How to Build a Quad-Copter

The first step is attaching the top of the body to the arms.

Use the screws provided to put the body and arms together.

Line up the bottom plate to the 8 screw holes

Attach the bottom of the frame to the arms.

Align holes from the frame to the ones on the motors.

Use the screws provided from your frame to bolt on the motors.

Tuck the wires from the motors into a hole on the arm it is attached to.

Your first step is to solder a three pin female header to the three wires that will be driving the motors.

First cut the 3-Pin headers in half (for a total of 4 halves), then strip back some wire, slide on some heat shrink tubing, and solder them in any order to the ESC.

The colors do not need to match the picture, just make sure all three wires are soldered.

Be sure to use the heat gun to shrink down the tubing around the solder joint.

Strip the two power cables so that 1/4 of an inch of the wire shows.

Use a soldering iron to tin the tips.

Next you must mount the ESC's to the frame.

Pass the wires through the holes of the frame

Use zip ties to tie down the ESC to the frame.

Be sure to put all the ESC's in the same spot on the arm to keep the geometric center close to the center of mass

Once all the ESC's are mounted to the arms, pass the power cables of the ESC's to the bottom of the Quad-Copter

Next you will need to solder spade terminals to each ground and positive end of the ESC's

This will allow us to connect our ESC's to a power distribution board

Line up the power distribution board so that the pre-drilled holes align with the slot on the fiberglass frame.

Attach the power distribution board to the frame using two bolts and two nuts.

Make sure to hold the nut in place while screwing the bolt down.

Insert the power jumpers on opposite ends so that they do not touch. These connect 3 banks together.

The positive block is on the side with the red arms.

The negative block is on the side with the white arms.

Screw down the ESC power leads, red to the positive block, black to the negative block.

Solder all the necessary headers to the Soldering Board.

Make sure the headers are perfectly perpendicular to the board.

Solder the USB female connector to the Soldering Board.

Don't forget to solder the metal wings on the sides of the connector to the board for structural support.

Cut out some foam tape to support the IMU.

Attach the foam tape to the IMU.

Solder the IMU to the soldering board.

It is crucial to have the IMU board be parallel to the soldering board; the stability of the quadcopter depends on this.

Wire the headers according to the attached wiring diagram.

Cut out some tape to fit the soldering board on the underside of the Launchpad.

Attach the soldering board to the TI Microcontroller.

Be sure to press firmly to ensure a good fit.

Cut out some tape for the the Mini Breadboard.

Attach the Mini Breadboard to the TI Launchpad.

Insert Male headers in the Female headers on the TI Launchpad.

Make sure the headers are pushed down until the plastic on them touches the females headers on the TI board.

Use the wire wrapping tool to connect the headers on the Soldering Board to the Headers on the TI LaunchPad.

Please see the attached wiring diagram for an exact model of where to wire each pin to.

Solder the XBee female headers onto the XBee Breakout board.

Solder the Male headers onto the XBee Breakout board.

Insert the XBee Wireless Module into the XBee Breakout Board.

Make sure that the XBee lines up with the printed pattern on the Breakout board.

Insert a row of 11 pins into the Mini Breadboard, closest to the IMU.

Plug the XBee Module into the breadboard, lining up the pins to the Male Headers you inserted in the previous step.

Using the wire wrapping tool, wire the XBee to the Processor as shown in the attached wiring diagram.

Line up the PING sensor to the side of the frame, on the bottom.

While holding the PING in place, line up the L Brace to the back of the PING.

While still holding the L Brace still, remove the PING.

Drill the hole where the L Brace is.

Do these steps for the left side as well.

Line the PING up to the back or front of the bottom plate.

While holding the PING still, line the L Brace up to the back of the PING.

While holding the L Brace, remove the PING.

Drill the hole where the L Brace is.

Remember to do this for the front/rear PING as well.

Insert a screw and washer from the top down through the newly drilled holes.

Add another washer and a nut to the bottom of the screw.

Tighten the screws while holding the nut in place.

Remember to do this for all four L Braces.

Apply a strip of electrical tape to the back of the PING, making sure to cover the 3 pins (Power Signal Ground).

If these 3 Pins are exposed to the L Brace, they will cause a short and can ruin the PING and/or the Processor.

