Category: Blog

Here is the updated setup video which includes F3 based flight controllers (such as the F3FC) and showing the new tail tune features.

Designed based on all the feedback we’ve received since the release of the Naze32 frame. This frame has it all; A more powerful processor, 3A switching BEC with selectable 5/6/8V output, no need for a separate power distribution board, pressure sensor, current sensor, low noise gyro/accelerometer connected via SPI and so much more. Get yours here while they’re fresh out of the oven.

The Tricopter V4 has among other things a brand new camera/battery plate made from 2mm thick matte 3K carbon fiber. This increases stiffness, which reduces vibrations as well as saves weight (more than 25% lighter). You can now easily mount RunCam2 and GoPro sized cameras.

After many requests the landing gear has now been made taller and with a wider contact area at the bottom. The sharp edge has also been removed. The new landing gear is also mounted with 4 zip-ties which absorbs more energy in a crash. As you will need more zip-ties for the build, the kit now comes with 2 bags (~50 pieces).

The new now only weighs 201 grams including Flightcontroller, power distribution, arms, tilt mechanism, motor mounts, screws, landing gear and vibration dampened camera mount. This means more flight time and a more agile platform. Link to the product page.

Look fancy and show your support of tricopters at the same time, with this 25x25mm golden pin. Designed by the extraordinary community member Terje. (Read about the design process here)

Perfect size to wear on a tie or on a shirt just above your heart, where we all know it belongs.

The pin might leave a small hole in the fabric. Please don’t stab yourself or others. Also be careful if you have any metal allergies.

This is our new RCExplorer F3FC Tricopter flight controller/PDB frame. Designed based on all the feedback we’ve received since the release of the Naze32 frame. This frame has it all.

Equipped with a SMT32F303CC processor which runs at a higher clock speed than the previous F1 chip. It also has a dedicated float point math processor to reduce processor load, freeing up resources to run other fun stuff like GPS, RGB LED’s, compass, blackbox logging, SBUS, OSD and such. This processor also allows for 3 dedicated UART’s which vastly improves connectivity. It’s now possible to run GPS, LED’s, OSD, external compass(via I2C) and SBUS at the same time. The board also has a I2C port and CAN bus which allows for future expandability. It also has a direct connected LED pin for controlling those really cool addressable RGB LED’s.

To save weight and make the build easier and more streamlined, the F3FC tricopter frame is also a power distribution board! Instead of having 2 separate boards and wires going everywhere you now just solder everything to one board and no extra wires between the boards are required. It makes assembling the copter easier, as you don’t have to juggle both boards and arms around at the same time while trying to get everything in place.

That’s not all when it comes to power. The F3FC frame also has a built in 3A switching BEC! This BEC can easily drive the servo, flight controller, OSD, UART devices, RGB LED’s without even running warm. It’s super clean and it also has selectable output voltage of 5V, 6V and 8V, the latter mainly used to power high voltage servos. If you have the BEC set to 8V you can, by bridging two solder points power the UART ports via a built in linear 5V regulator, so that you don’t fry your sensitive 5V expecting devices. The components for the switching BEC are well protected in a crash as they are hidden within the front spacer.

Also mounted inside of the front spacer is a MS5611 high sensitivity, high quality pressure sensor. Together with an external GPS the copter can now do position hold. Mounting the sensor inside of the front spacer keeps it out of direct airflow giving much more accurate readings.

Another great feature is the built in current sensor for monitoring mAh used. To me this is huge. It allows for a much more accurate way of knowing how much juice is left in your battery. This information can easily be relaid through telemetry to your RC transmitter together with the real time current draw and battery voltage (which naturally also is built in to the board).

To give the best flight experience the MPU6000 Gyro/accelerometer chip is used. It’s the least vibration sensitive chip commonly available, which means crisper performance due to lower noise. The MPU6000 is connected through SPI instead of I2C, which allows for much higher update rates. This together with the F3 chips capability of running lower loop times also improves the flight performance greatly.

