I built a QAV250 a few months ago. I built one just like Charpu's, using most of the same parts. However, I quickly realized I didn't enjoy flying it around my neighborhood. It was too large, too powerful, and too dangerous to my kids and the neighbor kids. So, I decided to build a micro brushless quad for around the neighborhood fun, and reserve the QAV250 for weekends away from the house.
This is the first FPV video I've made with the new micro quad. I recorded it using my Dominator HD DVR. What you see here is pretty much what I see while I'm flying, though I do think the quality has been reduced a bit by the DVR.
I really like this tiny camera. It's not quite as good as my QAV250's camera, but it's way better than my Hubsan X4 H107D's FPV camera. The wide angle view is really great. It makes flying very easy as you can see your surroundings clearly. My only complaint is a wish it didn't have quite such a strong fisheye effect. Being a photographer, I much prefer rectilinear lenses.
In this video, I'm flying with zero camera tilt. A tilt of a few degrees would make the quad zip around like a mad speed demon. I'm really really trying to keep it flying slow here, because I'm not a very good pilot. It gets away from me once or twice and zips across the lawn. This is a fraction of the speed it's capable of, I think.
I'm flying in rate mode here. Those of you with a Hubsan X4 would LOVE rate mode. It completely eliminates drift as the battery drains, which is one of the more infuriating problems with the Hubsan. My controller is a Taranis and I'm getting telemetry from the quad via the D4R-II onboard, complete with battery voltage via the AD2 port. I don't have an OSD, but I don't mind much, because my Taranis provides audible and haptic feedback when my battery is low. This is a really great setup, because I can fly LOS or FPV with equal ease.
I took the time to flash the MU-3A ESCs with BLHeli during the build. It was a giant pain in the ass, because I had to remove the plastic wrap and then painstakingly solder and desolder tiny wires to the MU-3A. I hear BLHeli 13.2 has it's own bootloader for Silabs chips, which would allow programming via the motor leads. However, I installed 13.1, so I'm stuck with this unless I do it over again. I may be having motor timing issues. Not sure.
NOTE: The MU-3A ESC does NOT support light damped. Boo!
Here are my BLHeli settings:
I'm no expert at PID Tuning, and I think this config could still be tightened up a bit. However, it feels pretty good, so here's my Cleanflight config for posterity:
Top Config Page:
Mid Config Page:
Bottom Config Page:
PID Tuning Page:
Receiver Page:
CLI Page:
This quad is 4-1/2" long (not including props) and 4-1/2" wide. That number increases to just under 6-3/4" wide and long if you measure tip to tip on the props.
Compare that to my Hubsan H107D, which is roughly 5-1/4" long and wide with the prop guard installed. The micro-H brushless is just an inch and a half larger!
Compare that to my QAV250, which is 14" long and 14-1/2" wide, tip to tip on my 6045 props with carbon fiber arm extensions. The Micro-H Brushless is less than half as big!
NOTE: I also own a CMJCU based cleanflight quad, which is brushed. While the CMJCU quad is smaller, I prefer this one because the oversky 32-b flight controller has a USB port. I've already fried one of my CMJCU boards by screwing up the pinout on the FTDI to USB adapter. Having a USB port onboard is really great.
Here's the parts list for anyone wanting to build their own:
Shout out to HerkyBird for his blog post, which inspired this build: /
This quad is similar to HerkyBird's quad, with a few notable exceptions:
1. I 3d printed my motor mounting plates. See the parts list for the URL.
2. I'm using a D4R-II, rather than the built-in DSM2 Rx on the Oversky 32-b. This gives me Rx based failsafe, battery voltage, and significantly increased range, in addition to not needing an OrangeRx module on my Taranis. I love it!
3. In this video, I'm using the stock whip that comes with the VTX. I've got a cloverleaf, but I haven't had time to install it yet.
PRO TIP: Place a small dab of superglue on the props before installing them on the motor shafts. I learned this the hard way, as I had a number of props fly away during flight.