Flybrix Angle Armed Quad, Building And Flying Instructions

Page 1: ... Back Next Version 1 4 2 September 2017 Flybrix Building and Flying Instructions Quad Starter Kit ...

Page 2: ...damentals of building and flight It s the how and why Flybrix works the way it does Plus you ll be ready to build and fly your own creations 1 2 3 3 Introduction 4 Getting started 5 Safety 6 Building the Flat X Wing Quad 10 Know your props 13 Motor connection 16 Flying 18 Advanced features 17 Troubleshooting 19 Building the Angle Armed Quad 28 Building the Dual Sided Quad 36 Let s get creative Bui...

Page 3: ...well Experiment with flying these designs first to get a feel for how to fly Flybrix Or not You do you Exploring more Once you re ready take your kit to the next level by visit ing the user forum on flybrix com You ll see other ways to use the parts you already have plus see some exciting new ones learn how to tweak your air frames share schematics and meet the Flybrix community On the last page o...

Page 4: ... Back Next Getting Started know your kit Tweezer Binding Cord Angled Motor Boom Arms Dual Sided Motor Boom Arms Straight Motor Boom Arms ...

Page 5: ...ery Pay close attention to the way the battery connector is keyed It s dangerous to plug the battery in backwards to both the charger and the flight board Here are some additional resources so you can read up on battery safety BEFORE YOU START BUILDING Charge your battery PRIOR TO FLYING UPDATE YOUR FIRMWARE We are constantly updating the software and firmware that improve the Flybrix experience T...

Page 6: ...Flybrix airframes have their strengths and weaknesses The point is to have fun getting to understand where these strengths and weaknesses occur why and how through building and flying This particular design called the Flat X Wing is quick to build light and nimble in the air is moderately balanced and breaks apart quite spectacularly on most crashes There next build in the instructions offer more ...

Page 7: ...flight control board Orientation is important when you re building Attach 1 1x4 brick to the back of your airframe below the battery con nector cords with one row of the brick sticking out past the 1x8 bricks Attach 1 2x4 brick to the front of your airframe flush with the 1x8 bricks 3 Front Back Front Back ...

Page 8: ... Back Next Design check In 4 Attach 1 1x4 brick to the top of the flight board Front Back Front Back ...

Page 9: ...it to hold the battery in place Front Back 6 Colors and placement really matter in the next few steps Take two motors that have black and white leads coming off the bottom Gently push the motors into the boom arms from the bottom to the top Push them in so they re about even with the bottom edge of the boom arms Front Back ...

Page 10: ...te black ones spin counter clockwise This is the key to lift and steady flight Front Back Know your props 60 MM 65 MM Your Quad Starter Kit contains two sizes of props Orange red props are 60mm and the yellow black props are 65 mm The 65 mm props spin faster and create more lift Quadcopter instructions are designed for one size of propeller to be used on all four motors at one time If you want to ...

Page 11: ... edge A shaped props spin clockwise to create lift B shaped props spin counterclockwise to create lift Top view of A and B propellers The two shapes of propellers are designed for the direction the motors spin One is designed to spin clockwise A to create lift the other is B which spins counterclockwise to create lift Attaching the wrong props and motors will not create lift so your airframe won t...

Page 12: ...moment to familiarize yourself with propeller shape that way you ll avoid making mistakes attaching your propellers and you ll be on your way to deeper understanding of how propellers work Underside view of A and B Props On the larger 65mm props there are no A or B markings There are arrows on the top of the propellers that indicate the direction the pro peller spins Now that you know the prop bas...

Page 13: ... label on it B props go on the black white motors and the A props go on the red blue always You can also try your 65 MM props Motor Design Check In Take a look at your motor connectors On the very ends you can see white marks These marks will be used to line up the pins on these motor connectors and your flight control board Lining up these white marks with marks on your flight control board takes...

Page 14: ...ard 9 Front Back B 1 A 0 B 6 A 7 Let s get the motors connected One by one wrap each motor cable around the boom arm a few times so it stays out of the way of the spinning props and connect the motor pins to the flight board For your quad to fly the motors need to be con nected to the correct ports on the flight control board Line up the white marks and gently push the motor connector into the por...

Page 15: ...ht control board Now stick your battery with the velcro side down to the brick with the veclro tab If your battery is properly charged the LEDs on the flight control board should be blinking If not it s time to charge your battery For a reminder click here 11 The next steps will walk you through basic flight controls From there follow the 1 2 3 steps on the Flybrix app to get airborne ...

Page 16: ...mple a toy helicopter Flying multirotors are much more involved Stick with it you ll get it Here are some terms that can get you started Thrust creates a force that lifts your airframe up off the ground Pitch creates a torque that tilts the nose of your airframe either up toward the sky or down toward the ground Roll creates a torque that tilts your airframe side to side Imagine wings on an airpla...

Page 17: ... fly like a performance or acrobatic drone Flybrix is about experimenting and learning through trial and error Here are some tips and tricks for flying Take off from a flat surface Every time your airframe turns on before you fly the flight control board calibrates to what it believes is flat if you take off from an uneven surface the motors auto tune in flight to keep your airframe level This mea...

Page 18: ...rt flybrix com We can troubleshoot with you and step you through getting flying we re here to help sort it out FOR ADVANCED USERS MOTOR CONFIGURATION SOFTWARE Visit the Google Chrome Store to get the Flybrix Extension Configuration Soft ware to adjust more settings on your airframe for example fine motor tuning You can also go to our GitHub GitHub Flybrix to access the open source code FLYBRIX BET...

