TriWiiCopter

TriWiiCopter is a historic home-made tricopter built in 2010 by Alexinparis, the original author of MultiWii flight controller software. It was the first aircraft to fly MultiWii.

The drone was built using gyroscope and accelerometer component (InvenSense IDG-600) extracted from Nintendo Wii MotionPlus (from which the name of the drone was derived). Alex developed his own firmware for Arduino Pro Mini board, which would be used as a flight controller.

The copter was made in a hull constructed from fiberglass and carbon fiber tow. The hull housed the electronics inside the hollow shell while maintaining the strength to withstand the crashes. Carbon fiber reinforcement in the center was added in later revisions.

Components

 *  FC:  Arduino Pro Mini (based on ATmega328 microcontroller) + InvenSense IDG-600 gyro
 * RX: Assan X8 R4 4Ch 2.4GHz (X8R4H)
 *  ESC:  Hobbyking SS Series 8-10A ESC
 *  Alternative ESC: Turnigy Plush 10A
 *  Motors:  Turnigy 3020 Brushless Outrunner Motor 1200kv
 *  Alternative motors:  Turnigy 2204-14T 19g Outrunner
 *  Propellers:  GWS EP Propeller (DD-7035 178x89mm)
 *  Servo:  Turnigy MG90S Metal Gear Servo 1.8kg
 *  Battery:  Turnigy 1300mAh 3S 25C Lipo Pack
 *  LED:  Turnigy High Density R/C LED Flexible Strip

Video
TriWiiCopter in flight (video of May 2010):

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