Project Wyvern and the Dragons Talon, along with some other UAS's I have built have made it obvious to me that there are a lot of products our hobby needs. So today I am announcing our first product release. The Dragon Universal Anti-Vibration Mount V1.0 A UAS Universal Anti-Vibration Mount for radio, flight controller, BEC's, etc. To be used with a carbon fiber plate on top to hold equipment. Four 9mm x 13mm dampeners are required to complete this mount ( 60 gram Damper or 50 gram damper). Damper used will depend upon weight of equipment mounted to the Dragon Universal Anti-Vibration Mount V1.0 The Dragon Universal Anti-Vibration Mount V1.0 can be used by itself with the square section mounted to the UAS and a flight controller (KK2 for example) mounted to the circular section. The circular section has slots that can handle square PCB screw patterns from 39 mm to 49 mm at 90* or 45* angles. If the Circular section is mounted to the UAS the square section can have a 86mm X 86mm (or larger) plate bolted to it that all your control electronics can be mounted to. Screw holes for the square section are a 79mm square pattern. The square or circular sections can be mounted to the UAS or radio plate with screws or with double sided tape. Other products will be announced in this post as they are released. Future products will include: GPS masts, ESC mounts, navigation lighting, electronic housings, and even UAS airframes. Also, if you have a part you need designed our CAD engineers can take your "napkin sketch" and design it for you to be 3d printed. Click on the links above or in my signature to order your parts.
Teaser Time...............New product description: A Tri-Copter frame that is configurable as a Tri-motor or Tri / Hex-motor UAS (unmanned aerial system). In Hex-motor configuration each arm will have a puller and pusher motor / propeller. Will carry up to 6 Kg (13 pounds) of payload total (minus airframe and electronics weight). In Tri-motor the Tail servo is mounted inboard and the tail motor tilt is actuated by a rod, this keeps the center of gravity centered at the root of all three motor arms and allows for +/- 45 degree tilt of the tail motor / propeller for unbelievable control and speed of yaw during flight. This will support up to 3Kg (6.5 pounds) of total payload (minus airframe and electronics weight). Carbon fiber arms, motor mounts, landing gear, and frame plates with sintered (laser 3D printed) nylon arm / motor supports, battery holders, landing gear supports, and ESC holders. Vibration isolated carbon fiber electronics plate supported above frame. The electronics plate has enough room for most R/C receivers, telemetry / video transmitters, and GPS. Under frame plate can support small cameras and three axis gimbals (GoPro size) up to Digital SLR's (gimbal type depending upon camera size). Frame allows for folding of front arms and landing gear for easy transport and storage. All parts have been designed for the following electronics (flight testing has been done with this gear as well, but other options could be used): Motors suggested, Hacker A30-52S UAV or Hacker A30-18L UAV (left hand and right hand versions needed depending upon propeller rotation direction). ESC's suggested, Hacker UAV-Control-Pro 30 Opto ESC for the A30-52S UAV motors or Hacker UAV-Control-Pro 40 Opto ESC for the A30-18L UAV motors. Tri-motor sevo suggested, Hitec HS-625MG High Speed, Metal Gear Premium Sport Servo. Flight Controller suggested, 3D Robotic APM 2.6 Set. Small teaser.......................more to follow soon.
Need the forums help, we are trying to decide how to package the UAS kit. Options are; 1. Tri Rotor frame kit minus electronics, this would be the carbon frame parts all cut and ready for assembly, all plastics, all screws / nuts. and hardware to put it together, and a full instruction guide. $200 - $300 2. Hex Motor Tri Rotor frame kit minus electronics, this would be the carbon frame parts all cut and ready for assembly, all plastics, all screws / nuts. and hardware to put it together, and a full instruction guide. $250 - $350 3. Full kit's, all of options 1 or 2 plus the Flight controller, ESC's, Tail Servo, and Motors. Battery and Radio controller not supplied. $750 - $1500 depending upon version. 4. Frame kit that has all of the parts to make option 1 or 2. $400 - $500 5. Semi-kits, all laser cut Carbon fiber parts only, and a link to order the plastic 3D printed parts from somewhere like Shapeways.com $100 - $150 for the Carbon fiber parts only. Yes the prices seem high, but this is not a beginner UAS. Also, during some of the prototype testing we found that it is a stunt flyer too. With reversible Car R/C ESC's it can even hover upside down. No I do not recommend doing this unless you are an advanced R/C flyer with many hours of flight time. This gave us another idea, similar to Curtis Youngbloods Quad-rotor, collective pitch rotors!!!
I don't think many people want to order the plastic parts 3D printed, etc.....I'm thinking that most potential buyers of higher quality quads like this would want the complete kit - or even built! I know a lot of people order the Witespy stuff with all the goodies (lots of options) - those are somewhat built to order although he keeps some stuff prebuilt (smaller quads). As with any product, you have to determine who your customer is first. It seems to me that the hackers and hobbyists will often do just about anything to save a buck - spend endless time waiting for parts, modding, making, etc. That's one customer. Then there are customers for various other things. You have to stay flexible and see where they are. Examples: 1. A real kit with great instructions and detail which is doable by high school level robotic classes....of course, selling to education is another story! 2. The new breed of prosumers who are starting to do photography and video for $$$. My thinking is that these people also don't want to delve too deep into ordering parts from multiples sources. In fact, this type of customer will often pay you extra to build, test and deliver it ready to do missions.... Honestly, I've never studied the market(s). But I do know this much - there is generally "an arse for every seat", but you have to determine exactly who you are going to market to and how. This usually means NOT marketing to those segments which are already heavily marketed to by others. I know that Witespy has always been far behind the 8-ball and can never catch up to orders...then again, they sell a bunch of separate parts as well as ARF quads from $350 to $2000+, so they will sell whatever the buyer wants.
This is why I asked the public, its on thing to sell UAV's to an agency with specific needs for the aircraft......but breaking into the public sector is a whole new ball game. So far local flyers are saying the same thing, a full kit (s). Some even said to add an R/C transmitter / receiver as an option...... I am a small shop that is doing this after my normal work day, maybe its time to think bigger.
We are going to be changing the design of the UAV. During a flight test one of the pilots had a catastrophic failure, this was in one of the arm supports of the UAV and was caused by the 3D printing process. A folding arm came apart during a full power ascent. Had the part been made by normal injection molding or machined from aluminum this would not of happened. As this is a safety concern we are looking at other methods and or build techniques to eliminate the possibility of this type of failure. We are going to try and eliminate all 3D printed parts and use standard hardware if availible. End result, I believe we can make a better UAV and for less cost.
