the wasp stings!

[guest325]

Always figured one of those water cutters would be the most versatile cutter for the majority of materials.

Every time I see one of them being used to cut glass I fall in love with them all over again

Water jet cutters are probably the most versatile cnc cutter, they can cut most things and do it safely. Most impressive thing I';ve seen is engraving a ship in 3D on a bottle!
Similar to this:

[flybywire]

I';d just like to give a massive thanks to Richard for helping me out with my little project.  Here';s a pic of the G10 frame, the Tufnol arms are chunky and tough.



I decided to add a cmos camera plate, as I';m struggling with the mobius live feed, like trying to fly via email!  Please note the new ';sexy'; clean plate, well, there';s method really, easier access to the top bolts & less obstruction for the wires.

Flying is slow progress I';m afraid, I';m grappling with Ratitude ATM, oh, and I';m getting a good 10 minutes from the 5" props.  I must say I prefer the 6" quieter and more efficient, more responsive.

Ooh er..Don';t watch this is you are of a nervous disposition.
Just practicing me lazy eights for me A cert!
Ratitude hell from Andy on Vimeo.</p>

Anyhow, I';ll strip her down at the weekend and swap the frame out, see if I can dig out a cmos cam.

Laters!

[flybywire]

God what a s***e pilot I am!
Never mind, I';m sure I';ll get better with this 250 of mine, always remember, if it doesn';t kill you, it';ll make you stronger, always supposing you don';t kill somebody else first that is!
Today I have been Frankenstein, carefully, nay passionately dismembering an old friend,    Sadly, it must avail it';s vital organs so that they may live and beat again in new flesh, yes, none other than ';Wasp II!';
Ah well, better cross script writer off the old ';won';t be list eh?';.

But Richard has done a cracking job with G10 & Tufnol, and I have spent a leisurely day reconstructing the new frame and bits.

The ';dangly bits';:


The sum of the parts (so much goes into these mini';s!)


More stuff:


The Phoenix rising:


Good stuff:


Nearly there:


Couple of G&T';s later:


Now, who';s the first to spot the deliberate mistake?
You may need to look at the last photo?   

The winner can have the old perspex frame, but you';ll have to wait till the good teaching folk return after next week, as I don';t have the keys to the laser cutter, and I need to modify the arms to remove the lightening holes and make some new arms!

ATB

Andy

[JT]

 You';ve muddled your motors! lol.

[flybywire]

You';ve muddled your motors! lol.

Yay!  Brilliant JT.  Back two as it ';appens, but well done anyhow.  If you want the frame, just pm me with yr address and when i';ve cut some new arms they';re yours.

A.

[flybywire]

Well i';ve had a productive day, totally rebuilt her, swapping the rear esc/motors around in the process.  I resoldered a wire on the pdb to give it more slack, then tightened it all up.
It was good to get the 6x4" props back on, as i';m not too keen on the 5x3';s.
So i got her back in the air, and immediately noticed an oscillation on the roll axis, so i read up a little about pid tuning for the cc3d, which despite many video';s and differing methods of attack, i found a little confusing.
Coming from the typical naza setup, chiefly comprising of basic gains which you turn up till it oscillates, then back of till it stops, then checking out the responses of the atti gains, the cc3d brings a few extra parameters, which i didn';t find wholly intuitive.
Never the less, i stumbled upon juz';s settings for the qav 250, and dialled them in.  These appear to have worked, and now there is only a very marginal  tremor when increasing the throttle suddenly from a hover.

I think it may be caused by vibes from the props, being unbalanced  possibly causing resonance at certain frequencies, like i once experienced on a dji 450 frame.  It';s not present in a hover, nor in forward flight, so i';ll balance the props and call it quits!
AUW is now a respectable 540 grams including the 1800 mAh lipo. I still don';t know my flight time capacity, i easily get 12 minutes on these props, and i';ve only had to put 65% back in. That';ll come down a little of course when flying her in anger of course, but i';m happy with 10.  :-)

[flybywire]

Well i had a bad technology day today.  Got to the field (literally a plowed field) plugged it all in only to get a ';card full" error on the mobius.

Bummer!  So i decided not to waste the opportunity and flew her about los.
Seemed a lot easier today after an hour or so on the sim ( altho i quickly tired of multirotors and ended up on an sbach doing prop hangs and blenders!
Anyhow, second lipo in i decided to try skying her so i hit full throttlle and watched her skyrocket to 80ft, then cut the throttle.  Fun!  I got to loving this and tried several more, watching her shoot into the sky, then float down, flaring her out a foot or two off the deck.
It was during on of these sky rockets that she flipped about 5 or 6 times!

I have a feeling i have a duff esc, something not right there, i think it';s failing under load, either that or a duff motor of course.  Damn annoying, but i do have a spare afro, and 4 emax 12 amp esc';s to swap out if necessary.
I';ve tried doing the pids, and it either makes it difficult to control too low, or oscillating too much, but always seems to have this intermittent wobble.

