3D R Quad DIY Kit Assembly Manual - User Manual

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QUAD

D I Y

K I T S

Thank you for purchasing a 3DR Quad DIY Kit!
These instructions will guide you through assembling and wiring

your new autonomous multicopter.

CONTENTS

Your 3DR Quad Kit contains:

Metal nuts (16)

Nylon nuts (8 plus 8 spare)

5 mm nylon bolts (28 plus 4 spare)

5 mm steel bolts (8 plus 2 spare)

25 mm steel bolts (12)

30 mm steel bolts (4)

Zip ties (8)

18 mm threaded spacers (12)

Accessory

plate

APM plate

Top plate

Landing gear

pieces (8)

You will also need:

Black arm (3)

Blue arm (2)

Battery strap

850 kV motors with

bullet connectors (4)

10 x 4.7 SF (normal) propellers (2)

10 x 4.7 SFP (pusher) propellers (2)

Electronic speed

controllers (4)

Power distribution board

Power module with XT60

connectors

Deans connectors - male (4)

6-position power

module cable

Phillips screwdriver (small)

5.5 mm (7/32) wrench

Double-sided foam mounting tape

These instructions require some minor

soldering. If you’re unfamiliar with

soldering, our friends at Sparkfun have

some great tutorials that can get you

started, including this comic:

learn.sparkfun.com/curriculum/42

For an example of exactly what you’ll

be doing for this assembly (soldering

Deans connectors to ESCs), check out

this video:

youtu.be/3LJIQeKuLLU

Heat shrink tubing

Bottom plate

2 mm (5/64) hex wrench

Soldering equipment

30 mm threaded spacers (4)

8 mm threaded spacers (4 plus 4 spare)

Two-wire RC receiver cable

Five-wire RC receiver cable

XT60 connector - male

Metal lock washers (8)

Rubber washers (4)

Motor collets (4)

Double-adhesive

mounting foam

Threadlocking compound

Micro USB cable

4 mm JP1

jumper connector
6 mm PPM

jumper connector

3DR APM 2.6:

You may have opted to also receive:

Telemetry adapter

cable

3DR APM 2.6

3DR uBlox GPS+Compass:

3DR uBlox GPS

board with compass

6-position to

5-position GPS

cable

4-position compass

cable

3DR Radio:

FRAME ASSEMBLY

Attach motors to arms

Each arm of your Quad will have a motor attached to the top of the arm using two 5 mm steel

bolts and two metal lock washers. To ensure motors are securely bolted to arms, apply a

small amount of threadlock to each bolt before fastening.

Threadlocking compound is an important component to ensure your motors remain

firmly attached! For application tips, check out this video:

goo.gl/bM3MA.

5 mm bolts

and lock

washers

Position holes in the bottom of the motor over the

two small holes on either side of the larger hole in

top in the of the arm. Secure with two 5 mm steel

bolts (with a metal lock washer on each bolt) by

accessing through the two large holes in the bottom

of the arm. Thread the motor cables through the arm

using the hole in the side of the arm. Repeat for all

four arms.

Thread

cables

Choose + or x

Your 3DR Quad can be flown in both + (plus)

and x (cross) configurations. A plus-configured

copter flies with one arm forward, while a

cross-configured copter flies with two arms

forward. While both configurations provide

excellent performance, cross is standard and

recommended for new fliers. For plus, use three

black arms and one blue arm when assembling your copter, and remember to specify plus

when choosing your frame orientation during software configuration. These instructions will

continue assembling a Quad in cross orientation.

x (cross) configuration

+ (plus) configuration

Radios (2)
Antennas (2)
Micro-USB cable
Android OTG cable
Autopilot connectors

Attach a threaded collet to the top of each motor using the

four small screws included with collets. Apply threadlock to

each screw before fastening. Repeat for all four motors.

Attach top and bottom plates

Place the arm between the two plates so the two holes

in the arm align with the holes in the plates. Insert a bolt

into each hole and secure with nuts. For inner holes use

30 mm bolts and metal nuts; for outer holes use 25 mm

bolts and metal nuts. Add a rubber washer on top of the

nut on the inner holes.

For plus configuration: Attach a blue arm to only the

position on the plate marked with an arrow.

