Speed Addict 210-R is a mini quad frame from Catalyst Machineworks, featuring the popular X config design and improvement in vertical COG.
Get your Speed Addict 210-R Mini Quad frame from Catalyst.
Here is my build log of this frame: https://oscarliang.com/speed-addict-210-r-mini-quad-build-log/
Frame Unboxing and Assembly
The attention to detail from the frame maker is just amazing! They have created this frame so easy to put together, and the design looks awesome!
I still have to build it and test it, but so far this is one of my favourite mini quad frames in terms of user experience.
Here is how the assembling goes, very straight-forward.
The main difference from this frame comparing to the rest of the world, is the location of the PDB which is mounted underneath the frame. It’s protected by a bay guard and carbon fibre cover. This allows a much lower top plate (will explain why this is good in a moment).
Look! These little aluminium standoffs are provided to put into the 3D printed bay guard, which is used to strengthen the structure making it more durable! This is one of the examples why I said they really pay attention to detail.
Table of Contents
Comprehensive Document and Explanation
With every Speed Addict frame I have reviewed for Catalyst, they always come with comprehensive assembly instructions, detailed explanations of why each part of the frame is designed that way.
Frame Design
Uni-body Design
The uni-body design is always a controversial one – some people love the simplicity while some prefer the option of replacing only the broken arms and not the whole bottom plate. I personally prefer Unibody design for quads that are under or around 500g AUW. Light weight mini quad usually has a smaller impact in crashes and arms are less likely to break. It makes it very simple to build, and fewer bolts and nuts are used means more weight saving.
However on this frame, I found if I press on two opposite arms hard enough, they flex a little. I guess this might be one of the downsides for larger unibody frames. I would be able to tell if this is likely to cause any issue when after I have tried it.
X Config Design
Many experienced pilots I know told me that X config showed different flight characteristics cmoparing to H config, mostly positive feedbacks (even with the same setup, PID needed to be retuned). I am still trying to find a good explanation for this, I guess maybe because the arms are directly linked to the centre of mass – the middle of the craft?
Note that on this frame the width is actually longer than the length (135mm VS 166mm). I think this makes sense because most of the weight is on pitch axis, and requires larger force to pitch forward/backward so shorter length is to compensate that. We see the same in the good old Blackout Mini Quad frames and ZMR250.
On the bottom plate where the arms are, there is extra carbon fibre material on both left and right sides. It’s there to strengthen the arms against crashes. With this added material, the arms have a shorter lever and they are much better supported. As you can imagine, with shorter lever it’s more difficult to snap the arms.
Thoughts on the Speed Addict 210
Weight
Relatively light weight design even with aluminium standoffs – 107 grams, 102g without PDB.
Carbon Fibre Parts
Bottom plate and Arms are 3mm thick (4mm version is also available). top plate above FPV camera is 3mm thick, and all other carbon parts are 1.5mm. The cutting of carbon fibre is very clean.
Motor mounts on arms are made small, also the front and the rear part of the frame body are made as thin as possible. This results in better aerodynamics and less drag when flying forward. The trade off is less motor protection in crashes.
Lower Battery Position
We know we should make sure the COG (centre of gravity) is in the centre of the frame (where 4 motors intersect), to get better stability and performance. But we often forget to consider the vertical plane too (looking at the quad from the side), where COG should meet the line of props.
Sometimes slow oscillations and overshoots during sharp turns can be caused by Lipo mounted too high or too low in the frame, aka pendulum effect. Better COG on the vertical plane can help, and it also makes roll and pitch movement more efficient, giving you a more crisp feel.
Speed Addict’s solution is to move the Flight controller and PDB down, by adding a bay guard to create the extra space below the frame. Therefore you can sit the LiPo battery on a much lower top plate deck.
This allows the overall COG get closer to the line of props where the force are generated. This is perfect on paper, but it might not be in your case, because it depends on the size of your LiPo, and height of your motors etc. There are many factors that affects the COG of your quad. But closer to perfect is always better.
Due to the super low top plate, it doesn’t leave you much space to work with. I can see how tight this build is going to be to fit all my stuff in there, such as OSD, Blackbox Openlog, RX, VTX and so on.
Cameras
FPV camera cage design allows tilt angle from 0 to 45 degrees.
Catalyst Machineworks sells a 3D printed Gopro/Yi Camera mount that is designed for this frame. It’s made of TPU material which is flexible and crash resistant. It bends in crashes rather than breaking.
Reciever Antenna mount
RX antenna mount is also made of TPU material. As we have seen in the Speed Addict 265 frame, antennas are sets at 90 degree angle apart for optimal signal, and they lean back 45 degree so when the quad fly forward (also tilted forward), the antenna would sit up straight for better signal.
