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Tri-phan - thrust vectoring tri-copter by monophan

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Tri-phan - thrust vectoring tri-copter by monophan

Old 08-05-2017, 02:48 PM
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Default Tri-phan - thrust vectoring tri-copter by monophan

This is a prototype that I designed during long drives of a recent road trip. It’s a combination of tri-copter and MonoPhan thrust vectoring technology. The purpose is to come up with the most stable EDF powered camera platform. The unit always stays level while the thrust vectoring takes care of all directional input. No tilting at any time. I also wanted to reduce the lateral resistance therefore wind drag by keeping it level. Never packed this much electronics, mechanics and cables in such a tight space before. 35mm EDFs powered by an amazing Genace hardcase lipo which also act as the landing gear. It took me a couple of days to tune it well enough to fly. The smaller the harder… I believe the flight time is over 5 minutes. It has interesting flight characteristics Will work on fixing some of the lose parts to get it to some higher speeds and test the maneuverability... Ignore the date on the video. This was taken today. Thanks

Old 08-06-2017, 06:55 PM
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Re-assembled the unit fixing some lose parts. Flies like a charm. Not suitable for high winds and it is tiny but still beats the wind pretty well as seen in the video.

The flight time is AMAZING for a tiny EDF contraption I calculated over 7 minutes theoretical flight time, which means I can easily get more than 6:30 minutes!

Old 11-26-2017, 08:05 PM
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The maiden flight of the new 64mm TriPhan. It turned out to be a real beauty. Just wanted to hover a little bit and test the flight and the controls. Flies very well. Crash landed at the end of the flight due to hardware failure. I could swear it was ESC failure but then they didn’t even feel hot. When I got back I realized that the flight controller failed!!! My first flight controller failure during a flight. Will replace and test again. This unit is built to be a part of a larger project which I believe some will find very interesting. Hopefully I will make updates in the next couple of weeks.

Old 12-02-2017, 12:28 PM
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I had a “no-drama” second flight. The new calculated flight time is around 6 minutes. I tested hover stability, some maneuvers and see how it handles, avoiding flying too high, keeping in mind the last flight’s failed FC. It looks pretty good but a little funky on the controls. I would want it a little more responsive when I am harder on the sticks. So I did a little bit more PID tuning.

Below is the 3rd flight after PID. Better handling after the PID tune. A little bit of breeze today, good for the test. Lots of people and kids around, so I cut it short. I little more tuning and I think I am ready for some higher speeds at the larger section of the park Some nice closeups where you can see the fans change angle to control the unit. Thanks.

Old 12-02-2017, 06:11 PM
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The last and a better flight with higher speeds. I reached the limit of the pitch stick once. Which means that I still have some more room to tilt the fans for higher speeds. I can keep on increasing the tilt angle and speed until I feel a significant altitude loss. I will probably go that route in the next couple of weeks and let you guys know.


Old 12-25-2017, 12:48 PM
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During my projects over the span of 4 years I had a love & hate relationship with the GPSs. I used them a lot but had to deal with all kinds of weird reactions from drifting to almost crashing the craft with wild swings, etc… Also, they are not very accurate and not very suitable for the purpose of my current projects, which requires precision. So, I am working on implementing alternative position hold systems.



One of these is optical flow sensor. I had this adns3080 sensor for more than a year and al last I had a chance to test it. One of the reasons that I found courage to test is that TriPhan doesn’t tilt. So, “hopefully” I don’t need to deal with the calculations required to adjust for the tilt angle, etc…



I am NOT conducting this with the APM board which the sensor is built for, but an Arduino board that talks to the flight controller. So, I setup my arduino nano and the code to do what I need it to do. It took me a significant amount of time to make everything work together. Below is the video of the very first test and it turned out to be way better than I expected from a first test. This is a VERY good sign. We had a little bit of drift at some parts but overall, the unit was hammered where it was on all X, Y, Z axis (BARO for Z). I even tried to push it with my hand, it wouldn’t move



Now it’s time for further tuning and higher altitude tests.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu4p_m_m-N8

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Old 12-26-2017, 02:03 PM
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Here is the latest test. Getting to understand cause effect a little better.