Wrap a zip tie around the PING as shown, leaving the zip tie loose.

Wrap another zip tie around the PING, such that the two zip ties form an X.

Slide the PING down onto the L Brace, so that the zip ties hold it down to the Brace.

Tighten the zip ties with a pair of needle nose pliers, and cut off the remainder.

Add another zip tie to the bottom of the L Brace to keep the PING from sliding off.

Make sure you feed the zip tie through the hole in the L Brace.

Tighten the last zip tie and cut off the remainder.

Remember to do these steps for the rest of the PING sensors.

First align one piece of the landing gear parallel to the power distribution board.

Next, use a drill to drill the two holes.

Use the screws provided to screw the landing gear to the body.

Do the same for the second piece of the landing gear. Make sure that the holes align so the rods will be able to go through straight.

Screw all four screws into the landing gear.

Slide the landing gear rods into the holes on the landing gear legs.

Make sure the rounded part of the rails is on the side with red arms, and that it curves upward as shown.

Insert the Female Headers onto the Processor's Male Headers, on both sides.

Line up the Processor to the top of the frame.

Use one zip tie to go through the right diagonal hole, and another to go through the left diagonal hole.

Bring the zip ties back around the outside of the body, and tie the Female Headers to the body.

Apply the previous step to the other side of the Processor.

Clip the zip ties, but leave enough room to be able to tighten if it gets loose during flights.

Use your Micro USB cable to connect the USB connector to the power of the Stellaris.

Use the same technique as before to get two Zip Ties on the Ping.

Attach the Ping to the USB cable.

Use pliers to tighten the Zip Ties down to the USB cable.

For the bottom ping, use some foam to pad the back of the Ping.

Use electrical tape to stick the foam to the Ping

Insert a zip tie into the hole on the PING and through the slot in the bottom of the frame.

Insert a zip tie through the other hole in the PING and through the slot in the bottom of the frame.

Tighten the zip ties and cut off the loose ends.

You will first need to wire the Pings to the Processor.

This can be done in many different ways, but your goal is to manipulate the wires around the quad-copter so that you have no slack in the wire, and so that the wires will not get in the way of the propellers.

This step requires a lot of zip ties to keep the wires organized.

Use the attached wiring diagram to connect the PINGs to the Processor properly.

Pass all the ESC wires in the hole on the front of the quad-copter, and connect the wires to the Processor.

See attached wiring diagram to connect the ESCs properly.

Use a sharpie to number the wires to easily remember where they go.

Making sure to cut only one wire at a time, cut off the battery connector.

Strip back the battery cables so that about 1/4 inch of wire is exposed.

Slide on some heat shrink tubing to each wire.

Solder the female XT-60 connector to the battery wires, with the red (positive) wire going into the rounded side of the connector.

Use a heat gun to shrink the tubing around the exposed metal of the connector.

Cut two pieces of wire about 4 to 5 inches in length.

Strip back the plastic on each end so that about 1/4 inch is showing.

Solder a spade terminal to one end of the black and red wires.

Slide some heat shrink tubing onto the wires.

Solder a Male XT-60 connector to the other end of the two wires. Again, make sure the red (positive) wire goes in the rounded part of the connector.

Use a heat gun to shrink the tubing around the exposed metal.

Screw the positive end of the wire to the positive block on the power distribution board, and the negative end of the wire to the negative block on the power distribution board.

Unplug either the front or rear PING sensor.

Slide the battery into the frame, taking care to avoid catching it on any cables, as there will be a lot.

Plug back in the PING sensor.

Make sure that the battery plug can reach the plug attached to the power distribution board.

Do not plug in the battery until you have completed the other guides on how to program the Processor and are ready to fly the Quad Copter.

Use plastic cable ties to hold the battery down to the frame, and make sure the battery is centered.

Remove the top (rounded cone part) of the prop adapter.

Slide the bottom part of the prop adapter onto the motor shaft.

Add the appropriate propeller to each motor as follows: front left - clockwise; front right - counter clockwise; back left - counter clockwise; back right - clockwise.

Screw the top part of the propeller adapter down onto the propeller.

Make sure you tighten them using a pair of pliers or a small allen wrench.