I'm planing on building an automatic quad-copter with an "On Sealing Sticking System".
Basically the quad-copter have to fly automatically, and then stick to the sealing using the Sticking System, which consists of 4 big silicon suction cups, 4 syringes and 1 servo(or more).(this is the best I could think of).
each silicon suction cup have a small hole which is connected to the syringe by a tube , and the syringe plunger is connected to the servo.
The mechanism is obvious; When the silicon suction cup is against the sealing the servo will pull the syringe plunger down sucking the air from the suction cup making it stick to the sealing.
and then (when wanted)the servo will push the plunger back up to release.
Now, obviously for all this to work, the quad-copter should be incidentally stable and accurate.
And I know that the best way is to build a quad copter on my own, and use a very accurate FC, but the problem here is that:
I live in Libya, which means that all the needed and essential components to build one cannot be found locally (not even a 3D printer available to use in the whole country).
On top of that no on-line shop ships to Libya due to some laws. So I'll have to pay for a local importing service which is really reallly expensive.
The only way around this is by buying a toy RC quadcopter, then hack it's transmitter and replace it with arduino + NRF24L01 to controll it automatically and see if it's stable enough;
If not (which is most likely) I'll add MPU6050 sensor and use PID control.
Now what I'm trying to figure out is :
1- do some toy quad-copters use FC's ?
2- If some do, and I find one locally, Will it be stable and accurate enough (after modification) to stick to the sealing ?
also, if that will never work and building a quadcopter is the only way, can you recommend a FC that suits this project best ?
I really appreciate any better ideas for the sticking system too.
I apologize. I've never used this forum or any other forums for that matter. So I didn't even know what cross-posting was, before I google it just now.
both categories seemed appropriate for my thread so I assumed that It was okay to "cross-post".
Again, I'm Sorry if it bothered anyone.
bluejets:
Your primary goal is flawed by many physical inabilities.
Thank you for taking the time to replay,
I realize what you mean to a close extent, yet I think it's still possible (very difficult but possible) and I'm willing to put the time and the effort.
unless of course you have the time and the kindness to further clarify those "physical inabilities" and open my eyes to something I may have over looked which would be really appreciated.
Its normally a good idea to describe in some detail what your project is and why you want to do it.
I would ignore the quadcopter side for now, there a heaps of tutorials to be found online about building them and concentrate on the unknown part, how you you make a possibly heavy object stick to a ceiling.
Looking around me, I see zero chnace of sticking an object to a ceiling without using an inverted helicopter type approach and a vacuum pump so what is special about your ceiling that would allow the approach you described to work.
Incidently for information on adapting toy quad copters you might want to try in a forum that discusses such things such as; https://www.rcgroups.com
I sympathise with your problems getting things in Libya however it seems to me there is an almost ZERO chance of getting something as complex as this to work first time.
IMHO you will need to get some stuff (maybe a readily available 'copter) and experiment to see what you can achieve with it. In all likelihood you will learn a great deal but find that it is not quite suitable so you will need to get another one, or several extra parts (such as more powerful motors and fans).
Because of your country's circumstances all of this experimenting will be expensive so you should decide now whether you are sufficiently interested to start a project with an open-ended cost.
MorganS:
How heavy is the sticking system? Can you find any data on quadcopters with this cargo capacity?
One big suction cup will work better than four unless you have a suspension system like a lunar lander.
Thanks for your replay.
The system shouldn't weight more than 50 g. As for data, unfortunately, I couldn't find any data on any quadcopters that uses the same sticking system or a system with a similar working principle, but I've found quadcopters the does the same job using perching system which uses an opposed microspines gripers.
here are some videos for quick illustration :
and here are the articles of the above quadcopters which explains more details (in the same order) :
but, I believe that microspines works against tough surfaces ( found outdoor) and wont do good if they were used indoors, on top of that, after some research it seems that microspines grippers are new and hard to find and even if I somehow managed to make one on my own I doubt that it will be nearly as good.
And I appreciateyour suggestion, I'll try both; First, using one big suction cup like the one used in plungers or just a little smaller ( It's likely that it might affect the way quadcopter is flying, no ?). Second, I'll try using 4 smaller suction cups but I'll have to think of a smart a suspension system first.
I'll let you know which works better.
4 big silicon suction cups, 4 syringes and 1 servo(or more)
then,
The system shouldn't weight more than 50 g.
I think you have exceeded 50g already, yet haven't considered the mass of the motors (how many) and the battery.
You will need to do some calculations with respect to the suction cups and the size of the syringes, have you calculated how much vacuum you will obtain with your envisaged system?
Can you please tell us your electronics, programming, Arduino, hardware experience?
I'm guessing that a mid-size camera drone can carry 250g of camera and gimbal. Without the camera this gives a weight budget for the sticking system of 250g. It will be unable to carry any payload but I assume the purpose if the experiment is not to demonstrate any payload capacity.
Regular suction cup sticking like a car GPS on a windscreen requires a perfect surface like glass. Glass ceilings are mostly mythical so sticking to regular surfaces will be much more difficult.
