RCD-1 (Rock Lobster) - MK2 (Prototype)

[tupoar]

After months of procratination, a number of false starts, getting the green eyed monster seeing Spinking';s own design and the advent of getting a 3D printer, I';ve finally come up with a frame design of my own! My problem has always been that what is in my head never comes out the way I want it too when I lay it down. But after encouragement and support from my brother Arturious, and words of advice from some good folk on here, I  started plowing away in Google Sketchup  to come up with the RCD-1.

Initially I wanted to make something as small as possible but still use brushless motors. After seeing the cost of the motors, I thought I start with something that I could use parts I already had, namely RCX 1804 motors. I still wanted run 5 inch props so after much tinkering the wheelbase on this is just under 220mm. I';m using the rugged arms from the MHQ Hovership. I will design my own arms in time but if TBS can do it with DJI arms, I should be able to get away with it (and give less attitude too!)

So here it is....The RCD-1 v0.71 (Rock Lobster!)

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Parts:
Board Cam mount: Can that up to a 30 x 30 board cam if you';re willing to drill holes.
Middle Plate: 2mm thick. Designed for a 36x36mm FC and integrated vibration dampening.
Bottom Plate: 2mm thick. Place for hiding your wiring.. Mounting holes for 36 x 36mm PDB and sports a forward and rear bumper.
Top Plate: 2mm. Designed for the battery to sit on. (I';m thinking 1400-1500mah max) Holds rx and vtx underneath.
Mobius mount: Speaks for itself
FC Anti Vibe plate: Add bobbins and mount on middle plate! (added in v0.71)

Download files:http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:673994
Arms:http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:511668.

BEST PRINTED IN ABS!! (Trust me on that...)

All opinions, constructive criticism and adoration will be greatly recieved.

Coming Soon:
- Tilted board cam mount
- Tilted mobius mount.

Current Version: v0.71
-New middle plate incorporates holes for bobbins anti-vibe FC plate
-New anti-vibe FC mount
-New FC mount can be used on other frames using 2 plates


Previous:
v0.7
-Board Cam supports up to 30x30 board cams. There are no mounting holes so you will need to drill your ow (carefully!).
v0.6.7 - Rock Lobster!
-Tweaks, teaks and more tweaks.
v0.6.6
- Middle & top plates complete
v0.6.5
- Bottom plate complete
- Mounting holes enlarged to M3
- Corrected PDB mounting hole spacing
v0.6
- Modified front end to adjust for rugged MHQ Hovership arms
- Modified Mobius top plate. Still a WIP
- Board cam mount to do.
v0.4a
- Front end redesign due incorrect geometry.
v0.4
- Initial design finished.
v0.3b
- Initial Design.

Future Milestones:
0.7x - First prototype complete and ready for initial testing. Releasing files for anyone to test if they want. (Reached!)
1.0 - Full release.

Video:
http://youtu.be/2Vap1jsvP6M

[quadfather]

Looking good, tup!

Will it have space to have the ESCs between the plates?  I';m assuming that the "bumpers" go between the plates.

[kilby]

Would suggest you keep an eye on this thread and wait for details about the RX 1104 motors as they may be exactly what you want and may let you have an even smaller beastie

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2302727

[kilby]

Oh and definately looking good too

[JT]

 What will you be making it from tup? Are you planning on printing it all or just parts of it?

[tupoar]

Looking good, tup!

Will it have space to have the ESCs between the plates?  I';m assuming that the "bumpers" go between the plates.

Cheers mate, there should be enough space as due to the height of the bumpers I';m going to be using spacers to increase the gap or I';ll reduce the front of the middle plate slightly.

Would suggest you keep an eye on this thread and wait for details about the RX 1104 motors as they may be exactly what you want and may let you have an even smaller beastie

[url=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2302727]http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2302727[/URL]

Noted ::)

What will you be making it from tup? Are you planning on printing it all or just parts of it?

Printed for now but who knows??

[tupoar]

Last night I noticed that the bumper on the bottom plate may be too high and end up slightly pushing up the front of the middle plate. I say may as it was all dependant on how high the arms were. So I printed out an arm to check the thickness and luckily (as if by fate) the arm is exactly the right thickness! Tonight, I';m going to print the bottom plate and a few more arms and see how it looks!

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[JT]

   Looking good!  It';s a start anyway mate    Look forward to seeing how your plates turn out.

[Hands0n]

Very nice indeed T.  Looking very good.

With regard to the motor arms ... I had stress fracture trouble with mine, where the round pad meets the arm itself, it would literally snap off.  Vibration from the motors seems to be part of the problem.  I needed something stronger.  And as if in answer to a maiden';s prayer the designer placed these reinforced arms on the Thingiverse link you provided in the OP.

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These are amazingly strong, have had a few crashes and survived intact. And they look really bad in black 

[tupoar]

Can';t believe I missed those arms. Those will be my weapons of choice.

[arturios]

Very nice indeed T.  Looking very good.

With regard to the motor arms ... I had stress fracture trouble with mine, where the round pad meets the arm itself, it would literally snap off.  Vibration from the motors seems to be part of the problem.  I needed something stronger.  And as if in answer to a maiden';s prayer the designer placed these reinforced arms on the Thingiverse link you provided in the OP.

