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TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PROJEC

Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 8:13 pm
by un.rcont.ol
This new VTOL design introduces a new concept where the flight controller angle is changed to transform to horizontal flight, via a dynamic mixing algorithm that I call dynamix. This enables the mag and horizon (angle) functions of the flight controller to be fully functional during whole flight, which will make it very easy to fly and perform autonomous missions.

The old flight controller mixing algorithm was replaced with a dynamic mixing algorithm that continuously change the mixing ratios as the flight angle changes.

I use my Split Thrust Vectoring System to navigate the unit vertically and horizontally.

New variable angle wings to improve vertical flight performance while making horizontal flight possible.

Sturdier nozzle wings, to provide better controls in horizontal flight.

If I was younger, I would call this project the "Transformer Project". But I am more a Robotech generation rather than transformers. So, this is my Robotech project and the unit is my new Varitech.

Check out the video to more pics and see how it moves.

MonoPhan Vario – Virtuoso of Thrust ™

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1avXRU63_Y

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2015 6:04 am
by un.rcont.ol
Yep! I just can’t stop building stuff! I decided to no longer torture my bellowed 70mm edf drone with this project and build a new one. One, which is lighter (700g versus 1000g), more agile (my new 120 degree box type split thrust vectoring system), more maneuverable (almost 90 degree longitudinal wings). The funny part is this unit is built with what I had in my scrapyard, re-built analog servos, medium-rare cooked motor, old esc and FC

My major problem with the previous unit was that the yaw lost its responsiveness when I started to change the FC angle and put it to forward flight. The new unit is a monster version of my 55mm 120 degree FPV Triport drone and is a proven yaw champion.

I will add folding wings to this design, which are already designed in the drawing board (in my head), right after I get a feel of the lateral resistance situation in the current state.

You can find the maiden test flight attached. The one that I am talking to my neighbor is a short one, because I somehow used some depleted batteries. The second one is longer and against a pretty strong head wind. This flight is just to test if it will fly and the PID setting. So, as I mention in the video, don’t expect too much!

I know it doesn’t look much like a Varitech right now but I am pretty sure it will teach me a lot, just like every new variety that I build, and will look much cooler with the folding wings when I add them…

Thank you for following…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2lySNX ... e=youtu.be

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2015 5:15 am
by un.rcont.ol
Upgrades:

1- During the first tests I realized that the 120 degree split vectoring mechanism is not a “nick” champion as much as it is a “yaw” champion. To get over this, the fan body was extended and the distance between the fan and the nozzle was increased by about 1”.

2- Even though extending the fan-nozzle distance helped, it didn’t solve the problem. So I started adding wings to the lower half of the body, to balance out the lateral resistance and create lift in forward flight, in a way that I can tilt the machine to higher attack angles. I ended up with a box type cool wing design.

When I use the stick to tilt the machine for forward flight I got almost to 45 degrees without a major problem. The problem occurred when I tried to get the same result with changing the FC angle. The unit wasn’t very responsive to FC angle change. From the reaction of the unit I could detect that I passed at least 2 dynamic mixing phases and I could see the FC at almost 45 degree angle, without any balancing problems. But because the unit didn’t adjust to level the flight controller, after that point, it lost its balance (because there wasn’t too much room left for gyro compensation, while the FC was using all of servo travel to level the unit). I was able to save the unit, no damage done.

I have 2 options. Either tweak the design of the thrust vectoring nozzles to get a more responsive nick action, or add an adjustable aerodynamic surface to cooperate with the FC angle. I will try the second option first, because there are many good qualities of the current thrust vectoring design that I love, such as light weight, solid yaw hold and simplicity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTIHLx5 ... e=youtu.be

Thanks for watching.

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2015 12:35 am
by un.rcont.ol
THE PROOF OF CONCEPT:

MonoPhan goes horizontal for the first time!!!

After totaling the redesigned unit twice and saving tens of possible crashes, I addressed the final problem that the Vario unit had last night. Even though I checked it multiple times, I have coded the algorithm to compensate the roll reverse at horizontal flight, which was causing the unit start to wobble, flip and lose control as I was half way to the transition.

I have been thinking the problem to be aerodynamic and working on the wings all along. To be honest, even though it is a very stupid mistake and made me lost a lot of time, I think it helped me to find the best wing design, by letting me test the unit with the wrong algorithm and find the most stable wing design under those circumstances.

After I corrected the error and re-flashed the controller last night, today I took it to 20 degrees attack angle at the first flight without any major problems)) It got so high and far, I almost lost the sight of it. The algorithm and changing the FC controller angle worked perfect and the only reason that I didn’t go to 10 degrees is that I didn’t need to risk it before fine adjusting the attack angle of the wings.

I am very happy to share this with you guys who have been following me on this for a while now. Today marks the day that MonoPhan gains horizontal flight capabilities, while keeping on being a very competent vertical flyer when needed.

Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BR62UA ... e=youtu.be

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2015 6:00 am
by Leo
Well, I for one am impressed.

