Placing the Tarot T-2D gimbal with GoPro Hero 3 on the Iron Man 650

After the successful mayden flight of the Tarot Iron Man 650 (apart from landing!), now it is the moment of placing the Tarot T-2D gimbal with the GoPro Hero 3.

As I don´t want the propellers neither the quad legs to appear on camera, I have to place the gimbal on the front of the quad. As this unbalances the whole quadcopter, I have to redistribute some items on the top plate. This means placing the GPS of the Naza on the front, the gimbal battery on the middle, and the main battery on the bottom of the top plate.

I have set up the end point of the gimbal in the transmitter, so when the camera is looking to the front the propellers never appear on camera. But what if I lean it to the front to much because I go fast forward? and if the camera is facing down and I lean it to the right or left? In the angle is too wide then the propellers or the legs are very likely to appear on the footage. I will test it soon.

Now the weight of the quadcopter has gone up to 2,18kg with the bigger battery (Turnigy 3S 5000 mAh). I don´t spect it to fly now for 13 minutes, but hopefully it reaches 10 minutes easily.

I will put the visor as well to avoid the shadow of the motors on camera.

Tarot Iron Man 650 - Gimbal Tarot T-2D

Redistributing the elements on the top plate

Iron Man 650 with Naza and FPV

Front view of the Iron Man 650 with Tarot T-2D gimbal

Top view of the Iron Man 650 with Tarot T-2D gimbal

Weight of the Tarot Iron Man 650 with T-2D gimbal and FPV

UPDATE:

I was not convinced about the gimbal position, so I´ve used longer tubes to place the camera further from the center of the quad. Now it is much more difficult to have the propellers on camera when going forward, or the legs when the camera is facing down and moving from side to side.

I have several batteries of 2200 mAh, that gives me just a few minutes of flight, so I have made a serial wire so I can join two of them having 4400 mAh.

I have also purchased a 45C 5200 mAh Blue Monster battery with 4S instead 3S which is what I usally use. I will test it to see the difference. I expect to have more flight time despite of the weight of the whole quad that goes now up to 2,35 kg more or less.

Because of all the mess described above, I have had to redistribute the weight so the quad is balanced. I´ve put a rear battery plate that seems to do the job.

Hopefully tomorrow is not raining and I can go out there and see what happens...

Blue monster 5200 mah battery lipo

Serial wire for lipo batteries

Tarot Iron Man 650 Battery holder

Tarot Iron Man 650 Folded arms

Tarot Iron Man 650 Gimbal Tarot T-2D GoPro Hero 3

Tarot Iron Man 650 Top plate

Maiden flight Tarot Iron Man 650 with Naza M Lite GPS

I coudn´t wait longer fot the maiden flight, but I´ve to admit that I was a bit scared since this is the first time I build one quadcopter from scratch.

I am impressed about how smooth the flight is with this setup. I have tested the GPS mode with course and home lock, and the Atti mode. All of them work perfectly.

I felt so confident that I tried some FPV. I think this is the first time I don´t have jello or vibrations on the real time video, with the other quad was almost permanent.

As you will see on the video, I put 3.40 in the lipo voltage alarm, and tested it to the limit to see how far I can go without loosing power. Bad idea, I had a small crash. The tubes I put for protection worked a little but not enough, as the propellers hit the ground while spinning. After this, I tried the voltage alarm at 3.50 and landing without risking.

I have flown for around 13 minutes, smooth one, with the turnigy 3S 5000mAh. Not bad I guess. For the next flight I will try with the gimbal and the GoPro to check the difference.

Maiden flight Tarot Iron Man 650

Maiden flight Tarot Iron Man 650

Maiden flight Tarot Iron Man 650

Maiden flight Tarot Iron Man 650

Maiden flight Tarot Iron Man 650

Setup:

Frame Tarot Iron Man 650
Maytech 620kv motors
30A T-Motor 400Hz ESC for multicopter
13x5.5 Carbon fiber propellers
Naza M Lite with GPS
GoPro H3 black, 1080x60, N FOV
5000mAh 3S 20C - 30C battery
Futaba 8FG Super Transmitter
Futaba R6208SB receiver
Fatshark FPV camera
Fatshark Predator goggles
ImmersionRC 600mw Tx
1000mAh 3S 20C battery for video Tx

Aerial MTB Enduro with quadcopter

V011. Recording date: 23-03-2014

This has been the first time I shot video flying with the Naza M Lite with GPS flight controller. So in one hand I was feeling more confident in case of losing video signal or disorientation, but in the other hand I was a bit nervous because of my lack of practice with this controller.

