3D R DIY QUAD, Build Manual

Page 1: ...1 DIY QUAD Build Manual V A 2014 ...

Page 2: ...er firmware If you plan to use other components in your build please adjust these instructions accordingly For online instructions visit 3dr com diy quad kit Frame parts 3 Electronics 4 Tools 4 1 Motor assembly 5 2 Power system wiring 8 3 Body plate assembly 10 4 Pixhawk assembly 15 5 Leg assembly 21 6 Calibration 22 7 Propeller assembly 22 Contents ...

Page 3: ...e plate top plate Pixhawk plate accessory plate metal nuts 42 nylon nuts 4 thumb nuts 2 leg plates 8 leg support plates 4 motor plates 8 velcro strips one pair velcro straps 3 dual lock 15 cm four wire cable 15 cm female female servo cable 30 cm male female servo cable 15 cm six wire cable zip ties blue arms 2 black arms 2 power distribution board threadlocker ...

Page 4: ...our friends at Sparkfun have some great tutorials that can get you started including this comic For an example of exactly what soldering you ll be doing in this build view this video tutorial Tools This build uses the Pixhawk autopilot system including these components Pixhawk autopilot u blox GPS with Compass Telemetry radios Radio control system ArduCopter APM Copter firmware Click here for more...

Page 5: ...e motor with the cables as close as possible to the hole in the side of the arm Apply threadlocker to two 5 mm bolts and secure the motor and plate to the arm from below by accessing through the two large holes in the bottom of the arm When applying threadlocker use less than one drop and cover only four or five threads where the bolt connects with the motor Make sure to insert the bolts into the ...

Page 6: ...t end of the plate facing towards the end of the arm Apply threadlocker to the ends of three 25 mm bolts less than one drop covering four or five threads at the end of the bolt Place a 19 mm hollow spacer between each of the pairs of holes in the two motor plates Place the bolt through the motor plates and spacer and secure from below with a metal nut Repeat these instructions for all motors ...

Page 7: ...controller ESC Check the Deans connectors for the and markings and solder the side to the red wire and the side to the black wire Don t forget to add heat shrink tubing to the wires before soldering and shrink the tubing over the finished connections 2 Number ESCs Use tape or other method to label each ESC with a number one through four Deans to ESC negative black positive red ...

Page 8: ... cables from each ESC to these pins on the PDB according to the ESC numbers This is where the order is critical Connect the ESC that you labelled as 1 to the pins on the PDB labelled M1 ESC 2 to PDB pins M2 ESC 3 to PDB pins M3 and ESC 4 to PDB pins M4 Connect the white wire to the signal pin labelled M1 the red wire to the power pin labelled and the black wire to the ground pin labelled 4 Connect...

Page 9: ...l attach the strip with loops fuzzy to the bottom of the plate between the straps and attach the strip with hooks smooth to your battery 2 Attach arms to base plate Now we ll attach the four arms with assembled motors to the base plate Using the innermost hole in the arm and the hole in the base plate marked below insert a 30 mm screw from the bottom up through the plate and the arm Attach the two...

Page 10: ...s determines which direction the motors will spin and is critical for the copter to fly correctly The diagram above shows which motors need to spin clockwise CW and counter clockwise CCW The images below show the correct wiring to produce each direction of rotation The motor cables are differentiated by color To differentiate the ESC cables orient the ESC with the label facing up and use the relat...

Page 11: ...ndicular to the plates by securing the zip ties to the small slots along the front edge of the plates In this case orient the ESCs with the labels facing out Ensure that the power module XT60 connector protrudes from the back end of the copter behind one of the black arms where it can easily connect to the battery 6 Assemble top plate Remove any nuts that you may have used to secure the arms tempo...

Page 12: ...he holes in the plates shown below Use 30 mm bolts and thumb nuts to attach the black arms and use 25 mm bolts and metal nuts to attach the blue arms Finally attach the base and top plates together with 25 mm bolts 19 mm hollow spacers and metal nuts where marked below BOTTOM VIEW ...

Page 13: ...cate the following three cables and thread them up through the central space in the top plate PDB two wire cable red and black PDB four wire cable multicolor and power module six wire cable red and black These cables will connect to Pixhawk ...

Page 14: ...rd Mount Pixhawk to the Pixhawk plate with the arrow facing as shown below towards the less elongated end of the plate 2 Mount buzzer and switch The switch button snaps into the round hole in the accessory plate Thread the switch cable through the hole in the accessory plate from the top and gently pull the switch into place Using double sided foam tape mount the buzzer to the underside of the acc...

Page 15: ...d Add a mounting screw to each hole and secure with nuts Remove the adhesive backing from the mast and place the GPS module onto the mast with the connectors facing the shorter side and the arrow on the GPS pointing in the same direction as the arrow shaped holes in the plate 4 Insert SD card Insert the micro SD card into the slot at the end of Pixhawk The APM Copter sticker can be attached to the...

Page 16: ...zer to Pixhawk s BUZZER port and connect the switch safety button to the SWITCH port These components are mandatory for Pixhawk I2C splitter Connect the four wire cable to one of the ports on the splitter and to Pixhawk s I2C port GPS with compass Use the long cables provided with the GPS mast to connect the GPS with compass module to Pixhawk Connect the four wire cable to the GPS MAG port and to ...

Page 17: ...ect the three wire cable red black and white from your PPM receiver or PPM encoder to Pixhawk s RC pins with the white wire connected to the signal s pin the black wire connected to the ground pin and the red wire connected to the power pin Click here for more information on using a PPM encoder or Spektrum Satellite receiver Connect the two wire cable red and black protruding from the top plate to...

Page 18: ...e four holes in the accessory plate marked below and attach a 30 mm standoff to each one below the plate Add the Pixhawk plate to the ends of the standoffs and secure with metal nuts metal nuts nylon bolts Pixhawk plate 30 mm spacers accessory plate ...

Page 19: ...etry radio and RC receiver Use dual lock or double sided foam tape to mount the components Check that all components are connected securely to Pixhawk Where you place the components on the copter is ultimately limited by the length of the cables between modules Experiment with the different length cables provided with your kit and find the best place for each module on your copter mast not picture...

Page 20: ...top of the leg 2 Attach leg to arm Align the two holes in the top of the leg with the two holes in the center of the arm Orient the leg with the point facing towards the center of the copter Insert two 25 mm bolts through the arm and the leg and secure with metal nuts Repeat these steps for each leg of your copter leg support plate 18 mm spacers 5 mm bolts 5 mm bolts 18 mm female to female threade...

Page 21: ...not proceed to propeller assembly with performing calibration View the calibration instructions online at 3dr com diy y6 kit 7 Propeller assembly Follow these instructions to assemble propellers 1 Assemble propellers Remove the rings from the propeller package Select the ring with the smaller internal diameter and insert it into the back of the propeller hub ...

Page 22: ...ter to the top of each motor 3 Add propellers Your Quad uses SF and SFP propellers These propellers are labelled on the package and on the propeller itself Add SF and SFP propellers to the arms shown in the diagram below with the writing on the propeller facing towards the sky The right propeller order and orientation is critical for your copter to fly correctly Add the washer above the propeller ...

Page 23: ... please read all safety information and first flight instructions at copter ardupilot com wiki table of contents For customer support contact us at help 3dr com or call our support line at 1 858 225 1414 Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm PST COMPLETE QUAD ...