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[French]

Gotta love David's videos. His new rocket knife series is rather entertaining.

 

[Ricci]

Nice! Is also on my "must have" wishlist.

 

[LitterBug]

Nice! Is also on my "must have" wishlist.

@ricci, The Mini Tri or the rocket knife? LOL

@French, I'm salivating over that jumbo gummy rat! ROTFLOL

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[cranialrectosis]

Watching this one with pleasure.

Love your hangar, man...

 

[Ricci]

The mini tri Of course.

 

[LitterBug]

Did a bunch of burning of the fingers tonight. Reusing ESCs and motors on a bigger frame means all the wires are too short and need to be replaced and/or lengthened. Started by getting a rough idea of how long to make the wires leaving enough slack that it's still possible to work on without complete disassembly.

Got all the ESCs in place and mounted the 5V UBEC for the servo between the main frame plates. Soldered up the main power leads and RX cable to the FC.


Kinda ticked at myself, because it turns out I didn't check for proper rotation of the left front motor before shrink wrapping the ESC all up.... and it's backwards. Going to do something I prefer not doing, reverse it in BLHeli Suite.

More burning of the fingers later, the FC is all wired up ready for bench and LOS testing without mounting the FPV pod.


Still trying to decide what FPV gear to use. May use one of the Diatone SP3 OSD/VTXes like I have on the Baby Tricopters. Plenty of space on the FPV pod though, so may use some of my clunkier gear that wouldn't work well on smaller builds.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[Ricci]

My teacher always said:"If you not burn your fingers when soldering, you not soldered correctly "

 

[LitterBug]

My teacher always said:"If you not burn your fingers when soldering, you not soldered correctly "

I must be doing it very correctly then LOL!!

Beginning to think this puppy with 6" props on the F40 motors is gunna be faster than the Baby Tricopters. BWAAAHHHHH HA HA HA ha ha ha!

Ordered a bunch of spare parts, "just in case" ;-)

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[LitterBug]

Got the FPV gear sorted out and all mounted up. "sort of" When I tried firing it all up, the OSD half of the Diatone OSD/VTX board decided not to work. DOH!. Fortunately it is connected up with plugs, so no soldering required to swap it out. The USB port for flashing and configuring it works, but the OSD CPU light is no workie....

At any rate, got a front and side shot of what it is going to look like and that will not change.



Could have sworn I had some yellow props for it, but appears they are orange.

Eventually will add orientation lights to the tips of the arms. That should make LOS flying easier.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[Ricci]

Looks like little bee ��
Nice ��

 

[irekkin]

nice build. i'm interested in your FC. mainly how the tail servo wires up. i'm running a naze board on my tri and i'd like to up-date.

 

[LitterBug]

nice build. i'm interested in your FC. mainly how the tail servo wires up. i'm running a naze board on my tri and i'd like to up-date.

The DTFc has 6 PWM outputs. Since I use this for TriFlight based on BetaFlight and dRonin, I needed to set it up to work with both. There is no RSSI input on this FC, but one of the dRonin developers figured out that the LED output could be remapped as the RSSI input. He then compiled alternate firmware for both the BetaFlight and dRonin Triflight versions. Testing proved positive so I rolled forward with the build.

dRonin needs to have the servo on a different interrupt than the ESCs, so that meant it would work best for me to use the following mapping:

PWM 1 Servo
LED Out Servo Feedback
Have an external UBEC to supply +5 or +6 volts to the servo.

PWM 3 Tail Motor
PWM 4 Right Front Motor
PWM 5 Left Front Motor

Here's the pinmapping of the DTFc


One other trick with the DTFc is getting 3.3v for my DSMX receiver. There is an unpopulated set of pads for logging on the bottom of the board which work perfectly. I have four working builds done this way.


Cheers!
LitterBug

PS: My Diatone SP3 OSD/VTX magically started working, so this build is now complete! On to tuning....

 

[irekkin]

thanks for the info, both here and on the other thread. i'm running a naze 32 with the latest version of triflight on my copter and it does great. for various reasons i'd like to update to an f3 board and i'm doing a little research. on the other thread you mentioned the RCexplorer f3 board. I've actually got that board and was going to use it but pretty much destroyed it when I soldered it up. lifted every pad I touched :black_eyed:. got a way better soldering station on the way so maybe i'll do some practicing and try again with another RCexplorer fc. the reason I was looking at the lux v2 is it looked like a nice thick board with solid pads . don't want to hi-jack your thread or get to far off topic so thanks again.

 

[LitterBug]

thanks for the info, both here and on the other thread. i'm running a naze 32 with the latest version of triflight on my copter and it does great. for various reasons i'd like to update to an f3 board and i'm doing a little research. on the other thread you mentioned the RCexplorer f3 board. I've actually got that board and was going to use it but pretty much destroyed it when I soldered it up. lifted every pad I touched :black_eyed:. got a way better soldering station on the way so maybe i'll do some practicing and try again with another RCexplorer fc. the reason I was looking at the lux v2 is it looked like a nice thick board with solid pads . don't want to hi-jack your thread or get to far off topic so thanks again.

YOWZA!... I've got three of the F3FCs and never lifted a pad with my two cheap soldering irons. One of the F3FCs has been in a TriFecta, Baby Tri, and now a quad. Wonder if you just got a bad one. I always tin the pads first and I use 60/40 Lead/Tin solder. I did pull the +5V beeper pad on one of my DTFc controllers on a quad build. The pad is right on the edge with no meat. Was able to find +5v somewhere else.

After 40+ years of soldering, I finally picked up a nice adjustable soldering iron this week. Now I need to play with different temperatures and figure that all out. Guess I should use my temp gauge and see what the cheapies are running for reference and a starting point.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[irekkin]

I have another question about your FC. when you did the mapping for your motors and servo, is that something you had to go into the cli and do yourself. the more I read and research the more I hear about re-mapping of inputs or outputs on FC's. to me it seems like most FC's are built for quad's and if you do much out of the ordinary you have to dig around to find out what you need to do, and mapping seems to be part of that.