Gimbal drone setup on the cheap

The drones are almost ready for the masses. Here at Fablab RUC we decided take the temperature on the state of cheap drones that can be used for aerial photography.

We build a drone from cheap parts ordered from ebay which is performing surprisingly well.

Here you have the component list and best practices we found on the way:

Parts (everything can be ordered from ebay)

• F450 Quadcopter Kit Frame w/ KK2.15
• Mobuis Camera B lens.
• Micro SD card.
• Flysky FS-T6-RB6 2.4GHz
• iMAX B6 AC Digital LCD RC Lipo NiMh NiCD Battery Balance Charger Power Adapter
• 11.1V 5000mAh Lipo Battery For RC Model ZOP Power 11.1V
• RC 7 Function Digital Voltmeter Battery Tester
• 10x4.5" 1045 Nylon CW CCW Propeller
• Magnetic Suspension Propeller Prop Balancer
• DJI Phantom Brushless Gimbal Camera Frame+2*Motors +Controller Gopro3

Best practices

• Make sure you run firmware KK2.1 V1.19S1 or later- Use this tool to upload: http://lazyzero.de/en/modellbau/kkmulticopterflashtool#download
• Make sure to balance the propellers. We just cut small pieces off with a plier. Look here for details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQNUk07flvw
• Configure the Mobius camera so it does not show the current date. Use this tool: http://www.mytempfiles.info/mobius/. Look at this video for details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_SqT5SM9-8
• Configure the KK2.1:
  • Set it to autolevel
  • You may have to invert some of the axis on the transmitter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bX7M6E8U0M
  • Set the motor layout to Quad X mode.
• We used some electrical tubing for legs. They were bend with a heatgun.

Total price around: 2500 DKKR.

Detailed images