Tricopter made in Austria

[Aquanot]

Hi there!

I just wanted to show you my first Tricopter i ever build.
I got my inspiration from David, Flitetest and simplcopter.



I just used swiveling arms for crash resistance as usual.
Material for the deck is 4mm papule plywood.
Arms are made from what i have got lying arround.



Weight is ok i think.


Designed the frame myself by using CAD. (but was inspired by David's design)
Expensive working time for cnc or lasecutting made me do the cutting with my bandsaw.

I just printed the parts out and stickt it to the plywood. Then i cutted allong the lines.



the holes where done by drilling and with the jigsaw.



as i couldn't get nice hinges for the tilting motor i used some aluminium angles and a self bend u shape.
As you can see i used the servo on one side and the 90dg angle on the other side.




this makes a nice free from play connection

here you can get a idear of my dimensions (in mm)


Maybe you like it, then here are the pdf's of it in A4 size.
Print it out 100% !!(whatchout standard setting for printing is 94%)
View attachment tricopter.pdf
!!!! whatchout, there are some errors,
you will need to cut the top layer also so the vertical finns of the tilt-motor fitts!
and you should fitt it to your servo!
Also add strengthening pieces according to your material used for the frame.


Flying video will follow soon.
Yesterday i did the maiden and it went realy smooth

Komponents used:

• 3x TURNIGY Plush 25amp Speed Controller (EU warehouse)
• 2x PolyMax 3.5mm Gold Connectors 10 PAIRS (20PC) (EU warehouse)
• 1x Turnigy TGY-9018MG Metal Gear Servo 2.5kg/13g/0.10 (EU warehouse)
• 3x Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 2822-1275 Brushless Outrunner with Short Shaft ( EU Warehouse)
  !!! not the optimum!!!
• 3x 8x4.5 (1xccw 2xcw)
• 1x Hobbyking KK2.0 Multi-rotor LCD Flight Control Board (EU warehouse)
• 10CM Male to Male Servo Lead (JR) 26AWG (10pcs/set) (EU warehouse)
• 1xT-Plug (current doesnt exceed 40amps for to long)
• 1x2200mAh 3S1P
• some AWG16 for the distribution
• some plug vor the voltagecontrol of the pack
• some screws nuts and so on
• some heatshrink tubing (ok, more then some)
• some nice zipties = "kabelbinder"

Tipp for tricopter konfiguration; if you need to reverse the tilting direction of the 3rd motor go to the mixing menü on the kk2.
there change to mixer 4 (which is for the servo) and go to the value that reads 100 and change to -100.
(i searched quite a bit to find this information)


This is it.
Hope you like it.

greetings from Vienna/Austria!
Aquanot

 

[Craftydan]

Aquanot,

That's a cute little mini tri -- I bet she's as twitchy as you want, and can do flips with ease! Nice job on the build and design!

Had her out flying yet?

 

[Aquanot]

Hi Dan,

yeah, had been testing in our small courtyard (10x10 m) with selflevel on.
It was lying great! i left all parameters un touched.

Hope i can fly today (more in the night, when i finish work today it will be dark outside) and make a short video.

she is twitchy, but i'm used to a trex 450 sport and in comparison it is quite friendly!


nice that you like the design.
I'm thinking of a nice cover to show something like a gunship. Will use depron or some other foam for that.

greetings, Aquanot

 

[Craftydan]

Hi Dan,

yeah, had been testing in our small courtyard (10x10 m) with selflevel on.
It was lying great! i left all parameters un touched.

Hope i can fly today (more in the night, when i finish work today it will be dark outside) and make a short video.

she is twitchy, but i'm used to a trex 450 sport and in comparison it is quite friendly!


nice that you like the design.
I'm thinking of a nice cover to show something like a gunship. Will use depron or some other foam for that.

greetings, Aquanot

If you're keeping on top of it in a 10x10m space, she must like the stock tuning! (Ok, it *might* be the pilot -- probably a little of both)

When you get a chance, you might want to get her out where she can strech her legs -- I find it's a compleatly different experience flying my V-tail in my front yard, and flying it out at the club field . . . although a bit shorter -- going fast seems to use the batteries faster, for some reason

If you want to further refine the tuning, it's a lot easier when you have plenty of space to let her pick up some speed. If you're going to refine, tune the acro mode first (autolevel off), then tune the autolevel mode -- autolevel needs a well tuned acro mode to work, but hides the subtle effects of the acro mode's tuning.

