SunFounder 6D-Box, Manual

Page 1: ...dcopter is not only a toy through its application you can not only learn much basic knowledge about quadcopter and remote control but also which is more important assemble your own copter It can the stepping stone on your path towards more advanced command of flying and copters The assembly of this quadcopter is quite simple and we provide thorough hardware and software materials This starter kit ...

Page 2: ...nvironment and avoid crashing into hard objects in case of quadcopter especially propeller damages If you have any questions suggestions or ideas please contact us Send an email to support sunfounder com Or visit www sunfounder com and click Contact us on the page Copyright Notice All contents including but not limited to texts images and code in this manual are owned by the SunFounder Company You...

Page 3: ... 11 3 6 Configure Flight Parameters in GUI 15 4 Remote Control 17 4 1 Remote Control 17 4 2 Remote Control Receiver 19 4 3 Gyroscope and Accelerator Calibration 20 4 4 Copter Lock Unlock by Remote Control 21 5 Assembly 24 6 Try Flying 33 6 1 Fine Tuning 33 6 2 Precautions During Flight 35 6 3 First Fly 35 6 4 Reducing the Weight of Your Craft 35 7 Stunt Flying 37 8 Troubleshooting 38 9 Precautions...

Page 4: ...s which makes it one type of the most popular firmware in the world these years However for a beginner along the road the mass information and the huge size of its code stops quite a lot of hobbyists from getting their feet wet To help solve this issue we developed this 6D Box quadcopter based on MWC for Arduino Though small it contains most of the knowledges about MWC By learning this aircraft yo...

Page 5: ...th the operations you may even make your own plane using them for control That ll save you a lot of money and you ll not need to adapt to another control again To fit our 6D Box better some adjustments are made to the original MWC code With the altered code new hands may skip the difficulties in the PID adjustment and start learning MWC more easily Besides since it is lightweight and portable and ...

Page 6: ...ents List 2 1 Structural Fasteners Parts Name Qty M1 2 10 Self tapping Screw 6 M2 5 Nylon Screw 6 M2 20 Nylon Screw 6 M2 8 Nylon Standoff 6 M2 15 Nylon Standoff 6 2 2 Mechanical Components Parts Name Qty Frame 1 ...

Page 7: ...4 6D BOX Cover 2 6D BOX LED Board 1 Motor Protective Seat 2 Black 2 Red Propeller Bumper 2 Red 2 Black ...

Page 8: ...eller Reverse clockwise 2 Red Propeller Positive counterclockwise 2 Black Propeller Reverse clockwise 2 Black Propeller Positive counterclockwise 2 2 3 Electronic Components Parts Name Qty Flight Control Board 1 ...

Page 9: ... 3 7V 380mAH 1 Mini USB Cable 1m 1 3 7V USB Charger for Li Po Battery 1 720CW Motor red black wire M1 M2 2 720CCW Motor black white wire M3 M4 2 USB To Serial for 6D BOX 1 2 Pin Connector Cable 1 27mm pin space 3cm 1 ...

Page 10: ...7 6 Pin Connector Cable 1 27mm pin space 10cm 1 4mm Heat shrink Tubing 8cm 1 Remote Control Receiver 4 Channel 1 Remote Control 1 ...

Page 11: ...8 2 4 Tools Parts Name Qty 2mm Cross Screwdriver 1 Propeller Removal Wrench 1 2 5 Self provided Parts Parts Name Qty AA Battery for Remote Control 8 ...

Page 12: ...303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v1 10 0 exe file and install If your PC is running MAC OS X refer to the SunFounder 6D Box Quadcopter Drivers PL2303_ MacOSX_10_6 10_10_v1_5_1 folder 3 2 Battery Charger The 6D Box quadcopter uses a 3 7V high energy density Li Po battery weighing 10 8g with a dimension of 38x20x8mm It has a rated capacity of 380mAH a charging discharging of 400mAH in real use The high ...

