Hoverfly XY-8 Build, Rev4, Hoverfly

[Bartman]

Well, it was said that the Hoverfly forum has been quiet. I've been sitting on a new build but haven't thought it worth mentioning because I've been getting organized but today was a busy day so here are some details. All will have guidance by Hoverfly PRO although there will be holes on the top frame plate for other FC's.

Three airframes to be built.

1. Tiger MT4008-18 motors, Tiger 30A ESC's, 6S power, 3/4" dia. carbon fiber booms for up to 14" props, new power distribution and ESC layout, new Rev7 camera mount (For up to Canon 5D)

2. Tiger MN4012 motors, Tiger 30A ESC's, 6S power, 3/4" booms for up to 15" props, ESC layout undecided (will depend on how airframe 1 goes), new Rev7 camera mount

3. Will depend on how 1 & 2 go, especially the high pole-count motors and Tiger ESC's. May try a Hoverfly GIMBAL on the mount with this one and a second receiver. I have a few ideas about transferring control of the mount to a second operator via a transmitter switch but it's too early to say if it's a viable trick or not.

So far, the carbon fiber boom tubes are here. The boom/motor clamps are being made, the frame plates are being made, the motor mounts are being made, and the parts for the camera mounts have been ordered. The motors and ESC's are in transit and I'm trying to find any shortages in the shop and get things stocked up so it can all go forward when the flag drops.

Everything is custom. Everything has been designed this time around to be ready for production if it all goes well. The frame is Rev 4 and the camera mount is Rev 7 so I'm thinking there shouldn't be any huge surprises although the camera mount got a significant redesign for smaller parts count, simpler assembly, and capacity to hold 5D.

Other new features will hopefully be software/firmware driven so we'll see how that goes.

Here's the first pic. Wish me luck!

View attachment 8990

 

[BorisS]

All best on that bart. Most exciting if the custom parts come in to see if its a lll good etc. !

Boris

 

[Bartman]

it's amazing how much time goes into making triple sure everything is going to fit. nothing can be returned! the shops I use must think I'm crazy because I send drawings then call and say, give me a day or two to double check everything. prototyping/custom is expensive so I can't afford to order $600 worth of unusable parts. it's stressful, that's for sure. especially when you're financing you're own development.

THanks Boris, we'll see how it goes.

Bart

 

[DucktileMedia]

I can attest to not only how much time Bart has spent refining the XY8 but also to how well it works. Every hole has a purpose (that's what she said.) It's hands down the most punch your going to get for the size.

 

[Benjamin Rowland]

Subscribed! Looking forward to it.

 

[Bartman]

i think i can officially leak the un-official decision that there won't be a power distribution board this time so we can skip the what-power-distribution-board-should-I-use step.

Thanks yuri, ben....i'm excited.


i can use a good referral to a skilled artist/industrial designer, i'd like the dome to be especially sick this time.

 

[Aerovideo]

So when you say "rev4" or "rev7" these are revisions of your own design? If so, I'm definitely interested... carry on!

 

[Bartman]

So when you say "rev4" or "rev7" these are revisions of your own design? If so, I'm definitely interested... carry on!

Good morning Paul. Yes the frame is Rev 4 and the camera mount is Rev 7. If someone had said to me, you'll be at Rev 7 before you're done with this I'd have laughed it off and said no way. But 7 camera mounts later, with 6 all having been built and flown for my media work, ole' #7 is fixing to be ready to fly in a few weeks.

Same thing with the frame. It started out as an experiment to see if a Mikrokopter flight control could handle asymmetrical motor placement. Then a DJI WKM flew it, then Hoverfly, and there's a KK2 flying one in Minnesota at the moment. The frame plates have grown in size a little to have room to organize 8 ESC's and there's my soon-to-be-world-famous battery ears on the sides but even now things are evolving but i'll try to leave it as is.

I've got some other stuff to wrap up today but as things start to arrive and the work gets underway I'll begin to post the progress to this thread.

Bart

 

[SamaraMedia]

Looking forward to your progress on this build Bart. Keep us posted, with photos if possible.

John

 

[kloner]

these things fly awesome! They handle big power and winds not much a big deal. Every time i've bought something for it and went to bolt it on the holes are already there. The frames design makes it a no brainer for a forward flight videographer.


