thomasjarrett16

Hey, no problem questions are always appreciated!And to make it a tricopter you would need a little bit more :) Tricopters need a servo tilt mechanism in order to yaw, so you'd have to buy a servo motor, create or buy a tilt mechanism, and hook it all up to the frame before you can even change the kk2 setting. So unless you genuinely want a tricopter, you're better off just ordering a new motor.

I'm glad to hear your first problem is solved! The yaw input issue is most likely caused by one of two things. Either the servo wires from the receiver's yaw output is not plugged in to the right set of pins on the flight controller, or it is plugged in incorrectly, or the issue lies with the transmitter. Don't worry though, you can adjust the trim settings of your yaw stick by moving the slider underneath it, and if that doesn't work, if you're using the same transmitter as I did you can plug it into your computer and tweak the channel settings, (reversing etc). There's also lots of YouTube tutorials on how to do this. Good Luck!

Yes, you're going to need to bind your receiver and transmitter, but don't worry it's a pretty simple process and there's tons of YouTube videos and tutorials showing you how for your specific transmitter/receiver setup. As for the other issues, such as the flight controller, the board receives power through the ESCs servo leads when plugged into the pins. The "battery" connections are most likely for connecting a battery voltage alarm. Could you please send photos of your setup to help me find a solution? Also are you using the same parts as in my list or different ones?

The problem may be that your board isn't in the center of your frame, it looks like it's off from the center which may be throwing it off. And as far as self level goes you'll still need to add input to the other controls to counter drifting unless you've got a gps setup installed. For the ESC calibration, if you're still having trouble, just follow how I did it again and see if it works :) good luck to you!

Hmm that's strange, maybe the esc's servo lead isn't fully connected to the flight control board or the connection from the flight controller to the receiver isn't solid, or, since you say that pulling back on elevator causes the motor to spin, maybe you could try fiddling with your transmitter and reversing the elevator channel. Honestly I'm not sure as there are a number of things that could be causing this. Have you done an acc calibration and made sure the quad was level before taking off? Would you mind sending a pic of your setup? maybe that will help.

Hey thanks ohoilett! And so am I haha

Have fun!

Merry Christmas to you too! and for comparable drone prices I'd say around $500-$600, which is what originally compelled me to start this project haha. And thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed this and I hope your build goes well! I don't have any other comments or suggestions as of now but feel free to bring up any questions or issues you may have along the way.

As of now, there is no gps on this quad.

Extending the frame to protect the propellers is a nice idea! I say go for it!Unfortunately though battery life is not doubled as the battery is doubled because of weight. As the battery size increases more and more the weight also does, so having the largest battery would just weigh your quadcopter down and cause it to be less efficient. This is why most quads are limited to 8-12 min flight times.

No problem! I'm glad this helped!

Yes, you could use 920s if you liked. You may want to step up to a larger propeller say 11", and you might get a slightly different flight time as me because the motors would most likely draw a different amperage than mine do.

Thank you! I had the lexan cut at a local windshield shop!

Thank you! I had the circles cut at a local windshield shop, and I just centered the circles on top of the pipe frame, and drilled straight through the lexan plates and the pvc arms so they line up :)

Looking good man!

Dude! That's awesome! It's really cool seeing how the build is going, and I must say, your frame looks pretty nice so far!And yeah you may need to move up to higher amperage ESCs. The ESCs amperage should be at least 5A above the motors' maximum amp draw. My motors' max amp draw was 15A so that's why I use 20A ESCs. And for help soldering the 12 gauge wires you can try and find thin copper wire to wrap or bundle the stripped ends of the wires together to hold them in place while you're soldering.

No problem! That would be awesome, I'd love to see how your build turns out!

Thank you! You've got the right idea there. A general rule of thumb for motors and propellers is that lower kv motors with bigger propellers are more efficient at lifting heavier loads than higher kv motors with smaller propellers. Higher kv motors like 2300kv motors will probably struggle with propellers larger than 6 inches, so using larger, 10" propellers with these motors will make the motors' amp draw extremely high because the motors will need significantly more power to achieve the right amount of thrust, resulting in a very short flight time. (That is, if the amp draw doesn't burn out the 20A ESCs first.) Using lower kv motors like the 980kv ones I have are much more efficient at spinning 10" propellers, and can achieve the necessary amount of thrust with a much lower ...

Thank you! You've got the right idea there. A general rule of thumb for motors and propellers is that lower kv motors with bigger propellers are more efficient at lifting heavier loads than higher kv motors with smaller propellers. Higher kv motors like 2300kv motors will probably struggle with propellers larger than 6 inches, so using larger, 10" propellers with these motors will make the motors' amp draw extremely high because the motors will need significantly more power to achieve the right amount of thrust, resulting in a very short flight time. (That is, if the amp draw doesn't burn out the 20A ESCs first.) Using lower kv motors like the 980kv ones I have are much more efficient at spinning 10" propellers, and can achieve the necessary amount of thrust with a much lower amp draw resulting in a more optimized flight time.Good luck with your build though! You should post some pics of it too, I cant wait to see the finished product!

Thanks dude! This frame weighs about 290g, and the all up weight of the quadcopter is between 900g and 1kg.

Thank you!

Thanks dude :)

Thank you! You should definitely give this build a try!

Thank You! And good eye :) that's about as far down as the lock nuts can go, fortunately they seem to be on tight enough as they've never come off yet. Thanks for the tip!

Thank You!

Thank You! HobbyKing.com is a great source for everything you'll need to build a quadcopter, but since I was using a prepaid visa that only worked in the US I didn't have access to hobbyking. My motors, ESCs, transmitter, and receiver were from HobbyPartz.com, the flight controller, propellers, wires and connectors were from BuddyRC.com, and the battery, voltage alarm, and charger were from Amazon :)

This is so cool! It looks so real!

Thank you! And no problem, you should definitely build this one day, it's a super fun and rewarding project!

It was my pleasure! Thanks for reading! Good luck if you decide to build your own quad one day!

Thanks man I really appreciate your vote as well! Also thank you for the motor suggestion!

Thanks man, your vote is greatly appreciated!

I just measured it and the walls are about 2mm thick. :)

These are really cool! Super creative too!

Woah this can't possibly be your first cosplay build... its AMAZING!

This is really cool! Looks just like an official movie prop!

Thank you!

Thanks!

Glad you did!

Thanks for viewing! And thanks for the parts suggestions as well!

Thank you to all of you who commented, favorited, and viewed my instructable! If you enjoyed please consider voting for it in the Drones Contest! Thanks!

Hahaha that's one way to make a free frame! Thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed!