Tricopter Vibration Mount

by InComing RC | July 28, 2012 | (14) Posted in Projects

Ever since I have used a GoPro on my tricopter I have been trying to eliminate the vibrations that the motors and propellers cause. I have balanced all the motors and propellers to the best of my abilities but that is proven to not be enough on its own. Now I need a better vibration absorbing camera mount. 

My previous mount used this foam  that I received as a gift from FPVStockholm, it worked very well and eliminated a lot of the vibrations. The only issue I had was when I wanted some more. The material was very hard to find and when I did find it, it was very expensive. The foam was also held together with hot glue since it was not double sided. After a while of use it was beginning to fall apart. So, I needed to find a more suitable material.

I found this vibration absorbing rubber instead, it is less expensive and is readily available. Above, is my first attempt of using this rubber and double sided tape. It did not work very well and the majority of vibrations slipped right through it, as you can see in the video at the end of this post. Now I will show you how I built my current working vibration mount.

Here are the materials and tools:

Wax Paper

1.75"x7" plywood

3M Heavy Duty Double Sided Tape (I found mine at Walmart)

Vibration Absorbing Rubber

Exacto Knife

Measuring Stick

I measured and cut out a 2.75"x3" section of the rubber

Then I got the double sided tape and wax paper for the next step.

I laid down a section of the double sided tape on a piece of wax paper so that I could measure and cut it without having it stick to my work surface and so it didn't loose its adhesive.

I cut the piece of tape to make four .5"x3" (I only used 3 of these) and one 1"x3" pieces of tape.

I put two of the .5"x3" pieces of tape on the edges of the rubber, parallel with the 3" sides.

Then, I stuck these edges to the plywood in a loop like in the picture above. I reenforced the tape with four staples on each corner, the arrow is pointing at one of them.

I put the 1"x3" and .5"x3" pieces of tape in the middle of the body and then pealed off the top cover from the tape and stuck the plywood with the rubber to the body.

I reenforced the connection with some heavy duty packing tape.

Finally, I put a rubber band in the front to restrict the movement of the shock absorbing rubber. The battery is attached with velcro to the bottom of the plywood as to act as weight so that the whole mount will maintain stable.



COMMENTS

charlies on July 28, 2012
How is it holding up? Tape adhesive technology is getting pretty good. What model # double stick? What heavy duty packing tape did you use?
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InComing RC on July 28, 2012
It's holding up ok, I have had to replace it once already. The double sided tape is 3M 5 pound heavy duty tape. And the packing tape is 3M extreme packing tape. I want to upgrade it, but the tricopter is getting old and I will be retiring it soon so I will just wait for my new rig.
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charlies on July 28, 2012
Why replace it? I love learning from 'failures'. Especially other folks'. ;-)
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InComing RC on July 28, 2012
The rubber had ripped because it was pushed up against a sharp object in transport.
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Jake Wells on July 30, 2012
Vibration is the enemy! To me the only point to flying is to get the camera in the air. My mission or quest is perfect video without buying a cinestar. I'm free of the jello wobble but after I spin the motors up there is a hazy vibration. I'm woking on spring mounts, if they work I'm gonna build an article. Thanks for posting this.
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InComing RC on July 30, 2012
I totally agree with everything you said, I also hate to buy things that I know I can build, it's just seems pointless to me. I look forward to seeing your article!
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Imagebuff on August 1, 2012
A suggestion to make this even better. I use this myself and it's very effective. Stick with the current design but substitute silicon fuel tubing for the rubber component here. You can then zip tie through the tubing to interconnect the plank to the frame. No tape to replace, very durable, and works a dream!
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InComing RC on August 1, 2012
Yeah I was going to do that but unfortunately my body doesn't have anywhere to anchor the zip ties. Im glad it works for you!
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Tricopter Vibration Mount