NanoPhan - Thrust Vectoring Nano Single Copter
 

This is my Thanksgiving project:

It is a tiny thrust vectoring nano single copter: Nano-Phan.

Only 102grams with a 40mm amazingly smooth fan.

It took me a while but started making progress. This video shows some indoors tests. Still testing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8yW7T_xlWo

The C rating of my batteries didn't handle it so will order some high C batteries for some longer flights. Will also work on working on making it a little lighter.

Thanks for watching!

I redesigned the unit to accommodate a disc shaped fuselage.

Smaller unit is a big challenge to successfully balance in the air. Currently the servos are compensating at a very high rate. Disc shape is not something that I tested before. I am a little concerned about the aerodynamics of the forward flight.

Got high discharge batteries. Hoping to test it successfully, finalize PID and re-create a nano version of the Avrocar.

I'll post some videos if I successful.

Thanks for checking!

The avrocar project hasn't been very successful with the initial design. There was something very wrong with center of gravity that needed to be addressed. I couldn't eliminate the toilet bowl effect with my existing and new solutions that I tried.

Made a revision on the body to fix the center of gravity problem. Flies way better now and the toilet bowl effect was reduced. However, it didn't disappear. Below videos is an outdoors test, which started good but didn't end very well, with the unit losing the flight capability with a fatal wobbling.

Damage was minimal and the unit is fixed. Next step is switching from 1 battery to 2 batteries, increasing the weight and therefore increasing the effectiveness of the thrust vectoring.

All challenges resulting from the characteristics of this unique design is being magnified as the size goes smaller:)

Great experience to learn the limits of the design!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1IP...ature=youtu.be

NanoPhan Rocks!!!

The new battery configuration made a huge positive difference, combined with the longer fan body.

I also upgraded the ESC by adding a mini heatsink on it, to handle the extra weight (originally it is a superlight multirotor ESC ).

Even though I built this for indoors, I felt comfortable enough to test it outdoors. There is a slight steady wind but it didn’t stop me. This is only a balance and flight time test and I just kept hovering against a headwind but I felt comfortable enough to take it around the park if I wanted.

The flight time is a whopping +3 minutes!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic9W...ature=youtu.be

The new face of Phan.

The first flight videos with the new outfit. The new design restricted the airflow a little bit and added about 7 grams. This resulted in a reduced flight time, not using all the juice in the batteries offered.

So, I turned the batteries to 90 degrees to the fan axis to provide better airflow and lowered the cover to increase the airflow. You will see the pics of this configuration before the second flight. It helped but the unit still didn't complete the previously achieved flight time of 3+ minutes.

Next phase will be working on the cabling and some other things to reduce the weight and make the unit more efficient, and maybe try to find some tricks to increase the lift.

If not successful, will need to find a different solution to the looks:)

happy holidays!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asi27JU9RKI

This is the new minimalist design! I decided to call this one the mosquito. It looks very much like one on the flight video.

The other improvements that I made was, making some of the cables shorter, getting rid of some bullet connectors, etc... to make it lighter.

The reason of the surface at the front is to create some lift during forward flight. It tilts forward and will give it a little uplift. I will see if I can get close to 3.5 minutes or more with forward flight.

Again, there is a pretty strong wind for this size unit but handles it well. Looks like the flight time got up to 3 min again. One thing that I need to be careful about is not to fly it backwards too fast. This is what I did at the end of the video and t kinda lost balance.

I will also increase the yaw rate and make it more responsive for tighter maneuvering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuzROCp5tBc

The latest and the best design. Had to use my old camera, so the resolution is not great but it’s a freaking amazing flight from this freak!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLpk...ature=youtu.be

Ok. This is the final design. It looks phreaky sweet!!! Below is a combination of a couple of flights. After the first two, I replaced the thrust vectoring nozzles with new and larger ones. The reason is that when I fly it backwards, it gets into a cyclic motion, losing altitude. I didn’t have this problem in larger units.

Large nozzles are more responsive, so it is a little wobbly in the last flight, requiring the P rate to go down a little. So, will test it tomorrow again with the new P setting to see how the new nozzles perform.

