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Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone

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Re: Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone

#121

Post by tsungxu »

aesbetic wrote: post #110
throw14082020 wrote: post #106

Ardupilot is really cool, and a lot of people use Mission Planner with it. What do people think of Mission Planner, and are there any other software options people enjoy using? https://ardupilot.org/planner/ - the website seems down right now though.

Mission Planner is an alright GCS but awful for configuration. Use this instead https://github.com/ArduPilot/MethodicConfigurator . And if you're looking for other ground controls, you could try out QGroundControl or Mavproxy (terminal based).

This is neat! It seems like it could help with set up speed generally and also simplicity for beginners

Re: Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone

#122

Post by tsungxu »

tamimio wrote: post #87

I loved it! But I loved even more the idea of when a person has no prior experience or knowledge in something yet achieves great results in a short period of time. That build mindset is fascinating. The only issue is when applying for normal jobs, unless the interviewer can see through a person's passion, they usually assume you don’t have what it takes or won’t "raise the bar" for whatever they are after. That is, u…

Thanks! On the normal jobs point though, see Peter Ryseck's build which got him hired by Joby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd2N_lyO_SQ

Re: Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone

#123

Post by tsungxu »

Karliss wrote: post #109
tsungxu wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it really depends on the transmitter protocol. I was using SBUS, simple, cheap, familiar from my previous project. But limited to < 1 mile or so I believe, but ELRS and other protocols allow tens of miles or more.

Isn't SBUS receiver autopilot electrical/data protocol instead of transmitter receiver radio protocol?

Yes, you're right, I meant ACCST not SBUS

Re: Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone

#125

Post by rpigab »

rytis wrote: post #117

For anyone not familiar with acronyms (like me), VTOL stands for "Vertical Take-Off and Landing".

Funny nitpick, this definition applies to most drones, because most drones sold are x-copters and do not have wings, they always take-off and land vertically.

This should be "a 3D printed winged VTOL drone"

Re: Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone

#126

Post by alvah »

stavros wrote: post #51
the__alchemist wrote: post #10

I'm curious how this compares to foam-frame designs. Being able to customize it is obviously a big advantage, as is the non-solid-infill of 3d-printed parts. I think for stiffness, 3d-printed frames don't work well for quadcopters compared to carbon fiber, but they sound like a nice alternative to foam for fixed-wing. I think the stiffness concern comes up in quads mainly when they do high-performance maneuvers that…

PLA is pretty bad compared to foam when it comes to planes, as it's very heavy and very brittle. Any semi-hard landing will break parts off, and heavy planes fly badly. The big advantage is that you can just print the part again, which almost makes PLA worth it. ABS would probably be better, as it's much more durable and lighter, but it's still much heavier than foam, and printing ABS isn't great.

Printing ABS is much improved with the later hobbyist-level 3D printers (Qidi and Bambu etc). My Qidi Plus 4 prints ABS as easily / well as PLA. Just remember to do it in a well-ventilated space.

Re: Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone

#128

Post by stavros »

alvah wrote: post #126
stavros wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PLA is pretty bad compared to foam when it comes to planes, as it's very heavy and very brittle. Any semi-hard landing will break parts off, and heavy planes fly badly. The big advantage is that you can just print the part again, which almost makes PLA worth it. ABS would probably be better, as it's much more durable and lighter, but it's still much heavier than foam, and printing ABS isn't great.

Printing ABS is much improved with the later hobbyist-level 3D printers (Qidi and Bambu etc). My Qidi Plus 4 prints ABS as easily / well as PLA. Just remember to do it in a well-ventilated space.

Sorry, I meant about the ventilation, yeah. My Bambu doesn't care what material it is, they all print perfectly, but I hate the fumes.

Re: Show HN: I made a 3D printed VTOL drone

#129

Post by debbiedowner »

energywut wrote: post #54

I have ~200 acres of land I fly a drone survey mission to map. Today, that piloting is done by dronelink and a DJI drone. The challenge is that it's about 3 hours of flight time, give or take, to cover the space, and a given battery is good for about 35 minutes of flight time. I have 4 batteries, which means I basically need to be refilling my batteries as quickly as I consume them in order to keep flying continuousl…

Better camera on the drone to fly faster and higher.
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