RotorX RX122 Atom Building Guide 1
What s included? 1x Atom CF 2mm Frame 1x Naze32 Flight Controller (Pre- flashed with Cleanflight) 1x pack of mounting hardware 1x JST pigtail 1x servo wire 1x 520tvl CMOS camera 1x Pololu Step- down voltage regulator 5V 1x MinimOSD (preflashed with Scarab OSD) 1x 5.8ghz VTX 600mw 32ch (Fatshark, Boscam compatible) 1x CL Antenna (RHCP) 4x DYS 20A ESC (SimonK with Comp_PWM enabled) 4x Custom made RotorX 1104 motors 1x PPM capable radio receiver (optional) RotorX custom 3020 props Recommended accessories: 3M double- sided tape, ¾ inch heatshrink ** NOTE ** We recommend using a variable temperature soldering iron, helping hands, a flux pen and good solder for better build quality This build requires making modifications to included electronics. RotorX and its dealers/resellers are not responsible for any defective parts that are the result of these modifications. 2
TABLE OF CONTENT PART 1: PREPPING ELECTRONICS... 4 A) ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLER (ESC)... 4 B) FLIGHT CONTROLLER (FC)... 5 PART 2: INSTALLATION... 7 A) MOTORS... 7 B) ESC... 7 C) FC... 9 PART 3: FPV SYSTEM... 10 A) MICRO MINIMOSD... 10 B) CAMERA... 11 C) VTX (NEVER EVER POWER THE VTX WITHOUT AN ANTENNA ATTACHED, VTX WILL BE BURNT)... 12 PART 4: FINAL TOUCHES... 14 A) RADIO RECEIVER... 14 B) CAMERA MOUNTING... 14 C) FC... 14 D) OSD... 14 E) VTX... 15 3
PART 1: PREPPING ELECTRONICS A) ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLER (ESC) Remove signal and ground wires from all the ESCs. We will actually prepare these connections on the FC side first, after that we will cut the wires to length and solder back onto the ESC. That way there will be no excess wires. Given the size and weight of Atom, we minimize excess weight by removing unnecessary connectors and plugs. Therefore cut the servo plugs of those wires. You can discard those plugs Strip both ends of signal and ground wires, tin them 4
B) FLIGHT CONTROLLER (FC) Turn the board upside down, tin the signal and ground pads (1 through 4) on the ESC Headers rails. We will run the wires from underneath the board Turn the board right side up, tin RC Input pads as shown (power, ground, 1, 3 and 4) 5
Solder signal and ground wires on the board. Label them from 1 to 4 so we can identify them later 6
PART 2: INSTALLATION A) MOTORS Install motors using included hardware B) ESC Cut a piece of the included double- sided tape, enough to cover the ESC and use it to mount the ESC to the topside of the frame, on top of the motor wires. Make sure the power leads face inwards 7
- Battery + Take note that the motor wires are underneath the ESC. Once the ESCs have been positioned, cut the power and ground leads to length and solder them in daisy chain configuration as shown above. Use the included JST pigtail to connect to battery Tin the motor pads on the ESC. Roll the exposed tips of motor wires in a circle and tin them. Solder motor wires onto ESC pads Install Pololu on the frame, connect Vin and GND to the nearest ESC. Vout and GND will be connected to the FC later. 8
C) FC Mount the FC using provided hardware with USB port facing the left hand side (FC needs to be turn 90 degree in Cleanflight later on). Suggested method is using the 10mm standoffs below and 8mm ones on top of the FC. This will provide enough space to mount the radio receiver underneath the FC. Cut the signal and ground wires to length and solder it from FC to respective ESC. Solder 5V and GND wires from Pololu to one of the positive and ground pads on the ESC header rail. Solder the given servo wire to the GND, positive and RC input pad 1. 9
PART 3: FPV SYSTEM A) MICRO MINIMOSD Tin pads on MinimOSD as shown. Connect pad 3 and 4 (on the other side of the FC) to RX and TX on the MinimOSD respectively. Power MinimOSD by tapping into the nearest ESC header pads. 10
B) CAMERA CAMERA Cut the camera wires to length, usually about half the length, strip all wires and tin the tips. Solder the video signal and ground wires to Video In and GND on the MinimOSD. Solder power wire to the nearest 5V on ESC Header pad Connect the Battery monitor port on the FC to the nearest ESC. The FC will monitor battery voltage. By connecting pad 3,4 to Tx and Rx on the MinimOSD, the same information will be display on the OSD. 11
C) VTX (NEVER EVER POWER THE VTX WITHOUT AN ANTENNA ATTACHED, VTX WILL BE BURNT) Cut the SMA connector off the antenna Strip away about 1cm of the plastic jacket, be careful not to cut into the braided shielding. Remove the cover and twist the shielding into 2 strands. Strip away the dielectric insulator to expose about 2-3mm of the core. Don t tin the shielding strands and core yet. 12
Thread the core wire through the signal hole, spread the shielding on the pads. Solder the antenna directly onto the VTX: shielding to the 2 large pads, while core to the small hole in the middle. Use provided 3M tape to tape the VTX to the underside of the top plate, make sure the dip switch is aligned through the cut- out hole. Use ziptie to secure it to the top plate. VTX Use the other half of the camera wire, solder them to the VTX following the marking (5V, Ground, Video). Cut the connector off and solder the wires to the MinimOSD (Video out, Ground) and the 5V power of the ESC header rails. 13
PART 4: FINAL TOUCHES A) RADIO RECEIVER Solder the servo wire to the PPM output on your radio receiver of choice. Recommended mounting space for the receiver is underneath the FC ** Make sure your receiver is PPM capable and PPM mode is activated ** Do one final check through all solder joints, make sure everything is connected. Power up the system, check through your goggles to identify the top and bottom sides of the camera. B) CAMERA MOUNTING Camera Cut a few pieces of the provided 3M tape, each slightly shorter than the previous. Stick them to the bottomside of the camera like shown above. The more steps you have, the more aggressively the camera is angled. For beginner pilots, we recommend 1 to 2 layers of tape. Use 3 layers for casual flying and 4 to 5 for extreme racing. C) FC Connect your flight controller to Cleanflight and flash it with Cleanflight 1.9 (if not already) Configure your flight controller for Quad X configuration. Be sure to rotate the board 90 degree to the left (yaw 90 degree). Double check that board orientation is correct. Make sure that in Ports tab, MSP is checked for both UART1 and UART2 Check motor rotation, swap any 2 wires on the same motor if rotation is wrong. Once everything is done, secure the ESCs and receiver antennas to the arms with heatshrink (3/4 inch heatshrink recommended) Secure the top plate using provided hardware D) OSD Power everything, make sure you can access the OSD, tune PIDs and rates through goggles. 14
E) VTX Please use the chart below for channel selection 15
** YOUR BUILD IS NOW COMPLETE ** ** PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR CONFIGURATION GUIDE TO SET UP YOUR FLIGHT CONTROLLER ** 16