Discussion Foxtech Glyder 600 A/V Quadcopter Build/Review

[Sleepyc]

Hey guys,

We just got in the Glyder 600 Quadcopter aerial video platform and I;m going to be building it over the next few weeks. We are quite busy so I'll go as fast as I can, but in reality it's going to be a little while.

The frame is based off of the ECILOP platform, but seems to be quite a bit different in the rest of the design.

I will be using the 4x T -motor 2216 KV800 motors, and some Turnigy Plush 25 Amp ESC's. I'm not quite sure on what props we will be running. I am thinking I might try my Hoverfly Sport board on this unit, and use the Planemodel Gyros to handle the gimbal duties.

Ok.. check back once in a while for updates!

[Sleepyc]

I'll be eyeballing these videos a few times!

http://youtu.be/UCA9hoAaQI8

http://youtu.be/qdg6fzPHeYY

http://youtu.be/YwBAxvhY8cc

http://youtu.be/c3IlQ0gpJtI

[HeliSmith]

That is a neat tool it makes me want to get into AP

[CSpaced]

Sweet! Can't wait to see it come together.

[Sleepyc]

Had a little time tonight and started to work on the Glyder. I'd say first off read through the manual several times as it's mostly pictures and you really need to focus on the assembly steps. The hardware has all been good. No cheap nuts and bolts. But again pay attention. You can make one mistake and it will cost you hours of re-assembly.

I have the main frame built, motor mounts on ,and the start of the Steadicam area started. Will continue as soon as I can!

So far I'm diggin this unit!

[Sleepyc]

I managed to get quite a bit of work done last night.
I have the center "Stedicam" section finished and I'm starting to mount the servos and mount the gyros. Hopefully tonight I'll get the motors and esc's on.

Again, everything fit the way it should, and once I got the camera holding arm on the unit you can see how smooth the gimbal motion is. I studied the thread here on RCG and the manual on my ipad to make sure everything was correct.

One thing I can suggest is to check bolt length a few steps a head. I found I had to disassemble a previously built section because I needed the shorter bolts for the section I was working on. In further revisions of the manual I'd like to see Foxtech list the bolt length for each step so there would be no confusion.


Ok last nights pics...

I know in the first few pics the pivot arm is backwards, I figured this out shortly after mounting it and taking the pictures. I also need to trim the springs a little, I just mounted them to see how it held the arm in place.

[Sleepyc]

WOW. After a hectic of work, and several problems with the motors I had ordered for this rig I'm back up and building. The first set of motors and ESC's I ordered for this rig never showed up. They are considered lost in the mail. I will get the charge back, but this is what delayed my build! So I ordered some replacements and they should work fine.

They are iPower 880KV motors and Turnigy Plush 25 amp esc's. I also decided to go with one of my Hoverfly Pro boards to make sure this baby flys very nicely.

SO... I have the motors and esc's mounted and I'm starting on the layout of the rest of the gear. I left the motor wires long as I may use these motors on another project someday.

The Glyder is starting to take shape. With some more time this week, I should be at the point of setting up the balance on the gimbal!

[CSpaced]

Nice!

Is there a chance that the motor wires wrapped around the carbon booms like that could cause any kind of RF noise?...

[Sleepyc]

Potentially. It ended up that the motors were duds anyways. Few QC problems. (Not Foxtech products).

Anyways, I ended up switching to a Naza to keep with the Foxtech manual. (Thanks to Russ for lending me the unit and him and his brothers time. My work travel schedule has kicked in, so these guys are helping me knock out this review. Mucho Gracious!

[Sleepyc]

From Russ:
So Sleepyc has asked me to give him a hand with reviewing the Glyder 600. First off I would like to point out I have worked with sleepy for many years now, and like him I am more than capable as a builder and multi-rotor pilot. Sleepy and I burned the midnight oil to get the Glyder up and running properly. First you will notice in the attached picture some equipment has been changed around. We found some of the original motors to have some issues as well as the ESC's did not perform well.

The and list of components are as follows:
ESC's - Turnigy 30A "Simon K flashed"
Motor - unknown "Roughly 950Kv"
FC - DJI Naza M "Per FoxTech's recommendation"
Tx / Rx - Spectrum DX8 w/ AR8000 Rx
Lipo- 2x Thunder Power 2200 Mah 3 cell

With that being said our new friends at Foxtech have really made something special here!

Our camera of choice is the GO PRO. The end result is really fantastic
We have already shot some video footage of the Glyder in action, and will post the video results as well as some final thoughts, and recommendations on this amazing platform soon!

Here are some pictures that show the final assembly:

[Sleepyc]

Thanks for posting Russ. Guys the frame seems to have some decent potential. We had to change the motors two times due to some QC issues with the original motors I had ordered. (Not Foxtec products.) The motors used seemed to be enough to get some results, but eventually we would like to swap them out for a bit more efficiency.

Overall the build was pretty straight forward. If you study the pictures in the manual, you can build the quad. The weather is horrible outside right now with 40 - 50 mph gusts, so it will be a few days before we can get together and really sort out the frame. Check back for updates and videos!

[CSpaced]

Looking good! My experience so far with the Naza M has been nothing but positive, it's a great unit.

[Sleepyc]

Hey guys, the weather has been bad here (snow and wind) but we managed to get a decent flight on the Glyder 600. Here's a video of the unit worked really well. Due to the weather we couldn't get awesome distance flying, but you can see that the gimbal is really working well, even with the light weight GoPro cam.

If you notice we are really throwing the unit around, (rocking side to side and drifting to and fro) and the video remains very solid. The 3 area vibration suppression is working very nicely and I expect that with more time, this unit will become a go-to rig in our arsenal.

I'd say if you are looking for a fairly inexpensive AV solution, this may be a good bet for you!

Thanks to Foxtech, I think this is a great product and well worth the money.

http://vimeo.com/59988216

[HeliSmith]

That thing does look very nice thanks for the nice write up and video