Hi there! I'm David Hoyt, Cal Poly CPE grad and drone aficionado. I have quite a bit of experience with building, flying, and (of course) fixing drones, and would love to share as much of that as I can. You can find more information about me on my LinkedIn.
Some of my copters at iFixit's office in SLO
And now, please allow me to drone on...
- Sepulveda Dam - Filming for Infinity Automotive
- Palmdale Desert - Filming for 'Wish I Was Here' (2014)
- The Japanese Garden, Van Nuys - Filming for Discovery Channel
- Universal Studios Backlot - Filming for T.J. Maxx · Marshalls · HomeGoods
- Built the 'GryzzlBox Delivery Drone' and delivery box mechanism for Parks & Rec (NBC), operated it on set during shooting.
- Three Heavylift Octocopters designed to carry RED Epic cameras (brushless gimbals, wireless video, one built using a H3-3D gimbal for FPV)
- Two Mid-Sized Quadcopters (Brushless gimbals, wireless video, one with autonomous flight)
- Rainbow LED copter with sequenceable RGB LEDs!
- I was in the Drone edition of Make Magazine, and got to visit their headquarters in Sebastopol, CA for a day with Drone Dudes
- Homebuilt two hexacopters and three quadcopters, all Ardupilot based
- Senior project at Cal Poly - Collision Avoidance
- Two fixed wing aircraft, both autonomous, exchanged GPS information and avoided each other's airspace
- I took a drone on a 3500 mile road trip
- M2 and M2.5 Screwdrivers
- Velcro, mounting tape, and zip ties
- Multimeter
- Calipers
- 3D Printer
Are you referring to the clips in step three? If so, i highly recommend a hard, flat edged tool like a plastic spudger or flat head screw driver. Push is against the opposite side of the C clip that is opened with roughly the same force you applied to get it off. You have to be really careful that you push it directly horizontal or else you might damage the shaft or risk loosing the clip if it pops off.