The improvements: 1- I rewired the arduino board and the sensor with better and lighter stuff. 2- I adjusted the focal length of the sensor lens. Before it was at the shortest level which I think caused problem as the unit climbed higher. 3- I increased the sensor sensitivity range that I adjust with the 5th channel towards the more sensitive side. I wanted to find the sensitivity limit where the unit over compensates and starts oscillating.

First couple of tries the sensor did nothing and the unit drifted. So, I reduced the focal length, to be around 1/3rd of the full range. Then the unit responded really well. You can see the unit oscillating, caused by overcompensating at the beginning. Then it stabilized as I reduced sensitivity. After this I took it higher and it kept the position without drifting. Having a little wind really helped to feel the response of the unit. Now it’s time to go higher and see what it does.

Old 12-27-2017, 12:23 PM
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The best test so far. I operated the sensor right below the sensitivity level where it oscillated yesterday and the same focal length. In fact, I set the maximum sensitivity to that level. So, I can adjust it up and down with ch5. I took it as high as I felt comfortable, probably around 125-150 feet. It started to drift a little as it went higher but didn’t lose the position hold. I guess that is normal as there will be relatively stronger winds up there. Didn’t touch the sticks while in pos hold mode. Still WAY better than my experience with GPSs.



So Far I am very happy with the results. Next step is to install an OSD and FPV cam so I know how high I am going, etc… I want it to be able to hold position as high as 300 feet. Further tests will show if the current setup is capable of handling that. There is a chance that I will need to automatically increase sensitivity as it goes higher. As you know the objects which are further away seem to move slower. I am pretty sure this will be the case with the optical flow sensor and the sensitivity level close to ground may not be able to provide a tight pos hold at higher altitudes..



Future videos will most likely be aerial videos with some on screen information. I also want to test it in higher winds and do necessary tuning to be able to beat some strong winds.



Thanks for following.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyaaD0gma0M
Old 01-06-2018, 06:42 PM
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Re-tuned the first 35mm prototype with what I learned from the second 64mm prototype. Love it. Flies faster and nimbler. Just need to reduce yaw compensation to get rid of the servo flutter that happened during takeoff and a couple of more times.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0kLkLSxSKQ
Old 01-07-2018, 07:39 PM
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Watch the little dragster zip like a badass, maneuver like a pro and land on my hand like a falcon At last I found what flying this unit feels like. It feels like flying a drag boat… I replaced the canopy and now it looks like one, too.



Especially at the turns a little wobble in roll compensation looks just like a drag boat turning. It flies soo good after the last updates



Old 01-21-2018, 06:20 PM
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I had a nasty crash in my first test with the on board cam. The unit simply stopped working in midflight. So, I fixed the damage and in the process found out some problems with the setup. It took a while to change the setting, the code, etc… I also completely separated the electric circuit for the whole aerial video system, to avoid any problems that may cause during the flight.



The first flight with aerial recording. After hours of trying I was able to have the OSD work and provide some useful on screen data. I activated the optical flow right after I climb 3m and go as high as 21m with any major problems. The only problem that I am having is a little bit of yaw drift. Didn’t want to push too far in the first serious flight after changing the setup. The new code also have nice feature where I can adjust the yaw and the roll still holds and vice versa…



I have a set of poor man’s FPV goggles with an external eachine DVR attached on the outside



Next step is to integrate a GPS to the system for high altitude position hold and a solid yaw hold. I will be using Arduino with the GPS, shaping my own code, instead of going with the stock GPS capabilities on the board, which are very unstable many times.



Thanks for watching!



Old 01-22-2018, 06:50 PM
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A better aerial video with some closeups from a tree top, to test the precision of the position hold. Overall a better flight, except a couple of slight drifts during hold. I think I figured out the reason for that and revised the code. Hoping to test again tomorrow.



Meanwhile trying to get used to FPV. This flight was on and off, sometimes through the goggles but mostly naked eye.



Old 01-25-2018, 05:25 PM
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It was a windy day but the 7 degree roll tilt is not because of the wind. The unit was a little off today. Roll balance was off but I decided to proceed with the test. Anyway, I was able to go up to 39m down with a solid optical flow position hold.



