Questions/ Answer on Roswell Flyer, Draganflyer…
- Does the Roswell Flyer use stepper motors are simple DC motors ?
No it uses cheap mabuchi motor, but each of them is "drinking" 2-3A, multiply by 4 and you understand that with 900mAh, you can only fly 4 min… - Do the electronics contain a gyroscope to calculate level flight ?
not only one but in fact 3! - Does it contain a CPU and software to calculate motor speeds ?
it contains a micro controller with no reference and a close loop (maybe more than one) - Do all 4 motors have adjustable speed, and is this done by changing the voltage ?
Yes with a PWM (pulse wide modulation), though 4 Transistors. - Do you know of any websites where people build their own roswell flyer, including description of the electronics ?
Yes richards friedrich with a basic stamp, but i ve heard nothing since 3 years, a german guy hardwire one with 3 mixer and no gyro (i do not know how it fly), a french guy made a glow one and take months to make it fly. mike Dammar develop the draganflyer during 5 years. Nasa is building one for MARS, but the price of project is in million dollars. We try to build one, controlling motor is not the difficult part since some circuit are also available, reading gyro and determining what to do is more difficult (our site is http://www.ifrance.com/Phobos-flyer/). All links are on my homepage - Aren't the batteries very heavy, or are they an expensive kind ?
The weight comes from the battery. The problem of this heli is power consumption otherwise it is really great to fly. Hope to see the next generation of battery (methanol or something else). That will certainly push sales. Right now Nicad or nimh do notimprovemuch flight time. Li-Ion are still too expensive $80 or more. - What makes the kit so expensive, the chips, the motors?
Nothing except the fact that no enough items are made, hand made is the real name of current production. In fact Mike says that all heli share the same prize (picollo or hornet). He refuse to develop a glow version because there is no market and nobody will pay for it. Moreover he has a recorded video where in less than a frame (1/24s) the heli get upside down because a motor died: no pilot on earth can save the situation.. and the heli in such case. - Can propellors be build by cutting them from plastic.
The key of success is the quantities of air you can move to increase accuracy of controlling…you can discuss with the builder of the roswell flyer, he is open, his name is mike Dammar his site is at www.spectrolutions.com - Do you know of webreferences to instructions to make them ?
no you must build them. Mario who build Micro heli and sell nice engineered upgrades parts send me a message, here is a copy:
De: <[email protected]>
Objet: Re: heli blades
Date : Donnerstag, 7. Juni 2001 20:35Hi Cedric,
The Roswell blades are very easy to make, we are sorry but we don't carry
blades for such. If you wan to make yourself a set, form wet sheet 1/16"
thick balsa over a 3 inch tube, hold it in place with rubber bands. When
dried you will have a balsa tube that you can sand and cover with epoxy and
carbon cloth, when finished cut to match Roswell blade pattern, sand the
leading trailing edges lightly and drill to match holes on the original
blade.Hope this helps.
You may be interested in our current products which include micro RC
helicopters, systems and accessories.Regards,
Mario
www.micro-flight.com/newframe1.htm
- Would it be an idea to put 2 props above eachother to create a simple indoor heli. This would eliminate the need for leveling the helicopter
Yes but the mechanics is very complex, it is call a contra rotor, but you need 2 swashplate and the controller is difficult ti implement (mechanical mixer to modify pitch). Moreover no real application except some russian heli.
