After the success of our first quad copter design, the Redback Rotors RB-250, we have gone back to the drawing board and designed a new hexacopter.
We wanted a design suitable for FPV, racing, and as a stable yet nimble camera platform. The quads are great for everything except carrying the added weight of a camera gimbal. So, the hex was born.
In this video we are using our latest CAD design and a CNC machine to cut 3mm MDF board. MDF is cheap and soft for quick test cutting. It allows us to confirm that all design aspects have translated from our CAD drawings. It also allows us quick prototyping, getting us from idea to production far quicker.
This our first hexacopter prototype, but I think we have nailed it! We will be making production models in carbon fibre and G10.
This design has several cool benefits:
- Suits any 30.5mm or 50mm flight controller. Slide mounting for 30.5mm holes. So we can easily mount Naze32, CC3D, KK2.1, or in fact any flight board that can fit. The deck is large enough to accommodate most FCs including APM, and enough room to use Naza controllers if that is what you need.
- There is ample room for cameras and FPV gear.
- 1/4" hole for SMA mount on the rear: For panel mounting FPV antennae connections
- Centre of gravity slider adjustments for the flight controller itself, the entire clean flight controller deck, and entire upper flight deck. You can get your copter balanced up nicely
- "Clean" and "dirty" plate design: anti-vibration rubbers separate the motor and ESC section from the upper plates to minimise chance of vibration getting into your videos. Your video will be "jello free".
- Mobius camera plate with added vibration padding (see the quad video tests on our channel to see how vibration free it is)
- GoPro mounting plate - slots cut for mounting straps and protective covers. The plate is removable when you don't need to use it.
- Plenty of room for your 6 x ESCs, power distribution, and cables.
- Suitable motors: Sunnysky x 2204 2300KV, RCX 1804, DYS BE1806 2400KV, Emax etc.
- with 6 DYS motors and 5030 props, we expect a flying weight of less than 750g with a BIG battery. Around 1Kg with FPV kit and Mobius. The motors should give close to 2KG of thrust.
Next job is to get this done in CF sheets!
Thanks for looking.
