Twitchity quad with power board - test build

[Brainstorm]

It flies with a 2200 but it looks like a blue brick under a mosquito!

No way would I try a flip with the 2200mAh. It would be like an eagle with a 40' shipping container in its claws.

ROTFL, Thurmond! Loving the large-LiPo humor today.

 

[cranialrectosis]

No lights....YET but I have 2 sets of pumpkin strobe lights (Dollar Tree) that I have altered to a full set red and a full set of green that are begging to be installed plus I have tons of Luxon 1, 3 and 5 watt in MANY colors as well as many Cree (star mounted) in an Electric blue that has been ruled an eye hazard like a laser since I purchased them a few years ago. I used to hang out at CandlePowerForums in the early custom LED flashlight days back when X-Binned Luxons were the Unobtanium of desire by all.

I love the Cobra's although they only have about 5 minutes flite time with a 2200mAh battery. I went 1960KV since I will run 6X4.5 props all the time. If HK USA East will get my 1300 45C Nano-Techs to me then I can possibly learn to fly this thing. No way would I try a flip with the 2200mAh. It would be like an eagle with a 40' shipping container in its claws.

Thurmond

You are just going to have to mount some Luxon and pumpkins to show us what you mean.

1960 Cobras with 6045s demand an 1800 4S. It'l be more than an eye hazard no matter what lights you put on it then.

Will that power board handle 4S? If so you have a giant, ninja eagle with a rocket pack!

 

[Tritium]

You are just going to have to mount some Luxon and pumpkins to show us what you mean.

1960 Cobras with 6045s demand an 1800 4S. It'l be more than an eye hazard no matter what lights you put on it then.

Will that power board handle 4S? If so you have a giant, ninja eagle with a rocket pack!

1.6 4S Nano-Tech NIB on Hand! It will have to do..for now

I don't know if V1 PDB (may have to pull off the micro LEDS that are on it to prevent smoke) will handle 4S but we may see after I get some 3S experience under my belt. 3S due in tomorrow!

Thurmond

 

[jhitesma]

Yeah the LED's would probably burn up on 4s almost instantly Not sure if the PDB would handle 4s...given how I screwed up on the trace width I'm kind of surprised it's doing fine with 3s. But if it was me I'd go ahead and give it a try on 4s Then again it's not like I'm known for wise decisions!

PDB v2 should handle 4s no problem. I'm really hoping to have some time to work on it this weekend...but this MRM build is really calling me to dig in and I need to maiden my FT-22 and my wifes boss's father just passed away tonight so she's suddenly going to have to cover some of his shifts and that may mean I have less time than I was expecting this weekend. PDB V2 is pretty darn high on my priorities list...just not sure how much time I'm going to have for any of those priorities this weekend right now

 

[Cyberdactyl]

I have run those cut-to-length HK LEDs on 4S a few times. Never had any fry on me, but they do get hot. Some colors more than others. Can't recall which ones though, it's been many months since I've done that. I do recall the corn lights get exceedingly hot as well, but they didn't burn out either.

 

[cranialrectosis]

I have run some of the waterproof gold LEDs on 4S on my Polakium Hex. Especially under the heat shrink where the LED strip passes below an ESC, they get hot. Hotter than I like.

But they work.

 

[jhitesma]

The LED's on those pre-made strips are considerably larger than the 0603 package LED's and resistors on the v1 PDB. The larger packages are able to dissipate excess heat far more efficiently. The LED's on the PDB may work on 4s for a short time but I wouldn't expect them to last very long at all then they could fail with a short which could potentially damage the lipo pack. I'd add a LM7812 linear 12v regulator to drop the 4s pack down to 12v to power the LED's - but that would also require cutting the traces to the LED's and providing power to them somewhere else.

The V2 PDB I'm not going to be including LED's just power traces with extra pads so people can add regulators and LED's as they desire and will be more appropriate to use with 4s.

 

[Tritium]

Yes the resistors I used were quite warm with Naze sized LEDS (Harvested from Twitchity's old dead Naze board). At 4S they would last milliseconds.

Batteries arrived but so did another lightning strike last night 3:30am (popped the DSL modem so Local Telco bought me another :applause Also a Cold Front with 1" of rain so far. Feels like Seattle today. Currently 54 degrees which is about 1/2 of what the front end of this week's temps were.

Thurmond

 

[Twitchity]

54 degrees where you are, cranial getting snow... While I'm sitting here in Florida sweating the instant I set foot outside! I'd take a lightning strike and cold weather over this heat.

 

[jhitesma]

Bah, 108 here today and I'm glad! The heat finally burned off the horrible humidity we've been having from the monsoons. Last week was mid 90's but over 40% humidity...I hated it. 108 feels refreshing today with the humidity back down to 11%. Plus I get to work from home today so it's not like I have to wear a shirt...or pants...

Sorry for that mental image there.

