My new Mini quad named Funsize!! I'm having a blast flying this little guy. Here is a quick video showing its maiden flight. Need to tune it in some more but its a start. Had to turn everything down it tends to flip very fast and easy Going to be painting it later so I can tell which way it is flying.

Specs:

Motor to motor distance 8 inches
1/8 inch lite ply frame, cut on cnc router
weighs 190 grams with battery
147 grams without battery
5x3 EPP Propellers (Standard and Counter Rotating)
18-11 2000kv Micro Brushless Outrunner (10g)
TURNIGY Plush 6A Speed Controller
Arduino Pro Mini
6 DOF board with ITG3200 gyro, BMA180 acc

Funsize Mini Quadcopter (2 min 2 sec)

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Thanks to bob4432 for giving me inspiration and helpful knowledge, to make my own Pro Mini Arduino. Its really easy to do and I have enjoyed it. Turned out better than I have thought possible for my first try. Even though it had its moments where at times I wanted to throw in the towel and toss it all in the trash. My biggest problem came from using the wrong atmega chip. So this will be my tale of woes and triumph as I build this mini.

First things first, was to get board layout. I used the eagle files from Sparkfun. Loaded them up and make my own changes to the board. Eagle is a very good program for making custom boards. It has a little bit of a learning curve to it but once you get the hang of it, its gets easier to use. So now then to send off the file so I can get the board made. Bob4432 suggested http://dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/pcb_order. You send them the eagle board files and two weeks later you have your boards in hand. And let me tell ya they do an awesome job. Very nicely done and the cost wasn't to bad either. I would highly suggest you check them out for your next order.

While I was waiting for my boards, I went ahead and ordered my parts form Digi-Key and Jameco. I odered alot of my parts in bulk as they were so cheap. So I have have enough of (most of the parts) to make alot of pro minis. Ordered a custom made stencil from http://ohararp.com/Stencils.html to apply the solder paste to the board. I think its the easiest way possible to apply the solder paste....Continue Reading

Test flight of my new tricopter with all my FPV equipment aboard. Still have alot to tune to get it to fly stable and track down all the vibration issues. The wobble you see in the vid is from the video editing software. The original RAW video gets you sea sick becauce the tri never sat still and was always rocking around. I used Virtual Dub seshaker. Not sure what I have to do to get all the wobbles out of the video.

Tricopter FPV (6 min 34 sec)

This is my second attempt at flying FPV. Actually it is still by line of sight as I'm stilling working out all the bugs. The crash at the end was from the battery sliding out of its holder, causing the CG to be off. The end result was my Go Pro detaching from the tri and rolling about 8 feet. It was pretty windy out to be flying but I wanted to see how it would handle in the wind. It was blowing around 13 - 20 mph.

Tricopter 2nd FPV attempt (8 min 2 sec)

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My first time night flying in the country. Alot harder than it looks but I will get alot better with more practice.

Lurking in the Shadows (2 min 55 sec)

Just a lil night flying trying out the new batteries I got from Hobbypartz. WOW!! What a difference this new batteries do! Like night and day difference LOL I should have used these right away instead of puffing my other battery I had lying around.

This shot was takin looking down the hwy in front of my house, in town. Gopros don't make good night cameras

Quad flight with Gopro HD (5 min 12 sec)

Just got my Gpro and couldn't wait to try it out. Fooled around with the settings. Decided to try recording in 1080i. Zipped tied it to the front of the quad and took it aound my yard. Didn't have the right battery yet as you can see towards the end it cuts power and makes the quad flip.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=4698

http://www.sentex.ca/~mec1995/gadgets/gadgets.htm

http://www.mytutorialcafe.com/Microc...er%2089S51.htm

http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/ope...e-c-64_12.html

http://www.ladyada.net/learn/avr/avrdude.html

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/projects/heart.htm

http://www.electronicdesignworks.com...controller.htm

http://www.electronic-engineering.ch.../ClonePac.html

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1171472

http://www.palosrc.com/index.php?opt...1:ic&Itemid=50

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1234310

http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?ma...products_id=46

DIY Filtered Power Source

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...2#post12321508

DIY Lipo Alarm

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221018