Another huge leap in flight performance is the feedback enabled BMS210 servo. The flight controller now knows where the servo is at all times, which allows it to much more accurately control the tail. The F3FC frame has a dedicated feedback pad straight on the board for very easy hook up. All ESC’s also have surface mount pads straight on the board, which makes for a very clean build and saves a ton of space on the top of the frame.

To clean up the wiring even more there is now through holes that matches the pin spacing of the beeper. You can now solder the beeper straight to the board without any cables. There is also RAW battery voltage pins to power FPV equipment and such on the top of the frame. No more having to run wires on the side of and then in-between the frames.

Lastly the frame has 2 PWM channels, one of which can be used for PPM receivers. Serial receivers can be plugged into any of the UARTs, but UART1 has a selectable 3.3V/5V selector solder bridge for powering 3.3V spectrum satellites or “normal” receivers.

The F3FC frame is a drop in replacement for the Naze32 frame. You can use it with both the Mini Tricopter and the V3.5 without any modifications.

The board should be released 2-3 weeks, so keep an eye out!

We will very soon be running out of the Naze32 Tricopter frames and we will not be re-stocking them, as we will release our own F3 based tricopter frame in 2-3 weeks. More information on the new frame will be posted very shortly.

No more modifying your servo! We’ve now redesigned the original BMS 210 servo to include a feedback wire straight from the factory. This wire is used to accurately determine at which angle the servo is positioned at all times. The wire plugs in to the flightcontroller and the information is used by the latest versions of the TriFlight code to vastly improve the yaw performance of the tricopter.

The price for the new RCExplorer 210 DMH Feedback servo is the same as the previous non feedback version.

Note: You don’t have to use the servo feedback wire. The servo will work just like any normal servo if you don’t connect the wire.

All electronic kits now comes with the new feedback version of the servo.

After working together with the manufacturer of the square arms, we finally worked through all the manufacturing problems. We just got the new shipment of square arms in and all kits will be shipped with the square arms once again.

Lately almost all my flying has been with the Mini Tricopter. I haven’t flown the Tricopter V3.5 in FPV for quite some time. When I finally found the perfect V3.5 motor I decided to build a really nice, pimped out long range setup and get out there and do some flying, in the style I used to do.

As soon as I took off I fell in love all over again. I had forgotten how smooth and swooshy this thing is. It feels like the air is thicker, smoother and more flowing than when flying the smaller platforms. After landing it feels like you’ve had a 15 minute long hug. Man I’ve missed flying this thing.

I really like testing new electronics. Improving the performance, feel and quality is something I continuously strive for. With the new LittleBee30A ESC’s a broader range of power setups are possible and I think I found the perfect combination for the Mini Tricopter. The Emax RS2205 2300kV drew too much current for the SN20A’s that we previously used. I was also concerned that the flight times would suffer with such a tiny motor. But it turned out that hovering flight time actually is the same (~14 minutes) as with the BE2208 on a 4S1800mAh battery. It’s not quite as efficient in the hovering throttle range, but the lower weight compensates for this, and it provides more thrust.

At full throttle this little motor draws 31A, producing 1200 grams of thrust, while swinging a 6×4.5 HQ prop. You would think this would fry the poor little copper strands in the motor, but with its built in cooling system which sucks air through the motor, cooling both the motor and the powerful N52 magnets, it can do this without overheating. This is quite amazing considering that the Emax RS2205 only weighs in at 30 grams with wires! It’s also incredible smooth thanks to the Japanese NMB Bearings, really high quality stuff right there.

With the Emax RS2205 the copter does feel more perky and crisp. The breaking force of the Emax motors are amazing, which gives a very accurate feedback.

If you plan on going over to the Emax setup, I highly recommend using some good quality batteries with high C-rating to feed these power hungry little beasts.

Quick update. The Mini Tricopter Electronics kit will now come with the LittleBee30A ESC’s. After testing them properly it’s evident that they are more robust and better performing than the SN20A’s on the Mini Tricopter. They are slightly heavier but the benefits they bring, in my opinion, outweighs the small weight increase.