Top plate

Bottom plate

Next add the spacers that will hold the power distribution board in place.

Using the four holes in the bottom plate shown across, align four 8 mm

spacers, and secure from the bottom using four 5 mm nylon bolts.

Slide the battery strap through the two slots in the bottom plate.

The top and bottom plates will form the main frame by attaching to your copter’s arms. Align

plates in the orientation show below, and attach two blue arms to one end and two black arms

to the other using the four pairs of holes as shown.

Install motor collets

Motor collet assembly

25 mm bolt + arm + metal nut

Outer holes use:

Assemble legs

Your Quad has four legs, each comprised of two

landing gear pieces. To assemble each leg, align

two landing gear pieces and attach through the

three bottom holes using three 18 mm spacers

and six 5 mm nylon bolts.

For each hole, position spacer between holes,

and secure from each side with nylon bolts.

Repeat for all four legs.

Attach legs to arms with leg pointing toward

motors. Align the two top holes in the leg with

the two holes in the center of the arm. Insert

two 25 mm bolts and secure with metal nuts.

Leg assembly

25 mm bolts

18 mm

spacers

Metal nuts

5 mm

nylon

bolts

Attach black arms here

Attach blue arms here

Inner holes use:

30 mm bolt + arm + metal nut + rubber washer

Bottom plate

5 mm nylon bolt + 8 mm spacer

POWER WIRING

Place power distribution board

Solder connectors to electronic speed controllers

The power distribution board (PDB) allocates power to your copter’s motors. Place the PDB

in the center of your copter through the hole in the top plate. Align the PDB so the four 8 mm

spacers insert into the four holes in the PDB. Secure with four nylon nuts.

Electronic speed controllers (ESCs) regulate how much power is applied to each motor. To

connect the four ESCs to the PDB, you will need to solder the provided Deans connectors to

the ESCs’ black and red wires.

Solder Deans connectors to ESCs:

Add a half-inch length of heat shrink tubing onto

each ESC red wire and black wire. Solder the

positive Deans connector plug to the red wire

and the negative Deans connector plug to the

black wire. Shrink tubing over connections.

Add heat shrink and align wires to correct plugs.

Deans to ESC:

Negative = Black

Positive = Red

- +

Soldered connectors

Connect ESCs to motors and PDB

The diagram below indicates the number of each motor. Starting

with the motor labeled

, connect the ESC three-wire cable to the

corresponding position on the PDB pins (M1 for motor 1, M4 for

motor 4, etc) with the orange wire positioned farthest from the

adjacent Deans connector. Connect ESC Deans connector to PDB

Deans connector for that motor. Repeat for all motors and ESCs.

APM

CCW

APM

CCW

APM

CCW

APM

CCW

Quad motor order

Blue arms

Motor connected to ESC

Connect motor cable bullet connectors to ESC bullet connectors.

Each ESC should connect to only one motor.

Don’t secure the ESCs to the frame until you have confirmed that each motor spins

in the direction specified in the diagram above (see motor setup instructions at

copter.ardupilot.com

ESC connected to PDB

Deans

Pins

Motor #

labels

INSTALL APM

Connect power module to PDB

Connect power module 6-position cable to the power module 6-position port. Place power

module in the center of your copter near the PDB. Connect PDB red and black cable (with yel-

low XT60 connector) to power module XT60 connector.

Mount APM

Place the APM 2.6 in the center of the APM plate

with the

arrow on the case facing as shown

Use the mounting foam to secure the APM

to the plate.

Ensure mounting tape is firmly attached so the position of the APM doesn’t shift during flight.

For APM 2.5: Mount the APM to the top of the accessory plate.
For plus configuration: Mount the APM with arrow pointing toward blue arm.

Ensure arrow on APM

points forward!

3DR APM 2.6

APM plate

Power module with 6-wire cable

Connect APM to power module and PDB

Connect the power module six-position cable (red and black) to the APM PM port. Connect the

PDB four-wire cable (multicolored) to the APM Outputs signal pins (top row). Ensure that the

wire originating in the position on the PDB pins labeled M1 connects to the APM Output signal

pin labeled 1, the M4 wire connects to position 4, etc.

