Received DX6i Transmitter/Receiver, Dean’s connectors and bullet connectors. Purchased aluminum tube, sheet of aluminum and a handful of screws from Home Depot. Having difficulty cutting aluminum, purchased metal hacksaw. Tested Transmitter/Receiver combo with servo motors. Works as expected. The servos included with the transmitter are very small and light, and may prove useful during the construction of a gripping mechanism.
Used some spare female headers to create a power connection to the receiver. The Dean’s connector was soldered to the power input of the ESC, while the bullet connectors were used for the motor/ESC connection. The Dean’s connection proved to be a solid and strong connection. The bullet connectors also provide a strong connection, though has a greater risk of a circuit short. Heat shrinks were used as a protective cover.
For the receiver, power can be applied to any of the inputs on the receiver. At rest, the receiver operates on 5V and 30mAs. When controlling a servo motor, the current requirement depends on the number of servo motors attached and moving. Since the receiver will be sending signals only to the Arduino, current draw should be similar to when the receiver is at rest.
Read the output signals from the receiver using an oscilloscope. Despite the poor quality of the oscilloscope, the output signal is indeed a PWM signal; however, it does not have a fixed time slot. The order of the PWM signals is as follows: Aileron, Aux1, Elevator, Rudder, Throttle, Gear. There is no gap in between outputs, as soon as the pulse width with one output is done, the next one begins immediately. Due to the dynamic time interval, an interrupt system to read the receiver signals in necessary. In addition, the output of the Aux1 pin mimics the throttle, however the throttle signal is only outputted when the throttle hold on the transmitter is not on. Activating the throttle hold immediately disables the throttle.
Cut out and drilled the motor mount from a sheet of aluminum. Motor did not mount completely parallel, used cardboard to straighten. Not an ideal setup, but will suffices for a prototype. Final version will be better cut and drilled. Motor mount design will require extra work.

Figure 1: Motor Mount Drawing
Soldered the bullet connectors for the motor and the ESC. Soldered Dean’s connectors for the power for the ESC and to 18 gauge wire. Connected the receiver to the ESC and the ESC to the motor for a prototype test. Completed a successful test of the transmitter->receiver->ESC->motor chain. However, the current power supply is insufficient beyond 45% thrust; it cannot output enough current for the motor.


Images
Figure 2: Servo Motor
Figure 3: Receiver
Figure 4: Transmitter

Figure 5: Testing the Receiver
Figure 6: Bullet Connectors
Figure 7: Dean's Connector
Figure 8: Motor Mount Prototype

Figure 9: Motor Mounted
Figure 10: Motor Testing

Ordered More Parts

Ordered Arduino Mega, 5 DOF IMU and IDG500 gyro from Sparkfun Electronics.

Searched for the best way to connect the motor to the ESC. The most commonly used connection is the high amp rated bullet connectors, commonly found at RC retailers. A cursory search through Jameco, Mouser, Digikey did not find any suitable replacements. A similar issue with the connection from the battery to the ESC. The battery uses a bullet connector of undetermined size. To route power from one battery to four ESCs will require a separate adapter to be made. Suitable cable can be found in the back cabinets. A commonly used 2 pin connector used with RC equipment is the Dean’s connector. Ordered a pair of both from an online retailer, but will continue to search for cheaper alternatives.
Ran through the size calculations again. Maintaining a vehicle diameter of 750 mm. The rotor blades have a radius of 127 mm and a diameter of 254 mm. The wires from the motor have a length of 70 mm. The wires from the ESC to the motor are 114 mm. Placing the motor at a blades radius from the edge puts the motor at 248 mm from the center. The wires from the motor and the ESC places the ESC at 66 mm from the center of the vehicle. The wires from the ESC to a power source is 100 mm long, and the wires from the ESC to the control source is 215 mm long, both are sufficiently long enough that no extension cable is necessary for wiring.
Placed several orders for components: DX6i Transmitter/Receiver, 4x TowerPro Brushless Outrunner motors, 4x Turnigy Plush 12 A ESC, Zippy Flightmax 4000mAh 3S1P 20C, several connectors, and a set of metric tools. Components from Sparkfun Electronics currently out of stock, but expected to be in soon.

Yay! Real Work!

Received the small parts ordered on Sept 9th. Bought an 87 cent PVC pipe at Home Depot. Home Depot has a disturbingly low amount of supplies, lacking most egregiously metric rulers and small metric sized screws. This may require trips to craft stores or require ordering small parts online. Pictures of all received parts were taken. Notes on the parts: The base for the motor has three holes for 1.5mm screws. A drill bit of 1/16th of an inch is sufficiently close to drill holes for the 1.5mm screws. These three holes are not evenly spread out; one on one side, two on the other separated by about 1cm. The wires from the motor will need an adapter; I do not want to solder these directly to wire. As both the motor and the ESC will have up to 15 Amps through them, a high gauge wire will be necessary as well as high gauge adapters and switches. A female connector will be on the battery, so a male connector will be needed for the ESC. A three pin male connection will be attached on the ESC to the motor. Extra wire will be needed to ease connection. A cursory search on the ampacity vs wire gauge suggests that a minimum gauge of 14 (American) is required to handle the current. The propeller blade fits snuggly on the motor shaft, and interlocks well with the supplied locking nut (5mm). A 5mm wrench will be necessary to lock the nuts in place. The control signal from the ESC is a standard three pin connection. While not necessary, a separate breadboard may be used to keep the wires organized when connecting to the Arduino board. An old Arduino NG will be used for testing before the Arduino Mega arrives.

Hopefully I'll get the parts before the semester ends

Gave list of the components for Stage 1 to Prof Grodzinsky. Omitted the carbon fiber frame and the ultrasonic sensor because they’re both superfluous at the moment. Aluminum or PVC pipe will work as a cheaper and easier to obtain substitute for the frame, while the ultrasonic sensor is not necessary for manual flight. Halfway through the completion of Stage 1, I’ll order the sensor so that it will be available by Stage 2.

TIme to get serious

Drew Stage 1 wiring diagram. Began writing pseudocode for the Arduino Mega. Both of these elements borrow heavily from the AeroQuad project due to their similarity at this stage. Later stages will deviate from this project greatly.

Shhh... Don't tell Grodzinsky

Ordered some small parts: TowerPro Brushless Outrunner motor, EPP1045 Contra Rotating Blades, Turnigy Plush 12 A ESC. Once they arrive, work can begin on testing the motor thrust capacities and modeling the motor system.