Page 19: ... airframe acts like a pendulum in the air The result is a stable smooth flight This design mimics much larger drones that are used by professionals especially for photography and filming Let s Start 1 Start with the 2x4 brick and attach the flat tile with velcro The steps with black and white pictures indicate that the colors of your bricks don t matter Use the shape and size as your guide for whi...

Page 20: ... Back Next 2 Attach 4 1x1 knobs 3 Attach 2 1x6 bricks ...

Page 21: ... Back Next Design Check In Side View 4 Attach your battery ...

Page 22: ... Back Next 5 Attach 2 1x4 bricks and 4 1x1 knobs to the 1x4 bricks 6 Attach 2 1x6 bricks ...

Page 23: ... Back Next 7 Attach 4 angled boom arms Notice there are two left angled boom arms and two right angled boom arms 8 Attach the flight control board Front Back ...

Page 24: ...for black white red blue motor placement Front Back Wrap motor leads around the boom arms so the leads avoid hitting props The schematic indicates which motor ports are used by each motor Be sure to align white ticks on motor connectors with ticks on the flight control board reminder found here 10 1 0 7 6 Front Back ...

Page 25: ... Back Next 11 Attach 2 1x1 knobs on both sides of the motor leads at the front of the flight control board Front Back 12 Attach 1 2x4 brick and your pilot Front Back ...

Page 26: ...props that are marked with arrows on the top of the propellers Remember red blue motors spin clockwise and black white motors spin counterclockwise So the arrows on the top of the 65 MM props indicate which direction the propeller spins In this schematic we re using the 65 MM props The color of the props don t matter just the shape of the prop Front Back B 1 A 0 B 6 A 7 ...

Page 27: ... Back Next 15 Connect the battery to the flight control board Front Back All set Connect to the Flybrix App to get flying ...

Page 28: ...rm motor hold ers These are the only two sided boom arms Flybrix offers The idea behind the arms is to provide fewer bricks and more rigidity in the build Because of these motor arm designs the quadcopters tend to break apart less upon crashing and are a good start for beginning pilots Let s give this build a shot ...

Page 29: ...s on the underside of the boom arms in the same positioning as the knobs on the top of the boom arms 3 Attach 2 1x4 bricks to the underside of the boom arms on top of the 1x1 knobs Then set these pieces aside for the next few steps ...

Page 30: ... Back Next 4 Attach the velcro tile to the 2x4 brick 5 Attach 2 1x4 bricks ...

Page 31: ... Back Next 6 Attach 2 1x6 bricks to the top of the 1x4 bricks 7 Attach the battery to the velcro tile ...

Page 32: ... Back Next Design Check In Underside view of the battery chamber 8 Attach the battery chamber to the underside of the boom arms ...

Page 33: ...g them from the bottom to the top of the boom arms Align the bottoms of the motors with the bottom of the boom arms Next wrap the leads around the boom arms before connecting the motors to the ports on the flight control board The schematic indicates motor lead color positioning and port connection Front Back Front Back 1 0 7 6 ...

Page 34: ... Back Next 11 Attach 1 2x4 brick to the front of the airframe This brick will hold your pilot and windshield 12 Attach your pilot and windshield to the 2x4 brick Front Back Front Back ...

Page 35: ...e arrow markings on the top indicating which direction the props should spin If you decide to use the 60 MM props the schematic indicates the A or B markings on the underside of the props to use in which position The prop color doesn t matter go by shape 14 Connect the battery and flight control board leads You re set to fly Grab your app and take to the skies Front Back Front Back B 1 A 0 B 6 A 7...

Page 36: ...ing fundamentals that will help you along the way as you create your own airframes and possibly add your own bricks At Flybrix we believe the most creative ideas are driven by constraint When we re forced to work within certain perameters that s when creative problem solving comes alive These brief recaps will set you up to know the fundamentals for building and flight as you continue your journey...

Page 37: ...rt 0 Port 6 Port 1 Port 7 Right Left Your flight control board has a front and a back The reason this is important is that the board uses the same orientation to position itself for calibration and flight every time prior to take off When flying make sure the leads on the flight control board are facing away from you otherwise your controls will be reversed making it difficult to fly If you want t...

Page 38: ...f the prop all props have slight curves should be on the bottom Front Back Motors for a quadcopter are always connected to the board in the same way In port 0 always use a red blue motor In port 6 aways use a black white motor Port 1 is black white and port 7 is always red blue Even if your design is creative and positions the motors in new ways make sure that port 0 always gets a red blue motor e...

Page 39: ...s and battery and see how it goes One way we experiment with new builds is to go crazy and build what we want to see fly Then we attach the motors props etc and give it a flight test Through the process of elimination and thinking we adjust our creations like adding or taking off bricks or moving parts around That s how we see what s possible Share your experiments and creations on Flybrix com for...

Page 40: ... see if the designs fly Pass the Potato Don t ask where the name of this came from We just made it up The goal of this challenge is to spur collaboration and cooperation Everyone in the challenge sits in a circle or around a table etc Put a big pile of LEGO in the center Set a timer for interval timing Experiment with how much time works for your group The first interval everyone goes for the pile...

Page 41: ...stance away from the starting point hint really light simple designs may fly faster and be reconstructed quicker in the event of a crash Once each challenger completes a successful landing and you can determine what a successful landing is Is it crossing the line and landing in a pile of LEGO Or is it land ing with the airframe fully in tact The object is for each team member to pilot their airfra...