PDB to APM wiring

APM output

pin positions

PDB wire

positions

Power module

PDB

Place the GPS module onto the square end of the accessory

plate with the

arrow pointing towards the center of the plate.

Use double-sided foam tape to secure case to plate.

Mount GPS

Accessory plate

Ensure arrow on

GPS points forward!

Wire additional components to APM

Radio control (RC) receiver:

To connect an RC receiver to APM, use the five-wire and two-wire cables provided with your

copter.

Note: APM also supports one-wire PPM connection with supported receivers.

See copter.ardupilot.com for instructions.

Use the five-wire cable to connect the receiver’s signal pins to APM’s input signal pins. Use

the two-wire cable to connect power and ground pins between APM and the receiver.

APM inputs wiring

APM input pin numbers

Connect five-wire cable to signal pins (top row, “S”).

Connect red wire to power pin (center row, “+”) and

black wire to ground pin (bottom row, “-”).

After connecting to APM, connect the five-wire cable to the receiver’s signal pins (usually

marked “S”, see channel diagram below), connect the two-wire cable red wire to a power pin

(usually marked “5V” or “+“) on the receiver, and connect the two-wire cable black wire to a

ground pin (usually marked “-“) on the receiver.

Match the correct control channel signal pin on the

receiver with its corresponding APM input signal pin.

AUX 2 (OPTIONAL)

AUX 1 (MODE SWITCH)

YAW / RUDDER

THROTTLE

PITCH / ELEVATOR

ROLL / AILERON

APM Input Signal Pins

3DR uBlox GPS with Compass:

Connect the 6-position to 5-position cable to the GPS

6-position port and to the APM GPS port (use top-entry

port not side-entry port). Connect the 4-position cable to

the GPS 4-position port and to the APM I

C port.

3DR Radio air module:

Attach antenna to 3DR Radio air module.

Connect telemetry cable to the air module

and to the APM Telem port.

Attach accessory plate to APM plate

Place accessory plate on top of APM plate, and align the four 30

mm spacers with the four holes in the accessory plate. Secure

accessory plate to spacers using four 5 mm nylon bolts.

APM plate

Accessory plate

30 mm spacer + nylon nut

Attach APM plate to top plate

Now we’ll attach the APM plate to the top plate. The APM plate

connects to the ends of the four 30 mm bolts securing the inside

holes of the arms. Place the four holes in the APM plate over the

exposed 30 mm bolts on the top plate and secure with 30 mm

threaded spacers.

30 mm bolt + 30 mm spacer

APM plate

Complete plate assembly

INSTALL SOFTWARE

Mission Planner is free, open-source software providing multiplatform configuration and full-

featured waypoint mission scripting for autonomous vehicles.

To install Mission Planner on your ground station computer (Windows only), visit

ardupilot.

com/downloads

, select

Mission Planner

, and select

sort by date

(short link:

goo.gl/Si5grC

Select the

MissionPlanner - MSI

(Microsoft installer package). For the same features as

Mission Planner for Mac, download APM Planner from

ardupilot.com

Mission Planner Downloads Screen

Mission Planner

« Downloads

Sort by:

Title

Hits

Date

■

MissionPlanner - MSI - 1.2.62

Select MSI to download

most recent version.

Your Quad assembly is now complete! The following

steps will get you started configuring your copter.

Locate the PDB four-wire cable (multicolored) and the power module six-position cable (red

and black); thread these cables up through the slots in the APM plate where they can connect

to the APM.

After selecting the MSI, read the safety

information and select

Download

Download

Open the downloaded file to run the Mission Planner Setup Wizard. Select the option to

proceed if prompted with a security warning.

Mission Planner Setup Wizard will

automatically install the correct device

drivers.

Device Driver Installation Wizard

Mission Planner Setup Wizard

Launch Mission Planner to explore

the capabilities of your autonomous

vehicle!

Mission Planner will notify you when an update is available;

please always run the most current version of Mission Planner.

Mission Planner: Update Message

Mission Planner: Flight Data Screen

Before flying, complete Mission Planner’s configuration utilities,

including RC (shown on the next page), compass, accelerometer,

frame type, and flight mode calibrations. Visit

planner.ardupilot.com

for complete Mission Planner instructions.