Bart, what rev is mine? yuri sent me the motor mounts and links to the bigger booms but i haven't made a move yet. guess i'd still need the delrin boom clamps for the frame? kinda been waiting for an oops moment to tear it down being it already flies fine

 

[Bartman]

kloner,

yours is rev3. hang on to it for now and we'll see about a rev 4 frame if i end up making a bunch of them. i switched to 3/4" booms from the 5/8" that your has. the 5/8" have worked fine but I just wanted a bit more torsional strength. there will also be an option to use the same rev4 frame plates with 7/8" arms if someone wanted to go really big with the motors. considering that I've been flying around for a year and a half with 5/8" arms though it would have to be a really heavy heli to need the 7/8" arms. the 3/4" arms should be fine for most everyone.

 

[SamaraMedia]

Bart, where do you sell your frames?

John

 

[Bartman]

They're not for sale just yet. There are a couple of decisions to be made in the near future, one is to go ahead with production, the other is to decide if I intend to be a manufacturer/distributor or dealer/builder. It takes a huge amount of time to service the people that you sell to and I just haven't been able to reconcile if I have the ability to do that. I enjoy working with people and helping but I also really enjoy being an operator and being out in the sun on nice days flying and being creative. So, we'll see.

Should be chugging along with parts and stuff by the end of next week.

Bart

 

[SamaraMedia]

Bart,

That is totally cool! It is a big undertaking to take the plunge into full blown manufacturer, distributor or dealer/builder. I respect your devotion to this growing hobby/business enterprise and the knowledge that give is a great service to the multirotor community. I look forward to seeing your coaxial build progress and hope that if you choose to make your product available...you may have a new customer as well as devoted follower.

John

 

[matwelli]

They're not for sale just yet. There are a couple of decisions to be made in the near future, one is to go ahead with production, the other is to decide if I intend to be a manufacturer/distributor or dealer/builder. It takes a huge amount of time to service the people that you sell to and I just haven't been able to reconcile if I have the ability to do that. I enjoy working with people and helping but I also really enjoy being an operator and being out in the sun on nice days flying and being creative. So, we'll see.

Should be chugging along with parts and stuff by the end of next week.

Bart

Its a big decision, when I went into building for others it was a very stressful 12 months. Stopped flying for fun. You spend hours building and if you were stupid enough to offer an ardupilot as part of the package, hours tuning/fighting it

Happy to be out of it ( and so is my wife/kids) working all day then coming home and working on airframe at night. As well as hours on the phone on support

I vote for mfg/dist

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk 2

 

[ary]

Hi Bart,
can you give us a green light now for using HFP+GPS?Are you sure now that problem are solved with new firmwire?
I'm building mine with pancake motors, still 50:50 on HFP.
My last XY8 flew perfect with wkm

ary

 

[SleepyC]

Any progress? Watching builds gets me all motivated to tinker!

 

[Bartman]

Sleepy,

I'm just getting parts and doing trial assemblies of them. As soon as finished parts are ready to be used I'll start getting photos and info posted.

Bart

 

[SleepyC]

I can and can't imagine how much work there is involved with designing and building your own rig. I mean slapping one together is one thing, but to think of all the "I wish this had this" features is another.
Good on ya.

 

[Bartman]

I can and can't imagine how much work there is involved with designing and building your own rig. I mean slapping one together is one thing, but to think of all the "I wish this had this" features is another.
Good on ya.

it wouldn't be a problem if you never built any of your designs! as soon as you go to build something you get ideas about things that could be done differently to make things better. i think that this revision of the frame has everything it'll need, room for ESC's, options catering to 6S power, multiple spots to locate a receiver and specific holes for wires, mounting holes for Hoverfly PRO, Mikrokopter and the KK2 flight controllers, holes for using Droidworx landing gear and Photo Higher camera mounts including the AV200-360, room to grow to 7/8 arms for heavy-heavy lift, an option for an auxiliary boom for mounting external components like GPS and magnetometer stuff, the list goes on and on.

i'm also working with a well known electronics designer to have a dedicated LED controller available that can be programmed to change illumination patterns according to receiver outputs similar to (but better than) what Mikrokopter allows with their flight controller.

I've been excited but last night as I was dry fitting camera mount parts and my motor mounts and I got really excited (not that excited ). It's going to be a little different and hopefully a very cool assembly of stuff.

Bart