3D model of the assembled print components above, and the complete holder mounted on the QAV 500 at the right. The holder assembly is modelled in Sketchup, the stl-files repaired at netfabb, and printed on an Ultimaker 2. (Click for 3D model above and enlargements at right.)

At the left an early prototype print of the holder. At the right the final printed components. Two camera holders, the main mounting bracket, and two securing plates. All constructed (after a simple cardboard mockup) with Sketchup 2014, exported to stl files which were cleaned up at netfabb, sliced with Cura and printed with PLA in an Ultimaker 2.

An early prototype for a 3D printed set of holders and mounting bracket for two GoPro Hero4 cameras mounted at 45° to the horizontal and 90° to each other for taking images to be assembled into spherical panoramas. (See 20140927 below.) The (blue) mounting bracket is shown slotted into the front of the quad.

I've been struggling to get this machine in the air since it was assembled in November. Having received a lot of help from Dennis Baldwin (see YouTube), I've been thoroughly confounded by the erratic bahavior of the thing. After arming (via APM and a USB cable with onboard power), the motors would spin up and idle, but it never indicated any sort of stability when given lifting power. After some further attempts at reinitializing the PX4, one of the rear motors sounded like it was "misfiring". Just before Christmas, in yet another attempt to program the radio transmitter correctly, and having loaded a fully charged battery, the unmistakable sound and smell of an electronic fire arose, along with some serious smoke from the rear of the quad. Gingerly pulling out the power connection (always loosely connected during tests) I waited for the thing to settle and then turned it over. There appears to be a soldering fault on rear left ESC! That's the right one in the picture at the extree right above, where all three solder points for the motor power appear to be good. That picture was taken when determining the correct polarity for the motors so the shrink sleaves were still loose. Either that bad solder point was cold from the beginning or weakend by the heat when the pigtail was soldered (by me) to the motor cable. (Maybe the ESC was just running too hot and I should also recheck the wiring.)

Rewiring the ECSs for correct polarity

The final build

The Pixhawk flight management unit

The Pixhawk (left) mounted inside the "clean" frame, the 12v splitter, and the X8R receiver

Assembling the lower "dirty" frame.

Assembing and configuring the "clean" frame

Simulating midflight spherical panoramas

Made using HERO 3 pointing 45° up and 45° down