Horus Kestrel V-tail Quadcopter overhaul

thingiverse

A modified version of the Horus Kestrel V-tail drone from https://grabcad.com/library/horus-kestrel-3d-1 Over the weekend I started having an overheat problem, probably because where the 4in1 esc is, it sees very little airflow. So I'm adding a heatsink to it, and possibly some ducting. You will go through lots of legs if you fly it much like it is XD, as the overheating will lead to random losses of power that will increase in duration the longer you are up Modified parts to improve printability and to mount specific pieces of equipment directly into the frame. This vtail quad is a blast to fly, and with a tilted camera lets you see straight ahead instead of staring at the ground as you fly around, and with all the bits tucked away it gives you very nice clean lines. 3-24-16 I've fixed all the major problems I've found now and am pretty much done. All that's really left is to mount the OSD and make the legs stronger. But as you can print replacement legs, they aren't that much of a problem. Also I think I'm going to draw up an optional servo tilt camera to adjust the angle on the fly. Flight weight of approximately 720 grams with a 2200 mah battery. Components used and locations -RMRC - BLheli 4 in 1 ESC - 12A - In lower frame -4 x EMAX MT2204 II 2300KV Brushless Motors -RMRC Cricket V2 - 5.8GHz Video Transmitter w/ Race Band - 600mW - Upper body -Clone Openpilot Revo - Rear of fuselage -Clone apm 2.5 voltage sensor - Under flight controller -Frsky X4r receiver - Upper cover -Micro GPS unit with compass - Rear top (may need to be replaced based on reviews) -Minim OSD - TBD Print Settings Printer: FlashForge Creator Pro Rafts: No Supports: Yes Resolution: 0.2 Infill: 20% Notes: Supports are only used for the Large parts with overhangs, the arms and tail support can be printed without them. Parts are rather heavy with 20% infill, on the next printing I will reduce the infill to reduce weight. Post-Printing Flight Controller Settings For the flight controller to more easily control a V-tail you need to configure your motor mixing to remove roll from the back two motors and yaw from the front two. Also, depending on your motor rotations you may need to invert your yaw settings on the back motors. I would recommend a very slow throttling up on your first flight to check. The wrong yaw settings will result in a near instantaneous and totally unrecoverable flat spin once you lift off the ground, as the flight controller will be adding power on the wrong side to try to bring the heading back to where it wants to be. The proper motor mixer settings for it is shown below. Custom Section Revision Log 3-24-16Enlarged openings for cables on flight controller enclosure.Move telemetry antenna hole on flight controller enclosure.Removed extra tabs blocking access on APM power sensor enclosure.Removed material on back of video transmitter mount which interferes with flight controller enclosure.Removed material around cable end of video transmitter mount to improve installation of transmitter.Separated tail wings from fuselage part to improve printing.Reduced width of camera mount hinge to allow use of a nut.Added slot for a strap to secure a mobius camera to the top. *Renamed parts so you don't have to open every single one to find the one you need.