Baboon

Operational: June 2023 –

This drone is named for baboons that one finds in South Africa, often chilling, and often speeding into action!

Posts

Posts related to Baboon.

Components

Below are the components I have on this quad. After an incident where my drone took a 200m tumble I replaced the faulty ESC and at the same time replaced the motors and flight controller. It is a nod to the Armattan frame that I could do this and not write-off the drone completely. The original components and build can be found in my How to build a 5″ HD freestyle quad with MEPS components post.

PartManufacturer
FrameArmattan Marmotte 5″
Flight ControllerMamba MK4 F722 FC (20 x 20 mm mount)
MEPS FPV Flight Controller SPACE SZ F7 Mini (20 x 20 mm mount)
ESCMamba Mini F55_128K ESC (20 x 20 mm mount, 55A ESC)
MEPS MINI SZ45A 6S 4IN1 ESC (20 x 20 mm mount)
XT60 connector (male) for power (included with ESC)
MotorsiFlight XING2 2306 2555KV 4S
MEPS FPV Brushless Motor SZ2306 for 5-Inch Freestyle Drone / 2450KV / Cool Grey
VTXWalksnail Avatar HD (25.5 x 25.5 mm mount)
+ 3D-printed component mount
+ 3D-printed camera shims
+ 3D-printed antenna/power mount (Avatar v1 or Avatar v2)
RXTBS Crossfire Nano RX
+ 3D-printed tray to hold the RX
GPSiFlight M8Q-5883 GPS Module
VIFLY GPS Mate (with buzzer)
+ 3D-printed holder for mounting on battery strap
BuzzerIncluded in VIFLY GPS Mate
PropsAzure Race/Freestyle 5″ 5140
Battery4S 2400MAH 120C 35.52WH
CameraGoPro Hero 11 Mini

Metrics

Some statistics on the quad.

MetricDetails
Weight (quad only)345 g
Weight (quad + GoPro Hero 11 Mini)625 g
Weight (quad + 2800 mAh battery & GoPro Hero 11 Mini)775 g

Construction

Here is the wiring diagram using the Mamba components:

Wiring diagram for Mamba-based ESC & FC

The full details of the original construction of the original drone can be found at How to build a 5″ HD freestyle quad with MEPS components. Here are the highlights of the new component installation.

XING2 motor wire length measurement

Now on to the tricky part of soldering the motor wires to the ESC.

Wired ESC and motors ready for install in the frame
Components assembled
Ready for a test flight!

Flight Photographs

Here are some photographs from the drone flying.

Flying near Lukmanier Pass in Switzerland
Taking off
Preparing to fly near Lukmanier Pass
Medel Glacier
Flying along a ridge
Flying towards Medel Glacier