HiRO Game of Drones Build Instructions

Build-it-yourself kit

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Summary of Contents for HiRO Game of Drones

Page 2 Congratulations on your purchase of the Game of Drones® Hiro Build-It-Yourself kit. When you’re done, you’ll have your very own Hiro drone ready to bind to a transmit- ter. We designed this kit to be easy to use, fun, and educational. When you’ve com- pleted the Game of Drones®...
Page 4 The side with the hole in the center is the “top shell.” The “front” of your drone is adorned with the “Game of Drones” sticker. Keep that in mind when you’re building. The side without the hole is the “bottom shell.” The bottom shell is symmetrical, so you don’t need to worry about a front or back.
Page 5 First take a moment to become familiar with your arms. Not the ones on your body; the ones on your frame. Arm 1 is a friend, and you and it will spend a lot of time to- gether. After you’ve identified Arm 1 through 4, use a small piece of tape and a pen to number your arms so you can easily find them later.
Page 6 Starting with your old friend, Arm 1, place one of the wood motor mount disks inside the frame and make sure all the holes on the disk align with the holes on the frame. The holes are not in a perfect square, so if they don’t align, turn the mount 90 degrees and look again. Eventually, you will get the mount so the holes all line up.
Page 7 Then get a CCW motor (double check you’ve got the right one!) and align it so its wires are pointed toward the center of the frame. Then line up the screw hole in the bottom of the motor with the tip of the screw sticking out of your frame. Screw in the motor until it is firm, but not so firm you can’t swivel the motor a bit to get the other three holes to line up.
Page 8 Do this for all four motors, making sure your CCW motors go on Arm 1 and Arm 3 and your CW motors go on Arm 2 and Arm 4. Now string all the wires coming out of the motors through the little slot in the frame next to the motor.
Page 9 Mounting your Control Board to your Power Distribution Board Estimated time to complete: 10 minutes Set your frame aside and get out your KK 2.1 Control Board (The one that has a “Multi-Rotor Control Board” sticker) and your Power Distribution Board. Inside the Control Board box you’ll find four long black bolts with little silver nuts.
Page 10 Now flip your Power Distribution Board over so the black squishy side is up, and lay it over your KK 2.1 Control Board, sandwiching the power cables between the two boards. The power cables and the yellow tip should be pointing away from you (pointing in the same direction as the “forward”...
Page 11 NOTE: Any spare plugs you don’t use can be used at a later time if you ever want to customize your Hiro with lights, FPV cameras, camera gimbals, or other components. Do this for all four ESCs. It doesn’t matter which set of black and red plugs you use, but you’ll want...
Page 12 Why is this important? Because the computer chip important to navigation is located right below where the arrow is on the case. Putting that chip in the center of the drone makes a big difference in how it flies. Now take a good look at what you’ve got and you’ll see why you can’t use the back plugs on your board.
Page 13 Now look at your KK 2.1 Control Board. On the back side, you’ll see a plug called “Program- ming Port.” Grab the flat, grey ribbon cable from the KK 2.1 Control Board box and plug one of the ends (doesn’t matter which) into the Programming Port. Give it a good push to make sure it’s firmly seated.
Page 14 Now do the same with ESC 2 (the one that will go in Arm 2), plugging it into to position 2 on your Control Board. Follow up with ESC 3 and ESC 4 into positions 3 and 4.
Page 15 Attaching Your Receiver Estimated time to complete: 15 minutes Now is the time you’ll plug in your receiver. This is part of a matched set with your transmit- ter (the thing in your hands you use to steer your drone). Because there’s a lot of transmitters out there with varying degrees of complexity and prices, we’ve left this decision up to you.
Page 16 If you use a PWM-based receiver, it’s pretty straightforward. Look at the wires coming from the receiver and match them with the plugs on the left side of your Control Board. “AIL” will go to the “AIL” plug, “ELE” will go to the “ELE” plug, “THR” to “THR,” and “RUDD” to “RUDD.” (Side note: Those stand for “aileron,”...
Page 17 Plugging In Your Motors Estimated time to complete: 5 minutes Grab the top shell with your motors attached. You’ll notice the wires from the motors are colored red, black, and yellow and the wires from your ESC are colored red, black, and blue. For all your motors, connect them to your ESCs by plugging them together.
Page 18 If You Are Using a PPM-Based Transmitter/Receiver This section is only for those who are using a PPM-based receiver. If you are using a PWM-based receiver, skip this section. The KK 2.1 is set by default to use PWM, so no extra steps are needed. First, check and double check your connections before applying power, especially your con- nections of your ESCs.
Page 19 Final Test Prep Now you’ll bind your transmitter to your receiver. Check your transmitter’s manual on how to do this. For more information about manuals for the most popular transmitters and receivers, visit www.GameofDrones.com/DIYmanuals Setting Your Motor Layout Estimated time to complete: 5 minutes Now you will tell the flight board how your motors are laid out so it will fly the right way.
Page 20 Testing Your Signal Estimated time to complete: 5 minutes Turn on your transmitter and plug in your battery. You’ll hear a few beeps, and the Control Board and your receiver will power up. Now, let’s make sure your Control Board is getting signal from your transmitter. Plug in your programmer if it isn’t already plugged in and press the rightmost key on your Programmer to enter the “Menu.”...
Page 21 Calibrating Your Accelerometer Estimated time to complete: 5 minutes From the “Safe” screen on your KK 2.1 Control Board, hit the rightmost key to get to your menu. Use the down key to scroll to “ACC Calibration” and press “Enter.” You will see instructions on the screen.
Page 22 Calibrating Your ESCs Estimated time to complete: 10 minutes This is your last calibration, and it’s necessary to ensure your ESCs all have the same values for start and stop. If you aren’t lucky enough to have a third arm, it might be good to have a friend help with this.
Page 23 Checking Your Rotation Estimated time to complete: 20 minutes The direction your motors’ spin determines if it will take off or just flop around on the ground. Place your top shell on your bottom shell, making sure all your wires are inside the frame and nothing’s sticking out.
Page 24 Estimated time to complete: 10 minutes Once you have all the motors turning in the right direction and all calibrations complete, it’s time to test whether your Hiro can get off the ground. Unplug your battery and put on your propellers.
Page 25 A firm tightening is all it needs. Take your Hiro outside in a clear, flat area where there are no pets or people who may be hit by it. Place it on the flat ground, turn on your transmitter first, and then plug in the battery and tuck it inside your drone.
Page 26 Tuck the heads of all the zipties securely against the gaskets and clip off all the ziptie tails. Now either pop the frame cap into the top hole or leave your Hiro open and just slide the short piece of gasket around the edge of the hole.
Page 27 Do some research on the care and feeding of LiPo batteries so you know what to do and what not to do. We don’t want to lose one of our Hiro family due to a battery. Second, flying etiquette. It’s important. You now are a part of the flying community, and you now have a great responsibility to know how to fly safely and properly.
Page 28 Now That You’re a Drone Pilot There’s nothing better than being a safe drone pilot. Getting educated and involved in the community is key. We highly recommend you learn how to fly your drone from experienced trainers. The Academy of Model Aeronautics endorses a number of schools that can get you flying right. You can find a list of RC instructionprograms at www.modelaircraft.org under “Education.”...
Page 29 Thank you for choosing the Game of Drones® Hiro Build-It-Yourself kit, and more important, thank you for building it. We hope you enjoy flying it, and we’re always looking for your feedback. Visit www.GameofDrones.com for more information and to sign up for our news- letter.