3D R DIY Y6 Manual

1
DIY Y6
Build Manual
V.A
2014

2
Thanks for purchasing a DIY Y6!
These instructions will show you how to assemble a Y6 using the Pixhawk
autopilot system and ArduCopter/APM:Copter firmware. If you plan to use
other components in your build, please adjust these instructions accordingly.
For online instructions, visit 3dr.com/diy-y6-kit.
Frame parts 3
Electronics 4
Tools 4
1 Motor assembly 5
2 Power system wiring 8
3 Body plate assembly 10
4 Pixhawk assembly 15
5 Leg assembly 21
6 Calibration 22
7 Propeller assembly 22
Contents

3
Frame parts
30 mm bolts (5)
25 mm bolts (22)
5 mm bolts (30)
nylon bolts (4)
30 mm male-female standos (4)
19 mm hollow spacers (15)
18 mm female-female standos (9)
base plate
top plate
Pixhawk plate
accessory plate
metal nuts (32)
nylon nuts (3)
thumb nuts (2)
leg plates (6)
leg support plates (3)
motor plates (6)
velcro strips (one pair)
velcro straps (3)
dual lock
four-wire cables (25 cm and 15 cm)
15 cm female-female servo cable
male-female servo cables (30 cm and 10 cm)
six-wire cables (30 cm and 15 cm)
zip ties
blue arms (2)
black arms (1)
power distribution board
threadlocker

4
Electronics motors with adapters (6)
electronic speed controllers (6)
Deans connectors (6)
SF propellers (4)
SFP propellers (4)
Heat shrink tubing (12)
GPS mast with four mounting screws
u-blox GPS with compass
Pixhawk kit
To complete this build, you will need the following tools not included with your kit:
• Phillips screwdriver
• Double-side foam tape or other mounting adhesive
• Soldering equipment
Note: The electronics for this build require soldering. If you’re unfamiliar with soldering,
our friends at Sparkfun have some great tutorials that can get you started, including this
comic. For an example of exactly what soldering you’ll be doing in this build, view this
video tutorial.
Tools
This build uses the Pixhawk autopilot
system, including these components:
• Pixhawk autopilot
• u-blox GPS with Compass
• Telemetry radios
• Radio control system
• ArduCopter/APM:Copter firmware
Click here for more information
about these components and to view
compatible radio control systems.

5
1Motor
assembly
19 mm hollow spacers (3)5 mm bolts (4)motors (2) motor plates (2) metal nuts (3) 25 mm bolts (3)
Follow these instructions to assemble
two co-axial motors.
1 Assemble bottom motor
Align two holes in the bottom of the
motor with two holes in the motor
plate. Apply threadlocker to two 5
mm bolts, and secure the motor to
the plate from below. This motor will
attach to the underside of the arm,
so orient the motor so that the cables
will protrude as close as possible to
the hole in the side of the arm.
When applying threadlocker, use less
than one drop, and cover only four or
five threads where the bolt connects
with the motor. Make sure to insert
the bolts into the holes in the bottom
of the motor and not into the slots
where they could interfere with the
motor.

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2 Attach top motor to arm
Place a motor plate on top of the arm
with the short end of the plate facing
towards the end of the arm. Place the
motor on top of the plate, and align
the two small holes in the motor,
plate, and arm. Orient the motor with
the cables as close as possible to the
hole in the side of the arm.
Apply threadlocker to two 5 mm
bolts (less than one drop covering
four or five threads at the end of the
bolt), and secure the motor and
plate to the arm from below by
accessing through the two large holes
in the bottom of the arm. Make sure
to insert the bolts into the holes in
the bottom of the motor and not into
the slots where they could interfere
with the motor.
3 Thread motor cables through arm
Now you’ll thread the cables from
both motors through the arm. First,
thread the cables from the top motor
through the hole in the side of the
arm, and use a piece of tape to label
the cables so that you can distinguish
between the top and bottom
motor cables. Once you’ve labelled
the top motor cables, thread the
bottom motor cables through the
hole in the arm.

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4 Attach bottom motor to arm
Place the assembled bottom motor
against the bottom of the arm with
the short end of the plate facing
towards the end of the arm. Apply
threadlocker to the ends of the two
25 mm bolts (less than one drop
covering four or five threads at the
end of the bolt). Place a 19 mm
hollow spacer between each of the
pairs of holes in the two motor plates.
Place the 25 mm bolts through the
motor plates and spacers, and secure
from below with a metal nut.

