2 ShenDrone 180 builds

by bluefishnz | September 6, 2015 | (0) Posted in Projects

Introduction

I decided to jump into on the 180mm trend.  Why not?  It's not like I have enough multirotors, (he who has the most wins).  Anyway after some research I decide to go with the ShenDrone Tweaker.

Why am I doing this?  I wanted to find out the following, and hopfully be able to pass what I learn to others to help with their puchasing decisions.  I wanted to find out :

  • Why are the 180mm class of mini quads suddenly so popular ?
  • What are they like to build ?
  • Any majour gotchas ?

To date I have done three rebuilds of this wee 180.  But before we get into the nitty gritty here's a teaser video of the 180 build on its first LOS shakedown flight.

 

The nitty gritty

Full Build here : http://www.bluefish.net.nz/2015/09/4s-capable-shendrone-tweaker-180.html

Current Build parts list:

Shendrone Tweaker 180 FPV 

Dual regulator 5v/12v 35 PDB
LittleBee 20amp ESCs (blHeli 14 / Damping light/Motor timing med/high)
D4RII - Stripped down
Naze32 Acro
DYS1306 / 3100kv  DYS1806s / 2400kv

A shout out to GearBest.com for supplying DYS1306 /3100kv motors for this build. The DYS1306 are very popular at the moment due to the trend with the smaller 180s and sometimes hard to get. GearBest sent them out quickly and they are starting to get a wide range of multirotor parts. 

 

I also made a number of 3D Printable parts for my ShenDrone.  The 3D files are on thingiverse

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:984695

 

This build was to allow future expanstion to larger motors and 4S. So the PDB and the ESCs are 4s capiable. 

 

All the FPV gear is mounted onto the bottom of the top plate to allow easy removal for maintance.  This is differnet to my first build as I move the video TX forward.  This allows for camera mountiung on the front and the use of the battery to get the correct COG.  My eariler build (below) had the TX antenna at the rear.  This limited the ability to move the battery far enough back.  This also made for a tidy wiring.

 

All up weight is 260-270 grams

 

Custom & cheap arm protectors using TPU 4mmOD tubing.  As you can see from the video I fly over tarmac so wanted cheap frame protection.  The 3D printed protectors work well but dont last to long.  I am hoping this solution will last longer.  Also alot cheaper and faster to replace.

 

Finally got all the wires tidily hidden away.

 

 

Build One : 

Build one was to get it into the air as fast as I could as I was waiting on parts.  But is still a good way to have a minimum tidy build.

Full build here : http://www.bluefish.net.nz/2015/08/shendrone-tweaker-180-build.html 

This used a

4-1ESC 12amp ESC
Naze32 
DYS1806 2400 motors
D4RII
HQ4045s Props

I made some custom plate seperators for the ESC and the Naze & a camera mount.  The 4-1 makes fora tidy build. 

 

I mounted all the FPV gear on the bottom of the top plate to make it easy remove for maintance.

 

Rear 3D printed bumper for LED strip and XT60.

 

Final build.

 

Conclusion

Overall the 180 sized frames are just plain awesome fun.  Its like that first experience you had when you went from a 450 down to a 250 class.  Its small, more nimble and just feels like more fun.  They sure can fit into small places when doing proxcimity flying.  So that answers my first question

 

  • Why are the 180mm class of mini quads suddenly so popular ? : Huge Fun !!


Next is the build.  Just as going from a 450 down to a 250, you felt "how do I fit it all in" there is not much room. You do really have to plan out what parts you need and how you are going to stack them in.  Even though I started with a 4-1, and it was a tidy build the flexiblity of the single ESCs really helps getting more space to fit everything in.  I would highly recommend getting a decent PDB for your build if you plan to run differnet voltages 3S / 4S.  On the PDB I would also look for one that has the + & - close to each other, not oppisate sides of the board.  On 250class its not as important but with such little space it would make the build easier. 
 
  • What are they like to build ? : Tricky... not much room to fit everything.
 
The major gotcha's I found was the prop / motor combo. I started with the 1306s /3100kv running 4045s,3s.  It did fly really well.  However I am a learning FPV, and as we all know that means lots of crashes.  It only took a smallish crash of the second battery to bend one of the 1306s shafts.  Then on the next battery the same thing happened on another motor, so in the space of 3 batteries I had 2 bent shafts.  I could have been just unlucky. 
 
Changing to 1806s / 4045s, 3s provided to have no punch, sure it flew .... but not a zippy as before.  But with DAL 4045 Blunt nose much better.  Now with the 1806s you can also run on 4s which would make it very zippy.  Hopfully the DYS1806s will be more durable.
 
The 1306s would be better suited to somebody would didnt crash to often.  I think the 1806s on 3s with the blunt nose props is a good starting point.  Once you out grow that you can then (if you planned for it) step up to 4s, then 2204s / 4s   
 
  • Any major gotchas ? : Planning, fitting everything in, Motor/prop combos.

 

Overall 180 are just a heap of fun !!

I hope that a 1306/1806 - 3100kv motor is released with a 3mm shaft, that would be perfect for the 180-150mm class miniquads.

- Find this article & others like it at www.FliteTest.com -

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COMMENTS

SGRacer on September 17, 2015
What kinda of flight times did you get on the 1306 and 1806s?
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bluefishnz on September 18, 2015
Running a zippy 1500 / 25c and was getting about 4-5min, with a HydraFusion 1300 65-130c about 5-6. But this is with pretty timid flying and mainly LOS so far. I don't have enough air time to give really conclusive results
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bluefishnz

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2 ShenDrone 180 builds