MIOS: Multi-Copter I/O Shield for the Arduino Due

  As I previewed in my last post,  I am making an shield to fit the Arduino Due that will simplify connecting the RC reciever, motor ESC, and I/O for sensor communication.  The PCB's for the shield came this week and below are pictures and some explanations.

Quadcopter Build Status

  In this post I will be covering the final assembly of the quadcopter frame and the mounting of the electronics.

Picture 1 - Wiring

Quadcopter: Frame Assembly

  I spent some time this last week making the center frame plates and assembling the main frame components.  I took some pictures while doing it so you can see the process.

Quadcopter: Parts Arrive and Motor Mounts

  After waiting for what seemed like forever, the remainder of my parts arrived yesterday.  I placed the order on the 3rd of March and naively selected the airmail option from Hong Kong.  A mere twenty-three days later, it arrived.

  There is four motors, four speed controls, and two batteries in the picture.  I purchased the motors looking for a light option as I am trying to keep this quad reasonably light.  The prop-saver part of the motor is smaller than I expected, so we will see if that becomes a problem.  The mounting holes are too small for #2-56 screws, so I will need to make them slightly bigger.  The batteries are 1800mAh 3S rated for 40c-50c discharge rate.  That much current is way more than I need for these motors, but I may want to use these for other motors or other projects where the current will be useful.

  Getting ready to ream the motor mounting holes and drill holes in the carbon fiber motor mount sticks.

Reaming the motor mounting hole to increase them from 0.080" (2mm) to 0.095" (2.4mm).  This should allow a little extra room to take into account the imperfections in the hole spacing on the motor and in the mount stick.

   All four holes reamed.  Cute little motor.

   Drilling the holes in the motor mount sticks.  The sticks are 1/4" (6.4mm) square carbon fiber.  The motors will be mounted with steel #2-56 screws.  The sticks will be glued to the body and screwed with #4-40 nylon screws.  I have bolted down two strap clamps to position the sticks so that all of the sticks are drilled the same.

   Here you can see all eight of the motor mount sticks.  You can see that the holes on the one end are larger to accept the #4-40 screws while the other end has smaller holes for the #2-56 screws.  The carbon fiber sticks are hollow to reduce weight.

That's all for today.

Phillip

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