There are some close-ups in the flight video that show how the nozzles operate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN82...ature=youtu.be

Here’s the FPV phreak! I installed a cm205 cam on it. It adds about 8grams and reduces the flight time a bit but looks good, flies even better:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWDg0BGnb5A

This is the first aerial video of the 40mm unit. I am using a CM205 camera with RC305 receiver and easycap AV USB converter to record it on my computer.

The cam is a little crooked and the resolution is not all that good but not bad for the first time. I am still learning the settings on the easycap and I should be able to get a better resolution. We’ll see…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW3eXaG0bYw&feature=youtu.be

I think this resolution is way better:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaC2cFN43SM&feature=youtu.be

That is pretty cool, but I am not too sure that is a micro plane ;)

A new nano unit in the making.http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2151088http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2151089http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2151090

Flight video of the new Nano unit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=echU...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=echU1LLIjkg&feature=youtu.be

Completely re-designed the Nano. Replaced the old 3S fan with a new higher kv 2S fan. Results are nice. Never felt so confident flying the Nano before. Have a problem with the power setting tho. The unit is still cutting off power during the flight…

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

I had some electric problems with Nano. Towards the end of every flight, the flight controller shut down and I had some rough landings. So, I doubled the UBECs, increasing the power to 6amps but at the end of the first flight in the attached video, the unit shut down again and crashed. The new fan is amazingly powerful but pulls more amps and I think it towards the end of the flights it has been causing the voltage drop to a level that the FC had to shut down. Fortunately, didn’t have a significant damage. This time I changed tactics and added a tiny 2s lipo to the equation, powering the servos and the cam, and took out the second UBEC.

Bingo! I was able to use the last drop of juice in that battery in the second flight. With only one problem. At the beginning of the flight the new added battery came off after takeoff, hanging down from the unit. Amazingly, the unit balanced itself and I was able to land it to get ready for the last glorious flight:)

This unit is amazingly well balanced and flies very well… Fun stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls5g...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls5gil43tMc&feature=youtu.be

Very nice! impressive what LIPOs can do (my "new" awareness, thanks to the comment from a new-to-flight UAV entrepeneur that "anything can fly" .... meaning using AS, LIPOs and so on)

Thanks bud! Love the lipos!

The new carbon Nano in the making

the new nano carbon frame

Didn't even properly test the unit yet but couldn't resist the temptation of "red on carbon"... Santa called me crazy for being up at 1 am working on this this! hohohohttps://static.rcgroups.net/forums/i...lies/smile.gif

The outdoors maiden flight wasn’t a disaster but proved that I need to make aerodynamic and weight distribution adjustments. There is a little bit of head wind and it didn’t beat the wind. However, the new flight controller showed potential, which will make smaller units possible.

Also, no visible damage after that rough landing. Carbon fiber is doing its job!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00-n6BWKOeo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00-n6BWKOeo

Getting better. First full flight without crash.... By the way I never had to fix the unit by the result of any crashes!!! After the flight the batteries balanced at 560MAH. However, they should hold 900MAH but they are old. This puts the theoretical flight time at over 3minutes, which is pretty good for this size and considering the carbon armor...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDjw...ature=youtu.be


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDjw6UQwpz4&feature=youtu.be

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2196152http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2196153http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2196154http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2196155

I did many flight tests with the indestructible Nano this past week, most of which ended in a crash. In the end, most of the design and flight controller issues were sorted out and the unit was domesticated, being very close to being a real Mono with very good stability and ability to reach high speeds. However, I need to change the wing design to reflect the things learned and make the unit even more durable and faster.

Before I replace the old wings, I wanted to give the condition of the unit after probably 30ish crashes, some as high as 100ft. I even hit a tree once! One crash was on the concrete and others were on grass. I never lost a servo neither an impeller, which is AMAZING! One leg was broken and fixed (which will cause a design improvement), one power cable snapped and was soldered back.

See Pics attached.

I am happy that I am almost there for the first amazingly fast and agile indestructible Mono…