On Rapid Prototyping Quadcopters
Building from scratch
Building this Quadcopter was new for me as I had never built one from scratch before. I normally just bought most of it in kit form and muddled my way through building it. This time I was determined to build my own from parts I worked out. This turns out to be far more costly and frustrating but ultimately more satisfying.
Thingiverse
I began by browsing Thingiverse ( a repository of open source 3d and 2d models) to see what designs were already out there. I was looking at primarily 3d printed versions but after talking to people about this I realised it would take a long timer per frame and would be more costly. 3D printed frames take a while to print and have to be baby sat when printing ( this is at least at the Hackerspace where they have all this equipment). I also looked at the laser cut frames to see what was available and I came across this. Original 3D design Original DXF Thingiverse This frame was from another Hackerspace to fly a phone about Flone.
This is the frame I copied and modified. They used wood to build there copter, I am using acrylic decided to make it thinner as its stronger. So this is my first prototype. I have added reinforcement around the base of the copter to reduce flexing but also to reduce the weight of the craft.
My frame design in CamBam (please note this is a work in progress)
