QR Ladybird miniature unmanned multi-rotor “Bug”

QR Ladybird from the company Walkera - a small quadrocopter, sold in the kit “included and fly”, costs from $ 90, including delivery. There is a complete set with FPV - a camera and a video transmitter are suspended from a copter, a receiver and a screen are built into the console - you can practice first-person flights.

Lyrical digression

In me (as, perhaps, in any boy) from childhood lives an interest in different radio-controlled models. The aggravation of interest came when I saw photographs of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl taken from an incredible angle in the spring flood - Stanislav Sedov and Dmitry Moiseenko were shooting from the air from a radio-controlled model of a helicopter:
^{(Photograph taken from Stanislav Sedov blog )}
I went a little deeper into this topic, became interested in multicopter. However, in the process of studying it became clear that the multi-rotor is such a thing that needs to be built - to dive into modeling, to try, to err, to try again. For example, one of the articles on this topic on Habré . With respect to the enthusiasm of Yavanosta, the appearance of the drone he collected from the scrap materials somewhat cooled my ardor, I set aside this topic as complex. But recently, I came across a new article on veell unmanned aerial photography . It became clear that there are ready-made, well-thought-out design kits from serious manufacturers on sale, and you can assemble a large multicopter that can lift the camera on board and shoot a breathtaking photo or video from the air ...

But I have very little experience in managing unmanned radio-controlled models. A couple of years ago cheap small Chinese coaxial helicopters began to appear everywhere. I took away from my friends and bombed two. They have shaky parts, and it’s not clear where to get spare parts; I only had one helicopter for a day or two flights and a dozen crashes.
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And now, before deciding whether I should get involved in the selection and purchase of a large multicopter, I wanted to get a little familiar with the topic, try it out, start with something not too complicated, not very expensive, small (so that you could fly if only in the room), moderately reliable and with available spare parts. And it is desirable that it was a complete set, ready to fly.

Here on the rcdesidn.ru forum I came across a topic , by Ladybird, and it immediately became clear to me that the bug was exactly what I was looking for.


^{(this and other photos later in the post are mine)}

Basic data bugs and answers to questions.

Walkera is a Chinese manufacturer, but the quality is quite tolerable and it specializes in radio-controlled models of aircraft, they have a lot of experience and a wide range of various models, equipment and spare parts.

Price. For a set with the cheapest Devo 4 remote (in terms of quality, this remote is just like cheap helicopter pilots) for about $ 90 with delivery. With a semi-professional remote, (for example, WK-2402 or Devo 7) about $ 170. Spare parts, additional batteries can be ordered with the copter. Spare parts are sold absolutely everything, you can at least collect a whole bug from them (only it has no sense - at a price it will be twice as expensive as buying a finished one).



Flight time from one battery is 5-8 minutes. This may seem a little, but the control of a rotary-wing aircraft requires continuous concentration, so having one or two batteries planted I want to take a break. Charging one battery takes 1-1.5 hours, in the charging that comes with it, you can charge two batteries at the same time.
Conveniently, the battery does not end instantly, just falls traction, fly up and hang on the same level, the bug can no longer, begins to gradually decrease.
The range of the remote, you can say, excessive. For example, at a distance of 50 meters the bug is no longer visible, and the console finishes in a straight line significantly further.



The difference between bugs and AR.Drone-type toys is that the aircraft is controlled from a mechanical console, which allows you to more accurately control the flight, and even carry out 3D aerobatics. In addition, AR.Drone is hung with sensors (for example, if it flies over a stool, it rises higher, because its height stabilization is carried out by measuring the distance to the surface located below it), and there are no sensors in the bug except a gyroscope. In addition, the bug has a “3D mode” with disabled stabilization. If it is almost impossible to turn a bug in the air with stabilization turned on, then by turning off stabilization, you can twist the coups.



We should also tell about the version with a camera and video transmitter TX 5805 on the belly.



In addition to the transmitter glued to the body of the bug, the kit includes a remote controller Devo F4 or F7 - a video signal receiver is built into this remote control panel, what the little bug "sees" is displayed on the remote console screen. This kit costs about $ 250-300. On the one hand, it is relatively expensive, and having studied the FPV system at the core forum, you can build a similar system cheaper, or build a system with higher quality for comparable money (say, with video glasses), more powerful and more versatile. But, on the other hand - there is already a complete set, took out of the box and practice.

The disadvantage of the TX 5805 camera is that there is a lens with a relatively narrow viewing angle on it, I personally would like to see the angle wider one and a half times. Now I am trying to find another lens for it (there is a lens with an external thread diameter of 7 mm). On the remote there is a video output, you can connect it to a portable TV, and fly on a large screen, or to a video capture card, and write video on a laptop.
The range of the video transmitter-video receiver pair is small, it is enough to fly over one wall and interference occurs, or even the connection may be interrupted. In the open air, I have not checked the range yet - the weather has not really spoiled us yet.

For completeness, I recorded a video of the flight on the camera. I fly the flight on FPV, I’m still quite uncertain, I haven’t even flown around the camera for even one hour, but good practice is needed here. Therefore, make a discount on a small experience, I hope the video can get an idea about the flight "from the first person."
The black bars that run through the brightly lit areas are a lack of a video capture card; there is nothing like this on the console screen. In the middle of a recording for half a second the signal disappears - this happens when you fly over a wall or some large object. At the end there was an unexpected, but rather successful landing back on the bookshelf :)


I like to systematize and catalog, so as I read the forums, I have accumulated useful data, links, tips about the bug. Looking at all this material, I realized that based on it you can make an article or a FAQ. I wrote a relatively detailed review on my blog . It can be useful to study if you are interested in a bug, and want to learn more about its characteristics, versions, consoles, compatibility, spare parts.

About my "park" and flight experience.

I have three sets and a full stock of all spare parts, a handful of batteries and a suitcase for transportation.

The first bug was with the remote control Devo 7 (in the photo it is in the case). I try to fly regularly - every weekday put one or two batteries. For a month, the little bug survived dozens of falls and two accidents - once unsuccessfully, having fallen hard on the floor from a height of about 2 meters I broke the frame and something was damaged in the “brains”, the engines began to pull in different ways. I had two spare frames, but the board had to be ordered, but the boards in the convenient online store were not available and I ordered a whole new set with the Devo 4 console. Another unsuccessful drop was from a height of about 5 meters to the floor, again the frame broke. Then I decided to order a FPV kit with a Devo F7 remote and a spare fee. Ironically, the FPV kit drove from China earlier, as a result, I didn’t even turn on the last kit with the Devo 4 - it was in the box.