Page 13: ...e battery to avoid a short circuit DO NOT throw batteries into fire or water Do not dispose of batteries in the trash directly Please place them in the appropriate collection container for recycle DO NOT overcharge or charge the battery to save life Store batteries in a cool dry place at normal room temperature The recommended voltage for restoring is 3 9V Remove the batteries in time in case of o...

Page 14: ...into the LED board port as shown in the above figure and then connect to the flight control Repeat the steps for flight control test Then you ll see the LEDs on LED Board and flight control board blinking or dim synchronously which indicates the LED board works 3 5 Program Note This section is not a must do If you did not re burn any sketch to your board skip this part and directly go to Configure...

Page 15: ...uring the parameters In the part The type of multicopter activate the line define QUADX while the other lines should be commented out Then configure the remote control and choose the proper I2C communication rate Just apply the default settings ...

Page 16: ...2 and activate it In Gyro filters use a low pass filter based on your situation but the frequency should be no lower than 10Hz You re suggested to activate the line define MPU6050_LPF_188HZ Note It is very IMPORTANT to select the proper filter here Finally in the ESC part activate define EXT_MOTOR_RANGE 3 5 2 Upload Compile After the configurations are done select the board click Tools Board Ardui...

Page 17: ...14 Then click Tools Processor ATMega328 5V 16MHz ...

Page 18: ...plugging in the 6 pin connector cable you may need to press the socket in case of damages to the pins Click Upload and wait till it s done 3 6 Configure Flight Parameters in GUI Connect the USB to Serial with the flight control go to SunFounder 6D Box Quadcopter Code MultiWiiConf and start setting based on your upper computer Take 32 bit Windows Go to application windows32 and open the MultiWiiCon...

Page 19: ...ee Java Download and then install click the execution file again Then select the proper serial port Click START and READ Activate the LOW MID and HIGH for ANGLE Click Write Observe whether the ACC GYRO and MAG curves get normal They should be all level as shown above If they are not please put the flight control board flat and click CALIB_ACC for calibration ...

Page 20: ...re channels are required For this 6 D Box quadcopter a 4 channel remote control is used Before applying the remote control you need to know there are two different types of remote control They are different in the position of throttle left what we provided in this kit and right The throttle controls the motor speed The higher you push it the motor rotates faster and the quadcopter flies higher and...

Page 21: ...18 Mode 1 Throttle Left See the figure below for the throttle type Mode 1 Throttle left Mode 2 Throttle right ...

Page 22: ...for the button and LED on the receiver 4 2 2 Phase Configuration for Remote Control Generally the phase is normal when it s manufactured But to ensure there will be no such case as opposite channel phase you d better test the remote After the remote control and receiver are matched take the following steps to check whether the phase of each channel is correct 1 Push the throttle rocker arm up from...

Page 23: ...vert its phase 4 3 Gyroscope and Accelerator Calibration 4 3 1 Calibrating Gyroscope Place the flight control board as flat as possible Pull the throttle and elevator to lowest and rudder to the leftmost The blue LED on the flight control board will blink for about 2 seconds and then stop So the calibration is done For throttle at the right hand pull the rocker arms as below Kind reminder When pul...

Page 24: ...s like this 4 4 Copter Lock Unlock by Remote Control 4 4 1 Unlocking Copter When the quadcopter is not unlocked yet it cannot fly and you can only calibrate it The remote control still works on the plane but for safety reason it is locked in case of its going out of control caused by maloperation on the remote How to unlock Pull the throttle rocker arm to lowest leave elevator in the middle and pu...

Page 25: ... at the right hand push the rocker arm as below For throttle at the left hand pull the rocker arm like this After the unlocking succeeds pull the throttle and you can see the control data of the four motors on the GUI ...

Page 26: ...he throttle to lowest of course your copter should not be flying in the air now keep the elevator in the middle and pull the rudder to the leftmost You can see the blue LED on the flight control goes out which means it is locked smoothly About locking For throttle at the right hand pull the rocker arm as below For throttle at the left hand pull the rocker arm like this ...

Page 27: ...k unlock you may assemble the 6D BOX aircraft following the steps below First let s take a look at the assembled copter and its exploded view drawing so you can see what it ll be like after assembly and how to assemble The assembled 6D Box The exploded view drawing Now you may have a basic idea of what the copter is like and how to make it Now let s start the assembly ...

