Preventing Inspire 1 from Sinking

sixthdim · Jul 2, 2016

Next week I will be using my Inspire to capture some footage over a lake. As a precaution in case of a water crash, to keep my drone from sinking like a stone, I have attached some foam pipe insulation to the arms. Drone floaties as it were. 20" of foam in total. I'm just not sure if this is enough buoyancy for this done, as it's pretty heavy, and I don't really want to dunk my drone to find out. Has any of you tried anything like this, or know of a good way to determine if this amount of foam will keep it from totally sinking? If it turns out it will sink anyway, I'd rather not attach any foam and keep my aerodynamics. Here is a photo of what I've done. I'll use zip ties before I actually fly it. Thanks for any input.

huppe · Jul 2, 2016

I don't think this will prevent your Inspire from sinking.Your Inspire will be to heavy.Anyway in case of getting into the water your Inspire will be pretty much damaged.
I fly a lot above water and after awhile you're not afraid anymore.
All I can say just trust the Inspire or start with short distances and everytime a bit further.
Another good thing is there won't be much obstacles

.
If you're not comfortable when flying above water simply don't do it.

sixthdim · Jul 2, 2016

huppe said:
I don't think this will prevent your Inspire from sinking.Your Inspire will be to heavy.Anyway in case of getting into the water your Inspire will be pretty much damaged.
I fly a lot above water and after awhile you're not afraid anymore.
All I can say just trust the Inspire or start with short distances and everytime a bit further.
Another good thing is there won't be much obstacles.
If you're not comfortable when flying above water simply don't do it.

I'm thinking the same thing. Some future archeologist would just find a strange flying contraption with floaties at the bottom of a lake. I'm not really that scared of flying over water, and I'm aware a water crash would pretty much total the drone, but in the event of an angry bird attacking it over water, I'd like for there to be at least a slight chance I could recover my footage.

Thanks for the input.

Alastair · Jul 2, 2016

Interesting thought! Question...why haven't you extended the foam the complete length of the tubes?

You could try weighing the AC and attach the equivalent weight to all the foam that you'll use and see if it sinks.

sixthdim · Jul 2, 2016

Alastair said:
Interesting thought! Question...why haven't you extended the foam the complete length of the tubes?

You could try weighing the AC and attach the equivalent weight to all the foam that you'll use and see if it sinks.

I was just trying to keep the foam away from the moving parts of the landing gear. I could probably extend it a bit towards the motors. I might try the weight test. I just need to find a scale and a pool

Inspired 2 · Jul 2, 2016

Seen someone attach swimming noodles to the legs with zip ties like pontoons to land on the water

sixthdim · Jul 2, 2016

Inspired 2 said:
Seen someone attach swimming noodles to the legs with zip ties like pontoons to land on the water

Yea, I've seen a few videos on YouTube of pontoons allowing landing on water, which is cool, but I don't want that much drag. I'm going to be chasing a boat and jet skis. I don't plan on landing on water. I just want to be able to get my drone back if it happens to crash in water.

Ferdi · Jul 3, 2016

sixthdim said:
Next week I will be using my Inspire to capture some footage over a lake. As a precaution in case of a water crash, to keep my drone from sinking like a stone, I have attached some foam pipe insulation to the arms. Drone floaties as it were. 20" of foam in total. I'm just not sure if this is enough buoyancy for this done, as it's pretty heavy, and I don't really want to dunk my drone to find out. Has any of you tried anything like this, or know of a good way to determine if this amount of foam will keep it from totally sinking? If it turns out it will sink anyway, I'd rather not attach any foam and keep my aerodynamics. Here is a photo of what I've done. I'll use zip ties before I actually fly it. Thanks for any input.