Adding on a depron cobra/apache/commanche nose would make this a wicked looking airframe! If you're interested in carving or heat-cutting foam, might consider using a pool-noodle -- they're cheap and EPP (light and bouncy). Needs a lightweight spackle to finsh a clean outer surface, but can look really nice. (might be hard to find one in Austria, though)

 

[Aquanot]

Hi!

have been flying a little bit on this weekend.
Video is in the making process. (i'm not that great cutter)

Pool-nodle are also available in Austria ;-)
Didn't thout of them as an EPP source but i consider it!

in the meantime i created a 3d hull that i maybe make these days.

 

[Aquanot]

Ok, now the video.

http://youtu.be/arhI8AJJkaU

 

[cranialrectosis]

Very cool.

Keep us posted. I'd love to see a foam gunship cover.

 

[Aquanot]

Ok, now here some pics of the foam gunship cover.

Just made it yesterday evening out of house insulation foam by wirecutting sanding and cutting.

basic shape




test fit



from the back


i also tested it flying with the gunship cover. it flew ok. but i notice the extra weight with the throtle setting.

the look is ok, but i think it has to be thinner. now it seems like two pilots are sitting side by side.
I have to figure out some way to make it easy and lightwight attachable.
Also i need some LED all around to get better nightflying possbility.(it is getting much to fast dark outside after work ;-) )

What do you thik? anny sugestions about color sceme? i just had the idear to integrate some cockpit "glass" and some green led lightning inside the cockpit to simulate instruments.

greetings, Aquanot

 

[Aquanot]

another thing. annyone a good idear how to create the landing gears?
my first idea yesterday was to use some plywood but i'm not satisfied with my first aproach.

also it needs some more details to make it feel more real. I thought about a rocket box and some gun touret.

 

[Aquanot]

Update



the lights



a connection broke, better listen to David's soldering tipps!


somme more pcitures


Still foldable




hope you enjoy, night flight film follows......

 

[Craftydan]

BEST. PLAYMOBIL. EVER.

 

[Aquanot]

BEST. PLAYMOBIL. EVER.

thks

normaly i prefear LEGO, but the minifigs are to small for the RC crafts and so i got a Playmobil pilot 2years ago.

now he is piloting the tri

 

[Aquanot]

and now for a short film

http://youtu.be/_FjWbFDGpi8

 

[cranialrectosis]

Awesome copter.

 

[Craftydan]

I say, slap a layer of paint on it and take that out to the local park! she looks ready to stretch her legs!

BTW, cut a frame this weekend using your template -- had to adjust for my thicker booms, but overall looks nice. I really need to work up a different tilt mech -- I'm having no luck duplicating yours. won't be able to touch it for another week or two, but when I get it a little farther, I'll post some pics.

 

[Aquanot]

and some more eye candy
http://youtu.be/419ed4Iocgw

http://youtu.be/1WQVvNIfCJ4

I say, slap a layer of paint on it and take that out to the local park! she looks ready to stretch her legs!

like the idea; maybe i have some time today< to cover it with some paint.

BTW, cut a frame this weekend using your template -- had to adjust for my thicker booms, but overall looks nice. I really need to work up a different tilt mech -- I'm having no luck duplicating yours. won't be able to touch it for another week or two, but when I get it a little farther, I'll post some pics.

Thats realy nice!! hope to see the pics soon.
Maybe i can help you with my tilt mech... but you can also creat one simplier. i ended up building it like this only becourse there where nowhere a hinge available....
whatchout to match the cutting's in the top an lower layer of the frame to your servo thicknes !!

 

[Aquanot]

http://youtu.be/Bnuk2JX5EXg

http://youtu.be/Q8NpdG3aF6Q