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4

1

POWER WIRING

Place power distribution board

2

Solder connectors to electronic speed controllers

The power distribution board (PDB) allocates power to your copter’s motors. Place the PDB 

in the center of your copter through the hole in the top plate. Align PDB so the four 8 mm 

spacers insert into the four holes in the PDB. Secure with four nylon nuts

Electronic speed controllers (ESCs) regulate how much power is applied to each motor. To 

connect the four ESCs to the PDB, you will need to solder the provided Deans connectors to 

the ESCs’ black and red wires.

Solder Deans connectors to ESCs:

Add a half-inch length of heat shrink tubing onto 

each ESC red wire and black wire. Solder the 

positive Deans connector plug to the red wire 

and the negative Deans connector plug to the 

black wire. Shrink tubing over connections.

Add heat shrink and align wires to correct plugs.

Deans to ESC:

Negative = Black

Positive = Red

- +

Soldered connectors

3

Connect ESCs to motors and PDB

The diagram below indicates the number of each motor. Starting 

with the motor labeled  

1

 

, connect the ESC three-wire cable to the 

corresponding position on the PDB pins (M1 for motor 1, M4 

for motor 4, etc.) with orange wire positioned farthest from the 

adjacent Deans connector. Connect ESC Deans connector to PDB 

Deans connector for that motor. Repeat for all motors and ESCs. 

APM

2

CCW

1

CCW

3

CW

4

CW

APM 

1

CCW

2

CCW

4

CW

3

CW

APM

5

CCW

4

CCW

2

CCW

6

CW

1

CW

3

CW

APM 

5

CCW

2

CCW

4

CCW

3

CW

6

CW

1

CW

Quad motor order

Blue arms

Motor connected to ESC

Connect motor cable bullet connectors to ESC bullet connectors. 

Each ESC should connect to only one motor.

Don’t secure the ESCs to the frame until you have confirmed that each 

motor spins in the direction specified in the diagram above (see motor 

setup instructions at 

copter.ardupilot.com

).

ESC connected to PDB

Deans

Pins

Motor #

labels

Summary of Contents for Quad DIY Kit

Page 1: ...QUAD D I Y K I T S Thank you for purchasing a 3DR Quad DIY Kit These instructions will guide you through assembling and wiring your new autonomous multicopter ...

Page 2: ...th Deans or XT60 connectors Deans connectors male 4 6 position power module cable Phillips screwdriver small 5 5 mm 7 32 wrench Double sided foam mounting tape These instructions require some minor soldering If you re unfamiliar with soldering our friends at Sparkfun have some great tutorials that can get you started including this comic learn sparkfun com curriculum 42 For an example of exactly w...

Page 3: ...l bM3MA 5 mm bolts and lock washers Position holes in the bottom of the motor over the two small holes on either side of the larger hole in top in the of the arm Secure with two 5 mm steel bolts with a metal lock washer on each bolt by accessing through the two large holes in the bottom of the arm Thread the motor cables through the arm using the hole in the side of the arm Repeat for all four arm...

Page 4: ... slots in the bottom plate The top and bottom plates will form the main frame by attaching to your copter s arms Align plates in the orientation show below and attach two blue arms to one end and two black arms to the other using the four pairs of holes as shown Install motor collets 3 Motor collet assembly 25 mm bolt arm metal nut Outer holes use 4 Assemble legs Leg assembly Your Quad has four le...

Page 5: ...to the black wire Shrink tubing over connections Add heat shrink and align wires to correct plugs Deans to ESC Negative Black Positive Red Soldered connectors 3 Connect ESCs to motors and PDB The diagram below indicates the number of each motor Starting with the motor labeled 1 connect the ESC three wire cable to the corresponding position on the PDB pins M1 for motor 1 M4 for motor 4 etc with ora...

Page 6: ...nt APM to the top of the accessory plate For plus configuration Mount APM with arrow pointing toward blue arm Ensure arrow on APM points forward 3DR APM 2 6 2 6 3DR uBlox GPS with Compass Connect the 6 position to 5 position cable to the GPS 6 position port and to the APM GPS port use top entry port not side entry port Connect the 4 position cable to the GPS 4 position port and to the APM I2 C por...

Page 7: ...the four 30 mm spacers with the four holes in the accessory plate Secure accessory plate to spacers using four 5 mm nylon bolts APM plate Accessory plate 30 mm spacer 5 mm nylon bolt 4 Attach APM plate to top plate Now we ll attach the APM plate to the top plate The APM plate connects to the ends of the four 30 mm bolts securing the inside holes of the arms Place the four holes in the APM plate ov...

Page 8: ...ly secured is an important safety step Before flying use zip ties to secure ESCs to the frame Ensure that all wires are secured so that they cannot become entangled in spinning propellers but are not too tight around corners no hard 90 180 degree bends and do not pull on the APM or other components Always complete the pre flight checklist before takeoff copter ardupilot com wiki checklist Remove p...

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