Water Recovery System

[Silverwings]

Hi everyone

I'm designing a water recovery system for both phantom and inspire models. Still at a prototype stage at the minute, but thought I'd share what I have done so far and to see if there is other pilots out there that might consider buying it if I can prove the design and get it manufactured.

Fundamentally this is for recovery, not for water landings. It's to get your drone back in order to use the dji refresh (water damage) or make an insurance claim where the insurance company need the damaged device.

So far I've tested 4kg (inspire 2) and 2kg (phantom)

Short video of my mk3 device and a 2kg dead weight....

Looking to reduce the weight of the device if I can but so far no adverse flying effects.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Phatzo]

sweet good idea. i was looking for a way to make it waterproof

i can not see much on the video other than you throwing in a gopro and a yellowish self blowing watermarker into the water.
i understand you can not really say what you are up to and how it works but dimensions or any information shareable would be nice

keep it up and if you need help/ ideas i will be happy to help if i can.
you have my word to not make any profit out of it. i like doing stuff

 

[The Editor]

Hi everyone

I'm designing a water recovery system for both phantom and inspire models. Still at a prototype stage at the minute, but thought I'd share what I have done so far and to see if there is other pilots out there that might consider buying it if I can prove the design and get it manufactured.

Fundamentally this is for recovery, not for water landings. It's to get your drone back in order to use the dji refresh (water damage) or make an insurance claim where the insurance company need the damaged device.

So far I've tested 4kg (inspire 2) and 2kg (phantom)

Short video of my mk3 device and a 2kg dead weight....

Looking to reduce the weight of the device if I can but so far no adverse flying effects.

What are your thoughts?

So basically it's a Getterback that has been around for over four years and people have been using on their airframes for a similar time?
Home

Sorry to be blunt but I can't help but feel you are attempting to 'invent' something that has effectively been around for a number of years.

 

[Silverwings]

So basically it's a Getterback that has been around for over four years and people have been using on their airframes for a similar time?
Home

Sorry to be blunt but I can't help but feel you are attempting to 'invent' something that has effectively been around for a number of years.

Thanks for the feedback and points noted. The getterback is great for a lake etc, and as long as it's not deeper than the cord. My system inflates on water contact and has a large buoy that can be seen from a greater distance, especially in waves on the sea. The drone is suspended below by only a few centimetres.

However, all feedback is welcome as I don't want to invest further if there is either no demand for the device or a general lack of interest.

 

[Silverwings]

For the avoidance of doubt, this is quite different to the getterback. This activates instantly on water activation (and not by rain etc) and physically stops the drone sinking. The drone will be about 1ft below the water and attached to the buoy directly, and not 100ft on the end of a piece of string.

Merits to both systems, the inflatable is heavier than the getterback, but I believe it to be a more reliable and robust system. Hence the question to you all for feedback.

 

[BarryBittman]

I appreciate the immediate deployment and the short tether. Keep working on your design.

 

[JRenner]

@The Editor: Very true, getterbacks been around a long time, however it's not something I even thought about using in the commercial sector - mainly because of weight issues and location survivability amongst other things.

Invent is probably not the right word here - get a working product that can successfully deploy and hold a UAS and it's payload between 6kg - 10kg for up to 30 minutes to an hour in variable weather conditions? Not that it hasn't been done before - but make it easy to integrate (not some specially designed 6 way strap that does nothing but add cost because it's got six lines of attachment instead of just the one really need and makes your s900 look more streamlined to save on mileage) simple and keep it within a certain number of kg without costing an arm and two legs would be a home run.

@Silverwings: From my experience, and from what I've seen with many small to medium commercial operators (at least in Asia) is compromisation of shot in favor of safety of UAS systems and film equipment. The main problem I face is item space - when we've got all our necessities that the shot list calls for on (batteries, redundant safety systems, gimbal etc etc) the rig/s, the recovery rig and tether is always last to go on.

Mainly due to the way inflation dispersal system is activated - its either an extremely fast and explosive expansion, which has damaged our equipment before (knocked a RED camera and accompanying gimbal into the South China Sea, luckily it was relatively shallow at 45 meters and we recovered everything). Or a slow to medium inflation, which is chemically activated as opposed to the explosive compressed gas system mentioned before. That medium process works most of the time, however it's heavily reliant on the rig not going deeper than two meters before full activation - past that it's gone.

Yes, admittedly, there are better systems that come at a premium because of their guarantee of full equipment coverage if flight and film systems are unrecoverable. We currently use their services but they are a one off (if no incident occurs, awesome, we'll have our recovery system back please) and cost **** near the same as if it had deployed and many try to charge per flight - because they 'can't guarantee a 100% success rate otherwise'. We're paying for that guarantee of full recoverability - however, because it's proprietary tech that requires constant upkeep due to chemical expiry dates etc etc. It doesn't make sense for us to purchase the system as the cost / benefit ratio is stacked against us, land is where the market is and always will be - unless someone builds a 5 star Super Ark which isn't likely.

 

[JRenner]

@Silverwings: What I'm trying to get at here is your target market and R&D, I don't see much interest in the way of recreational / civilian interest. But I do see an opportunity to push to the small - medium commercial operators, that want a system that's capable of deploying when it has to deploy (whatever way that may be), staying that way until SAR get there, and has a price point that is reasonable. Even better if the system could be re-used in-house without third party 'expertise'. There are certainly companies working towards that product now, however the vast majority of them work on the principle of secured profit by upscaling the use of high end tech for a low end process. Hope that gives you some ideas - let's be honest, most people who have drones for the odd weekend trip, or to film Uncle Bob's house (basically the vast majority of drone owners these days) probably won't consider any type of recovery system because of lack of knowing it's even out there. And why ??? It's going to be broke wet anyway! <-- I see a lot of these guys

Sorry strayed off slightly off topic but worth some consideration!

 

[Pescatoral Pursuit]

So basically it's a Getterback that has been around for over four years and people have been using on their airframes for a similar time?
Home

Sorry to be blunt but I can't help but feel you are attempting to 'invent' something that has effectively been around for a number of years.

There's an old expression in the States:
"Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile, he made it better.
There seems to be plenty of room for improvement with the Getterback. Keep up the good work, OP. Though I may just want to make the insurance claim, radical reduction in premiums not withstanding.

 

[Silverwings]

Thank you all for the feedback that your offering, please don't stop as I'm still 50/50 on whether to continue development or not.

Can you also indicate a rough price that would be prepared to pay for a proven and well supported product? My intention is not to sell for vast profits, but to offer a reliable backup system. However, I could have a wonderful system that no one is prepared to pay for!