LitterBug's RCExplorer BiCopter build thread

[Kevin_Erik]

@Litterbug

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[LitterBug]

Did some quick validation flights in the back yard this morning. Everything moves the correct way when controlled by the sticks and reacts the correct way to outside movements. Lifted off for a brief flight and had Pitch oscillations like I was with the EZ bi. So Need to look at the tune and flight mode config before giving it another go. I may also switch over to BetaFlight today for comparison.

Cheers!
LitterBug

[Kevin_Erik]

Would be interesting to see what reducing the PID loops pitch control would have on its flight. This would make the pitch largely user controlled.

[LitterBug]

Interesting… Thought I had reset my flight modes, but was in acro for pitch rather than leveling. Guess I should have rechecked that before starting. Will also drop P before giving it another test later when the grass has dried out. Too much dew out there this morning.

[LitterBug]

Did some flight testing today… Not so good. No damage, but seems to behave exactly like my EZbiCopters did with swinging oscillations on the pitch axis. Played a bit with P/I on the pitch axis, but didn’t really seem to be getting anywhere.

SO… Today I crossed over to the dark side and have put BetaFlight on EZBi #1 with a DTFc FC and am attempting to get that to fly. Looks like everything is configured right and everything moves correctly. Things behave slightly different with the leveling strength being much higher, and there appears to be some back pitch mixed in as you add throttle in the BetaFlight leveling modes too. All ready to test fly it in the back yard, lift off, and the motors stop about a foot off the ground…. Every time…. <sigh> WT#… It’s like it disarms for no reason at all. <sigh> Time for a break… and a bicycle ride….

[Kevin_Erik]

Too bad Your not using an FC with Black-Box capability. However Openlog is an option but only with Betaflight. Ive used one before and they do work but the logging rates can be a little slow.

Come to think of it, Speedybee’s Bluetooth adaptor could also work assuming you keep within 3-5 meters. This way you could alter the flight parameters just using a Tablet or other moble device.

Beyond all of that, three questions:
1) ESC’s calibrated if not usin D-Shot?

2) Your battery monitoring setup correctly? If not then it could kill the motors if it perceives a low voltage condition.

3) Your Gyro auto cal’d on bootup?

Please post your full CLI “Dump”.

[jihlein]

I’m going to skip the stock build a jump right in with the oblique control. Here’s a preview. Think we should do this under a different thread?

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[jstremmler]

Today I received my frame from RCExplorer (very fast from Sweden to Germany!) Placed all CF parts on my scanner and scanned them so that I can mill some spare parts with my CNC milling machine (if necessary). So motors are still on their way and when receiving them I will start building my bicopter.

[Kevin_Erik]

I’d suggest making a custom camera / gimble mount. Once folks get the flight dynamics ironed out, that will be next on the wish list.

[jihlein]

Starting to wire things up. There’s not much room. One suggestion that @litterbug made and I agree with is to the side plates so they can be slid on after the wiring is complete.

Here’s the power wiring. Moving on to the signal wiring shortly. This is going to be a 3s powered setup.

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[LitterBug]

Man, that looks really clean @jihlein! Makes me wish I would have started with new boards rather than using my old boards that have been soldered up about 6 times. 😀

@Kevin_Erik sent me some ducts to play with, and since it is non-stop raining here again, I had some time to get them set up on EZbi #1.

For the most part, the EZbi flight characteristics match what I have on the RCExplorer Bicopter. I built EZbi#1 with plugs on everything to make changes simple, so it was just a matter of swapping the motor holders for the ducts, with a slight mod to the hole in the duct to allow my wrench to fit through.

Waiting on dryness…. and free time. 😀

Cheers!
LitterBug

[Kevin_Erik]

Awesome-Sauce !

[jihlein]

Need to add receiver and I’m done. Okay, and an XT60. But hooked it up to the bench supply, servos move, motors run. Was able to flash to latest BL-Heli and set motor parameters too. One motor has a grindy bearing but I’m going to go with a little oil for the time being.

Did some initial dRonin setup. Very curious to see if the oblique motors help any of the oddities that we’ve seen.

Rest will have to wait a bit, off to the days soccer game…..

[jihlein]

Couple of quick photos, neutral pitch, forward pitch, aft pitch.

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[Kevin_Erik]

I’m very optimistic that this could work but i feel the Impossible Tilt Mech combined with your 45 degree mounts would be even better due to the improved CG.

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