My Drone

Recently I have assembled and build my first drone. I am trying to share my experience with that build in this blog. I have used following parts to complete the assembly.

330mm quad frame (4 colored arms) – built on quality glass fiber and polyamide nylon,

Mount plates along with 330mm quad frame

4 numbers of 1000KV brushless motors

4 numbers of 30A ESA (electronic speed controllers)

Two pairs of propellers (clockwise and anti-clockwise) – 10 x 4.5

7.4V-11.1V Li-PO battery charger

11.1V 25C 2200mAh LiPO battery (3 cells)

6” cable ties

6 Channel RF transmitter and receiver

KK2.1.5 Multirotor LCD flight controller

2 servo motors for camera controls

4 landing legs for drone

2 axis special nylon PAN/Tilt anti vibration modules for servo

Glue gun and glue sticks

Soldering station

Bolts & Nuts

In this drone I have both mechanical & electrical assemblies, I have completed mechanical part first followed by electrical part.

Mechanical assembly steps:

Mount 4 numbers of 1000KV brushless motors in individual arms of 330mm quad frames

Properly connect individual 30A ESA with individual motors (connection should be done in such a way that 1 & 3 motors should run clockwise and 2&4 motors will run anti-clockwise)

Connect 1045R propeller series with clockwise motors and 1045 propeller series with anti-clockwise motors

Electrical assembly steps:

 Connect battery output with KK2.1.5 module

 Connect ESCs with KK2.1.5

 Connect Motors with ESCs

 Connect ESCs also with power

 Connect RF Receiver’s Aileron to Channel 1

 Connect RF Receiver’s Elevator to Channel 2

 Connect RF Receiver’s Throttle to Channel 3

 Connect RF Receiver’s Rudder to Channel 4

 Connect servo1 to RF Receiver’s Channel 5

 Connect servo2 to RF Receiver’s Channel 6

 Connect buzzer to KK2.1.5 for low battery signals

Configure KK 2.1.5 flight controller

Complete firmware upgrade to latest one

Reset the board using Factory reset option

Turn on to Self-control level to auto mode

Load motor layout to X – quad, I have used – board offset -45

Perform receiver test - Use the transmitter trims to set the Roll, Pitch and Yaw values to zero.

Complete all required Misc. setups for KK2.1.5

Calibrate ACC (Accelerometer)

Perform stick scaling

Perform all sensor tests (e.g. gyroscope)

Now calibrate ESCs (very important steps, please check all motors should start same time after calibration)

Now Arm the quadcopter using throttle

Start and test after arming

Move & shake Drone and see motor speed changes in Self Mode

Tune PID gains

My PID setup values (for AIL/ELE - p gain 50, p limit 35, i gain 30, i limit 25) and for (RUD p gain 65, p limit 20, i gain 40, i limit 10)

Currently my drone can fly and can capture images/videos. I can maneuver camera using servo channels (2 channels – 5 & 6), but in future, I am planning to use drone for some other purposes, stay tune for future use cases.

Please note: in India, you need special permission to fly drone – please read rules & regulations before fly. I have tested this in indoor place only. My drone cost is approx 10K inr and weight 1kg.