I'm asking for votes, for my Instructables projects, to get either of them into the upcoming O'Reilly "Best of Instructables" book. All you have to do is just go to either of these Instructables links; Picoo-Z project or Steadicam bike mount project, login and then click the button labeled:
Just a couple of notes on the PicooZ front. Silverlit Toys, the patent holder of the PicooZ mini helicopter, has updated their website, at least since I was last there. From their main page, click on the Products nav button and then on the PicooZ panel. Or just go to the page from here -> PicooZ specific page Click on the "FEATURE" thumbnail for a flash demo of the PicooZ controls and operation or click on the "LINKS" thumbnail for links to other pages with discussions groups, performance tips and more.
There doesn't seem to be a PicooZ II on the horizon just yet, Silverlit has probably been to busy with legal battles over all the PicooZ knock-offs.
SilverLit Electronics, the manufacturer and distributor of the PicooZ mini helicopter has a warning on their website about counterfeiting of their product. They also have a list of the counterfeit copter names, such as;
1) Pocket
2) Rider
3) Little Bee
4) AIR COPTER
5) Small Butterfly
6) Small Butterfly Miniature Copter
...to name a few.
They also have a page where they list some the authorized product packaging from different countries.
On a side note, there's also some confusion as to the name of the REAL product, I've seen is as; Pico Z (which is on the Silverlit counterfeit list) or Picco Z, in various postings and websites. There's also a US version the goes by the name of "Havoc Heli" by Air Hogs. Accept no substitutes, get the original PicooZ :)
I had a comment in one of my earlier postings, about the Picoo Z mod, about a video contest being sponsored by HobbyTron. You can check out the details at their website (http://www.hobbytron.com/piccozcontest.html). The contest ends on Dec. 31, 2006. There will be one (1) grand Prize of $1,000, two (2) 2nd prizes of $500 each and fifty (50) Honorable Mentions of $50 each.
The Saturday ride was very windy, averging 20+ with gusts at 30+ and temp's in the 40's for the entire 47 miles. Did I mention it was a bit hilly too; ~2000 ft of climbing. But it was worth it, good friends and good food at the end of the ride.
As for that counter clockwise rotation problem on my mini helicopter, it's been improved with just a slight drop of very thin oil on the tail rotor shaft. The problem had started after a crash where some lint and/or hair was wrapped around the tail rotor shaft. However, just removing the hair had not fixed the problem.
Winter is approaching fast, the last few days have been rainy and windy and as such less than idea for bike riding. This weekend marks the end of our clubs scheduled rides for the year. We're ending it with a members only potluck Chili lunch after a 30 mile ride (weather permitting).
On the Picoo-Z front, the carbon fiber shaft and ball bearing mod worked well, almost no vibration now. But it still had the counter clockwise rotation problem, however I think I have a fix for that as well (more on that as I get it tweaked).
I completed the rotor mod project over the weekend and posted it on Instructables a little while ago. http://www.instructables.com/id/ECVKZ75ZVQET9K5TSC/
I should be able to post the Instructables project late tomorrow. I have the helicopter in pieces and have it ready to install the new parts. Here's a couple of preview pictures.
The ball bearings from Precision-HELi came pretty quickly (for ~$8 shipping, I'd hope so). I knew they were going to be 3MM OD (or ~1/8"), but wow, that's really small, it should be an interesting project.
I'll fully document the project and the results via Instructables. I should have time to get it done this weekend, or post the progress here, if I don't.
TAGS: picoo z helicopter
In the next week or so (once I have all the parts) I'll document a mod that I'll be doing on my Picoo Z helicopter. After a few crashes it's developed a nasty vibration. I picked up some .04" (1MM) carbon fiber rod to use as the rotor shaft and I ordered a set of 1x3x1 MM ball bearings. This mod is documented at the website I mentioned in a previous posting.
The weekend ride went fine, although it was a little windy. In the colder and windy weather this short (~30 mile) ride, with about 1200 ft of climbing, seemed a lot longer.
I've had a little more time to play with this micro helicopter that I mentioned in my previous posting and it's way cool. One problem, after a few crashes the rear tail rotor was getting lint and hairs wound up in it. This was easy to fix by gently pulling the plastic rotor blade off of the motor shaft (that's correct, there's a separate, very small electric motor on the tail) and clearing the stuff that was fouling the prop. This allowed the trim to work, as the rotor was being slowed down by the hairs. So that was part of what was causing the constant clockwise rotation in flight.
There's also a website devoted to the Picoo Z (that's the spelling on the box). There's two mods I may do right off the bat; 1) the bearing and carbon fiber shaft replacement and 2) the Airwolf body change out (that one is totally custom at this point, so I'll wait till someone sells a kit).
Tuesday Ride: I missed it this week, we're just starting to early and the days are getting to short. Looks like it will be weekend rides for me, for awhile.
I've been seeing the videos on the web, and being the gadget nut that I am, of course I had to have one of these. Most of the Radio Shack stores are sold out, but I found one that 
said they could order it (this was last Monday) and I'd have it by the end of the week, plus the shipping would be free direct to my home. That's alot better than the eBay deals I've seen, people are paying between $39-$49 and then $15 dollars shipping on top of that. Anyway it arrived on Friday, so I've had the weekend to play with it a bit. So far I haven't quite got the hang of it, it's been crashing a lot and our dachshund hates it :)
