The Bone Plate: FC mount for the FT BatBone Tri

by tpaulus | July 30, 2014 | (0) Posted in Projects

A while back I was faced with a problem; My APM 2.6 didn't fit well on top of my BatBone. It was held in place with 2 small 1in x 1/2 in peices of velcro on either end of the APM, and this led to it being instable and shifting a few degrees left and right everytime I touched the Flight Controler. I decided to fix this problem the only way I knew how, which was to make a 3d part that would support the APM on a much greater surface area.

I decided to make a Acrylic plate for the base of my mount. I designed it using a free alternative to Adobe Illustrator called Inkscape. I took many measurements and printed out countless renderings of my design before I submitted it to an online laser cutting service called Ponoko. 2D design can be frustrating, expecially when the centers of your holes are not at (0,0) instead are at (1.5,1.5)mm.

2d Render

I selected a 3mm Gray tinted acrylic for the looks, fitting in very well to the Black Fiberboard of the BatBone itself. I crammed as many as I could on their smallest sheet, a P1 size, which is 181x181mm. I was able to fit 6 of them on that tiny sheet. A nice flat pack arrived a few days later from Oakland, CA with my parts.

The Plate Itself still with its protective paper covering


  I then paired the acrylic with a set of threaded Aluminium standoffs.

KitAll required pieces

The standoffs are attached to the plate, and then to the Bat Bone itself. The Hole pattern allows the Flite Test Camera Tray to be attached with little modification, just shorter screws than were included in the Flite Test Kit. The Standoffs are M3 size and I used a set of 12mm button head screws from my local hardware store.Single Standoff

All StandoffsAll Standoffs Attached

Some finesse was required when attaching the acrylic to the BatBone as the laser cutting is not perfectly accurate and the standoffs can be manipulated and angled, but in the end it looks and works great.

BottomUnderside of the BatBone

Top

Top of the Bat Bone with the Plate Attached

I have 5 more kits that I am ready and willing to sell for $15 (Plus Shipping to You). That includes everything you see in the kit picture. If you want the longer screws for Camera Tray, let me know and I will include them in your order, price to be negotiated.

Contact me via my website's contact page and we can work things out.

Plate Design File

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The Bone Plate: FC mount for the FT BatBone Tri