Flying in Easter

@Juanki finished the new SPCopter member "La Perla" and flew it successfully! Some pictures of "La Perla" and "The Robbe" at Aranjuez:




"La Perla"
Frame:
- Arms: Square Aluminum
- Center: Aluminum
- MotorToMotor distance: 40cm
Motors: KDA 20-26M
ESC: Turnigy Plush 18A
Lipo: Turnigy nano-tech 3S2200mah
Props: 8x4
Weight RTF: 925gr
Core: ArduPilotMega and IMU (Oilpan)
Code: Ardupirates Rev 527

"The Robbe"
Frame:
- Arms: Square Aluminum
- Center: Aluminum
- MotorToMotor distance: 50cm
Motors: Robbe Roxxy 2827/35
ESC: Turnigy Plush 25A
Lipo: Turnigy nano-tech 3S3000mah
Props: 10x4.5
Weight RTF: 1.140kg
Core: ArduPilotMega and IMU (Oilpan)
Code: Ardupirates Rev 527

Howto start in the multirotor world

There are many friends asking what is the cheapest way to enter in the multi rotor world.

Let's do some numbers based on a quadcopter running multiwii firmware:

1 x Arduino Pro Mini (18,95$)
1 x FTDI programmer (14,95$)
(Sparkfun shipment = 8.94$)
1 x WiiMotionPlus (19.99$)
1 x Nunchuk (19.99$)
1 x Board for connecting all the multiwii stuff (14,95$ + shipment 3$)

You need a radio: the cheap turnigy radio from hobbyking (53,79$ + shipment 17$)

You also need a charger for your batteries:
1 x charger + 1 x power supply (22.99 + 9.99 = 32.98$)

Some common materials for the center plates and arms:
1 x G10 center plate (7$ + shipment 8.46$)
1 x aluminum square tube 12x10mm, 2,82$

Now, you can choose the size of your quadcopter:

• Let's imagine you want to build a tiny size quadcopter (25cm motor to motor)
  4 x Motors, Turnigy 1811-2000 (31.96$)
  4 x ESC, Plush 6A (29.64$)
  1 x Battery, Rhino 610mah (5.29$)
  (Hobbyking shipment = 9.99$)
  4 x Props, 3-blade 5x3 CW and CCW (3.22$ + shipment 3.56$)
  
• Maybe you want a medium size quadcopter (40cm motor to motor)
  4 x Motors, KDA 20-26M (45,24$)
  4 x ESC, 18A (44,2$)
  1 x Battery, 2200 mah (16,48$)
  4 x Props, 8x4 CW and CCW (4.56$)
  (Hobbyking shipment = 14.99$)
  
• Or you need more power and want a big size quadcopter (60cm motor to motor)
  4 x Motors, KDA 20-22L (51.52$)
  4 x ESC, Plush 25A (47.24$)
  1 x Battery, 3000 mah (24.32$)
  4 x Props, 10x6 (2.93$)
  (Hobbyking shipment 17.95$)
  

TOTAL Tiny = 306.48$ (215 euros)
TOTAL Medium = 348.29$ (245 euros)
TOTAL Big = 366.78$ (258 euros)

Of course, there are expensive alternatives like replacing the arduino pro mini with a flyduino, replacing the WMP+/Nunchunk with Jussi's FreeFlighImu or using the Diydrones APM/Oilpan.

Note1:
All conversions have been made using dolar-euro rate at 1.42

Note2:
Some users point me to the OpenPilot control board that is also in the 100$ range.

Training in Leganes

Nice saturday evening flying in Leganes (@Juanki's land). We exhibited our official t-shirts with custom logo :) Unfortunately @Nio was not available, because he is currently kite surfing in Fuerteventura. We miss his expert flying skills!

Introducing the "SPCopter family":
- The "Tiny", a 28 cm M2M based on JoseJulio's design
- The "Robbe", a 50cm M2M on a X frame
- The "Arducopter", a 60cm M2M based on official arducopter parts on a + frame

After five batteries, some crashes and two broken props, our verdict was unanimous. The winner is the "Robbe". Very good manoeuvrability, wind-resistant and providing a lot of fun!

The "Arducopter" was a little unstable, maybe because of the wind, the + frame or the motor distance and props combination. We need to dig into it!

Stay tuned, next week a new member to our SPCopter family is comming: "La perla" a 40cm M2M X frame.

Photos:


Video:


Specs:
"The Tiny"
Frame:
- Arms: Square Aluminum
- Center: Carbon fiber
- MotorToMotor distance: 28cm
Motors: Turnigy 1811-2000kv
ESC: Turnigy Plush 6A
Lipo: 3S610
Sonar: Maxbotix LV-EZ0
Props: 3-blade 5x3
Weight RTF: 250gr
Core: ArduPilotMega and IMU (Oilpan)
Code: Ardupirates Rev 527


"The Robbe"
Frame:
- Arms: Square Aluminum
- Center: Aluminum
- MotorToMotor distance: 50cm
Motors: Robbe Roxxy 2827/35
ESC: Turnigy Plush 25A
Lipo: Turnigy nano-tech 3S3000mah
Props: 10x4.5
Weight RTF: 1.140kg
Core: ArduPilotMega and IMU (Oilpan)
Code: Ardupirates Rev 527

"The Arducopter"
Frame:Standard Arducopter frame
- MotorToMotor distance: 60cm
Motors: Arducopter Motors 880kv
ESC: Turnigy Plush 25A
Lipo: Turnigy nano-tech 3S3000mah
Props: 12x4.5
Weight RTF: 1.025kg
Core: ArduPilotMega and IMU (Oilpan)
Code: Ardupirates Rev 527

New Video flying over Sanse

We go on with a new video, in a sunny sunday morning with a gentle breeze, but a good day for flying over a park near at home.




Credits:
Pilot: @Nio
Frame: X468 con brazos de aluminio. Distancia Motor a Motor 60cm.
Motors: MK3538
ESC: Turnigy Plush 25A
Lipo: NanoTech 3S2650
Camera: GoPro con carcasa.
Weight RTF: 1.5kg
Core: ArduPilotMega and IMU (Oilpan)
Code: Ardupirates Rev 527
Labels: arducopter, gopro, videos

Finally, success!!

After several weeks with problems, finally we manage to record onboard a nice flight with the GoPro camera. The winner was @Nio with his quad based on X468 frame and heavy lift Mikrokopter motors.



Credits:
Pilot: @Nio
Camera Operator: @Juanki
Frame: X468 with aluminum bars. MotorToMotor distance: 60cm
Motors: MK3538
ESC: Turnigy Plush 25A
Lipo: NanoTech 3S2650
Camera: GoPro with standar housing.
Weight RTF: 1.4kg
Core: ArduPilotMega and IMU (Oilpan)
Code: Ardupirates Rev 527