[attachimg=1]

These are amazingly strong, have had a few crashes and survived intact. And they look really bad in black 

I conur... my initial thought on the other arms didn';t float my boat as Tup will confirm. these look very nice indeed.  ::)

[tupoar]

Just a quick update.

I';ve been given permission by the designer of the MHQ Hovership to use his arms!! 

I';ve printed off a set only to find they are a bit wider than the first set I based my design on, so I';ve got to go back to the drawing board adjust the front of the quad. Will hopefully have version 4 complete tonight.

[JT]

 They look sturdier than the first one tup

[arturios]

like them... now in black please   

[Hands0n]

Nice motor arms sir 

I';m not 100% sure but you might want to lower the hot end temperature on your next print with that filament. It looks a wee bit melty which suggests a few degrees too hot to me.  Maybe check with a few of the more skilled 3D print chaps. See what they say.

I done mine in Black - they do look a bit mean 



Here';s where one broke on me, so I printed a skinny but didn';t like it and then discovered the rugged version




And fitted to the MHQ

[tupoar]

RCD-1 v0.6

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Modified front end to adjust for rugged MHQ Hovership arms
Modified Mobius top plate. Still a WIP
Board cam mount to do.

I';m going to print the bottom plate tomorrow in ABS. Any colour requests?

[tupoar]

Nice motor arms sir 

I';m not 100% sure but you might want to lower the hot end temperature on your next print with that filament. It looks a wee bit melty which suggests a few degrees too hot to me.  Maybe check with a few of the more skilled 3D print chaps. See what they say.

I done mine in Black - they do look a bit mean 



Here';s where one broke on me, so I printed a skinny but didn';t like it and then discovered the rugged version




And fitted to the MHQ

Yea, I';m still trying to find the right settings. I should really write down what I did and what went wrong to keep track.

The next arms I print will be black ::)

[Hands0n]

The black filament I use prints at 230C.  I had some blue stuff that required 240C.  The first few test prints should give you a fair idea what to tweak the temps to.  If it de-laminates its too cold. If its malformed then likely too hot, so the filament is too runny ..   

I';d suggest find something on Thingiverse that you';re happy to use as a test print, use that to suss out the temps for each hot end.  I think colour of filament can be an influencer too ... Or I may have just made that up entirely

[tupoar]

Cheers for the advice!

It';ll be my first time printing ABS so Ill do a 20 x 20 or a 10 x 10 test cube. I';m using the ESUN stuff which is pretty good I hear.

I have also heard that colour affects print temp. I';m pretty sure I found a rough guide somewhere. I';ll see if I can dig it out.

[Hands0n]

Actually ... instead of a cube it may be an idea to print one of the original MHQ motor arms. They';re quite fragile anyway. The length of them will show up any tendency to de-laminate as you flex it to breaking point. 

You could also, carefully, flex it from its extreme ends to see where it actually breaks (it';ll likely be where the motor pad meets arm).  In doing so pretty much any print defect will show up.  And not use too much material. 

[tupoar]

Actually ... instead of a cube it may be an idea to print one of the original MHQ motor arms. They';re quite fragile anyway. The length of them will show up any tendency to de-laminate as you flex it to breaking point. 

You could also, carefully, flex it from its extreme ends to see where it actually breaks (it';ll likely be where the motor pad meets arm).  In doing so pretty much any print defect will show up.  And not use too much material. 

Another good plan 

[tupoar]

I printed the bottom plate last night to see how things looked. The print failed due to the bowing, my fault as the printer is currently located next to the back door (which was open). I managed to get enough of a print to see how things lined up, or not as it turned out.

RCD - Lobster Quad v0.61
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1) front arm mounting holes were slightly too far apart.
2) Rear arms not as bad as front but required slight adjustment
3) FC/PDB mounting holes  also slightly out.

I have a feeling the print may have shrunk slightly so will scale it up slightly first or just reposition the holes and see what happens.

[tupoar]

v 0.6.2

A few adjustments and I got the full bottom plate printed.
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Pros:
Rear legs mount peferctly.
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Cons:
PDB mounting holes ';just'; too far apart.
Front bumper still restricts mounting of front legs (which would be spot on otherwise)
I keep getting gaps between the go faster lines I';ve created. It either a printing issue or I need to make the space between the gaps wider.
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[Hands0n]

This is coming along nicely - I want to see it fly  

[spinking]

  looking very nice tup can not wait to see it finished i like how you placed front arms straight and the back on an angle will look very cool once finished good luck

[JT]

Just get it done Tup!!!!!!  We want to see it in action now!!! 

[blankers]

Wish I had a printer.......   

[kilby]

Wish I had a printer.......   

Wish I had the money to buy a printer (and it wouldn';t be spent on a printer)

[tupoar]

Development has been slow this week namely due to an I.D.10T error somewhere between the chair and the keyboard. However I can now present version 0.6.5 (bottom plate complete)

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The pictures are actually from version 3.6.4 where I discovered all the holes were for M2.5 screws rather than M3. Other than that, I';m ready to tweak the top and middle plates for printing.

[Hands0n]

Thats looking mighty fine sir