X450 Quadcopter
Future X-Copter Plans
On the basis that you can never have too many projects in flight at the same time …
OK, I’m not really planning on spending a lot of time and/or money on this at the moment but I do want to start thinking about where this project is going because, having had a few flights, I’m not at all happy with how it’s turned out and I’m now convinced that I need to go back to the drawing board.
The single biggest issue is the flight time, which is too short in real-world use. I don’t see any way of improving this without losing a significant amount of weight and adding bigger props (which the current frame won’t accommodate).
Other annoyances, bugs and shortcoming are:
- The props end up in shot far too often
- It’s awkward to transport
- It’s too unstable when landing
- The gimbal crashes frequently (seems to be related to the power system)
- The two-camera setup isn’t optimal (a separate camera controller and video display would be more useful)
- The electronic space is very cramped and awkward to access, and (dis)assembly is a complex process.
It’s not all bad news though - it’s a nice quad to fly and the flight controller (Pixhawk clone) is excellent. I really like the overall look and feel of it too but, in its current form, it’s not really usable and has been gathering dust on a shelf for a few months. I’ve also come into possession of a 3 axis gimbal recently which should make this a better aerial video platform.
So, the plan is to design a new folding frame from scratch. I want to stick with the existing X layout and, logically, the arms will either need to fold downwards or be easily detachable. To keep the props out of shot, I’ll either raise the arms or lower the gimbal; or maybe both. I may also consider canting the arms upwards which will not only raise the props but potentially improve stability.
As I said at the start of this post, I’m not planning on committing many resources to this project for now but I do want to start thinking and planning for the improvements later in the year and, maybe, doing some more detailed analysis and prototyping. Stay tuned!
Posted on 07 May 2017
