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Pick-up device

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Hi,
I'm looking to buy\build a pick-up device to be attached to my inspire. I want it to pick up a 600g package and safely hold it while flying. Any idea\suggestions? I've been searching for such mechanism for a while now and all i found was drop and release mechanisms...
 
There was a thread way back in phantom pilots on a 4 finger
device that was light and fingers were closed till you lowered it over what ever then they opened and when you pulled up they clamped shut and just did a search and couldn’t find it. Might have been a thread. They used it to grab a drone from the top of a tree
if I remember right. I’ll keep looking but they do make them.
 
I didnt mentioned it but my package is box shaped so Im not sure a device such as a claw will work...
 
Hi,
I'm looking to buy\build a pick-up device to be attached to my inspire. I want it to pick up a 600g package and safely hold it while flying. Any idea\suggestions? I've been searching for such mechanism for a while now and all i found was drop and release mechanisms...
Magnet on a string. Occam's Razor.

D
 
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Wouldn't a magnet interfere the reception?
No. A magnetic field is static. Ergo, it won't interfere with electronics or radio signals. That said, I assume the magnet will be dangling below the bird, not physically attached to the bird. Either way, yer good to go.

D
 
I have been trying to come up with a good, lightweight solution for a drone rescue. I thought about a magnet but that would require something on the drone being rescued to stick it to.
 
I have been trying to come up with a good, lightweight solution for a drone rescue. I thought about a magnet but that would require something on the drone being rescued to stick it to.
Yep. All drones have some ferrous metals in them. The motors have magnets themselves. So there ya go.

D
 
Yep. All drones have some ferrous metals in them. The motors have magnets themselves. So there ya go.

D
I am still skeptical that a magnet strong enough to lift another drone won’t mess with the compass in the drone doing the lifting.
 
I am still skeptical that a magnet strong enough to lift another drone won’t mess with the compass in the drone doing the lifting.
The magnet has to be very close to the compass to cause any problems - within an inch or two. Hint: Closer than the DOZENS of Neodymium magnets in the motors. If you're rescuing a drone, I would assume about 6' of string, which is more than enough distance to not disrupt the compass.

D
 
Can you give more information like the box size. Aside from picking up does it have to drop off also? I have mounted a box under my Inspire 1 that held a 860g 6s battery. Unfortunately I didn't have many flight's do to shorting of the BM boards. I think dangling anything under a drone is not a good idea magnet or hook. My experience with the first fight, the drone was wobbly and the sensors were working overtime. I then adjusted the CG and added a set of inspire 2 props. now it was more stable in the air. It's possible but the box would have to be sized to not. interfere with lift of the drone and. You would also need a docking device to capture the box. I have some ideas but need more information. Here are some photos of my battery set up. Tom
 

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Can you give more information like the box size. Aside from picking up does it have to drop off also? I have mounted a box under my Inspire 1 that held a 860g 6s battery. Unfortunately I didn't have many flight's do to shorting of the BM boards. I think dangling anything under a drone is not a good idea magnet or hook. My experience with the first fight, the drone was wobbly and the sensors were working overtime. I then adjusted the CG and added a set of inspire 2 props. now it was more stable in the air. It's possible but the box would have to be sized to not. interfere with lift of the drone and. You would also need a docking device to capture the box. I have some ideas but need more information. Here are some photos of my battery set up. Tom
Kind of off topic...

When I first started my aerial photography company with the Phantom 1, pretty much everything had to be customized, hacked, built, etc. That journey took me through a couple of different GoPro cameras, lens options, gimbals, etc. One of my better modifications was getting rid of the OEM 3S battery and moving on to 4S batteries. I wish I had photos, but I'm not at home. Naturally, these larger batteries had to be mounted to the outside of the hull. The design was such that I could slide the battery fore and aft to perfectly balance the center of gravity. It was a great design that worked well. Here's a video...


One of the things I explored were different battery capacities. I BELIEVE the OEM was a 2200mAh battery. Because I was buying 4S batteries, I gradually moved on to greater and greater capacities in search of the perfect size before suffering diminished returns. I think 5,200mAh was the winning ticket, which was more than double the capacity of the OEM. Anything beyond that and the drone suffered very profound diminished returns. The 6,000mAh barely gave me less than a minute more flight time over the 5,200mAh battery. This doesn't even take into account the diminished handling, which was VERY noticeable. Though I enjoyed the flight time of the 5,200mAh battery, the handling characteristics of the 3,000mAh battery were profoundly "crisper."

The Inspire 1...

I've been flying the Inspire 1 for many years and one thing I definitely notice is a profound loss in handling of the X5 payload over the X3. Again, going from memory, I believe the X3 weighs in at around 230 grams. The X5 is more than double that (500g-ish), and I definitely noticed the "barge effect" of the heavier payload. Though I never flew the X5R, I can only imagine that that payload would diminish handling even further.

A TB48 weighs in at a massive 660g. I can only imagine that doubling that capacity (let alone tripling it) would not only have a very steep diminished return curve, but would make the already-barge-like Inspire 1 handle even more like a pig than it already is.

I guess my query is that I'm curious to know if you did any experimenting with different capacities before deciding on such a massive battery. The battery in your photo looks to be in the 10,000mAh range or greater. That thing has to weigh close to 3 lbs. What kind of flight times are you getting with that battery? And how does the Inspire 1 handle it?

Very interesting setup!

D
 
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