I´m a bit disappointed because of the jello effect. As you can see, most part of it is at the beginning of the video. I´m not quite sure about the causes yet. I think it´s a mix of:

- vibrations of the motors (mainly when I go forward pretty fast)
- the propellers don´t fit exactly as they should
- I use bullet propeller holders
- maybe flying in GPS mode?
- too bright conditions with the GoPro. Under these conditions it uses a very fast shutter speed which records all the tiny high-frequency vibrations from your motors, props, etc., and causes this rolling shotter effect, or jello.

Fixing this is still a priority in my To-Do list, as I have to eliminate lot´s of shots that could be used perfectly in the final footage because of the jello. I will try to reduce part of it using a neutral density filter to reduce the shutter speed but letting through enough light for a clear picture. This is how I do it: http://niropter.blogspot.com.es/

Please check your compass is pointing in the same direction as the nose of the quad! After a bad landing, I didn´t realise it rotated almost 45º right, so it was nearly impossible to control it in the air. I still don´t know how I managed to land it. You can easily crash it and cause an accident.

Apart from that, the experience of recording a rider descending the hill at high speed has been amazing. Most part of the times I could not caught him up!

Setup:

Frame Whirlwind FY450
BL-2830/11 1000kv motors
20A SK ESC
10x4.5 Carbon fiber propellers
Naza M Lite with GPS
GoPro H3 black, 1080x60, N FOV
3300mAh 3S 20C battery
Futaba 8FG Super Transmitter
Futaba R6208SB receiver
Fatshark FPV camera
Fatshark Predator goggles
ImmersionRC 600mw Tx
1000mAh 3S 20C battery for video Tx
Gimbal Tarot T-2D
500mAh 3S 20C battery for gimbal
Plastic landing gear

(III) Quadcopter project with frame Tarot Iron Man 650, Maytech motors 620kv,T-Motor ESCs and 13'' props - Part III

This is the third and last part of the new quadcopter project. If you haven´t see the first and second ones, you can see them here:

1. First part of the project
2. Second part of the project

I´ve finally finish the quadcopter with the frame Tarot Iron Man 650, Maytech motors 620kv, T-Motor ESCs, 13x5.5 props, Naza M Lite with GPS, the Futaba Futaba R6208SB receiver, and the Immersion RC 600mw Tx.

On the top plate I have put some velcro for the main battery so it doesn´t slide to the sides, apart from being holded with another velcro around it. The gimbal battery will go on the top plate as you can see in the pictures (yellow one, 500mAh). And also the GPS fits in the top plate and is isolated from the rest of the components.

The appearance of the quad is amazing, it looks really proffesional. It is quite big, but when you fold it completely it is really easy to carry anywhere. I guess I will try to make a do-it-yourself suitcase. In case you are interested, the measures are  100cm x 30cm x 25cm (width - heigh -  depth).

The total weight (without gimbal, battery gimbal, and GoPro) is 1.805kg.

Tarot Iron Man 650 - soldering main power supply

Tarot Iron Man 650 Top plate

Adding velcro to the batteries for the top plate

Tarot Iron Man 650 - placing the Naza GPS

Tarot Iron Man 650 - placing the Naza GPS

Tarot Iron Man 650 - T-Motor 30A - Naza M Lite GPS - R6208SB

Tarot Iron Man 650 - Maytech 620kv - 13x5.5 Tarot carbon fiber props

Almost done...

Tarot Iron Man 650

Tarot Iron Man 650 half folded

Tarot Iron Man 650 fully folded

Tarot Iron Man 650 fully folded

Tarot Iron Man 650 fully folded front view

Lipo voltage alarm

FPV battery holder and power connection

Tarot Iron Man 650 - FPV battery holder with battery

Some foam to protect the legs

Finally... Ready to Fly!!!!!

Remember to run the Naza software again to do all the setup. If your propellers do not start at the same time, follow the following video to solve it:

I have added some tubes for trying to avoid the propellers hitting the ground if there´s a crash...

Propellers protector

Propellers protector

Propellers protector

 And now let´s go to the field and see how it goes!!

(II) Quadcopter project with frame Tarot Iron Man 650, Maytech motors 620kv,T-Motor ESCs and 13'' props - Part II

After building the first part of the project, I have progressed a bit more with the Tarot Iron Man 650. I have cut the wires of the motors to add some extra wire so they can go inside the arm tubes and reach the T-Motor 30A ESCs located on the middle plate.

