Description |
MultiFrame SkyHook Octo
Product Description
- Frame Diameter: 900mm or 1200mm
- Configuration: I Octo, V Octo
- Frame Weight (900mm): 1154g (inc.landing legs)
- Frame Weight (1200mm): 1378g (inc. landing legs)
- Material: Carbon Fibre and Aluminium Alloy
- Full Kit Parts List: 2 x Frame Centre
Plates, 8 x Aluminium Alloy Arms, 8 x Motor Mounts, 3 x Landing Legs,
Standoff Plate, Battery Tray, Pillars, Nuts, Bolts & Washers
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But how strong are they? We knew they were strong, but when the question was asked, we thought we had to find out! Here is an unedited photograph taken at the end of a product shoot - the Brick Test! In
this picture the Hexa is supported on three arms only, at full 1.2m
span.....and sitting on top of the centre plates are 28Kgs of house
bricks. It could have taken more if there had been any more bricks
available! There was absolutley no damage sustained during this test, this exact frame is now flying regularly. |
The MultiFrame Skyhook Series....
SUPER HEAVY LIFT MULTICOPTER AIRFRAMES
Concept:
The concept
behind the MultiFrame Series is one of strength, simplicity and
flexibility of design. To achieve this we have focussed on the primary
functions of any multirotor airframe - to hold the motors in the desired
confirguration, to be lightweight yet stiff and avoid the transmission
of vibration, to provide a solid base on which to install your
electronics and payload, good space for your power systems to be fitted
and remain cool, to be simple to assemble and maintain, to be strong
enough to offer considerable resistance to damage in the event of an
accident, and should damage be sustained, to be simple to repair at a
very reasonable cost. To achieve this we have used a combination of
sound design and quality materials aimed at avoiding the common problems
experienced by many other frame designs, as well as offering simple
assembly, durability and a flexibility of configuration not seen
anywhere...
Flexibility:
One of the first
things considered during the design of the MultiFrame, was that there
was no good reason for the user to be stuck with one particular frame
layout, chosen at the point of purchase and before they have had a
chance to try that configuration and decide if it is suitable for their
needs. So for ultimate flexibility, the MultiFrame uses the same few
parts in all frame configurations, allowing the user to change their
frame at any time, simply by moving, adding or removing arms as they
wish - and without losing the orientation of the frame centre section,
battery tray and standoff plates, thus avoiding a lengthy complete
reinstall of all onboard systems.
Configurations of the MultiFrame include Y6, + Quad, X Quad, X8, I Hexa, V Hexa, I Octo and V Octo.
Landing legs can be easily fitted to any arm, and moved anywhere on that
arm, not only to accomodate the different frame layouts, but also to
provide the best balance between stability on landing, balance in the
air and a clear camera view.
Battery tray and standoff plates are interchangeable, and you can stack
as many standoff plates as you like to hold all flight electronics,
sensors, cameras, receivers, transmitters, datalinks, GPS, OSDs and
other onboard equipment, providing some distance and shielding between
them, so helping to minimise RF and magnetic interference.
Motor mounts can be fitted to the top or bottom of the arm, or fitted in
pairs to allow two motors per arm to be used.
The arms are drilled at 30mm intervals to allow flexible mounting of the
landing legs, and a variety of other equipment such as video
transmitters, mini cameras, LED strips and camera mounts. With the motor
and frame centre mount holes also at 30mm spacing, the arms can also be
easily cut in 30mm sections to allow the user to change the rotor
diameter of the frame to their own preferrence.
Power System Installation:
One of the biggest
issues with most frames is that not enough consideration has been given
to the installation of the main power systems. The space is too small,
or badly laid out leaving you with a rats nest of wires and ESCs crammed
together in a very small space. There will always be limited space in
these machines, so installation will always be tight, but having all
your main power systems forced into a small space can lead to very high
temperatures during operation - and high temperatures and sensitive
electronics are never a good combination, and can lead to premature
failure! The MultiFrame allows for a simple installation, excellent
cooling for your ESCs and access to them and their connections without
taking the frame apart. The plate spacing is such that most ESCs will
fit between the frame plates on their sides, so can be attached to the
side of each arm with foam tape. This allows very good airflow around
the ESCs, and the ability to simply pull them out and get access to
their connections should you need to. Very useful when setting motor
rotation direction!
There is room for most common power distribtuion boards to be mounted at
the centre fo the frame, although mounting holes for these are not pre
drilled as the exact mounting hole spacing varies from board to board.
Construction:
As with most high end
muticopter frames, the MultiFrame uses highest quality Carbon Fibre as
the main construction material for it's well known strength and light
weight, and we have carefully chosen our material weave and thickness to
provide the stiffness, rigidity and durability needed for a heavy lift
machine.
Unusually we decided to use aluminium alloy for the
construction of the arms. Carbon Fibre is very strong in certain
directions, and when it comes to any kind of hollow tube, it has great
longitudinal strength, but is very easy to crush. To mount a Carbon
Fibre arm, an internal brace, sleeve or spacer must be used, or a
friction mount that presses evenly around the entire outside of the
tube. Although it is possible to crush the aluminium alloy arm section,
it has much greater strength in this direction making straight through
bolt mounting possible. The MultiFrame arm section is custom moulded
from quality aluminium alloy with a wall thickness not normally
available in this type and size of moulding, allowing it to provide the
required strength with light weight, as well as minimise vibration
transmission.
The square section not only allows easy mounting of arms, plates, motor
mounts etc, but avoids problems common to arms that do not have a good
flat surface, such a rotational vibration, the twisting of arms in their
mountings, or twisting of motor mounts on the arm. Even a small loss of
orientation in the arm can cause all sorts of problems during flight!
The
landing legs are made from light weight aluminium strip, very strong in
a downward and outward direction. They are however designed to give in a
heavy sideways landing situation, reducing the possibility of damage to
the arm. With a double bolt at the rear and a single bolt at the front
of the leg, in the event of heavy sideways stress, they are able to
twist at the front and bend round on themselves. This means that should
you have a bad landing resulting in leg damage, the arms should remain
straight, and the leg can be simply bent back to it's original position.
Whilst your landing leg may not be perfect after this, you should still
be able to continue to fly, not ending your day due to one small error! |
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