May 19, 2015 AT 8:00 am
DIY Apex Tricopter
Make this tricopter with 3D printing or laser cutting. via instructables
I call this beast the Apex Tricopter. It’s not a true Tricopter as it has four rotors, but it’s certainly not a quad as it forms a triangular pyramid with a rotor at the apex (hence the name). This Tricopter can be made with either a 3d printer or a laser cutter, so if you have one but not the other you’re still in luck! This is a lot of information to fit into one Instructables but I’ll do my best. If there is anything that I missed or you’d like me to cover more in depth just leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to respond.
Step 1: Materials
Material for a light Tri:
1- Arducopter and GPS(Has not been tested with other controllers)
2-Transmiter and Receiver: Any 6 channel should work. In this Instructables I used an Airtronics
3- Motors: I used three 980kv motors for the tricopter motors and a 950kv for the central motor. These seemed to be a good size for the weight of the entire system.
4- Rear Servo: I used a MG995 Tower pro but a smaller metal gear servo would probably work equally as well with less weight.
5- Props: For my motors I used three 10×3.7 slow flys and one 10×4.5 MR
6-Lots and lots of cable ties, you’ll need them. I got a container of 500 for $10 at home depot.
8- Lock tight or a similar thread lock. You don’t want any of your bolts to come undone mid flight, if they do you will almost certainly crash.
9-Bullet Connectors (3mm)
10- #6 bolts and nuts of varying lengths
11- 3 cell 2200 mah lip battery
12-Charger
13- Four thirty amp esc’s. You could go smaller but if you ever want to upgrade this just makes it easier.
14- Power Distribution board
15-Wire
16- DX 60 battery plugs
17- 10mm square booms, each one is 30mm in length
18- Tilt Mechanism
Materials for a heavy Tri:
These parts are substitutes for the motors and props if you want to carry a large amount of weight.
1- Four 500kv Gartt motors
2-Four 12in props
3- Four to five cell 5500mah battery
Tools:
1- Laser Cutter
2- 3d Printer
3- Screw drivers
4-Drill(Optional)
5-Wire cutters
6-Soldering Iron
7-Heat Gun
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