Quadcopter project

[Batman]

Hello I am part of a group of students who are working on building a quadcopter for our sneior project. So far the parts we have are:
Board
Arduino board w/ aTmega328 – x1 $29.95 + ($4.58 shipping) = $34.53 http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/pro...roducts_id=666

Motors
Hacker style brushless motors – x6 (2 extra to make Marc happy) $14.72 x6 = $88.32
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=4700


Propellers
APC 10x4.7 Slow Flyer Propellers – x2 (4 total) $3.50 x2 = $7
http://carancho.com/AeroQuad/store/i...products_id=29
APC 10x4.7 Slow Flyer Pusher Propellers – x2 (4 total) $5 x2 = $10
http://carancho.com/AeroQuad/store/i...products_id=30
Propeller total + shipping = $19.07


Hobby King Battery Monitor 3S – x1 $3.99
http://hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store...idProduct=7223



Camera
2.4 Ghz Radio Remote Control Wireless RC Camera – x1 $44.95 (including shipping = $54.62)
http://www.nitroplanes.com/wosmlora24gh.html

and parts we still need to order are:

TURNIGY Plush 18amp Speed Controller – x4 $11.90 x4 = $47.60
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...eed_Controller

IMU 5 Degrees of Freedom
http://carancho.com/AeroQuad/store/i...products_id=17

Dual Axis Gyro Breakout - IXZ500
http://carancho.com/AeroQuad/store/i...8fa1r9lm5rlfd1

If possible I do need help in deciding what battery to use. We were going to get was a
ZIPPY Flightmax 4000mAh 3S1P 20C – x1 $19.99
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=7634
but they do not have them in stock.

Any suggestions for another battery we could use?
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Feliksayk]

Hi, the 5000mAh 20C zippy is also out of stock, which is what I would've recommended next. You can try these new Turnigy ones, a little more expensive, but they should provide better discharge rates and stay cooler, such as this one http://hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store...dproduct=11931

[Batman]

Does anyone know what frequency to use for the motors? I'm in the testing stage and would like to know so I don't ruin anything.

[Batman]

Also does anyone know the wiring for the motors? I'm thinking the middle is ground but I'm not exactly sure what one is power and control. Help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Arthur P.]

All three motor wires are power lines. The ESC switches power from one to the other and that is what makes these brushless motors turn. The three motor wires are connectied to the three wires coming out of the ESC. Depending upon the direction they turn in you can swap two of the three wires to change that if needed.

The ESC is connected to battery with the thick wires (red = 11V, black = GND). The three wire servo lead (brown or black = GND, red = 5V coming from the ESC
's BEC (battery elimination circuit), white or orange = PPM signal coming from RX or flight controler) should be connected to the appropriate connector on the flight controler, or can be connected directly to the RX for testing. Make sure the motor is properly mounted on a test stand and that the propwash will not blow up anything which gets caught in the prop. (and that you yourself don't get caught). Also do not connect any ESC directly to the FC until you have checked out the assembly information. I think for the Arduino Mega you actually do not want the red 5V line connected back to the FC so this line may need to be cut or otherwise isolated but that's documented in the assembly documentation.

Not sue what you mean with your question "what frequency" ?

[Batman]

What do you mean by FC? I understand how to connect the wires except for the controler portion. I'm not sure how to test each individual motor without downloading a test program to the board.

[Honk]

FC = flight control (board)

Test motors by putting the 3 wire ESC connector straight into the receiver and follow manufacturer's instructions to calibrate the ESC's one by one following their method. It is the safest way to start. And don't have the propellers mounted when doing this!

[Batman]

Thanks for the help. Ahh crap. Didn't buy a receiver yet. Any suggestions on which one to get?

[Arthur P.]

Depends upon your transmitter (TX; frequency band, number of channels) and how many channels you will be using. I don't see your TX listed in your shopping list.

[Batman]

Well one of our major reasons for building a quadcopter was to also add a few air quality sensors on it and have real time data sent back to a computer monitor. So from what I have read it sounds like the basics for the copter alone is 6 channels at 2.4GHz and then adding 2/3 sensors, but I'm not sure if those will need their own channels or not. We did purchase this also http://carancho.com/AeroQuad/store/i...eclhmb8ba4g3v4 to hopefully send our data from the sensors back.