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Yvon's KAP Rig #6
I started designing my KAP rig #6.
See KAP rig #5 thread here:
arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/discuss/index.php?p=/discussion/5398/yvon-s-kap-rig-5#latest
My KAP rig #5 is working perfectly as I wanted. I'm impressed that I can reach about 400ft with the 25mW video transmitter. Although, I noticed when the wind is getting strong, the rig moves a lot. It's probably caused by the large surfaces area exposed to the wind and also the relatively small picavet.
I started designing a new revision of this rig. This will be my 6th rig. The main improvements are:
- reduce the rig weight as much as possible.
- reduce the surface areas exposed to wind.
- enlarge the picavet and make it foldable for travelling
- create a real PCB for the electronics instead of prototyping by hand. This will eliminate almost all harnesses (reduce weight) and make it easier to assemble the rig.
- create a real PCB for the remote control
And, to add to Tom's comment in the rig#5 discussion:"...I was planning to use a hollow tilt axle, and to run the shutter and video cables through that and into the tilt frame...", I have a few ideas I’d like to try. If it works, it’ll allow me to reduce the overall size of the rig.
It'll take several months before I'm done with this one but at the end I'm planning to publish all the drawings and software if anyone is interested.
See KAP rig #5 thread here:
arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/discuss/index.php?p=/discussion/5398/yvon-s-kap-rig-5#latest
My KAP rig #5 is working perfectly as I wanted. I'm impressed that I can reach about 400ft with the 25mW video transmitter. Although, I noticed when the wind is getting strong, the rig moves a lot. It's probably caused by the large surfaces area exposed to the wind and also the relatively small picavet.
I started designing a new revision of this rig. This will be my 6th rig. The main improvements are:
- reduce the rig weight as much as possible.
- reduce the surface areas exposed to wind.
- enlarge the picavet and make it foldable for travelling
- create a real PCB for the electronics instead of prototyping by hand. This will eliminate almost all harnesses (reduce weight) and make it easier to assemble the rig.
- create a real PCB for the remote control
And, to add to Tom's comment in the rig#5 discussion:"...I was planning to use a hollow tilt axle, and to run the shutter and video cables through that and into the tilt frame...", I have a few ideas I’d like to try. If it works, it’ll allow me to reduce the overall size of the rig.
It'll take several months before I'm done with this one but at the end I'm planning to publish all the drawings and software if anyone is interested.
Comments
Rig # 5 was almost perfect.
Agree with your points above. Weight and surface area of the KAP rig are always items to reduce if you can. You may wish to explore the offset rigid pendulums (faluga??) discussed on other treads.
Looking forward to seeing the results!
WW
Here's a draft concept of what I want to do for the camera connections in the same idea as what Tom mentioned before. I still need to tweak the size of the opening and try it to see if it works.
Basically, I replaced the tilt axle screw with an opening and the tilt module rolls on 3 screws with bushings attached to the main frame.
Also, I started exploring 3D printing as an alternative to FR4 printed circuit material. I got some samples from a friend today.:
WW
Fly High
Sue
All the plastic parts weight 126g but once I add the motors, electronics, battery, picavet, i'm guessing it'll be below 500g.
Sue, good idea for the different colors. I'm not decided yet on the final colors but I'll keep your suggestion in mind.
During the Holidays, I worked on the design of the picavet suspension.
Like the collapsible picavet cross.
WW
Here's an update on my progress. I'm almost done with the mechanical design, for now anyway. :-)
As I learn more with 3D mechanical design, I found more tools to make the design easier. I made a 3D PDF file. This allows to rotate, zoom, do cross sections using Adobe Acrobat Reader. The file is about 20Mbytes.
yvonhache.com/equipement/KAP6/photos/KAP_Forum/KAP600_3D_2017-01-21.pdf
Commands in a 3D PDF:
- left mouse button: rotation
- right mouse button: zoom
- ctrl - left mouse button: pan
- In the menus, you can hide components and do cross sections.
I sent the files to be 3D printed. The next step is to finish the electronic board.
A few important changes in the last few weeks:
- cut the upper corners. I didn't like the "square" look. It'll also help reducing the resistance to the wind.
- I integrated the video transmitter completely inside including the antenna. I'm not sure how this will influence the distance for the video transmission. I'll have to test it.
Here’s an update on my KAP rig design progress :
- I finally released my PCB and ordered the components. I should have every here by the end of the week. See images below.
- I’m now back to the mechanical design trying to finalize the drawings for the 3D printer for a final release of the plastic parts.
