X650 Quadcopter - RCTimer.com

[admin]

Here's my latest quadcopter project... all carbon fiber frame, very well made!... again this was purchased from RCTimer.com and the price is 1/2 of what you would pay for a identical name-brand quad (in fact parts of the RCTimer quad are directly replaceable with the name-brand model...).

X640 Quad (CF frame, blades, 4 motors and 4 ESCs): http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_ ... oodsid=735

My main purpose of building this quad was to experiement with a new open-source autopilot called Ardu-Pilot. I've followed this project since it's inception and even participated in code development and reviews years ago with Chris and Co=. It all started here: http://www.diydrones.com

The ArduFlyer 2.5 was just released and without a delay, China took the open-source project and started making and selling ArduPilot flight control boards called "Ardu-Flyer". It is supposedly a 100% compatible with the original ArduPilot. Since I already owned a real ArduPilot board, I had to try the Chinese rip-off and decided to purchase one through RC-Timer:
http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_ ... oodsid=818

After weeks of testing both boards, I can honestly say that they are indeed identical... in fact, it looks like they are manufactured by the same outfit in China (from my experience and from other notes on the web). This ArduFlyer board has since been mounted on my new X650 quad and tested sat., though it still needs PIDS tuning which will happen soon.

This ArduFlyer flight control board also includes a GPS unit and 2-way telemetry system which allows you on the ground to view all flight parameters on your PC-based ground system, while also allowing you to control the quad while it's in flight. The ground control software allows you to use google maps to plot a flight plan using an interface like google earth, and the ArduFlyer allows you to download waypoints to it, allowing the quad to autonomously perform flights, including auto take-offs and landings... now how cool it that!

I'm still tweaking stuff, and just finished adding a gyro stablilized camera mount, and a sonar unit used to calculate (to the centimeter) altitude when close to ground (30 feet or less) and is used for the auto- takeoff and landings.

My goal eventually will be to use this quadcopter as a cool aerial video platform... stay tuned for some cool video this coming summer!

[admin]

Here's a cool qucik vid of my auto-stabilized 2-axis camera mount:



And here's a quick vid of me maidening the X650 in my living room last month...

[admin]

Thanks Bob,... certainly not an entry level quad. I'm pretty much a techno guru and setting up this quad had me stumped many times... certainly not for beginners... but I love challenges

I've tried a few keychain cameras on my smaller quad like yours (450 size) and had horrible results due to vibration, etc... You will definitely need to isolate the camera from the frame using either foam and/or dampening gel. I still have yet to find a good mounting method such to avoid the vibration... if you try it, please let me know how you make out.

I hope to make it to the next indoor fly (Sippican School) planned for March 16th... I will definitely bring both quads to test fly, along with a foamie I'm still setting up.