I have decided to keep this middle plate as clean as possible, so I´ll only leave here the electronics (except the Naza Versatile Unit that goes underneath so it can be seen while flying). All the extra wire is laying on the bottom plate, and the batteries will go on the top plate that is not placed yet. I still don´t know where I´m placing the FPV and gimbal batteries though, and the GPS of the Naza M Lite.

There´s a couple of pieces of drinking straws to hold the Futaba R6208SB receiver antennas in place. The camera of the FPV is located on the very front of the bottom plate, between two metal pieces of the frame that fits perfectly the wide of the camera. I have put some foam under it in case it helps reducing vibrations.

Tarot Iron Man 650 - Naza VU BEC - bottom

Iron Man 650 - T-Motor 30A - Naza and ESCs connection

Iron Man 650 - Naza - Maytech 4228 620kv motors

Iron Man 650 -  Futaba R6208SB - antenna holder

Tarot Iron Man 650 - Naza and Futaba receiver connection

Top view - Iron Man 650 - T-Motor ESC - Naza GPS - R6208SB

Rear view - Tarot Iron Man 650 - Naza Versatile Unit

Tarot Iron Man 650 - T-Motor 30A 400Hz

So, what is next? Things pending to be done are:

• Placing the Immersion RC 600mw transmitter,
• Placing the Naza GPS unit,
• Placing the top plate for the main battery,
• Figuring out where to put the FPV and gimbal batteries,
• Soldering a T-Dean for connecting the main battery,
• Running the Naza software for the set up,
• Placing the propellers.

To be continued!!

(I) Quadcopter project with frame Tarot Iron Man 650, Maytech motors 620kv,T-Motor ESCs and 13'' props - Part I

After the last big quadcopter crash I have decided to start a new project instead trying to fix the current quad. I have been flying this FY450 with the same setup for almost a year now, and I had several crashes and other failures that makes the quad not able for shooting good video footage at this point.

I´ll try to build this multirotor from scratch, which is also a good way to learn how everything works. I pretend to use a lighter frame, and better motors, rotors and ESCs. I will reuse, from the current quad, the Naza M Lite with the GPS, the ImmersionRC 600mw video Tx with the camera, and the same Futaba R6208SB receiver.

Naza M Lite GPS, ImmersionRC 600mw, Futaba R6208S

The components

For this new project, and after some research, I have chosen some components that hopefully will help to:

• Increase flight time,
• Better support of the total weight of the quad plus gimbal, camera, etc.,
• Shooting smoother video footage.

This components are the following:

• Frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable
• T-Motor 30A 400Hz ESCs
• Maytech motors 620kv
• Tarot 13X5.5 Carbon fiber propellers

T-Motor 30A, Maytech motors 620kw, 13x5.5 carbon fiber propeller

Frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable

T-Motor 30A 400Hz ESCs

Maytech motors 620kv

Tarot 13X5.5 Carbon fiber propellers

Frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable

Building the frame is easy following the instructions sheet. It looks resistant and well finished.

Frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable

Frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable

Frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable

Frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable

Frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable

Frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable

It is important to level the motor holders, so they are as horizontal as possible.

Leveling the motor holder

I´m using now a propeller balancer with magnets, I used to do it in a rudimentary way, but I have to say that this balancer works great.

Propeller Balancer with magnet

Size comparison between the frame Tarot Iron Man 650 foldable and the frame Whirlwind FY450. The components on the Iron Man are just for illustrative purposes, I don´t know yet where I am placing them.

Size comparison Iron Man 650 vs Whirlwind FY450

Connections

Now it´s time for soldering. As you can see in the following pictures, I have soldered together the ESCs and the Naza BEC positives to the red thick wire. The same process with the negatives. Then cover it with thermoretractable tube. This two main wires will be connected to the main battery. The gimbal and the FPV will be fed from their own batteries as usual.

I think the following way of soldering two or more wires together is pretty good, I have done it just like you can see here:

Soldering the T-Motor 30A ESC and the Naza BEC

Soldering the T-Motor 30A ESC and the Naza BEC

Placing the T-Motor 30A ESCs, and the wires inside

Before soldering

After soldering

Maytech motor 620kv soldered with wire extensions

Maytech motor 620kv and frame Tarot Iron Man 650

I´ll try to finish it in a couple of days!!

Follow the second part here!