Here is some video of the movement of the Hexapod itself, as well as some video of the legs in action while flying, and by user request we also use the legs to pick up an empty water jug.

More videos to come soon!

So, we have been tossing around the idea for a while now of trying to get a Quadcopter to mate with a Hexapod and produce us a mechanical offspring that could walk and fly. So when we came across the opportunity to get a PhantomX Hexapod kit from our friends over at Trossen Robotics we jumped at the chance. Thanks again to the guys over at Trossen for the Kit, and your assistance.

Our first attempt at getting a Quadcopter that could walk involved locking the two machines in a closet for a few days in hopes nature would take its course. When it became apparent this approach wasn’t going to work we knew we had to intervene.

Go to The Project Page

Mad Lab Industries is gearing up for the holidays, Halloween to be specific. We have some cool products that needed some Halloween spirit so what better than to have some flying ghosts and spiders. Here is a quick test video we uploaded of the ghosts flying in some nice wind. Now to get the giant spider rigged for flight and we will have a video of that soon too.

MadLab industries is proud to release the new Grasshopper V2 Quad Frame for FPV and Sport Flight. By using high grade nylon fiberglass composite hardware, the quad’s arms are designed to separate on hard impact.  The arms can then be reattached to the quad.  Additional new modifications include increased frame rigidity and superior motor mounting.

Version 2 Changes Include:

• Detachable arms
• Crash absorbing frame
• Increased rigidity
• Easier to transport in a backpack or bag
• Increased frame stiffness
• Better flight under demanding situations
• Improved sport flight. Perform flips, barrel rolls, loops and more with superb response from the new grasshopper V2 frame.
• Optional sport landing gear; slim, lightweight and less susceptible to crosswinds at speed.
• Support for coaxial 8 rotor configurations, Twin motors per arm (landing gear upgrade required)

Standard Features:

• Extended flight times of 25 minutes plus (with recommended flight hardware)
• Lifetime limited frame warranty
• Universal motor mounts built in
• Built-in forward camera mounting plate with vibration isolation hardware.

Addons:

• x4 to x8 Landing gear set. Includes landing gears and hardware to convert
  the Grasshopper V2 to a Coaxial 8 Rotor
• FPV wireless video down-link
• Gyro stabilized camera mount
• Survey and Surveillance Package including wireless video down-link, HD camera

Optional Camera Upgrades:

• Sony 10x optical zoom module with remote control station.
• Thermal imaging optics with remote adjustability, positive, negative and color exposure  modes.

Previous owners are eligible for a frame upgrade discount; Contact MadLab Industries to get a upgrade code.

 
Grasshopper V2 Sport Flight on board Go Pro.
 

 
 
Grasshopper V2 Parachute Drop and Fun Fly.
 

 
 
Grasshopper V2 with a Parachute Drop.
 

So we took a couple more pictures of the HoverflyPRO case we made. This time we actually mounted the board in the case so everyone could see how it was done as there was some questions over on our post at rcgroups.com (here).

Some details on the finished product.

Sneak Peak: Base Kit with 8 rotor option

Here is a sneak peak at an Inventor rendition of our latest design for our base model kit. This showcases the 8 rotor option for it.

Often times we find ourselves in need of something that we have run out of on hand, and being the way we are, waiting for overnight delivery is unacceptable!

Lucky for us that Trossen Robotics is a fifteen minute drive and they keep an amazing stock of just about anything we might need on hand, plus everyone who works there is super cool.

So it’s no surprise that last week while working on our pan/tilt system for our quadcopter and needed some nice servos that we hit up Trossen Robotics for some Dynamixel AX-12 servos. In the process we decided to bring our quad with and give a little demonstration since we know it was right up their alley.

Here is a some video footage they took of us flying up there, and a link to their blog post about us. Make sure to check out the rest of their site as well as they have A LOT of cool products they offer, including Bioloid, Humanoid, Hexapod and Quadropods kits!

So after using an ArduPilot for a while, and spending countless days of tuning, and re-tuning and never truly being satisfied or happy with the flight performance we decided to try out a new flight controller system.

The new flight controller is a Hoverfly Pro, though we think it should simply be called AMAZING! We think the video of our first flight speaks volumes more about their awesome product then we ever could, so you should just watch it. Also if you have no clue about the pains we speak of when it comes to an ArduPilot, simply go and Google or YouTube ArduPilot PID tuning.