Mini FPV quad build

[personal drones]

I'd like to share some details of my latest build, a mini FPV quadcopter based on the Super Simple mini h quad frame. The link is to version 2, as version 1, which is the one I used, is not under production anymore.

Rather than a lengthy explanation, I will post a few pictures of the build.

Weight w/o battery: 360 gr. Class: 250mm

T-Motors MT13-06-10 3100KV, KK2.1 board, Gemfan 5030 props, FatShark VTX 250 mW, mobius cam



KK board mounted with nylon spacers:



X-aircraft power distribution cable. So handy to wire any quad:



Landing gear:



Motors mounted:



Bottom view:



Detail of KK2.1 board and video TX fatshark 250 mW



Video TX with Bluebeam antenna



Front leds (a 3 white leds strip):



More details on the mini FPV quad build on my blog. Comments and suggestions most welcome!

[Big Island Guy]

Really sweet little package you've put together there! I you don't mind, post the total cost?

[personal drones]

Thanks BIG! Total cost is about 450-500$ all included depending on how much you get to pay for the various components. The frame by itself is quite cheap, 20$ or so. The mobius and the T-motors contribute substantially to the final cost. Should say I love to be able to record video at the source, makes things less bulky on the ground side.

[PTcaflyer]

...I like it! And I have a KK2.1 inbound too....

[personal drones]

Originally Posted by PTcaflyer

...I like it! And I have a KK2.1 inbound too....

PT I found KK2.1 to be much better than KK2.0. Using firmware 1.12S. Really love it so far. Still have to go through gain tuning, for now just took up P gains a little bit and it looks quite fine already.

[xpantz]

Originally Posted by personal drones

Thanks BIG! Total cost is about 450-500$ all included depending on how much you get to pay for the various components. The frame by itself is quite cheap, 20$ or so. The mobius and the T-motors contribute substantially to the final cost. Should say I love to be able to record video at the source, makes things less bulky on the ground side.

Pretty neat little build. I see it comes in a range of colors or custom.

yes... no getting around the cost of the components... but if you just wanted a simple flyer I imagine you could get one of those into the air very cheap.

Now we need to see it flying :-)

[PTcaflyer]

...I'll have to find someone to flash that firmware version on it...my computers do not want to work with the tool for some reason....

[personal drones]

Originally Posted by PTcaflyer

...I'll have to find someone to flash that firmware version on it...my computers do not want to work with the tool for some reason....

PT, mind that KK2.1 requires the latest flashing software: http://lazyzero.de/en/modellbau/kkmulticopterflashtool

Also mind the direction in which you plug the flash tool into the board. There are two ways you could insert it into the pins, and the correct one is the more "uncomfortable", in which one of the sides of the plastic connector of the flash tool actually have to litterally push on the 3 pins for channel 5 of the KK2 board and displace them a bit toward the pins for channel 4, to allow the connectors of the flash tool to slide in place. This fooled me on my first attempts. I though I had a defective cable.

[PTcaflyer]

O.k.
I see V1.2....is that it?

[personal drones]

Originally Posted by xpantz

if you just wanted a simple flyer I imagine you could get one of those into the air very cheap.

Absolutely. If you take out all the video equipment you go down to 300$. And surely you can still go significantly down by selecting some lower quality motors. This can help to see where the money is going here:

- 1x frame 25$
- 1x KK2 board 30$
- 4x T-motors 160$
- 4x flashed ESC 60$
- mobius camera 80$
- Video TX 250mW 50$
- Bluebeam antenna 25$
- Landing gear: 10$
- Discovery buzzer: 2,5$
- Bolts, nuts, wiring cable: 15$
- props 10$

[personal drones]

Originally Posted by PTcaflyer

O.k.
I see V1.2....is that it?

Look for this bit for flash software download in the page:

Latest stable software versions:

Windows/Linux KKmulticopter Flash Tool V0.76
Mac OS X KKmulticopter Flash Tool V0.76

Then these are my selections for flashing:

[PTcaflyer]

O.K. I do see that version in my download....Will have to see if the new tool works when it arrives(Flat Ribbon Cable) I had the reg. wire type before(4 of them) that would never work....

