When I discovered the 3DR Solo main board as a building block for DIY, because it has a Pixhawk 2 and a companion computer with HD video and telemetry for a very cheap price, I built the FrankenSolo. I used a recycled set of plates from a Daya 680 because it was wide enough for the Solo mainbrd. But it is not necessary to use a Solo mainbrd, all of this could be done with a normal Pixhawk.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...DS-FrankenSolo

But as with most DIY builds I had to do a lot of bubble gum fitting and compromising to get it all to work. The quad flew better than any of my previous builds and I was sold on the concept. I used OllW's UC4H components to bring UAVCAN to the build. My reason to use Ollw's UAVCAN was to have a build with cleaner simpler wiring and real time monitoring.

Since that build OllW has continued to refine and make UC4H an even more compelling platform for DIY builders. The FrankenSolo used 15" props and hovered for nearly 40 minutes which was much longer than the original 3DR Solo. I was tired of builds using pre-made frames that just don't fit the components we need to use. The hole patterns never seem to be designed for any of the standard sized parts that are available. I also wanted to use 17" props to see if I could extend the flight time. I sketched an extended version of the Daya Mainplate that would support 17" props and have all the proper hole for the components I wanted to use so I would not have to cut and...Continue Reading