8
2Power system
wiring
Follow these instructions to connect
the power system.
1 Solder Deans to ESCs
Solder a Deans connector to the red
and black wires on each electronic
speed controller (ESC). Check the
Deans connectors for the + and –
markings, and solder the + side to
the red wire and the – side to the
black wire. Don’t forget to add heat
shrink tubing to the wires before
soldering, and shrink the tubing over
the finished connections.
2 Number ESCs
Use tape (or other method) to label
each ESC with a number one through
six.
Deans to ESC:
negative = black
positive = red
-+
power modulepower distribution
board (PDB)
electronic speed
controllers (ESCs)
(6)
Deans connectors (6)

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3 Connect ESCs to PDB
Connect the Deans connectors
(red) on the ESCs to the Deans
connectors on the power distribution
board (PDB) in any order.
Take a look at the PDB and find the
pins labelled M1 through M6
(motors 1 through 6), and make a
note of which color wire connects to
each. Now connect the three-wire
cables from each ESC to these pins
on the PDB according to the ESC
numbers. This is where the order is
critical. Connect the ESC that you
labelled as “1” to the pins on the PDB
labelled “M1”. Orient the cable with
the white wire at the top (farthest
from the base of the board) and the
black wire at the bottom (closest to
the base of the board).
4 Connect PDB to power module
Attach the XT60 connector (yellow)
on the PDB to the XT60 connector on
the power module.

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3Body plate
assembly
Follow these instructions to assemble
the body plates.
1 Add velcro straps to base plate
Thread the two velcro straps through
the slots in the base plate. These
straps will hold the battery to the
bottom of your copter. The perfectly
flat side of the plate (without the
protruding nuts) should face down.
Your kit includes two velcro strips to
attach to the battery and the bottom
of the copter. To install, attach the
strip with loops (fuzzy) to the bottom
of the plate between the straps, and
attach the strip with hooks (smooth)
to your battery.
2 Attach arms to base plate
Using the innermost hole in the arm
and the hole in the base plate marked
below, insert a 30 mm screw from
the bottom up through the plate and
the arm. Attach the blue arms to the
wider end of the plate and the black
arm to the narrow end as shown on
the next page.
Visit the APM:Copter Wiki and learn
more about which batteries to use
with your copter.
19 mm hollow
spacers (6)
30 mm bolts (5)base plate top plate metal nuts (10)25 mm bolts (7) nylon nuts (3) thumb nuts (2) velcro straps velcro strip

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Ensure that each arm is attached to
the plate with the top and bottom
motors in correct orientation. An
easy way to tell which side of the
arm is the top is to look at the 25 mm
bolts in the motor assembly; the
bottom side of the arm has nuts
securing the bolts.
3 Label motors
Use tape (or other method) to label
the motors by the numbers shown
here. (The number above the line
corresponds to the top motor; the
number below the line refers to the
bottom motor.)
4 Connect ESC and motor cables
Connect the motor cables to the
corresponding ESC cables according
to the labelled numbers (connect
motor 1 to ESC 1, motor 2 to ESC 2,
etc). The order of the three cables
determines which direction the
motors will spin and is critical for the
copter to fly correctly. Connect the
cables by color in the order shown
here.
This image shows the correct wiring
for each ESC and motor. The motor
cables are dierentiated by color. To
dierentiate the ESC cables, orient
the ESC with the label facing up, and
use the relation of the cables to the
label.
It may be helpful to secure each arm
in place temporarily with a metal nut.
top = blue
center = red
bottom = black
Y6B CONFIGURATION

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5 Assemble electronics onto base
plate
The base plate holds the power
system: power distribution board
(PDB), power module, and six ESCs.
Place the assembled power system
onto the base plate. ESCs 1, 3, 4,
and 6 will attach to the sides of the
copter, perpendicular to the plates,
and cannot be secured until after
the top plate is assembled. For now,
place these ESCs around the edges
of the plate. Situate ESCs 2 and 5 on
the base plate with the labels facing
down. To better accommodate the
power system on the plate, you
can switch the order of the Deans
connections between the ESCs and
the PDB. (Do not switch the orders
of any other cables.) Ensure that
the power module XT60 connector
protrudes from the back end of the
copter where it can easily connect to
the battery.
6 Assemble top plate
Remove any nuts that you may
have used to secure the arms
temporarily to the base plate, and
add the top plate directly on top of
the arms. Secure the three existing
screws with metal nuts, and add a
nylon nut on top of each metal nut.
25 mm bolts
hollow spacers
bottom: metal nuts
top: nylon nuts
top plate
metal nuts
30 mm bolts
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
TOP VIEW

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metal nuts
thumb nuts
hollow spacers
base plate
25 mm bolts
30 mm bolts
Secure the arms to the plates through
the holes in the end of the arms and
the holes in the plates shown. Use 30
mm bolts and thumb nuts to attach
the blue arms, and use a 25 mm bolt
and metal nut to attach the black
arm. Finally, attach the base and top
plates together with 25 mm bolts, 19
mm hollow spacers, and metal nuts
where marked.
BOTTOM VIEW

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7 Secure ESCs
Use zip ties to secure the dangling
ESCs to the outsides of the plates
using the small slots along the
outside edges of the top and base
plates. Orient each ESC with the
capacitor (cylindrical volume at the
edge of the ESC) nearest to the
closest arm.
8 Thread cables through top plate
Locate the following three cables, and
thread them up through the central
space in the top plate: PDB two-wire
cable (red and black), PDB six-wire
cable (multicolor), and power module
six-wire cable (red and black). These
cables will connect to Pixhawk.

