We're pinned down here!

December 31, 2014:

So, how is everyone this fine evening? It's the last blog post of 2014, assuming I can publish it before midnight!

Today, I decided to wire everything up. Now, that's a bit of a problem, because right now, there are no pins on the flight controller to connect to the receiver for the radio controller.

Bring out the soldering kit!

Soldering in action! Precise work here...

After soldering the pins on, problem number 2 arose: I'm gonna have to plug everything in. A quick online search showed me the right way to connect the pins on to everything. Man, that's convenient!

Amazing, what resources you can find on the internet!

So everything's plugged in, the batteries are in the radio controller, and I flip the switch... and nothing.

Pictured: Disappointment

Attempts to charge the battery have failed. The charger doesn't respond at all to the battery being plugged in, so I'm a bit at a loss for what to do here.

Must have a screw loose

December 26, 2014:

It's after Christmas, now I don't have any excuse not to get some work done on my quadcopter.

So I did!

Those hex screw stick things make this much easier.

I've mounted all the motors onto the frame!

And decided roughly where to put everything.

We've got a lot of zip ties just sitting around, so I put them to use to secure some of the inner bits. On the hardware side of things, my quadcopter is nearly complete!

Zip ties, man's greatest invention. Secures anything!

On the software side of things, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING. But I leveled the flight controller so it knows what flat actually is. It's a start, especially after loading the confusing Arduino code and staring at it to no avail. Turns out MultiWii has a program specifically for configuring your flight controller.

Pictured: Complete confusion. But with some clicking around I've made progress. Slowly.

Solder on bravely

December 22, 2014:

My fingers hurt. They really, really hurt.

Today I began soldering the connector bits onto the Electronic Speed Controllers. I enlisted the help of my dad as assistant solder-er. The connectors were probably fitted to much larger wires, so it took some soldering to keep them in place. After only 1 failed attempt, I figured out a method to reliably solder the wire ends to the connectors: There's a hole in the side that I can stick the soldering iron in next to the wire, and I can melt soldering wire into the connector to fill the extra space.

First time using a soldering iron. Let's do this!

If I had 3 hands, I could do it by myself...

But I don't, so my dad helps out.

He feeds in soldering wire, I use the iron to melt it into place.

Before (right) and after (left)! look at how not-bare-ended these wires are!

Examining my handiwork after wrapping the ends in electrical tape.

Also I learned several things:

1. Don't touch metal after you solder things to it.
2. Don't touch metal after you solder things to it.
3. Don't touch metal after you solder things to it.
4. Don't touch metal after you solder things to it.

Thankfully, my mom recommended soap and cold water to apply to my burns. All in all, a solid night's work, and only one female bullet connector ruined!

Hello, world! part 6

December 17, 2014:

Package arrival, part 2! Let's do this!

I didn't take a picture of it before opening, so have this instead.

Power Distribution Board, for distributing power to the spinning bits

Male and Female bullet connector plug things, to connect things

So now I have the motors which will connect to the ESCs, which will connect to the Power Distribution Board and the Flight Controller. The Power Distribution Board will connect to the battery, and everything's going to be secured on the frame. I think that's everything!

And with that I'm caught up! Festivities await, as does the senior project, but I know which one I'm prioritizing... I'll solder all this stuff on later. I'll bring you the updates as they come, or as I remember to. Whichever is convenient.

Hello, world! part 5

December 11, 2014:

OK, so last time it turns out that I didn't have all the necessary parts to put together this quadcopter. I chalk it up to not knowing what connections are needed for wires and the fact that this frame didn't have a power distribution board built in like other frames sometimes do, including the one that I got from Fundemonium. Hey, it's still way cheap, so I'm not complaining. Let's take another trip to Hobbyking.com for parts...

Look, the connectors were cheap. I did take the ones that were unprotected. The covers costed extra. I'm gonna have to solder them on, so might as well get extra in case some are completely ruined or something...

Hello, world! part 4

December 11, 2014:

The parts have been sitting in that box for a while. Let's get to work!

Start with the bottom frame plate.

Screw on the arms...

And screw on the top plate! Simple!

Only problem is, how do I connect all this?

So, the basic frame is finished, and all that remains is to attach everything to it somehow. There are a few problems, though. The ESCs have bare endings, and I don't think I can solder them onto the motors or anything like that. Also, the battery needs to plug into somewhere... Looks like another trip to the online parts store. I'll get to that soon.

Hello, world! part 3

December 9, 2014:
The parts have arrived! Time to get to examining!

It's a box! I'd wonder what's inside, but I probably know already.

So, everything I've ordered is in this box.

The battery, a 3-cell commonly used for RC builds

Remote control transmitter and receiver (6 channel)

Charger for the battery, still in its box

Parts for the quadcopter frame

4 motors, to spin things

Propellers, to be spun

Flight controller and various wires. These tell how much spinning is needed.

Electronic Speed Controllers, to prevent overloaded spinning bits

And now, to assemble them!...later.

Hello, world! part 2

November 29, 2014:

Browsed Hobbyking.com, and ordered my quadcopter parts online. It'll take a while to receive them, but they'll get there!

The frame from the store is big. Instead, I downsized! A smaller frame means smaller and cheaper parts.

Hello, world!

So, I've left this blog empty for quite a while, but that doesn't mean I've been sitting around on my hands or anything!

These next few posts are going to be me playing catch up, so let's get on with that.

November 26, 2014:
Visited Fundemonium in Rohnert Park, checked out their prices for various parts. Building a quadcopter's going to be expensive...

Things sure are expensive when you buy them in stores.

$20 for motors?

But hey, I bought a frame. It's a start, right?

And here's where I'm getting the basic list of parts. What I'm gonna need on the hardware part of my project comes from this site. Convenient, right?