Top Side:
Bottom Side. This side will be visible on the top of the rig. I put some LEDs to indicate the status of some parts of the circuit.
Isometric view:
Top view with some details added:
For those interested, here’s a copy of the schematic:
http://www.yvonhache.com/equipement/KAP6/photos/KAP_Forum/299999-0002R-00A_SCH.pdf
I love that you're going with zigbee instead of traditional hobby radio.
You should be able to get tons of telemetry back to controller... and be able to change all the settings you want from the comfort of the ground. haha
Do you have a pic-n-place machine or are you gonna solder that up by hand and bake it?
i find the hobby radio too big. With the ZigBee, I made my own small remote control. For now, it's just for moving the camera and taking pictures but my project for next winter will be to add more telemetry and control.
I don't have a pick n place machine but, at work, we have a supplier here in Dieppe that assembles electronic boards and they agree to solder the 100 pin microcontroller on 2 boards at a very good price. I'll assemble the rest the old fashion way, one component at a time with a soldering iron. :-)
Here's a small update where I'm at with this design.
I finished soldering the components on the PCB yesterday. The empty spaces are for possible future options. Now I need to test the circuit and program the microcontroller.
I put the whole rig together to make sure that everything fit and there's nothing missing. I also used it to make the harnesses (motors, battery, camera, video transmitter). On the photos below, the PCB is empty. I will take it completely apart and take pictures of the assembly soon.
The photos also show more details of the camera cables going through the large opening. It seems to work well. I'll try to show more details when I take assembly photos.
Question about the push buttons though... they missing the keycaps?
These pushbuttons could have keycaps of different colors but in this case I don't use them.
I did some tests yesterday to make sure the plastic picavet was strong enough. I have to say that I'm impressed with the strength of this plastic. The 2 main arms didn't even flex.
50lbs (22.7kg) on the pictures below.
- complete rig (including battery and picavet but without camera): 477g
- total with camera Canon T4i (EOS 650D): 1.179kg
My Rig #5 weighed 682g. My new rig is 30% lighter.
I still need to finish programming the microcontroller before the first flight. I hope to be able to finish before June.
It’s been a little while since I posted an update on this project.
Here are some pictures showing some assembly details hoping that these could inspire someone :-) :
Camera cradle:
On the following picture, I put black screws to better see how it’s put together. I’m using nylon spacers as bushings.
I’m using Pololu micro metal gear motors because of their small size and low weight. These are DC motors with an encoder. I use the Pololu plastic bracket (white) to hold motors and protect the gears. I’m using a second bracket to protect the encoder.
Assembly of the picavet suspension.
The shaft is made of 7075 Aluminum alloy (https://www.mcmaster.com/#9403t57/=18uswei) with a diameter of 8mm and the threads are M8x1.25mm. I made this shaft on a lathe at work. The shaft only weighs 12.8g (0.45oz).
The inside core of the plastic part is threaded and it’s locked on top with an M8 nut. In AutoKAP mode, the rig turns counterclockwise to make sure the shaft doesn’t unscrew itself.
The 2 folding arms are pushed up with springs to keep them lock into position.
Final assembly:
There’s a lot less wiring in the rig compared to my 5th rig (arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/discuss/index.php?p=/discussion/5398/yvon-s-kap-rig-5#latest).
I integrated the video transmitter and the antenna inside the enclosure. This eliminates the risk to break the antenna.
The battery goes just above the transmitter from the opening in the back.
With the video transmitter completely integrated inside the KAP rig, I was worried that I couldn’t reach as far compared to my previous rig. So far, it looks that I can reach above 400ft (123m) which is good enough for me and seems close to what I had before. This is only a 25mW transmitted and I’m using just the 5.8GHz dipole antenna that comes with it.
The rig seems to have a hard time receiving the remote control commands at 400ft but I think I can boost the remote itself to compensate. Below 400ft it seems to work ok.
I used it several times in the last two months and it works very well and because of the relatively light weight, I was able to lift my large camera (Canon EOS T4i) every time except for one where the wind was really weak and even my maxi-dopero had a hard time to fly.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/universal-hdmi-to-av-converter.html
It looks relatively heavy because this rig was initially designed for a bigger camera (Canon DSLR T4i / EOS 650D) and it was my first design using 3D printing.
Now, with the experience acquired during this design and that I have a smaller camera to work it, my rig #7 design has already started in the back of my mind. :-)
YvonH's HDMI-to-AV converter has been discontinued. Unfortunately.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/universal-hdmi-to-av-converter.html