DJI Inspire transgender transformation

[William Gaddy]

Ok, so I custom machined the DJI Inspire V1 Pro backplate, tapped it for a 1/4"-20 mount, then attached two 360Fly VR cameras on a multiplate so I could shoot some stereoscopic 360 VR video... and for some reason, I kinda stared at it for a while, quizzically, head cocked. "Why does this look familiar". I think "she" just became a "he".

 

[AeroMirage]

That's some set of ballz.......

 

[William Gaddy]

That's some set of ballz.......

I think I finally figured out what this reminded me of ... Dr. Evil's rocket from Austin Powers.

 

[Mashuugana]

LOL!

 

[LOVELY]

Have your flight records changed too?! Mine seemed to have got more testosterone based recently.......

 

[William Gaddy]

View attachment 10214 Have your flight records changed too?! Mine seemed to have got more testosterone based recently.......

LOL made my day there.

 

[Dobmatt]

Ok, so I custom machined the DJI Inspire V1 Pro backplate, tapped it for a 1/4"-20 mount, then attached two 360Fly VR cameras on a multiplate so I could shoot some stereoscopic 360 VR video... and for some reason, I kinda stared at it for a while, quizzically, head cocked. "Why does this look familiar". I think "she" just became a "he".

View attachment 10153

Jokes aside for a while, that's about 350-400 g payload on the tail! How the bird behaves?

 

[William Gaddy]

See it here:

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In short, I moved the mount to the bottom instead of the back of the battery case, and swapped out the X5R for an X5 to meet weight.

And it's a 450 gram payload...

Cheers

 

[William Gaddy]

By the way, bottom mounting a 450 gram payload is not as straightforward as it might seem. Epoxy? Nope. Shear pressure applied broke it right off. Hot glue? Kinda worked. But shear force is always the problem here. Drilling through the bottom plate? Nope, not gonna do it.

In the end what worked was: 3/4" screw. 1'4"/20 pitch, cyanoacrylate with a LONG curing time with a clamp (think over 24 hours, in my case 48), then hot glue (the good stuff) over it all to seal the deal. Can't knock it off with a hammer (I've tried).

Balance is good with the X5, I flew it p-ATTI in portions of the video above. The camera has a very small (and spherical) wind footprint so it doesn't add to wind deflection much. With the X5R I would technically be overweight from the manufacturer's TOW specs, and the whole point is to fly this rig commercially, so I have to stay within those boundaries.

I've seen some guy tug a 2 pound bag of water bottles (successfully!) with an Inspire, but I can't do that under CFR 14 Part 107...

Cheers

 

[Dobmatt]

William, I don't see the balancing issue as of paramount importance. No matter what and where you'll put as extra payload, the system will control motors performance accordingly. To a degree, of course. During my experiments with SPV (Second Person View) the GoPro 4 Session cube was mounted on tag plate with gooseneck adapter, putting the bird way off balanced weight distribution. Inspire handled this with no problem whatsoever ...
BTW, I recommend 3M Scotch Weld 2216 epoxy as absolutely the best adhesive for such projects. Virtually non-destructible, assuming proper surface preparation ...

Cheers,
Matthew.

 

[William Gaddy]

Hi Matthew.

I've found the Inspire to be very forgiving of imbalances, up to a point. I've had some crazy test/experimental stuff mounted on the back via an isreali arm (which put it WAY out of balance) and the noise it made when in p-GPS, plus the list to port and aft when in p-ATTI made me immediately land and say to myself "NOPE, not doing THAT again" -- think 750 grams mounted maybe 4 cm below and 5 cm aft.

Most of my glue problem was probably initially surface prep; but I've found cyanoacrylate to be very reliable with the plasticized battery underplate. I will source the epoxy you recommend, however -- I have a 2nd Inspire to victimize, er I mean, mod, now.

Cheers

 

[Dobmatt]

Hi Matthew.

I've found the Inspire to be very forgiving of imbalances, up to a point. I've had some crazy test/experimental stuff mounted on the back via an isreali arm (which put it WAY out of balance) and the noise it made when in p-GPS, plus the list to port and aft when in p-ATTI made me immediately land and say to myself "NOPE, not doing THAT again" -- think 750 grams mounted maybe 4 cm below and 5 cm aft.

Most of my glue problem was probably initially surface prep; but I've found cyanoacrylate to be very reliable with the plasticized battery underplate. I will source the epoxy you recommend, however -- I have a 2nd Inspire to victimize, er I mean, mod, now.

Cheers

I've tested several adhesives and this marvel is way ahead anything else on the market. Gives you plenty of work time, flows nicely around corners, is flexible even in lo-temp, adheres to almost everything, hell-ishly strong bonding ... what else you can ask for? They use it for military helicopters parts assembly (props etc.) ...

Cheers.

 

[The Editor]

BTW, I recommend 3M Scotch Weld 2216 epoxy as absolutely the best adhesive for such projects. Virtually non-destructible, assuming proper surface preparation ...

Cheers,
Matthew.

Ouch - it's expensive though

 

[Dobmatt]

Ouch - it's expensive though

It's the most obvious and simple rule: good things are expensive ... Take it the other way: if it's expensive, than it must be good. It works with no exception like this ...