Though I won't complain in a few weeks either when the temps start dropping for winter without the humidity going back up. Still a month or so before we get into the nice mid to upper 80's with 10% humidity...then I get to laugh at my friends shoveling snow and remind them that it may be hot here in the summer...but we've got AC's and you don't have to shovel heat

 

[Tritium]

Well took the Twitchity out with the 45C 1300mAh 3S Nano-Tech. 3 minutes later here is the result.



It was just a LOT more punchy than with the 2200mAh. On the 2200 it was like a big lazy 1970 Cadillac.

On the 1300mAh it was more like "Take us to Warp 1 Scotty"!

I punched it out about 100' in 1/2 second and then brought it back in 1/2 second. When I arrested the back travel it promptly did a half 3/4 back flip about 6' off the ground and drove into the ground.:black_eyed:

No damage otherwise. Not good for a 3 minute flight.

I think I am going to need more than the 4 props I have left before I get the hang of this much POWER.

Thurmond

 

[Twitchity]

I'll gladly trade you my 1806's for your 2204's I've already started collecting my broken props from my quad. I'm going to see how many I can accumulate before something on the quad breaks.

 

[Tritium]

I'll gladly trade you my 1806's for your 2204's I've already started collecting my broken props from my quad. I'm going to see how many I can accumulate before something on the quad breaks.

I have a set of those 1806's NIB, Set of E-Max SimonK series ESC's too. What I no longer have is any spare props.

I need one of those fixtures to go on my dremel to cut down some longer props.

Thurmond

 

[Twitchity]

I cheated with cutting props... I used some double sided tape and taped the prop adapter from one of my 1806's to the bed of my CNC machine and moved the spindle far enough away to cut the props down to 5". Energize the stepper motors so they don't move easily and spin the prop.

I know you have a shapeoko too, so you could do this as well. I had to hold the tip of the prop near the cutter so it wouldn't jump around everywhere. This probably doesn't need to be said, but be careful not to touch the cutter while it's spinning if you go this route.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

Well took the Twitchity out with the 45C 1300mAh 3S Nano-Tech. 3 minutes later here is the result.

Absolutely, a light high discharge 4S can take some these small mini's to a remarakable level. I'm growing more accustomed to four cell speed in my backward using them. I think I might be able to get some video without trashing it.

 

[jhitesma]

Yep, small powerful batteries are key on these guys

I just used some good sharp scissors and measured carefully. I was able to snip both FC and HQ props down really quick and they still turned out almost as well balanced as before I snipped. I'd rig up a jig if I was going to do it more often though.

I love the HQ's...but there's something to be said about the ultra low cost of the FC's making it possible to buy them by the crate

 

[Tritium]

If anyone is interested in a group buy of 6X4.5 HiModel Props in Red and Black we can get them in a quantity of 90 CW/CCWpairs (180 props) shipped to USA for a little less than 70 cents each prop.

PM me if interested.

Thurmond

 

[Twitchity]

I would possibly be interested in a group buy if more were interested.

Messed around with the PDB for the quad today based on Jhitesmas recommendation (cheaper to order test boards for the quad vs hex ) The Pololu voltage regulator has one terminal that's labeled SHDN which I'm not sure what it does. Right now I have 4 solder points for the voltage regulator with the upper most one (SHDN) going nowhere. I'm hoping someone with experience with this regulator will be able to tell me if it's needed or not. Otherwise I have the positive and ground connections right next to the regulator, and a 1mm wide trace going from the VOUT to a spot on the PDB next to a ground to power the FC.

Outside of that, top plate serves as the ground connections, bottom is positive with through points for each positive pad. I really hope jhitesma and Thurmond will see this and be able to provide feedback.

Jhitesma, this is wired up the same way as the hex board I sent you with the same type of errors. If you'd like, I can email this file to you as well.

Thurmond, I can also email you this file if you'd like to take a look at it. PM your email and I can send it your way.

Top: The big rectangle at the top of the board is the Pololu voltage regulator.

Bottom

 

[jhitesma]

Looking great! I wouldn't worry about the errors then, they're just part of doing the design this way and whether or not they're critical will depend on the board house. But I'd still say it needs more vias to carry the current between sides. That little hole with the copper through it isn't solid like a wire but is basically acting as the wire between each motor and it's power plane right now so that's what will limit your amp draw.

The LED pads are fine, but on the motor pads I'd replace that single via with a 5 or so. Depends on how you can fit them in.

Now if you can route out that other circuit I sent you..... I can handle the schematic side of things...but the board design. You're picking it up way faster than I do

Oh and Thurmond, sent you and e-mail about props. But thinking about it more I may go in for a bit more than what I said.

 

[Twitchity]

So if I'm understanding this right, all vias are the same inside diameter? I changed the via's to be 3mm wide, but the hole diameter is .486mm. I'm guessing the distance between the hole and outer perimeter of the via doesn't really stand for much since the connection between the two sides just passes through the small hole?

I saw the circuit, and I'll get around to it eventually once I figure out what all those symbols mean :black_eyed:

I'll try to get 5-6 via's with 1mm traces going to each positive pad.