Author: RCExplorer – David

Just a quick update that the tricopter V3 kit now is back in stock!

Ooo also, today I sent out the 1000th order, that kit contains a little something extra. Thanks to everyone for the awesome support!

THIS FORM IS NOW CLOSED. If you missed out, please contact me via email.

Now that over 600 people have gotten their tricopters the weak points of the design is starting to become apparent. I try to test all aspects of a design as thoroughly as I can before releasing it. I’ve been flying my personal tricopter like a maniac with the original tilt mechanism without any problem. I’ve had many, many crashes and it’s been holding up great. But now that other people have been flying theirs, with with a huge variety of setups ranging from small motors and props to huge ones, some people have broken their tilt mechanism much easier than intended.

I have therefore decided to redesign the top piece of the tilt to be beefier to withstand more abuse. The tilt mechanism is designed to be tough enough not to break during “normal” crashes with the recommended motor/prop setup. The zip-ties should absorb most of the impact saving the motor, servo and tilt mechanism. The tilt should however be weak enough that in an extreme crash it should break before damaging the more expensive, and much more of a hassle to change, servo.

I believe this new design is up to that spec. Actually the new tilt is as strong as the layer adhesion of the ABS. The new part is printed 100% solid, using higher temperatures and without any cooling fans to ensure maximum layer adhesion. It is also 1.2 mm longer, but it still fits the original bottom piece. Making the part thicker wouldn’t actually add much strength past this point. In the future I might develop an optional upgrade part for larger motor setups or super beater tricopters, made from another material or with another manufacturing method. But this will take some thinking and testing, and therefore quite some time.

As I think the tilt mechanism should have been designed this way from the start, I will ship out a free replacement to anyone that got the old one, and would like the new top piece.

All you have to do is fill out this form and I’ll send you a new one

Here is the final episode of the epic saga of Rotor DR1:

Did it end the way you expected?

If you missed the earlier episodes, you can find all 10 on Rotor DR1’s website

The tricopters are unfortunately out of stock again. New stock should arrive early January.

Orders not containing backorder items will still be shipped as normal.

The new forum is now up and running! Please keep in mind that it is currently under beta testing.

Hopefully everything works the way it’s supposed to, but you never know…

The forum is running on pretty simple code so don’t expect too much fancy functionality 😉

There is no need to create a new user for the forum, the same login that you use for the site in general will work on the forum as well.

Happy posting!

Woohoo! I’m finally caught up on orders! Thank you so much for your patience and support. So far 810 orders have been shipped out, and 583 tricopter kits have been sold.

By your requests, I’m working on getting a forum running so that we all can share experiences, setups and such with each other in a more convenient way. Hopefully it will be up very soon.

Today I inventoried the remaining stock and updated the shop. As I’m writing this, there are 30 tricopter kits in stock. May the odds be ever in your favor 😉

More parts are on their way, but I’m afraid the holidays might slow down the shipping companies. As soon as they arrive, I’ll update the stock again.

Here is the KK2 setup video for the Tricopter V3. I noticed that I skimmed some areas a bit lightly when shooting the video, but I hope people still find it useful. For more in-depth info read Steveis manual.

Recommended PI values: (more…)

Warning! Do not use loctite on any parts of the tilt mechanism! ABS and other thermoplastics react with the chemicals in the Loctite. The chemical breaks down the bonds in the ABS, making the part very brittle and weak. Use a tiny amount of CA glue on the screw instead.

Loctite website states this:

Not Recommended For

• Use in pure oxygen and/or oxygen rich systems and should not be selected as a sealant for chlorine or other strong oxidizing materials
• Use on plastic parts, particularly thermoplastic materials where stress cracking of the plastic could result

After some testing I noticed that the original Loctite reacts the strongest, breaking down the ABS very quickly and a larger portion of the part is affected. Simply screwing the motor screws into the motor makes the whole top piece explode in to tiny pieces! Off brand threadlockers seems to be hit or miss if they do break down the ABS or not. So I highly recommend not using any kind of threadlock on the tilt mechanism at all, or any ABS parts for that matter.

Thank you Robert for bringing this to my attention

Sorry to tell you guys but, I’ve run into a supply issue.

Episode 4 of Rotor DR1 is here!

I’ve been heavily involved in the creative process of DR1 and so far it’s been exhausting, but extremely gratifying. Making a movie / web-series based on community input and feedback is incredible. There are so many talented people out there and together we can create something powerful and memorable. I’m very grateful to be apart of this.

The FPV footage in the abandoned mall is shot with the tricopter V3. It was such an awesome place to fly FPV. Such a surreal experience flying around in a huge mall with smashed glass and broken things everywhere. I’ll post my own FPV video from there as soon as I’m done with the KK2 setup video and shipping out all the backorders 😉

Thank you to everyone that has given input or feedback in any shape or form, or even just watched the episodes. It’s because of you, and for you that we make this film.

So what did you think of this episode? What do you think about the whole series? Leave a comment and make a difference.

Update: I’m in episode 5 as well:

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