Locust

Introduction:

Cricket was really fun to fly, so I decided to do a lighter 2s indoor quad of the same size. I went with a X2 elf frame and a 3d printed pod. It ended up looking like a locust and hence the name.

Components :

• X2 Elf frame
• Eaglepower SA1103 8000kv motors
• Super s F3 FC + 4 in 1 6a 2s ESC
• Frsky receiver xm+
• VTX03
• Generic camera
• racerstar 1735 (the GemFan 2035s will also fit)
• Velcro battery strap, nylon screws/standoffs, nylon cable ties
• Lantian LC filter
• 3d printed pod (got destroyed in a crash)

Conclusion:

This frame was designed around the use of a 20mm stack, but I wanted to go lighter on weight, so had to drill 16mm holes instead to use a smaller 2s stack. I also cut off the side tabs used for holding a rubber band (for batteries) since I use velcro straps instead. Further weight reduction could have been achieved through the use of the original carbon top plate instead of the 3d printed pod, but the pod definitely looks nicer.

Unlike cricket, this one was designed to be an efficient and lighter indoor quad which solely use 2s batteries. The total weight came to 49grams. I originally wanted to use some light 56mm props which would've cut the weight down by a few more grams, but while they cleared the quad, the front/back props didn't clear each other, which was a shame. It wasn't as stable as cricket, but I am wondering if that has anything to do with the props. Since the gemfan 2035s will also fit, I will need to try those at a later time.

Update 5/10/18 - So it flies great with the gemfan 2035s. It's too fast for me at my current skill level for an indoor quad. To be honest, I can't see how this can ever be an indoor quad for me (or most people). It's great for outdoors, but I'm thinking about replacing the antenna with a xm+ for much longer range.

Update 9/20/18 - I smacked it hard against a picnic bench at the park 2 weeks back and destroyed the 3d printed pod. I decided to rebuild it, but the rebuild took me longer than the original build since I had to troubleshoot a bunch of issues on the quad. It turns out the hard crash tore out the OSD video in pin on the flight controller. It was the first time something like this happened since I always hot glue all the wires directly onto the board to prevent issues like this. However, I guess the impact was just too hard. I decided not to 3d print anymore pods until I can upgrade the printer to use stronger filaments such as nylon. I have put the original top plate back on along with switching out to a xm+ receiver and adding a buzzer. It's now 51g dry. There seems to be a bit of noise in the video or it could be the camera. I'm gonna fly it a bit and then slowly work out all the kinks as I want this to be a more frequent flyer again.

Update 10/2/18 - So it took me almost a week, but I was finally able to figure out the video noise issue. I first swapped out the camera which had no effect. I then thought it was the FC osd chip, so I swapped out the FC as well. Finally, I figured that the only thing left to swap out was the vtx and once I did that, everything was better again. I guess one of the crashes must've somehow damaged the vtx. Anway, now it works perfectly again.