Logo 10 gets a front-mount

[Hogster]

Hi all :)

Having seen the number of people use front-mounts on their helis, I knew it was something I would eventually want to do with my Logo ...

Just as a refresher, this is how it was originally:

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/heliap_setup_2-8-07_small.jpg (http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/heliap_setup_2-8-07_large.jpg)
(click to enlarge)

I spent quite a while thinking up different ideas (remember, 99% think, 1% do!), and without having any CAD software to hand, sketched down my ideas on paper. To help me visualise how the final idea would look, I took a photo of the side of the heli against a white background, and printed it very faintly on paper. This gave me a basis to draw on as you can see here:

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/initial_designs/1.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/initial_designs/2.jpg

That first idea would have put too much stress on the shocks .... so, on to plan B:

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/initial_designs/3.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/initial_designs/4.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/initial_designs/5.jpg


This looked much more promising, so with dimensions in hand, I went to my Dad's garage and started sourcing the materials - it's such a help having everything to hand :) Several hours of cutting and filing produced these:

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/0.jpg
(I hadn't build the part in the last drawing at this stage)

The two pieces at the top are the main supporting arms, the next two long parts are for the battery tray, the two with rounded ends provide the pivot point for the main supporting arms, and the last two are to support one end of the shocks. All cut by hand! No CNC here ;) The two small round things are thrust bearings which theoretically would give me near-zero friction on the pivot point for the mount ... sadly I neglected to allow for the friction caused between the screw head against the side of the supporting arm ... ah well! :rolleyes: Still works ok ... just not as super-free as I hoped! The last drawing shows the joining piece which holds the two supporting arms together.

I didn't take any construction shots, so the next photos show the finished result. Basically just drilling the mounting holes, lightening holes, spraying the parts with satin black paint and screwing them all together :)

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/1.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/2.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/3.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/4.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/5.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/6.jpg
The camera cradle is separated from the supporting plate with a thick foam rubber pad which helps absorb vibration and also stops the camera mount from rotating horizontally.

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/7.jpg
The battery tray is surprisingly rigid! It's supported on four aluminium tubes which have lengths of M3 studding running through them. I have hot-glued the ends of two lengths of velcro to one side of the tray - to clamp the battery in place you simply insert it, pull the velcro over it and push it onto itself :)


Overall I'm exceptionally pleased with the mount! The shocks have variable spring-tension and hence allow the mount to support different weight cameras. In the photos above the cradle is holding my Powershot A620, but I've also test-flown the heli with my family's Panasonic NV-GS500 camcorder:

http://www.electrormart.com/shop/images/NV_GS500.jpg

And it can support the weight just fine!

http://www.vimeo.com/784240

The beauty of the battery tray is that you can just slide the battery forward/backward depending on the weight you've got in the camera mount. With the GS500, the flight pack needs to be as far back as possible, and with the A620, as far forward as possible. The velcro allows the battery position to be changed very easily.

Improvements to be made? Well there's a bit of slop in the gears on the camera cradle at the moment which allows the cradle to rock as the helicopter flies .... I think the only way to get around this would be to use a pulley and belt system .... That or go direct-drive with the servo output directly moving the cradle. There's also a very small vibration still present, although it's considerably better than it was! I doubt it will affect photos at all, but it might manifest itself in videos ...

Also, only time will tell whether I'll miss the bright orange canopy to help with orientation at high altitude ..... still, without a canopy the motor stays a lot cooler :)

Oh, and I feel the foam skids and supporting legs look rather disproportionate now so I'm considering shortening them ...

Other than that, it's worked out exactly as I'd planned, and I look forward to doing more test flights with it! :)

Cheers for now,


David

[bullaculla]

Very nice David! people are gonna be asking you to make them one too ;)
but... you have thrust bearings on your pivot point. Normal radial bearings would've worked fine there too, maybe even better. You are putting a vertical load on that point. Not so much a lateral load... unless you have the screw really really tight :D
Yeah, these helis look cooler with a canopy, but without one, it looks more industrial.
I am thinking of fitting the generic blackshark F3C fuselage around my helicam.
they make a 50 size too that might fit your heli. But we'd have to butcher the nose :(
http://www.ewtech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=hhi&Category_Code=Fuselages
Good job on the nose mount! Now shorten the LG and enjoy the way it flys! :D

[Hogster]

Hey Iven :)