However the thing that dampens my enthusiasm is the terrible video quality. I can hardly see a thing.
How about getting a GoPro with head-strap or if that is too expensive a Mobius cam?

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 5:23 am
by un.rcont.ol
Thank you sir! Sorry about the video quality. Now it's tome to get a good FPV system to fly it better and get some good videos.

Ok, this is more like where I want to go. The new folding wing design. The previous wings failed to handle flight angle less than about 20 degrees.

These wings turned out to be a beauty. Very smooth transition and better attack angle. Kept it around 20 degrees in this first flight. The servos need a little trimming before I go any further. Still, a very balanced flight…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxuTdvX ... e=youtu.be

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 3:41 pm
by un.rcont.ol
Aerial video of the flight taken by GoPro Quad. Full transition to horizontal high speed flight at 1:40 minute mark… The quad cannot keep up with the speed after the transition and rotates to follow it circling the field. We have a close encounter towards the end...

How it operates:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5bckysqoIo

How it flies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PivQGqR0VY

Thanks for watching…

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:22 am
by un.rcont.ol
Going back to the original design and applying what I learned along the way.

The initial plan was to use the unit as it was with the old split vectoring system but that proved to be less stable and way less efficient. So, I applied the latest 120 degree split thrust vectoring mechanism to the old unit, which also enables me to use smaller servos. The hover flight time jumped up to 5 min. It will fly longer in horizontal flight but I don’t know how much longer, will depend on the wing design.

This time I am testing a new sweeping double wing design with a high attack angle. During my tests with the successful folding wing “Phan Rulez” unit, I developed some ideas that I want to test. The design proved to be good for vertical flight during the first test. It looks like it will also support the fast forward. However, the question is if it will successfully transition. These first wings are made of cardboard so that I can cut and shape them as needed. I can also change the sweep and attack angles easily with this design.

Below if the first test flight. A little headwind. There is a 15-20% transition at 1:25 minute mark, just to see how it reacts. It went well. I’ll keep on posting some videos as I progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XYopDmGAKk

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:02 pm
by sismeiro
Hi,

Just to tell that I love your project. It's very nice to see something completly different being developed with the help of the MultiWii code.

Regards,
Luis Sismeiro

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 4:51 am
by un.rcont.ol
Thank you very much Luis! I do enjoy working with this multiwii board and tweaking the code here and there! Thank you for following.

Here's an update: This unit turned out to be amazingly balanced. I took it almost half way through the transition and it didn't cause any problems so far. No wobbles, sharp turns, loss of balance, etc... It is almost scary. I will soon try to take it to 75% and see what happens. Now the question is if these wings will create enough lift. If not, I'll know it right away:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmEcwbogXBw

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 3:10 am
by un.rcont.ol
The video below, shows a flight at almost full horizontal. It got there without any problems and didn't speed up too much on the way. I believe the reason for that is the high attack angle of the double wings. When I got to full horizontal though I experienced altitude loss. Not too fast, it was still flying but slowly started to come down. So I gave a little more throttle (2:38 minute mark) and it pretty much stabilized. However, I need to make a slight change in the wing design to increase the lift a little bit. I don't want to have to spend more energy to fly horizontal... Let's see what will come out of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC3H...ature=youtu.be

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2015 6:07 am
by un.rcont.ol
After losing some altitude in the last flight, I increased the surface area of the wings by replacing the upper wings with larger ones.

Below video shows how the wings operate and the test flight.

The unit transitions to full horizontal at 3:00 minute mark, until 3:40. I didn’t experience any altitude loss this time. At 3:40 minute mark, I transition back to vertical flight and bring the unit back. It is hard to see, since the unit gets pretty high. I will switch over to a higher resolution camera starting from next test.

I am pretty happy with these compact, high attack angle bi-surfaces’ lift performance. Even though this is a pretty heavy unit with a heavy cyclone power motor, they do a good job to keep it in the air. Will keep on testing and will start trying some different designs and maneuvers. Thanks for watching…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWul6FoUcYk

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 9:47 pm
by un.rcont.ol
Going through some old files, I came across to the footage of the 64MM flight from the ground camera. Not very good resolution but still nice, also showing the multirotor that took the aerial video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OESOZEEHvBA

I have been working on some other projects recently but I will go back to this bad boy soon and post some other nice videos with higher resolution.

Thanks for watching!

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:28 pm
by un.rcont.ol
A part of a fun flight from this weekend. Overall this unit is the best so far. Great power, agility and balance.

I took it to almost half way in transition in this flight. However, it is still very quick even if you just use the pitch forward and not use transition at all.

Thanks...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hI3UuciIAg

Re: TRANSFORMING VTOL EDF JET DRONE (VARITECH) – ROBOTECH PR

Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 11:19 pm
by un.rcont.ol
Installed the new metal gear servos. They work great. They warm up a little too much but I need to keep the volts up to feed these 5 servos in continuous action.

Installed the first wings to test, which I already had waiting in my junkyard. I am a little concerned with the wing area being small but I will keep the attack angle a little high and see if that compensates. If not, I will need to change the landing gear design and install larger wings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdm9squNLS4