[CircleH]

Nice little rig PD. I have my own reveal coming up shortly. Just a few more nicknacks to take care of..
More or less the same motors, props , KK, and misc. I don't have a mobius yet.

How long did it take to deposit materials into your airframe?

Im going to use the mill and router table to do mine. Also using a different set of materials as well..

What is your AUW?

Cheers! Rich

[personal drones]

Originally Posted by CircleH

Nice little rig PD. I have my own reveal coming up shortly. Just a few more nicknacks to take care of..
More or less the same motors, props , KK, and misc. I don't have a mobius yet.

How long did it take to deposit materials into your airframe?

Im going to use the mill and router table to do mine. Also using a different set of materials as well..

What is your AUW?

Cheers! Rich

Circle, I would say about one day of work overall, including the various guesses. Without decisions to be taken, just straight build, it can probably be done in 3-4 hours, maybe less. Mind that I flashed the board, updated the mobius to the latest firmware and tweaked a few settings, calibrated the escs, all little side things that take time. In a way, it took me a couple of months to get it done from when I "started". One major stop was that the frame is 1cm thick and I did not have M2 screws long enough to fix the motors. Found out that 12mm M2 are perfect for the job.

AUW: 487 gr with a 2200 2S

>Im going to use the mill and router table to do mine

This sounds really great

[Big Island Guy]

Originally Posted by personal drones

Should say I love to be able to record video at the source, makes things less bulky on the ground side.

+1 Not to mention that unless you have a HD video link, the quality will be better too.

[personal drones]

Originally Posted by Big Island Guy

the quality will be better too.

Should say the quality of the mobius is surprising, and love the wide angle lens. The dynamic range handling is awful though. On poor light, late in the evening, it's either the sky OR the earth, no way to see both . Except that, it is a great compact package. Also there are two new options in the latest firmware for either WDR, or low light (in addition to normal mode). I have set mine to Wide Dynamic Range but still have to test this out. The fact that the option is now there tells me that the developer knows that is is (was?) a weak spot of this camera.

[CircleH]

Did you print the airframe "flat" or "on edge" do you own the printer or did you out source this process?

Is it ABS plastic?

I have something special in mind!

Oohh speaking of which I have to go do a little video for mr. BIG to see If We can address his hotshoe...

back in a while...

[personal drones]

Originally Posted by CircleH

Did you print the airframe "flat" or "on edge" do you own the printer or did you out source this process?

Is it ABS plastic?

I have something special in mind!

Oohh speaking of which I have to go do a little video for mr. BIG to see If We can address his hotshoe...

back in a while...

Circle, I wish I printed the frame myself. Really looking with interest at 3D printers but still not there Got it here: http://polakiumengineering.org/?prod...ro-h-quad-v2-0.

@PTcaflyer: I see that a firmware version 1.14S1 is now out, surely worth a try when you get your cable

[clouseau]

Originally Posted by personal drones

Should say the quality of the mobius is surprising, and love the wide angle lens. The dynamic range handling is awful though. On poor light, late in the evening, it's either the sky OR the earth, no way to see both . Except that, it is a great compact package. Also there are two new options in the latest firmware for either WDR, or low light (in addition to normal mode). I have set mine to Wide Dynamic Range but still have to test this out. The fact that the option is now there tells me that the developer knows that is is (was?) a weak spot of this camera.

How are the vibes with the Mobious? any Jello effect?

I have the exact same issue with the light to dark transitioning between the sky and the ground in the evenings, sounds like I'll have to give the new firmware a shot as this really is the only thing I don't like about it. Thanks for mentioning it!

[personal drones]

Originally Posted by clouseau

How are the vibes with the Mobious? any Jello effect?

I have the exact same issue with the light to dark transitioning between the sky and the ground in the evenings, sounds like I'll have to give the new firmware a shot as this really is the only thing I don't like about it. Thanks for mentioning it!

Clouseau, still did not take any video with this setup. I took video with my mini h quad and the mobius by using the standard camera support with the 4 little rubber vibration dampeners, no jello at all.



This complete lack of dynamic range is the very same that I get with the 808 #16, I guess those two cameras are brother and sister. Love them both though. Let's see if there is any improvement with the new software.