Simple V-tail quad copter

thingiverse

I've printed a few Multicopters from Thingiverse and have had very good luck with them, so I felt it was time to design one of my own completely from scratch. My goal was to make it simple, with a minimum of parts, sturdy, and also have easy removal of any individual part for replacement in the event of a mishap. Finally, I wanted to have the ability to easily change the configuration from a V-tail to an H-quad. I had some 12mm carbon tube left over from a Tilt-Rotor project, so that seemed like a good starting point. The front, middle, and rear tube mounts slide snugly on the CF tube and can be screwed in place once the right placement is found. The middle mount can be shifted back and forth for the correct CG and it has routing slots that help keep the wiring a little neater. I haven't tried it in the H configuration yet, but it flies very well as a V-tail. There is also a camera mount for FPV flying. I have included the Sketchup file for the front and rear arms for those who may want to experiment with lengths. Please remember to remove the props on any multi-copter project, including this one, when setting up the Control Board, motors, and ESC. Good luck with this project and let me know how you do. 3/26/2016-Update: I just uploaded a revised STL file for the V-tail arm. The original arm needed about 1/16" trimmed from the bottom in order for the holes to line up correctly with the pilot holes in the rear tube mount. This update corrects that. The arm has been revised on the Sketchup file also. It's a mistake that I found when printing the green one and I just forgot to make the change before posting the files. Sorry about that. 4/23/2016 - Added on-board flight video Print Settings Printer Brand: Solidoodle Printer: Workbench Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: 0.3mm Infill: 70%-100% Notes: I printed mine in PLA. ABS will probably work, but the arms may be a bit more flexible. I used 70% infill on the tube mounts and 100% infill on the arms. All parts are arranged so that they will center on the printer bed in the correct orientation for printing and they have been run through Netfabb to correct any errors. How I Designed This This quadcopter was designed with Sketchup. The arms are held on with Dubro servo mount screws. I used 1804 2300kv DYS motors, KK2 mini control board, Favourite 6A 4-in-1 ESC, 6 channel micro receiver, and Nano-tech 950mah 2S battery. The motors screw on with 2x8mm long bolts. I have had good luck with the 4-in-1 ESC. It fits right under the control board very neatly and the single power plug cuts down on the wiring. The wiring from the ESC's to the receiver is a little tricky, but it was worth the trouble. There is adequate room on each motor mount arm for individual ESC's, if you decide to go that way. For FPV flying there is a camera mount in front and also an area on top of the rear mount for the FPV Transmitter. The Carbon Fiber tube is 12mm in diameter. The tube length is 248mm or 9.75 inches. I'd like to say that there was some scientific method used to arrive at this length, but it's actually a 19.5" Carbon tube cut in half. The CG location shown in the photos of mine seems to work well, but minor shifting back or forth could be necessary. Also, parts fit varies depending on the setup of your 3D printer. A small amount of filing may be needed on the tube mount holes for proper fit. I included two variations of the rear tube mount, a single landing leg and dual landing leg. The dual provides a more stable stance , while the single allows for the use of larger props, should you feel the need. Please remember to remove the props on any multi-copter project, including this one, when setting up the Control Board, motors, and ESC.