Old 01-26-2018, 08:54 PM
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Did some more fine tuning and had a good test. Went up to 52m or 170ft with a solid position hold and back. All of this flight video, except the hand launch and hand landing has been done in crawl mode, and baro hold. The position hold performed very well, even when I got as close as inches to a tree top. I believe I am getting very close to my target of having a precision position hold which can also perform at higher altitudes. The next step is installing a front sonar to avoid contact at closeups. Then, I will also install a GPS as a backup system.



I am pretty confident that the system will work in even higher altitudes but I cannot test that in my neighborhood park. Need to get out to the fields.



Old 02-15-2018, 07:12 PM
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A better test of crawl mode + optical flow + sonar + Baro. A longer precision approach to a tree with the tractor beam. I can easily adjust the distance with the 5th ch knob while all systems are taking care of the pos hold. I consider this mission accomplished. Maybe some further fine tuning but nothing further is necessary. I will probably post a couple more videos of a precision approach to some objects and a cliff.



Ground cam




Onboard cam

Old 02-24-2018, 05:45 PM
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Testing the performance of the position hold in some relatively strong gusts. I had to do this before declaring glory on this project. 20-25mph gusts. The unit is fully under pos/alt hold right after take off. Stays within a radius of 2-3m. Hardware and software work well together and beat the wind. Good performance. Thx...



Old 04-17-2018, 08:07 PM
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Decided to have some fun with this. It was a handsome unit as it was. So, I wanted to see how it would look like with some boost.



Old 04-18-2018, 04:45 PM
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A better flight video in the daylight. I really like the looks of this bad boy. I’ll keep this as the best looking unit I ever created. Even my wife liked it… for the first time in 5 years that I have been building��



Old 08-11-2019, 03:52 PM
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TriGami This is a 100% foamboard construction from my MonoPhan origami series. It is arduino supported and can either be navigated without tilting only with thrust vectoring like my older TriPhan units, or it can fly just like any other tricopter, via differential thrust. This was one of the hardest units to tune. Outdoors maiden, 5 short flights with different settings…

Flight #1 & 2: Rough tuning, PID too tight. You can see the unit nose diving when I cut the throttle during the flight, which means that its grossly nose heavy. The ESC calibration is off.

Flight #3: ESCs calibrated, PID eased off, unit weight balanced: 100% thrust vectoring navigation, a tiny bit of differential thrust to support. Pretty stable but not very responsive.

Flight #4: 50% thrust vectoring navigation, increased differential thrust (hybrid). Unit more responsive but not very stable.

Flight #5: No thrust vectoring (except yaw), pitch and roll controlled with differential thrust. Wobbling due to increased leveling input. I am not confident at all, land the unit early.



Need to further tune PID and find the right setting.



Old 08-31-2019, 06:57 PM
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I had tens of tests, PID variations, ESC replacements, crashes... I totaled the old unit and re-built trying to fix all design issues, adding carbon fiber enforcements, changing the servo drive method, etc. If I went through all issues it would take a couple of paces... Anyway, at last, the unit flies like a dream. It is probably more stable and smooth than anything else I flew. This is a short, first fully successful test. More videos to follow...

Old 09-07-2019, 06:33 PM
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Getting the unit dialed at last... Strong winds today. The unit flies really good. I switched back and forth between thrust vectoring to differential flight a couple of times during the flight. Optical flow works but was unable to compensate the wind push. I will increase the compensation and try again.

Old 09-09-2019, 05:25 PM
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At last I can rely on this unit not to fall out of sky and have some fun… It is a little wobbly and has some servo oscillation but I really like it like that. I think it gives the unit character��

The flight begins with a flight with differential thrust, then I switch ch 5 to mid and it switches to thrust vectoring. It is a little slower response but still flies really good. Then ch 5 low activates optical flow and baro. There is a nice close-up that show how the servos compensate and keep the unit in place. The wind is not strong but you can certainly feel it.



The best part is this unit excites me and makes me want to fly more, and push it further… Everything works perfectly and nothing heats up, except the battery… Buying this battery was a mistake…



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQXnSrtlayo

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