Low Cost Arduino Based Auto-Stabilizing System
There are a lot of choices when it comes to picking a flight controller for your quadcopter. If you are looking for a low cost way to auto-stabilize your quadcopter, this is the guide for you!
Improving a Quadcopter’s Stability
Getting a quadcopter stable in the air isn’t trivial. Stability of a quadcopter relies on the harmonious working of all of it’s parts.
How-to Balance a Propeller
An unbalanced propeller produces excessive vibration. This vibration travels through the entire airframe affecting the handling of the aircraft, produces inaccurate readings by the sensors, and creates premature failure of motor bearings and parts. A balanced propeller is paramount to a stable aircraft. A balanced propeller produces less vibration and draws less current, which results in greater stability and extended flight times. You should balance any propeller before installing it on your aircraft. Balancing a propeller requires the use of a special tool, you guessed it a propeller balancer. The propeller balancer that I use is the Top Flite Propeller balance. It is essentially a shaft held by two magnets. The magnets create a frictionless surface for the shaft to spin freely. Read More…
Calculate Flight Time of LiPo Battery
Before we can calculate flight time, we need to know the average amperage the quadcopter will draw. Once we have the average amperage draw we can then calculate flight.
To calculate flight time, take the battery’s capacity in amp hours, then divide that into the average amp draw of the quadcopter and then multiply it by 60. The total is the flight time in minutes.
For Scout, I chose a 11.1 volt 30C 3000 mAh LiPo battery. I calculated the average amp draw of Scout to be around 20 amps. This will give me a flight time of 9 minutes.