Frustration, but i will crack it.

[Oakie]

Bummer!

Just reread your previous post re the addition of 6x4, might you be asking to much from the esc. could you retry the 5x3';s just in case it that simple?

Paul

[flybywire]

Bummer!

Just reread your previous post re the addition of 6x4, might you be asking to much from the esc. could you retry the 5x3';s just in case it that simple?

Paul

Well they should cope, they were ok on the previous frame.  No, i';m fairly certain there';s foul play at large Paul, but thanks for the suggestion. 

Anyhow, i have motors on the way from Bg plus another small fpv cam.  I';m going to get another frame in the air as my naze 32 arrived from uncle hk today, i';m too into the flying to get sidetracked with tech stuff right now, need to fly!!

Andy.

Also, with 12 plus minute flight times from a 1.8 amp lipo, it must be maxing on around 9-12 amps/4 = only 3 amps per pot, perhaps peaking at 6 or so by my reckoning.

[Oakie]

Cool, was just a thought. I hope it';s a quick fix when they come.

keep at it Andy.   


Paul

[flybywire]

I';ve just had some stuff arrive from ';abroad';, stuff I';d half forgotten about (or imagined I';d ordered if that makes sense?).  Anyhow, seeing as they are so cheap now (sub £20) I got a CC3D from Banggood, and a AfroFlight Naze 32 from Hobby King.  I just plugged the CC3D in and updated the firmware, seems to work fine.  Only thing different is the pulsating blue light is green on this one.  I haven';t connected the Naze yet, got that fun job to come after some reading, although I did see Painless'; video about configuration a month or so ago, and it looks pretty straight forward.

Also in the package was this very nice, again sub £20 600 tvl flight cam, which I weighed in at just over 10 grams.  Image quality is good, and it mounts perfectly on the new cam plate of the Wasp.  I swapped the mini Vtx for a Fat Shark one as it';s a 5 volt camera, and to use the variable PS on the PDB I';d need to dismantle the quad!  No, no, no!

I';ve also got 4 more emax motors, so I can now put the second frame in the air, maybe with the Naze, or will it be the CC3D decisions decisions, no, fight fight!
BTW, Banggood are doing free postage at present, I';ve just odered another for my Xugong, £12 delivered, can';t go wrong!
http://www.banggood.com/buy/SKU125905.html








Fight!!!!

Optical illusion, they are both identical size, but Naze (on right) appears smaller!

P.S the CC3D even came with four spacers/bolts/nuts.  Lush!

[kilby]

Thinking about buying a cc3d just incase (let';s face it the word is when) I build another multi.

I';m being a real loser and want one with a purple board <sigh>

[flybywire]

Thinking about buying a cc3d just incase (let';s face it the word is when) I build another multi.

I';m being a real loser and want one with a purple board <sigh>

Henry Ford would be turning in his grave at that remark Kilby.   

[flybywire]

Just an update for the 600 tvl cam that landed on my doorstep t';other day, it';s better than I expected, very fast aperture (unlike Mobius) nice wide view (unlike mobius) no interference lines (unlike my Mobius) even when motors revving.
Now I';ll be able to see where I';m going, I may have a distinct advantage, the cows can start to look less nervous.

Niggles: none really, although I assumed that the wire exit denoted bottom, as with most cmos cams, but in this case it exits RH side, so I had it on its side.  Putting it the right way means I have to modify the case a fraction to make it fit between the plates, proving my theory that nothing in this game ever goes easily. 

[Hands0n]

Interesting, that.  I have always shunned 600tvl in favour for 700tvl and 800tvl.  Mostly on the basis of downlink recordings that people have put up on YouTube from time to time.    But at that price, and your observations, I may have to seriously re-think how I equip my mini-quad aircraft

[flybywire]

Interesting, that.  I have always shunned 600tvl in favour for 700tvl and 800tvl.  Mostly on the basis of downlink recordings that people have put up on YouTube from time to time.    But at that price, and your observations, I may have to seriously re-think how I equip my mini-quad aircraft

Yeah I hear you, I have about 7 cmos cameras now of all resolutions, the daddy being the Pixim Seawolf, which is good, but over the years even the likes of the 600 tvl are giving out perfectly adequate images, TBH, until affordable HD comes our way, £12 for 600 tvl is the way to go.  coupled with the £15 VTx, it beggars the question whether you really need to move your gear from one platform to the next?  Yes, I';m liking that camera a lot, in particular the speed at which it reacts to light change, but doesn';t over expose to the extent that I find with the Mobius, in fact coming out of the late afternoon sun can leave you blind for a second or so, which is not good with a rocket 250!
BTW, I find the GoPro is no real better for that either, then again neither where designed to be fpv cameras.

