F450 Indexed Folding Legs - Customizable

thingiverse

Customizable indexed folding legs are designed for the generic F450 style of quadcopter. All aspects can be customized using OpenSCAD and/or via the Customizer - leg length, leg thickness, foot diameter, pivot bolt size, etc. Some low-level customizations may require manual adjustments to align components properly. These legs can be folded down (locking into place with spring/detent) for flight, then unfolded for storage, taking up no more vertical space than the stock 450 frame without leg extensions. The pivot holes are designed for a 3mm bolt, which passes through the two pivot pieces and self-taps into the triangular mounting plate. This should be tightened to clamp the legs firmly to the F450 frame, but not so much as to strip out the hole in the mounting plate. A nut can always be used on the back side if needed. For those without OpenSCAD or if Customizer hangs up on Thingiverse, several pre-set STL files are available for legs of a few different lengths. If you don't have OpenSCAD or can't get Customizer to work and need a different configuration, let me know and I should be able to post an STL of what you're looking for. You really need to download and use OpenSCAD - it's an amazing free tool with its own customizer built in. This means you don't need to know the OpenSCAD scripting language to customize designs like this! To operate the leg, just depress the spring lever and pivot the leg until it locks into the desired position (folded or extended). This design was strongly influenced by CVMichael's very nice folding leg design, as credited in the remix reference. I wanted something that wouldn't require external pins to hold the legs in position and was willing to go with a less symmetrical position under the legs to achieve it in a simple manner. His looks nicer, though!