Dirt Cheap F450 iNav test platform

By cjdavies on Jul 18, 2018

11  1,060  11

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.

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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 
1

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

rolyteamfly   Jul 25, 2018  
1

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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