Quadcopter
Figure 1
During the summer of 2014, I decided to build a quadcopter after seeing many of them online. I began my project by doing research on what goes into making one fly. After some initial googling, I found a subreddit page called /r/multicopters, a page dedicated to multicopter enthusiasts. At first I was thinking about getting a kit with all the parts together, but that wouldn't be as much fun. So I ended up ordering parts separately from a website called hobbyking. This website is dedicated to various radio controlled toys and electronics. Basically, a quadcopter is a quadrotor helicopter that is lifted and propelled by four rotors. Unlike helicopters they use symmetrically pitched blades. Control of vehicle motion is achieved by altering the pitch and or rotation of one ore more of rotor discs, thereby changing its torque load and thrust/lift characteristics. Please refer to figure two for the list and prices of the parts.
Figure 2
It took about a two weeks for the parts to come from Hong Kong. I got extra propellers because when learning to fly, it is really easy to break them.
I began building it by first constructing the frame using the given screws. Once it was secured I started to experiment with where I wanted each component. After looking at what some people have done online, I placed the 11.1 volt battery at the bottom of the quad. Then I put the power distribution board on the second level and the flight controller on the very top. Next, I secured the components down with either the screw kit it came with or a combination of double sided adhesive tape and zip ties. After everything was secured, I plugged in and wired each electronic speed controller, one for each motor. Then I attached the servo wire from each electronic speed controller to the kk2.1 flight controller board, making sure that the gnd is one the bottom. After that I secured the receiver onto one of the arms of the quadcopter and then wired its 4 male headers to the flight controller. Once all of the parts were wired, I attached the battery and calibrated each of the escs using the kk2 flight controller programmer.
A problem that came up was the way the motors are rotating. Two motors need to be moving clockwise while the other two need to be rotating counter-clockwise in order to generate lift. This was an easy fix, all I had to do was switch two of the wires coming from the esc to the motors to reverse the orientation.
After a lot of trial and error, I was able to get the first maiden flight in. I turned on the transmitter and the plugged in the battery of the quadcopter and brought the throttle stick up slowly and lift off, the quad was off the ground!! The next couple of weeks I started flying it around my backyard and once I got more confident with my flying, I attached my brothers Go Pro camera module and took to the quadcopter to my park. The following video is from the quadcopter.