DIY Awesome Brushed Quadcopter

by HardiqV

20K7613

Intro: DIY Awesome Brushed Quadcopter

Quadcopter are a fantastic piece of technology . Some use them for hobby and some use them for some serious tasks such as surveillance and photography.

For a beginner this technology may seem intimating as there are so many options out there. And choosing one that suits best is difficult.

Also a starting point indoor quads are the way to go . Then after having a good experience with them you can go for the big outdoor quads.

There are many indoor quads availbale such as tiny whoop, Eachine e101 and many more.

But As a Maker I Like to build Things Myself.

So Here I present You How You can make your own brushed Quadcopter.

Check my blog For more Projects Like this : -hardiqv.blogspot.com

STEP 1: Gather the Parts

Following Parts are Required for this Build :-

Any 2.4ghz transmitter and receiver that suits your budget.

Also you can use the transmitter and receiver that i made :- https://www.instructables.com/id/ARDUINO-AND-NRF24L01-BASED-RF-TRANSMITTER-AND-RECE/

Also FPV(First Person View ) can also be added to it.

But I am not adding these right now.

The overall Price of the parts Excluding transmitter and receiver is around = 40.00$

STEP 2: Features and Specifications

This Quadcopter has following features and specification:-

  • Upto 1 Km range (depends upon your transmitter and receiver).
  • Supports both CleanFlight and BetaFlight.
  • F3 Flight controller board.
  • Upto 6 motors or hexacopter can be made.
  • Around 8 - 10 mins of flight time (depends upon how aggressive you fly).
  • Supports PPM , S.Bus and DSM 2 receivers.
  • Supports GPS and data Logging.

STEP 3: Fixing the Motors

Firstly open the packaging of all the components.

Install the Brushed motors into the holders provided.

Make sure that you put the motors in correct orientation .

For the orientation I have attached a photograph , you can refer to it.

The motor having Red and blue wire is CW motor and the motor having Black and white wire is CCW motor.

The polarity of the wires is as follows:-

RED + (positive) | WHITE + (positive)

BLUE - (negative) | BLACK - (negative)

Note :- Make sure that all the motors are at the same level .

STEP 4: Modding the Frame and Fixing the Flight Controller

Remove the canopy from the frame and you will notice that the flight controller doesn't fits inside at the space provided.

So , To fix the flight controller on to the frame remove all the standoffs and pegs so that the base of the Quadcopter is now flush.

Then remove the Film from the foam tape provided with the flight controller .

Then place the foam tape on to the back of the flight controller board and press firmly.

Then remove the film from the other side and fix the flight controller board to the space earlier prepared.

Press firmly making sure that It has Fix down securely.

STEP 5: Hacking the Receiver and Fixing It

So , The receiver I wanted to use was quite bulky and heavy . So some hacking is required to reduce its size and weight.

Note :- This may not be necessary for you as you might have a smaller version of the receiver.

Firstly I removed the branding Sticker from the receiver and removed all the pin headers.

After removing the headers I used a multimeter to find the Positive and negative common rails and marked them.

Also I previously marked the PPM signal pin so that i can have a track of it.

Then I used some rubber bands to fix the receiver right below the flight controller.

This is the ideal method as you don't want to add excessive weight to the Quadcopter.

Also I installed The battery to the frame using some rubber bands.

Also I used a Zip TIE to secure both the flight controller and the the receiver.

STEP 6: Wiring Up Everything

I used 1234 Quad X configuration in the Cleanflight and Wired my motors accordingly . If you want any other configuration then you have to wire the motors accordingly.

Then i attached the battery connector provided with flight controller to the board to it's respective pads.

Also i soldered the boot pins together for the later use.

And make sure that the solder bridge is towards the side of '1S' .

After that I soldered the receiver wires to the UART2 pins of the flight controller board. and I left the TX pin unconnected.

Then I attached the propellers to the motors

Make sure you attach the CW Propeller to CW motor and CCW propeller to the CCW motor.

STEP 7: Configuring and Setting Up

Firstly download the Cleanflight from chrome web store.

And also download the zadig Software zadig

After installing both of these connect the flight controller board to the Computer and open Cleanflight .

Then disable the Auto connect and go to the firmware flasher tab and choose SP Racing F3 Evo from the boards list and then select the latest firmware and then click load firmware online. Now it will download the firmware . Now open the zadig software and then click on list all devices and there you will see STM32 DFU and then install the driver through zadig and close the software.

Now in the Cleanflight click Flash firmware and it will start flashing the firmware on the board.

After flashing the firmware is successful remove the solder jumper and reboot the flight controller board.

Then go to reciever section and check if your transmitter is sending you out all the signals.

Then go to the configuration tab and choose the Quadcopter layout . In my case 1234 Quad X.

Also scroll down to the bottom and choose the type of receiver input. In my case 'PPM RX'.

Then Go to the mode tab and setup the arm switch and the flight modes as shown in the picture.

Also make sure you save every time when you go from one tab to another.

After this disconnect the USB cable and connect the battery and check if the motor works.

STEP 8: Finishing and Testing

After checking that ever thing works . Then arm the Quadcopter and see if it hovers stably . If it is not the case than you may need to the PID tunning.

I hope you liked this instructable.

Please vote for me in the contest.

Also Check my blog for more stuff like this :- hardiqv.blogspot.com

10 Comments

karan20022005 3 years ago

hey can i know alternative fc for it because the one u have mentioned is out of stock

shrawan0908 5 years ago

hello,
i was wondering,
i am working on an arduino nano flight controller based on the multiwii platform,
do you think it i will be able to replace the flight controller above with my arduino one ?

HardiqV 5 years ago

Yes it can replace but you will need a brushed motor controller attached with the multiwii as The SPF3 has motor controllers built in.

HardiqV 5 years ago

Yes you can but the overall weight will be more and also you cannot run betaflight on the flight controller.

RebeccaB111 5 years ago

Hi, I have a group of 5th graders that need to make a flying machine for a contest. They have to make it on their own but can get some guid. They seems like something they could do. I was wondering if they could contact you with questions. Thanks!

HardiqV 5 years ago

Yes, I would love to guide them for the contest

HardiqV 5 years ago

Yes, I would love to help the students out. Please feel free to ask any questions.

KartikA9 5 years ago

Nice build. I was just wondering if instead of 4 brushed motor, you connect 8 with parallel pairs such that it makes an X8 octo configuration. I believe the max current F3 controller can do is about 12 amps. Individual brushed motor at full load will take about 1.8 amps (Details from here: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2009496-1s-micro-mini-brushed-quadcopter-specifications-and-performance-data ). Thus in this way we will be able to provide more payload (GPS, better FPV or better and beefier receiver for greater range) with a 2S battery. Just a hypothetical question, but can it be done?

TheEncryptor 6 years ago

Very cool. Can you also post flight time?
Also some propeller guards would be good. Indoors, the drone will hour a wall or two...

HardiqV 6 years ago

i will be posting a video of flight time as soon as a get free from college work.

Also i would be adding 3d printed propellers guard very soon.

Till then i don't fear breaking props as i have a plenty of them "10 pairs".