Status:  Active, In Progress (Updated: 4/18/2013)

Abstract

Pictures:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmiyc/sets/72157633185131473/with/8653034709/

This Quadrotor project is a collaborative effort between Mike Kurdziel and I. The unique twist on this collaboration is that he is located in Menlo Park, CA and I am in Austin, TX. We’re collaborating remotely while doing most of work on the TechShop locations in each of our towns.

Our Quadrotor is desgined from scratch. All major components have been adapted from other sources but, otherwise, designed by us for this project. We have no flight experience and neither of us has ever attempted a project on this scale before.

The intent of the project was to use as many of the tools available at TechShop to build a single thing.

Software Tools Used

• AutoCAD Inventor: 3D Modeling of each component and the system as a whole
• Vetrix Vcarve Pro: CAD to CAM
• Vetrix Cut3D: CAD to CAM 3D

Hardware Tools Used

• ShopBot (Buddy and Alpha): CNC Wood Router (for Prototyping 3D metal parts)
• Laser cutter: Prototyping base platform and landing gear
• Tormac CNC Router: Will be used to mill metal parts
• Waterjet: Will be used to safely cut carbon fiber platform

Electronics for Quadcopter

Since this project is intended to be a mechanical project, we elected to purchase off the shelf electronics where possible.

• Arduopilot with 950MHz Telemetry module
• Turnigy ESC (20Amp)
• Turnigy Battery
• TBD: Transmitter / Receiver Control

Next Steps

Currently I am testing out all of the milling CAM files to ensure they can make real components.  There have been some challenges with creating the prototype parts with wood.  The MDF I am using is medium-grade which means it tends to break apart when the mill puts too much pressure on it.  However, I was at least able to produce the entire motor mount.