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« Last post by trust on January 09, 2024, 08:00:13 pm »
It's been more than 5 years now of designing and building various versions of our eVTOL designs, all using Librepilot to fly.
Since last summer, we've designed and 3D printed 8 different planes, all in PLA. ALthough not as resistant to damage as the carbon fiber and foam versions we've been building up to now, the 3D printed ones are surprisingly lighter and more agile. The wings are mostly 1 layer (0.4mm) thick skin, but in some places reinforced with a double layer in the leading edge. The flight power board has been updated to use 8 wire JST SH cables, which simplifies hookup and increases reliability. They all have two regulators, one for the rcvr and flight controller, the other for servos. Not all the planes are 3D printed, there are carbon fiber spars in the wings and fiberglass rods in the landing gear. One of the beauties of 3D printing is the low cost (it runs less than $10 in PLA to print a plane - power for the printers is solar so its free), and although it takes about a printer-week to print one, replacing damaged parts is generally easy and quick. 3D printing changed my whole method of designing and building - now often I'll just print a part to test when new ideas come up. And when semi-major changes come - we just make a whole new plane! Also takes pressure off in test flying - if we break it, just print replacement parts or a new plane! PLA is not the best for this - a very hot day in the car will soften it, but as we dont usually get those kind of days here, and just taking a little care, its worth it for the low cost. We'll build some in PETG later.
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