CALIBRATION

Connect APM to your computer using the provided micro-USB cable.

Windows will automatically install the correct drivers for APM.

APM USB port

Connect APM to Mission Planner:
1 Select Arduino Mega.
2 Select 115200.
3 Select Connect.

Mission Planner’s mandatory hardware calibration steps allow you to

program and configure the APM autopilot for your copter.

Now you can connect APM to Mission Planner.

Select

Initial Setup

Install Firmware

, and

Quad

to install flight code firmware onto APM.

On the left side of the Initial Setup screen, select

Mandatory Hardware

You will need to

perform each of the calibration procedures listed under this menu.

Frame Type

: Select your configuration: Plus or X (cross).

Compass

: Select the options to enable the compass, to allow automatic declination, and

to select your autopilot type. Select

Live Calibration

to launch the wizard, and follow the

prompts.

Accel Calibration

: Check the box for

AC 3.0+

, select

Calibrate

, and follow the prompts to cali-

brate the autopilot’s accelerometer. Make sure to wait a couple of seconds before and after

changing the positions of the copter.

Radio Calibration

: Turn on your RC transmitter, select

Calibrate Radio

, and move all sticks and

switches to their extreme positions. Select

Click when Done

once the red bars are set for all

available channels.

MOTORS & PROPELLERS

COUNTERCLOCKWISE ROTATION:

USE PULLER PROPELLER

CLOCKWISE ROTATION:

USE PUSHER PROPELLER

Your copter includes puller propellers (unmarked or marked “SF”) and pusher propellers

(marked “SFP” or “P“). The direction of each motor is shown above: add pusher propellers

to motors marked clockwise, add puller propellers to motors marked counterclockwise.

CCW

The diagram across shows the correct rotation

directions for your Quad’s four motors: motors one

and two should rotate counterclockwise, motors three

and four should rotate clockwise.

The rotation direction for each motor is determined by

the connections between the motor and the ESC. To

reverse the rotation direction for a motor, switch two

of the three wires connecting the motor and the ESC.

APM

CCW

APM

CCW

APM

CCW

APM

CCW

Quad motor order

Blue arms

1. Connection between motor and ESC

2. Switch two wires to reverse motor rotation.

puller

pusher

puller

pusher

Flight Modes

: Move each switch on your transmitter to its available positions. Mission Plan-

ner will indicate the currently selected position with green highlighting. Select a mode for

each switch position, and select

Saves Modes

to assign.

Failsafes

: Failsafes are advanced safety precautions that can be very useful for your copter.

Consult the online documentation at

copter.ardupilot.com

to learn more about configuring

and testing failsafes.

Complete all configuration procedures as described at

copter.ardupilot.com

before attempting your first flight.

Show me! Watch videos demonstrating live calibration techniques at 3DRobotics.com/learn.

SECURE WIRING

Before flying, use zip ties to secure ESCs to the frame. Ensure that

all wires are secured so they will not become entangled in spinning

propellers, are not too tight around corners (no hard 90-180 degree

bends), and do not pull on the APM

or other components. Always

complete the pre-flight checklist

before takeoff

(

copter.ardupilot.com/wiki/checklist

ESCs and wiring secured with zip ties

Visit

copter.ardupilot.com

to learn about multicopter safety,

hardware and software configuration, using autonomous flight

modes, tuning, designing missions with waypoints and events,

troubleshooting, and more. Happy flying!

SUPPORT

For more information about software, firmware, and flight behaviors, visit

the APM Copter community documentation project at

copter.ardupilot.com

For customer support, contact us at

help@3drobotics.com

or call our

support line at

+1 (858) 225-1414

Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm.

For more assembly instructions and information about building and

configuring your copter, visit

3drobotics.com/learn

Remove plastic rings from propeller package, select the one with the smaller internal

diameter, and insert it into the back of the propeller hub.

Add propeller to motor collet with writing facing up in

relation to the sky. Add the washer and prop nut above

the propeller; tightly fasten prop nut to threaded collet.

Prop nut

Motor

Propeller

Collet

Safety Check! Ensure writing on props faces up.

Washer

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