Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Tricopter Mantis

I love my Fortis Tricopter http://www.fortisairframes.com/

It has been through may iterations and crashed a lot, when I say alot 50+ times.  It still just keeps on going. The latest iteration shown below is nicknamed the Mantis, since with the LED lights and antenna it looks like a preying mantis.

I no longer used the camera tray, so I cut the dog leg that the gopro sat on and used the same mounting holes with 60mm  standoffs but mounted it above the body. I don't like having the battery underneath as 9 times out of 10 when I crash its usually a belly flop from a failed flip and have damaged batteries.

I also printed extra parts to hold the LEDs and added the skull just for fun.

With the Sunnysky 1400kv motors running 8045 props this thing absolutely rockets.

Setup
Fortis Tricopter frame
Carbon / wood booms, about 12inch 
Naze32 Flight controller
Sunnysky 2212 1400kv motors
Afro 30amp ESC
3700mah Zippy battery - 8-10 minutes flight time, depends on how much acro
Custom battery mount and LED lights