Page 28: ...eats Assembly them as shown below Note When installing the motor seat pull the wire up from motor bottom till through the slot at the seat rim in case of its being pressed in later steps Insert an M1 2 10 self tapping screw Page 27 Step 2 Wrap the motor wire with a heat shrink tubing Then a motor is assembled Step 3 Similarly assemble the other three motors Now all the four motors are finished Bla...

Page 29: ...ckwise For the direction of the frame an X shape model is used in this quadcopter The two red motor seats are at the front while the black ones at the back Step 1 Make clear the direction of the four motors and the X shape frame Note Pay attention to the color of each motor wire Check according to the figure on last page Step 2 Take a motor that is assembled before Wrap one arm of the frame with t...

Page 30: ...ors onto the frame Pay attention to the sequence the two motors with the same color seat should be next to each other Step 5 Insert an M1 2 10 self tapping screw into the hole of the motor seat and tighten it with the screwdriver Complete the plugging in the other three motor seats Pay attention not to overtight the screw in case of breakage ...

Page 31: ...e LED board into the threaded holes of the frame bottom Note the LED port should be in the same direction with the port on the flight control board Place the flight control board on the frame pay attention to the direction the arrow on the flight control board should be pointed at the middle of the red motor seats and insert four M2 15 nylon standoffs into the four screws that come out of the boar...

Page 32: ...29 ...

Page 33: ... Cover Propellers Step 1 Connect the receiver to the flight control board as shown below Pay attention to the direction and the pin plugging Step 2 Place the cover over the receiver and fasten them with 4 M2 5 nylon screws ...

Page 34: ...le the propellers Special attention should be paid to rotational direction of each blade follow the instructions in the figure below Warning DO NOT install the motors and propellers inversely Step 4 Install the battery ...

Page 35: ...32 Step 5 All assembly is completed now Note After the assembly you are not ready to go yet Please follow the subsequent flying instructions carefully in case of unknown troubles ...

Page 36: ...m switch to the left 6 If it spins counterclockwise top view push the rudder trim switch to the right As for how much to push pull the switch it depends on the tilt Repeat the steps above until the copter does not tilt or spin any more when you push the throttle only See the figure below for the fine tuning switches Solution 2 Fine adjust the accelerometer note spinning cannot be adjusted If the c...

Page 37: ... first Push the throttle to highest elevator forward and then back to middle Then you can see the blue LED on the flight control blinks and then go out Then a single round of fine tuning is done Repeat these steps until the copter does not tilt any more when you push the throttle only How to fine adjust the accelerometer For throttle at the right hand pull push the rocker arm as below Fine tuning ...

Page 38: ... the precautions you can fly your copter now So just hold your remote control push the throttle and the aircraft takes off Try to fly it in each directions forward or backward right or left and spin clockwise or counterclockwise Enjoy the flying But for your first flights please have your trial somewhere few people tread in case of danger Read and bear the above mentioned safety precautions in min...

Page 39: ...When flying it you may feel this little but obvious difference and find it s much sensitive to your control So just take minutes to get used to the new weight before flying it high How to Remove Protection Bumpers It would be pretty easy for you now to take away the bumpers for you d have a plenty time together with the plane and known it well unscrew remove the bumpers and then screw the seats ag...

Page 40: ...ying and confident enough you may try the stunt flight operations For stunt flying you need to set the flight parameters in MultiWii Conf Adjust the RATE values as shown in the figure below The higher you set them the more agile the quadcopter can be The upper RATE value is to adjust the agility of the plane in the pitch and roll directions when the lower is to do that in yaw Both values range fro...

Page 41: ...sure you ve opened the self stabilization mode on the GUI After a long time my quadcopter flies less steadily than it does at the beginning The propellers and motors are consumables and their lifetime may reduce with each usage 9 Precautions Ensure the safety of yourself and others during the flying The assembly of the quadcopter should comply with the instructions above Please conform to the loca...