We fly over water a lot too. Have had the Inspire go into a lake due to some failure. Was a mission to retrieve from just 3 meters of water due to cold stormy water. Now I have 2 Getter Back's attached:
https://www.amazon.com/GetterBack-Recovery-System-Velcro-Yellow/dp/B00GIYIU8Q

This should make retrieval easier if the water is less than 100ft deep. If you have a good quality SD card your footage will be intact even if the Inspire is not. Naturally that would require getting the camera back which tends to detach on impact. Probably a good idea to loosely tie on the anti-fibration plate to the aircraft with fishing line through the rubber dampers...

sixthdim · Jul 3, 2016

Ferdi said:
We fly over water a lot too. Have had the Inspire go into a lake due to some failure. Was a mission to retrieve from just 3 meters of water due to cold stormy water. Now I have 2 Getter Back's attached:
https://www.amazon.com/GetterBack-Recovery-System-Velcro-Yellow/dp/B00GIYIU8Q
View attachment 9076 View attachment 9077
This should make retrieval easier if the water is less than 100ft deep. If you have a good quality SD card your footage will be intact even if the Inspire is not. Naturally that would require getting the camera back which tends to detach on impact. Probably a good idea to loosely tie on the anti-fibration plate to the aircraft with fishing line through the rubber dampers...

That's awesome. I didn't know those existed. Thanks! I'm gonna buy some.

sixthdim · Jul 3, 2016

I also just found this product, the Water Buoy. It supposedly can lift 2.2lbs once submerged. So, zip tieing 4 of these to an Inspire might be a good little insurance policy.

pahl · Jul 4, 2016

Hi there guys,

it´s been already said on the thread but i though that you´ll find this idea interesting:

Its not my video. But i´ve been thinking about doing that mod to the inspire everytime i fly above water.

Also, i have installed a GetterBack on my i1 like Ferdi suggested. (And i find the sixthdim Water Buoy VERY interesting too..will it hold a i1 + x3??)

sixthdim · Jul 4, 2016

pahl said:
Hi there guys,

it´s been already said on the thread but i though that you´ll find this idea interesting:

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Its not my video. But i´ve been thinking about doing that mod to the inspire everytime i fly above water.

Also, i have installed a GetterBack on my i1 like Ferdi suggested. (And i find the sixthdim Water Buoy VERY interesting too..will it hold a i1 + x3??)

The pontoon idea is pretty cool. If I was planning on flying from a boat I'd probably do that. The Water Buoy says it can lift 2.2lbs, and the Inspire 1 weighs almost 6.5lbs. 3 buoys could probably keep it near the surface. I think I'd prefer 4 of them to be sure, in case one failed, and for even weight distribution. Parachutes are available for the Inspire1, someone just needs to invent an Inspire 1 life jacket

pahl · Jul 4, 2016

sixthdim said:
The pontoon idea is pretty cool. If I was planning on flying from a boat I'd probably do that. The Water Buoy says it can lift 2.2lbs, and the Inspire 1 weighs almost 6.5lbs. 3 buoys could probably keep it near the surface. I think I'd prefer 4 of them to be sure, in case one failed, and for even weight distribution. Parachutes are available for the Inspire1, someone just needs to invent an Inspire 1 life jacket

Hehe, yes... well... you always can install one of this:

One thing that makes me feel a little bit unconfortable with Water Buoy is an accidental deploy on air... That would be catastrophic!

Also, regarding to parachutes... last time i search the web for that solutions, i couldnt find anyone with an "integrated" deployment system. I think that installing a second receiver+battery is not a realistically reliable system.

Do you guys know if theres another solution out there?
I know that the inspire is a kind of "closed system" (compared to an Naza, A2 or A3 controller) but it would be great to have something more fast and reliable.

sixthdim · Jul 4, 2016

pahl said:
Hehe, yes... well... you always can install one of this:

One thing that makes me feel a little bit unconfortable with Water Buoy is an accidental deploy on air... That would be catastrophic!
Also, regarding to parachutes... last time i search the web for that solutions, i couldnt find anyone with an "integrated" deployment system. I think that installing a second receiver+battery is not a realistically reliable system.

Do you guys know if theres another solution out there?
I know that the inspire is a kind of "closed system" (compared to an Naza, A2 or A3 controller) but it would be great to have something more fast and reliable.

lol, nice. Yea, the only decent parachute system I have seen is the Mars Parachute System. It is all self-contained. I've never tried one, but it looks promising. Kinda pricy though.

huppe · Jul 4, 2016

Do not forget incase of a failure your Inspire will FALL out of the sky.No soft landing!Anyway I don't think it's wise to land or start from water.Your electronics will be damaged by the spray.
Simply start on a clear surface,do your thing and land on the same spot.
I allready said if your not feeling comfortable flying above water,don't do it.It's the same when you are above land,if there is a failure you will damage it anyway.
Don't be afraid to fly above water it's a very safe area to fly if your within a not to far area.
Good luck

Paul Cartwright · Jul 9, 2016

There is a YouTube video of the waterbouy failing to lift a phantom from a couple of meters... The water pressure collapsed the balloon so much it just had no real lift...

