So today I received the second prototype of the frame from high grade aluminium lasered by a 4kW machine. It looks great so far. Last things have to be done on the frame are the cuttings and holes to give it a weight diet. The total weight of the frame is right now below 160gr. With my 3mm high duty carbon fibre material it finally will be the same weight like the prototype in 2mm aluminium. The new engineered motor mounts look great and stable and will be stronger when all is done with the carbon fibre material. Maybe I abandone the plans with the pcb layers I did before. Now the plans are going more to insert the cables for the motors into the frame but there have to be done more milling to it. It´s getting more complicated with every milestone done but I still have an overview about all the stuff.
Problems occured by trying to laser the carbon fibre material. We did some tests with the 4kW Co2 laser machine but the results weren´t great. There has to be done more research on the parameters because we never tried this before. This 4kW laser is so strong that it melts the material with the high temperatures coming into it. I did some research and found out that the Trumpf Company did successful tests with lasering composite materials in the past. So there should be a way for doing it. One of the problems I see in future is that the frame alone is really filigree and complex to produce because of the cutting and milling steps have to be done.
The new motors supposedly arrived at the german customs today. Someone signed for the delivery but the package is not here. DHL gave me the information that it is at the customs right now here in Bamberg. So there will come a letter the next days which offers me to pick the stuff for paying again… AARGH. But I am sure the motors will be worth it. Most power from the smallest formfactor is what I want for this setup. For the specs there will be more than 500gr thrust at each motor to lift up the smallest gimbal driven hexacopter ever seen before. I´m sure this will be the most unique product for fpv enthusiats with travelling intentions.
I will check the next weeks to find a provider to cut the carbon fibre parts by water jet cutting machines in my area to make a first bunch of frames for the guys out there who are interested in it. More infos will follow…