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| QuadCopter Test Bench - Final |
The test bench is made up of the following:
- Wood Stand
- Plywood Rectangle, 2"x3"
- Zybo FPGA development board
- Power Distribution Board with 5V/12V
- 5V@3A BEC Board
- HX711 24-bit ADC with 1 kg Load Cell
- Power Meter, DC, 6.5-100V, 0-100A, LCD
- High Precision Servo/ESC Tester
- Cobra 30A FPV Multirotor ESC
- Cobra CM-2208/20 Multirotor Motor, Kv=2000
- LiPo Battery, 1.8 Ahr, 3S, 20C
- 9 inch Battery Strap
- Power Switch (capable of > 16A DC)
- XT60 Connectors
- Cobra C-22mm Motor Radial Mount Set
- Bullet Connector Set, 4mm
- Cable Clips
- Screws, Washers, Standoffs, and Nuts
- Metal L-Bracket
- 7x4.5, 5x4.5, 6x4.5 props (various sources, see propeller datasheet for Cobra CM-2208/20 motor)
Some support parts:
- Cobra USB Programmer (to setup parameters and flash FW on ESC)
- Lipo Battery Safety Pouch (always charge your LiPo in a safe, flame retardant pouch/case)
- LiPo Charger, 35W
- Soldering Iron + Solder
- Emax Propeller Balancer (always balance your props!)
I'm not going to go into too much detail on the build as I want to keep this post short. There's room for personal preferences, so feel free to modify as you wish, this is only how I built the system.
Once I got all the parts in, it was simply putting it all together. Here's a high level diagram of the wiring.
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| QuadCopter Test Bench - Wiring |
Once the wiring is figured out, place the components where you want on the test stand and mark the outlines and drill holes. Grab your power tools and start drilling/cutting/chiseling.
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| QuadCopter Test Bench - Outline |
Solder-up the power distribution board. The power switch hole needed a little chiseling as the wood was too thick for the switch.
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| QuadCopter Test Bench - Soldering_Power Switch |
Wire up the current shunt in the back. Make note, I didn't technically follow the instructions from the manufacturer exactly for the power meter. The "switch side" lug should have the GND of the power meter connected directly to the lug, but instead I attached it to the Kelvin Sense screw. It shouldn't matter too much, I will eventually fix this.
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| QuadCopter Test Bench - Back Wiring |
Add all the PCBs, solder the bullet connectors, attach the L-bracket/load cell, and finish up the wiring according to the wiring diagram. Here's the final image again once it's all done.
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| QuadCopter Test Bench - Final |
Currently the only thing working is the ESC servo tester to control the motor. Once powered up (assure throttle is in min position and ESC servo tester is set on "manual" control) play with the throttle to test the motor with different props and monitor the power. I can get up to 18A without doing any servo calibration.
Next blog post I will implement the HX711 load cell on the Zybo so that we can measure the thrust of the motor.
nice
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