I'm interested in the pool noodle idea, it doesn't take much in the way of length on these things to keep a person afloat so a drone should be viable...

If anyone does do weight testing before get a chance to get some I'd be interested to see the results...

Paul Cartwright · Jul 9, 2016

Google says approx 2lb per foot of pool noodle, I'd want to test the weight myself before trying it though...

Now if I fit a big loop to the top of my I1, I have to wonder if my x8 could carry the weight and break the water tension for a rescue scenario...

DrMrdalj · Jul 9, 2016

Hi,
I fly over water very often, many times I takeoff from boats and land in hand, so I did detailed research on potential I1 buoyancy.

Firstly I saw several different videos on YT from people who added styrofoam ball floats on each leg, or foam floats between legs - it seemed fairy buoyant, but aircraft aerodynamics and balance ware obviously jeopardized as these floats have to be large to have sufficient buoyancy. Also, there are antennas in each leg (under each motor) so one should be careful not to interfere with RC reception. I noted similar aircraft performance penalties with each and every float design.
There ware some other devices who inflate when submerged, mostly for nautical small devices such as keys - one of them
Waterbuoy - Miniature Floatation Device
but you shoud put six of these on I1 and such solution is not reliable one...

As flight pefromance is very importnat to me, finally I settled without any floating aid - I just make VERY detailed preflight check, VERY detailed area observation and takeoff and landing plan with alternatives, always have SPOTTER by my side, and I plan for landing when batteries are at 50% so I have plenty of juice for alternative landing strategies...
So, this is how it goes
While filming these shots I was at deck of other fast boat who just floated nearby with engines running. I find that when taking off from a boat it is of outmost importance to SET failure to "HOVER" instead of RTH in case of signal lost - boat is not large enough nor stationary enough to be your spot autmatic landing so in case of lost rc I rather chase the aircraft who should hover in place... When flying over water I always disengage VPS sensors (water can confuse "vision" positionig). Note that you should not try to takeoff from a steel boat, nor from any platform above boat engine or near nautical radar antenna, as it will heavily influence sensors/compass readings - some weasted their aircrafts by doing so... So, take your time to plan slowly...

I hope that this helps and that you will have safe and successful flights.

djhefner · Jul 9, 2016

sixthdim said:
Next week I will be using my Inspire to capture some footage over a lake. As a precaution in case of a water crash, to keep my drone from sinking like a stone, I have attached some foam pipe insulation to the arms. Drone floaties as it were. 20" of foam in total. I'm just not sure if this is enough buoyancy for this done, as it's pretty heavy, and I don't really want to dunk my drone to find out. Has any of you tried anything like this, or know of a good way to determine if this amount of foam will keep it from totally sinking? If it turns out it will sink anyway, I'd rather not attach any foam and keep my aerodynamics. Here is a photo of what I've done. I'll use zip ties before I actually fly it. Thanks for any input.

I've been doing a lot of flying over water lately, so I've attached floats and "Getterbacks":

djhefner · Jul 9, 2016

sixthdim said:
Next week I will be using my Inspire to capture some footage over a lake. As a precaution in case of a water crash, to keep my drone from sinking like a stone, I have attached some foam pipe insulation to the arms. Drone floaties as it were. 20" of foam in total. I'm just not sure if this is enough buoyancy for this done, as it's pretty heavy, and I don't really want to dunk my drone to find out. Has any of you tried anything like this, or know of a good way to determine if this amount of foam will keep it from totally sinking? If it turns out it will sink anyway, I'd rather not attach any foam and keep my aerodynamics. Here is a photo of what I've done. I'll use zip ties before I actually fly it. Thanks for any input.

I've been doing a lot of flying over water lately, so I added floats and Getterbacks...