Personally I would prefer my old way of installing RX antenna – Zip ties + heatshrinks. The blue plastic tubes are just taking up too much space for me, and they don’t bend which becomes awkward when storing the quad in my bag or box.
XT60 LiPo connector pass through
It helps to keep wires away from spinning props, and reduces the use of wire to the minimum.
PDB included in Frame
I think the spec of this PDB should be enough for most setups, giving you 70A constant and 110A peak. 1A on both 12V and 5V voltage regulated output for RX, FC, VTX and OSD (filtered)
Take a look at the detail spec.
So far I really like this frame, will see what she’s capable of in the test flights! Build log and FPV videos will follow soon.
Here is a tutorial on how to assemble the frame:
14 comments
Best frame i ever built and flown. Have two of them and like them very much :-)
Hi.
You wrote the frame is shorter in length to compensate the weight on the pitch axis.
The weight doesnt matter if the COG is in the middle.
And if it isnt it has to be longer (longer lever == less force required).
Anyway, it seems like a nice frame, but for me its a bit too expensive (altough im sure its worth the price) and has a bit too little space.
of course it does :)
imagine you have a gopro on the front, and lipo on the back of the frame, it will take more force for it to rotate the same speed on pitch than roll…
Hi Oscar,
Our 210-R and 180-R Assembly and Electronics Install Tutorial is finally finished!
https://youtu.be/_CWNrYt8QOg
Thank you very much for the update Neill… i will update the article with the tutorial video!
Wouldn’t the PDB bay cutout introduce multiple points of weakness to the frame? It’s just asking to break during a crash. For the price they are asking for the frame, I would sacrifice a higher centre of gravity if it meant surviving a crash and not having to replace a frame.
FPVaddict, actually is incredibly durable. The overall decrease in material volume at the center of the craft has been made up for by placing this same volume farther out on either side of the PDB hole. Also, in doing this you reduce the moment seen at the interface of the arm into the fuselage. For the same force if you reduce the lever arm you reduce stress concentration at arm to fuselage interface…This reduces the chance for a fracture here. We find it very difficult to break the main frame plate on our 3mm option frame. This option is designed for all out racing where you want to save weight as much as possible but still have a very strong racer. The 4mm option frame is damn near impossible to crack and is designed for freestyle and bashing. I have 4 team pilots and myself all flying these and not one of us has broken the 4mm frame yet. We have hundreds of crashes between us. Our customers are also reporting stellar results from crashes. Also, to be honest everyone is missing the most important part of what makes this machine different. Its not so much the CG. Yes, the CG is in an ideal location and that helps flight characteristics. But, really what is most important is moment of inertia. Placing the Lipo down low right on the line of thrust keeps the moment of inertia low. The craft rotates around the line of thrust during pitch, roll, and yaw. If your lipo is sitting way up high this creates a larger moment of inertia the craft has to overcome. Configuring your arms towards the center in an “X” helps to keep mass centered but honestly its only a small part. The LIPO is the largest contributor to overall craft mass. That is a fact. But, most manufacturers just place it in some arbitrary location. Place your lipo as close to center as possible. That is what we have done. Among other things.
Fly it and you will see. Talk to people who have flown it and used it for some period of time. Our responses from customers have been great.
https://youtu.be/oAUu9-RDtr8
https://youtu.be/mjq4glU_62g
I was intrigued by this frame, but then I saw the price. No thanks.
Good frame doesn’t come cheap :)
lastly… i would really appreciate it if you could post your questions on the forum: http://intoFPV.com … I only check my blog comments once a week, but I use the forum everyday!
Hi Oscar,
I can not wait for the first flight !!! Hope you will ripping …
Nice frame
It’s not X design and you confirmed it by measuring MTM distance on both axis. You will not see any benefit because geometrically is still H quad. Many manufacturers put out false claims recently.
It’s not completely X like the warthox… as there is still a cage… but to my understanding an X config is different from H config by how the arms are directly linked to the centre of mass.
When you say “you will not see any benefit”, can you elaborate what benefits you are referring to ?
The whole debate on which is better or not is still (imo) something that depends on the perspective of each pilot.
Same as the preference of a driver to choose a Honda or a Toyota.
They handle different, feel different, etc.
An X frame and an H frame, besides the CoG, (and any other shaped frame) react differently to the torque applied by each motor because the arms are coupled in different ways to the body.
Yeah, we can do a custom motor layout on our FC so it thinks it’s an X, but it’s not. Forces are forces and they will act in a peculiar way for every type of arrangement.
The H frames emerged from the need of more real estate to shove more electronics on the quad (at least, that’s what I think).
If we really want to get down to perfection, let’s all build a + frame.
In the end, we all fly what we like.
and what you fly can change the way you fly too :)
lastly… i would really appreciate it if you could post your questions on the forum: http://intoFPV.com … I only check my blog comments once a week, but I use the forum everyday!