[Hands0n]

Interesting that you get the fast response.  CMOS generally responds slower than CCD to light change and CCD generally has a broader dynamic range and so handles light/dark contrasts and transitions better.  Generally   

I think I';ll get an order in for one of these when I get home, particularly as they';re 5v.  All my other "board cameras" are 12v which is a pain - I run them off the 3S mains but that means i can';t use 4S without some re-engineering, should I ever want to.

[flybywire]

Well, there';s no lag with this cam unlike mobius/ gopro, which is critical with fast fpv in confined spaces.  The small size is great, considering it has a normal size lens, and not one of those tiny ones.  But yes, it is fast, and useable at night too of course!

[richardg6paj]

Hi Andy,
One Black Wasp hot of the press, so to speak. It will be buzzing its way to your place shortly.

Richard 

[flybywire]

Wow!
Now that does look cool.  Can';t wait for the full carbon arms!

Gracias amigo.

Andy

[nub]

it sure does, would be great being able to do that for yourself, man maybe some day.

[flybywire]

it sure does, would be great being able to do that for yourself, man maybe some day.

Sure would nub.  two things I want, a lathe & a small CNC mill, ATM the CNC mill is ahead by a neck.  But don';t tell the wife!   

[richardg6paj]

Don';t forget you need somewhere to put it and all the ancillary equipment that goes with it.
She will find out eventually!

Richard

[flybywire]

Don';t forget you need somewhere to put it and all the ancillary equipment that goes with it.
She will find out eventually!

Richard

Hmm, now let me think...Can you make jigsaws with them?

[richardg6paj]

No, not good for Jigsaws. You need a Jigsaw for that. The modern version of that is the Laser Cutter.
So you now need CNC machine, a small Lathe and a Laser Cutter. (or jigsaw) and so the list goes on.



Richard

[flybywire]

He he!  You know what?  I';m going to badger them at work to get that cnc mill working!  Also that vacuum forming kit too, i';m getting some ideas coming through from the old grey cells..

[flybywire]

Not being one to dwell on disaster (for too long anyhow) I have now got my hands on the new slightly modded black Wasp frame plates, complete with 3mm carbon arms (big thanks to Richard for these).  These should not break under any circumstances, although never say never I guess. 
Actually, in truth I would be unlucky in the extreme to suffer a broken arm, as I am currently using 3mm plastic bolts (3) to hold the arms on, and it has so ffar been these that have carried the brunt of the damage.  Anyhow, if I had loads of the things I would do a strain test on these and the Tufnol ones, and no disrespect to the Tufnol, there would be no competition. :-)

The new frame with emax ESC';s


And here are the new shaped arms: (minus lightening holes)


I plan on using Emax 12a esc';s, as these are proven, although not to me personally, the same emax 1806 motors, which are great, and probably the spare CC3D.  I was going to use the Naze 32, but I have no casing for it, and as my FC sits on the top plate, it';s a little vulnerable without a case.
The Naze 32 sounds terrific, but is another learning curve, when I already have knowledge (limited) of the CC3D, but I';m going to start with a clean config, and with the knowledge I now do have, I will hopefully get it sweet as a nut this time.

Yes, I think it looks cool in black:


Sad to lose a quad, but hey, I got 4 spare plaggy boxes for all my bits and bobs now!


As much as I liked the Afro esc';s (very smooth and no wobble on rapid descent) these emax';s have longer pwm leads, which have half a chance of reaching the FC without extensions, unlike the Afro';s.  Oh well, small mercies I suppose.   

I shall be flying it sans Mobius for a while, so will need that lipo forward as much as possible.  Rx wise, I have an X8R, but it';s a little overkill, so I have bought a £15 AR6115e from ebay, I find these little Rx';s unbeatable for short range, strength and weight wise.  I also ordered a Chinese 6 chann micro Rx, see what it turns out like, £10 is a bargain for DSMX.

I also (luckily) had ordered two (a frequent occurrence these days!) Quanum PDB boards, as I think they rock, having two clean PSU';s onboard, One variable for 5v camera';s & one main pack voltage, so plenty of options for lights etc.  I think I may add some front & back led';s this time (and the buzzer) as I may have found the last one if it had lights.

Tara for a bit then.

[Hands0n]

Nice one Andy, not letting the grass grow under yer feet   The new build is looking rather elegant. 

I have nothing but praise for the Emax 12A ESCs - they are delightful, work perfectly on these little 250s and really get going when required.

[nub]

wish i had of those Quanum PDB boards would save me a bit of hassle, and will look a lot better than a lumpy 12V UBEC.

it';s a shame they can';t be easily bought in the UK.

and now i';ve just clicked while looking at the quad, i';m using a 3S battery like duuuuuuuh

[Hands0n]

it';s a shame they can';t be easily bought in the UK.

Indeed ... I';ve looked everywhere. Nothing!