Dirt Cheap F450 iNav test platform

By cjdavies on Jul 18, 2018

12 1,792 13

I wanted to play around with an iNav quad but didn't feel like spending much money, so a combination of obsolete spare parts & the cheapest new parts from banggood resulted in this beauty. Special mentions go to the ESCs with their linear 5V BECs & the separate Sparkfun magnetometer because I didn't check realise the GPS I ordered didn't have one.

Photos

Part List

Frame	Diatone Q450 Quad 450 V3 PCB Quadcopter Frame Kit 450mm RC Drone FPV Racing Multi Rotor (2 builds) Banggood.com	$18.45
Flight Controller	Matek F405-STD BetaFlight STM32F405 Flight Controller+Matek FCHUB-6S Hub Power Distribution Board for RC Drone (7 builds) Banggood.com	$37.54
ESCs	4 x Afro 20A Muti-Rotor ESC (SimonK Firmware) Hobbyking.com	$46.20
Motors	4X Racerstar Racing Edition 2312 BR2312 960KV 2-4S Brushless Motor For 350 380 400 RC Drone (4 builds) Banggood.com	$30.89
Propellers	FCMODEL Upgrade 9450 Self-locking Propeller With Metal Hub For DJI Phantom 2CW/2CCW (2 builds) Banggood.com	$4.78
FPV Camera	FOXEER ARROW MICRO PRO 600TVL 1.8MM FPV CAMERA WITH OSD (206 builds) Pirofliprc.com	$19.99
FPV Transmitter	FX796T-2 5.8G 200mW 40CH Audio Video AV Transmitter With Antenna For FPV Multicopter (2 builds) Banggood.com	$15.99
Receiver	FrSky X8R 8/16CH Full Duplex Telemetry With New Antenna (8 builds) Banggood.com	$36.99
Radio	FrSky Taranis X9D Plus 2.4GHz ACCST Radio & X8R Combo w/ case (Mode 2) (42 builds) Getfpv.com	$244.99
Goggles	FatShark Attitude V2 FPV Headset System w/Trinity Head Tracker and CMOS Camera Hobbyking.com	See Site
HD Camera	GoPro HERO4 Session Video Camera GPCHDHS-102	$147.97
Misc Parts	5V 12V Adjustable Voltage Dual BEC Output Board Only 1g for RC Drone FPV Racing (2 builds) Banggood.com	$2.71
Misc Parts	8M Ublox M8N GPS Module for APM Pixhawk CC3D Naze32 F3 Flight Control for RC Drone (4 builds) Banggood.com	$14.48
Misc Parts	SparkFun Triple Axis Magnetometer Breakout - HMC5883L Sparkfun.com	See Site
Video Receiver	Aomway DIV006 V4 DVR 5.8G 64CH Raceband FPV Receiver Built-in DVR w/ Auto Save Function Banggood.com	See Site
Radio Module	FrSky R9M 900MHz Long Range Transmitter Module for FrSky R9 Series (54 builds) Banggood.com	$61.80
Soldering Iron	Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow) (19 builds) Amazon.com	$99.41

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Discussion

Savi-AVSS Jul 12, 2019

How do you power up the FC if a DJI Flamewheel F450 is being used as the PDB?

cjdavies Jul 12, 2019

I used a small 5V regulator (I added the link to the Misc Parts section).

Mechris Jan 25, 2019

Wondering if you're still flying this thing and if so, would you mind sharing your PIDs. I just put together a very similar platform to mess with inav and it has some terrible low frequency oscillations. Thinking I need to lower the "I" values quite a bit from the defaults.

cjdavies Jan 30, 2019

I've not flown it since I first built it, it didn't fly particularly well on any of the iNav presets & I never got around to tuning manually. I'm planning to put Arducopter on it (which is supported on some miniquad style F4 FCs like the Matek F405-STD since Copter 3.6) to see if it flies better, especially after an AutoTune, or whether the frame is just too flexible :3

jtm2191 Sep 17, 2018

Looking great! Exactly what I'm planning to build. What kind of weight does it lift?

cjdavies Oct 04, 2018

The power train is essentially the same as a Phantom, so a small action camera + gimbal is the realistic sort of weight you'd want to lift.

Whiffles Jul 19, 2018

Awesome! That really makes me miss my F450. How well does it hold position?

cjdavies Jul 21, 2018

Maiden'd today in 20mph wind & position hold seemed fairly decent but altitude hold was iffy - not sure if it was the barometer, the tune or the hover throttle/deadzone/etc. settings. Just happy it flew, as the last thing I flew (Pixhawk 680) made it 6ft before faceplanting the ground :3

Amethyst FPV Aug 08, 2018

You got foam on the baro? Wind affects it a lot if it isn't covered in foam/

cjdavies Aug 13, 2018

Yup, baro is on the bottom of the FC & there's a piece of foam sandwiched inbetween it & the frame. I'm going to wait until I get the chance to fly on a calm day before I make any further judgements.

kozzie Jul 31, 2018

so I have a f450 with an old DJA naza FC that i want to swap out for an f4 fc and run inav. I was wonndering how did you manage to mount the FC to the f450 plate. The existing slots dont seems to line up with a stanard 36x36 FC.

cjdavies Jul 31, 2018

Mine is a cheap Diatone clone of the F450 & has 30x30 mounting holes.

rolyteamfly Jul 25, 2018

Hey, I like your test platform build! I'm looking to test a new Pixhawk too. You've inspired a very similar build, I found a necessary upgrade in reliability for Motors, ECS, and props for just about $45 for anyone else who's got a few more dollars to play with: http://store-en.tmotor.com/goods.php?id=726

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