Hmmm good point about the thrust bearing .... It is more of a horizontal load that's being exerted on them ... rather than being in compression .... Will have a think on that one :)

Totally agreed about it looking more industrial without the canopy! :D :D When I've converted it to flybarless it'll look even more sweet! :D


After some time pondering, I decided to go ahead and shorten the legs - it looks SO much better now! :D

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/chopped_legs.jpg

Hopefully that will have removed a likely source of oscillation (the long unsupported undercarriage legs and the long skids), whilst decreasing weight, and decreasing drag :)

Will see how it flies tomorrow and maybe get my brother to take some shots of it in-flight :)

Until then,

Cheers! :D


David

[Hogster]

I've just done some more flying in the garden and BOY is it smooth now!! It feels much smoother to fly, and it's much easier to fly precisely too! Why didn't I do this earlier! :D :D

Here're some more photos:

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/in_flight/0.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/in_flight/1.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/in_flight/2.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/in_flight/3.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/in_flight/4.jpg


David :)

[turnbui]

great job David. what battery is it please?

[Hogster]

Thanks :)

I'm using 8s1p 4000mAh 10C TrueRC packs :) Good value, enough power for AP and are holding up very well!

Cheers :)


David

[Efliernz]

Awesome job.

Great to see some more diy mounts - and you planned this one out well. I'm starting the design of the front mount for my third 600E AP ship and this was just the teaser I needed :YeaBaby: I already have a very light-weight diy under-slung tilt only mount and the Askman tilt/pan.

[bullaculla]

I bet it flys great. Hows the vibes now Hogg?

[Hogster]

Completely gone!!! :D :D :D

More info here!

http://runryder.com/helicopter/t342810p4/


David :D

[bullaculla]

Yeah, i've been watching that thread. From your pics above, your tracking looks great :)

[Gsquared08]

The heli looks custom but what is it equivelent to off the shelf?

[bullaculla]

I think its a stretched logo 10.

[Hogster]

Yup it started life as a more-or-less stock Logo 10:

http://www.hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/logo_initial_small.jpg

The basic chassis is unchanged except I've lengthened the tailboom (Logo 14 boom now) and am using 580mm blades instead of the 500's that were on it originally ...


David :)

[Hogster]

http://www.vimeo.com/797655

I took a video from the helicopter the other day using our Panasonic NV-GS500 and have put the results through Deshaker - see what you think! Ignore the sound-sync problem ... :)


David :D

[Hogster]

I took another video today with my A620 and haven't used stabilising software on it. See what you think!

http://www.vimeo.com/844432

I think I need to angle my camera mount a bit ... it's a bit crooked at the moment :)

Cheers!


David :)

PS. Am not going to win any fashion awards :D Those are my grubby-work-only clothes ;)

[KarbonBird]

Nice setup David - impressive video footage too....

BTW - what do you use for the daglo, flouro sticker on the tail boom?? I need to get some for my GSR but can't seem to locate it here.

Tks

Ross

[d-bledsoe]

nice, yes you will want to tilt the mount slightly to cancle out the helicopters natrual lean during hover.

[Hogster]

Thanks guys :)

Ross - I have no idea :) A fellow member of RCGroups gave me a L14 boom and the longer blades as a gift, and the tail boom had that on it already :)

If it came to it I'm sure your local hardware store would have some fluorescent orange spray paint .... you could mask off an area of the boom, give it a white undercoat, and then spray it orange - guess it would have the same effect :) That's how I painted the underside of the canopy for my Logo 10 ... before I made the front mount ;)

Cheers!


David :)

[Hogster]

I've now upgraded to flybarless, and soon I will be incorporating a ball on the front to give protection to the camera and also to aid visibility! :)

Here is how it looks at the moment:

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/flybarless/1.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/flybarless/2.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/flybarless/3.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/logo10/front_mount/flybarless/4.jpg
(My homemade downlink unit! Contains a 2s1p 800mAh LiPoly pack, and a 5V regulator (this gives 5V to the downlink transmitter and the camera). The unit also takes the video output from the camera and feeds it to the downlink transmitter :) The servo plug at the top left allows the battery to be charged easily :))

Cheers!


David :cool:

PS. The wires hanging over the front of the camera are the downlink and power cables which I hadn't plugged into the camera ....

[meflyjeep]

Well done; my compliments! Suggestion left on other site ...