Homemade Quadcopter

If you want to make a quadcopter for the first time, that is 100% yours and you don't have a 3D printer then this instructable is for you! One of the main reasons I put this instructable together is so that you guys don't have to go through the same frustrating experiences I went through in building my first quadcopter. I spent weeks and weeks on it because I didn't have much to go with then. First I didn't order the right parts, then my charger malfunctioned and caused my battery to puff up, I went through about 7 different kinds of drone frames, each one taking me a couple of days to weeks to make. Thankfully, as you can see, I finally perfected it and the end result is very satisfying!

These are all the parts you will need for this project...

1. Plywood, 7mm thick and about 30 x 22cm (A4 paper size) (found at your local hardware store)

2. Aluminium square tubing 1m long and 2.5cm square (found at your local hardware store)

3. Props x 4 (propellers) size 1045 (https://ebay.to/33S6EOV)

4. Receiver & controller (https://bit.ly/2KW0L8I)

5. Motors and ESCs x 4 (https://urlzs.com/g1nPR) (this link for a pack of 4)

6. Insulating coverings or electrical tape (found at your local hobby shop)

7. Flight control board (https://bit.ly/2KQLFEE)

8. Bolts,nuts,and washers x5 and some small panel pins/nails (found at your local hardware store)

9. Screws, some small long ones and some small short ones (found at your local hardware store)

10. Lipo Battery (https://bit.ly/2ZmOamf)

11. Lipo charger (https://bit.ly/2gC64vR)

12. A power supply for the battery charger (I found an old car battery charger that does well)

13. Lead extension wire (https://ebay.to/2PauP85)

14. Thread locker (found at your local hobby shop)

15. Wire and solder (found at your local hardware store)

16. XT60 connectors (https://bit.ly/2hvMxlU)

Print off the PDF that is in this section and glue it onto your plywood, cut out and drill all the holes that are on the plan and then cut some thin strips of plywood to use on the base to hold the battery in place. Note: you can cut the sides of the pod narrower or wider depending on the battery size.

Find the center of balance by balancing your battery on the base plate and draw a line at the end. Glue the small strips of plywood onto the platform so that the battery is stiff to push in.

Then you've finished Step Two!

Cut your aluminium tube into two 50cm lengths, cut notches the width of the tube (2.5cm) half way along each piece of tube up to half the depth, then drill and bolt the two pieces together so that it forms a perfect X.

Now use a motor mount that comes with your motors to draw where the holes need to be drilled on the ends of the X. Drill the holes.Then tape the pod to the frame and drill the eight holes that are on the base, also make sure to file off the sharp bits around the drill holes or they will rip your ESCs later.

Glue the sides to the base and put some panel pins in to strengthen it just in case it crashes. :)

Now you've finished Step Three!

Now it's time to screw your motors to the frame, this is where your thread locker comes in handy, if you don't use it there is a high chance you will loose one of your motors while flying, and that's probably not what you want!

Connect/Solder your ESC's(electric speed controllers) to your motors so that the top left motor spins clockwise, the top right motor spins anti-clockwise, the bottom right motor spins clockwise and the bottom left motor spins anti-clockwise. To change the direction of the motors, change any two of the three wires on your ESC around and the motor will spin the opposite direction. When that's done insulate your connections/joins.

Pull your ESC's through the aluminium tube and use tweezers to pull the wires through the holes. Line up your pod on top and pull the wires through that too before bolting it onto the frame.

And then you've finished Step Four!

Solder all the black(-) wires together and all the red(+) wires together, also solder two wires to an XT60 clip (a red one and a black one). Attach the receiver onto the front end of the pod with some 'blue tac' (or you could use a zippy tie.)

Thread the lead wires from the ESCs and the Receiver through the holes in the pod lid then screw on the lid. Next screw the kk2.1.5 flight controller onto the lid. Connect the lead wires from the ESCs into the right hand side of the kk2.1.5 flight control board and the leads from the receiver on the left side.

You've now finished Step Five!

Plug in your battery and your kk2 flight controller should boot up, it should be displaying an Error message, ignore that and press the menu button, scroll down to the bottom and click on the 'factory reset'. It should then pop up with a menu for choosing which drone frame you want, scroll down until you get to Quadcopter X mode, click 'accept', and then click back and back again, go back to the menu and scroll down to the 'acc calibration'. Place your drone on a flat surface and click 'calibrate'. When that's done scroll up to the mode settings and change auto level from 'AUX' to 'Always'.

Unplug your battery, turn on your controller, and then plug in the battery again. The kk2 flight controller should power on and now be displaying SAFE, bring the left hand joy-stick of the controller down to the left hand corner and the display should change from SAFE to ARMED,

You have now finished Step Six

Take your four props and lay them out, place the plastic washers, that come with the props, in the centers to get the right fit for the motors. Place the props on the motor stems and screw on the bullet-shaped tops.

Congratulations! You have now finished the last step of setting up your quadcopter! Go fly!

You may find the quadcopter very touchy to begin with. The best way to start flying is to just go about 1 meter above the ground and fly back and forth, left and right, and then start flying the quadcopter in circles. It does not like 'jerky' flying, so learn to keep your control movements as smooth as possible

Tip no.1: Have different coloured props on the front than the back

Tip no.2: When you begin to fly keep the back of the drone facing you so you always know which is left and right

Tip no 3: Buying carbon fibre props might be a good investment if you crash your quadcopter a lot (like me :) )

Tip no 4: Find a cover of some sort for the flight controller (eg a shallow plastic lid)