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4Pixhawk
assembly
Follow these instructions to assemble
the Pixhawk and accessory plates.
1 Mount Pixhawk
Separate the four foam pieces
provided with the Pixhawk kit, and
attach them to the bottom four
corners of the board. Mount Pixhawk
to the Pixhawk plate with the arrow
facing towards the wider end of the
plate.
2 Mount buzzer and switch
The switch (button) snaps into the
round hole in the accessory plate.
Thread the switch cable through the
hole in the accessory plate from the
top, and gently pull the switch into
place. Using double-sided foam tape,
mount the buzzer to the underside of
the accessory plate.
30 mm standos (4)nylon bolts (4)Pixhawk plate accessory plate metal nuts (4) GPS mast Mast mounting
screws (4)
BOTTOM VIEW

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3 Mount GPS
Place the base of the GPS mast over
the four holes in the accessory plate
with the shorter side of the top of the
mast facing the left side of the plate
(the arrow-shaped holes in the plate
face forward). Add a mounting screw
to each hole, and secure with nuts.
Remove the adhesive backing from
the mast and place the GPS module
onto the mast with the connectors
facing the shorter side and the
arrow on the GPS pointing in the
same direction as the arrow-shaped
holes in the plate.
4 Insert SD card
Insert the micro-SD card into the
slot at the end of Pixhawk. The
APM:Copter sticker can be attached
to the front of Pixhawk.

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5 Connect modules to Pixhawk
Connect the buzzer, switch, splitter,
GPS, power, and telemetry modules
to Pixhawk.
To ensure the most secure cable
assembly, thread the cables through
the holes in the plates where
possible. Where the cables dangle
away from the frame, such as along
the mast, use zip ties to secure the
cables to the frame.
Note: Pixhawk’s DF13 connectors
can be fragile when disconnected
and reconnected multiple times. Do
not pull on the cables to disconnect,
use a fingernail or small, flat tool to
loosen the edges of the connector
until it pops out. Buzzer and switch: Connect the buzzer to Pixhawk’s BUZZER port, and connect the switch (safety
button) to the SWITCH port. These components are mandatory for Pixhawk.
I2C splitter: Connect the four-wire cable to one of the ports on the splitter and to Pixhawk’s I2C port.
GPS with compass: Use the long cables provided with the GPS mast to connect the GPS with
compass module to Pixhawk. Connect the four-wire cable to the GPS’ MAG port and to one of the
ports on the I2C splitter. Connect the six-wire cable to the GPS port on the GPS module and to
Pixhawk’s GPS port.
Power module: Connect the six-wire cable (red and black cable protruding from the central space in
the top plate of the copter) to Pixhawk’s POWER port.
Telemetry radio: Connect the six-wire cable to a telemetry radio module and Pixhawk’s TELEM 1 port.
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
5
4
5

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6 Connect RC receiver
7 Connect motor outputs
Connect backup power (optional)
Locate the six-wire cable (multicolor) protruding from the
central space in the top plate. Connect it to the main output
signal (s) pins on Pixhawk according to motor number. Recall
your notes from the power system wiring and see which color
wire corresponds to motor 1. Ensure that that color wire is
connected to the main output 1 signal (s) pin. Do not rely on
the colors of the wires shown here, the accuracy of this
component is critical.
Pixhawk is compatible with PPM RC receivers or PWM receivers with an additional PPM encoder
module. Connect the three-wire cable (red, black, and white) from your PPM receiver or PPM
encoder to Pixhawk’s RC pins with the white wire connected to the signal (s) pin, the black wire
connected to the ground (-) pin, and the red wire connected to the power (+) pin. Click here for
more information on using a PPM encoder or Spektrum Satellite receiver.
Connect the two-wire cable (red and black) protruding from the top plate to provide a backup
power source for Pixhawk. Connect the black wire to any of Pixhawk’s main output ground
(-) pins and the red wire to any of the main output power pins (+). This configuration is best
supplemented with a zener diode (visit the APM:Copter Wiki to learn more), but the backup
power method can be used without implementing the additional diode. If you do not wish to
connect backup power, leave the cable disconnected.

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8 Assemble plates
Add a 5 mm nylon bolt to the four
holes in the accessory plate marked
below, and attach a 30 mm stando
to each one below the plate. Add
the Pixhawk plate to the ends of the
standos and secure with metal
nuts. Ensure that the arrows on the
accessory plate face towards the
wider end of the Pixhawk plate.
nylon bolts
metal nuts
30 mm spacers
accessory plate
Pixhawk plate

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Place the assembled plates over the
exposed bolts in the top plate with
the arrows facing towards the blue
arms, and secure with metal nuts.
9 Mount remaining components
Select a location on the copter to
mount the I2C splitter, telemetry
radio, and RC receiver. Use dual lock
or double-sided foam tape to mount
the components. Check that all
components are connected securely
to Pixhawk.
Where you place the components on
the copter is ultimately limited by
the length of the cables between
modules. Experiment with the
dierent length cables provided with
your kit, and find the best place for
each module on your copter.
Pixhawk plate
top plate
metal nuts
(mast not pictured)