Actual Weight.

[old man mavic]

Yeah, it's verification that the guy's scales are out by one gram. Again post #66 explains what needs to be done to accurately measure weight.

flippin heck Pete, i thought this thread was dead ,then you go and bring it back to life

 

[deleted member 877]

flippin heck Pete, i thought this thread was dead ,then you go and bring it back to life

I know mate - my bad. Over and out

 

[SkyDogII]

Me too

 

[Andrewandron]

I’ve just had the opportunity to see the Mini in the flesh here in the UK. I took my air along to compare the size and there’s barely anything in it, which is surprising given how many more features and much higher spec the Air has.
Obviously the weight of the Mini is much less, but here in the UK all that’s gaining you is not paying the £9 registration fee.
Or, is it? We put the Air on the scales and it came in at 271g. We then got a second set of scales and it came in at 273g. Up to this point the supplier was happy for me to put the size comparison photos online. But, after the weigh in they asked that I didn’t mention their company in case DJI got wind. Make of that what you will.

It would be good if anyone else with a unit to hand could weigh one. It could be this one unit was an odd one out.

Why does it matter what the Air weighs?

 

[WithTheBirds]

Why does it matter what the Air weighs?

I think he was suggesting other people weigh there minis. See if they are using dodgy scales also.

 

[GadgetGuy]

FYI Folks:

Most digital scale manufacturers conflate readout resolution with accuracy. This is wrong!

Important parameters associated with weight scales are, Precision, Accuracy, Resolution & Linearity

Resolution = Minimum display increment, ie. 1, 0.1 or 0.01 grams
Precision = Repeatable Results ie. the same object weighs the same every time you weigh it
Accuracy = Accurate Results ie. The scale reports an objects weight accurately
Linearity = Accuracy Over Range of Scale ie. The scale is accurate over all ranges of its capacity

Be sure you understand your scale's specifications. For example a digital scale could have a resolution of .001 gram with an accuracy of +-5 grams and a precision of +- 2 grams. Re: Linearity, a manufacturer may specify its scale accuracy as a % of its full scale reading (%FS) or actual reading (%AR)

Re: Weight of Mavic Mini A difference of 1 gram in 250 = .4% You would probably need a scale with .05% accuracy at 250 grams to to get a confident measurement. I can guarantee you that a $15 digital scale from Amazon wont give you the results you need.

From the above it's easy to see why there are wide variations in the reported weight of the Mavic Mini on the web.

cheers!
Rick (Retired Quality Assurance Engineer) ;-)

ps. You will probably need to purchase Class F1 calibration weights to calibrate your scale. (If it has calibration capability)
Here's a nice set

As previously stated, weighing the known weight of the Mini itself is the best method of calibrating the accuracy of your scale, rather than using an uncalibrated scale with insufficient accuracy to determine the weight of the Mini!

 

[Lastrexking]

Why does it matter what the Air weighs?

I meant Mini. Typed Air in error.

 

[Andart]

I meant Mini. Typed Air in error.

So your saying the mini was 25g over the official weight ,!!!!!!!!!.
I think some dodgy scales in that shop

 

[Louis08]

Will adding anything like lights take you over the limit? Or is 249 grams for the basic aircraft.

according to DJI website the 249g does include battery and memory card.

But the underlying question for me is: which weight are the regulations referring to?
- basic operational weight (BOW) as specified
- real takeoff weight (TOW) = BOW + whatever you put on (e.g. decals, propguards, lights, ...)
- maximum takeoff weight (MTOW)

 

[GadgetGuy]

according to DJI website the 249g does include battery and memory card.

But the underlying question for me is: which weight are the regulations referring to?
- basic operational weight (BOW) as specified
- real takeoff weight (TOW) = BOW + whatever you put on (e.g. decals, propguards, lights, ...)
- maximum takeoff weight (MTOW)

TOW, as you defined it.

 

[Louis08]

See, that's exactly the point:
"Weight at takeoff" might be different from "as equipped in the regular package" - and then the magic weight limit of 250g is right between the two.

I see lots of fun coming up with officials checking the lawfulness of a drone flight.....
pilot: "Of course my drone is below 250g, it even says so on the body"
official: "I am afraid you're flying with additional equipment on top of the bare flight configuration right out of the box, so you're above the limit" (would anybody expect such an in-depth knowledge?)
official: "Just let me doublecheck by weighing it nonetheless" (I won't elaborate on the technical pitfalls of that process, it has been mentioned already)

 

[DanMan32]

Why does hard delete of one's own stupid post not stick?

OK, second hard delete stuck.

 

[Louis08]

OK, diggin' out old stuff, but anyway....

After reading the EU regulations (2019-945 and 947) a few more times it became clear to me that the Mavic Mini is lacking some crucial data from DJI to be anywhere close to a EU classification where a weight below 250g is relevant.
As of today the EU regulations only consider the maximum takeoff mass as specified by manufacturer. Actual takeoff weight does not matter at all here.

DJI so far has only specified that the usual standard takeoff weight will be 249g without and "more than 250g" with propguards. Nothing like a maximum stated anywhere. And as the Mini is able to carry a GoPro camera (~140g) I'd guess the real maximum is somewhere close to 500g anyway.

Bottom line for me: I prepare myself for flying the Mini in the 'open' class after next summer, avoiding to fly over uninvolved people as much as possible and keeping at least 150m away from people after 2022 - the real weight doesn't matter in Europe. Which gives me some freedom to add some LEDs for better visibility...
Flying outside Europe will be a different story, but that's out of scope for me right now.

 

[DanMan32]

That maximum statement leaves room for interpretation. Max weigh UAS is capable of and still fly or as it's packaged? TO weight as designed (no mods to make it lighter) or actual, whichever is greater would be more appropriate as deciding factor.

 

[TDZHDTV]

Dave at Drone Valley weighed his, and a at first was troubled. It weighed 252g. Then he realized the gimbal guard was on. Then it weighed 248g.

248g also, even with the plastic injection moulding DJI must have some stringent Quality checks in place.

 

[Louis08]

That maximum statement leaves room for interpretation.

Indeed, and that's probably why it is expected to be specified by manufacturer (who else should know for sure?). It looks as if the lawmakers derived quite a bit from commercial flying regulations where MTOW is a common measure - and of course specified (just like with any other motorized transportation "vehicles") for good reasons.
In contradiction to that approach the drone community sees themselves more as coming from the leisure/toy scenario - where of course the real weight is much more interesting (yet much more variable). A good indicator is the wording: lawmakers call it "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle", pilots themselves call it multicopter or drone
Anyway, I hope we will see some more clarification about the legal details before the regulations finally kick in on 1 July 2020...

Dave at Drone Valley weighed his, and a at first was troubled. It weighed 252g. Then he realized the gimbal guard was on. Then it weighed 248g.

I doubt they have a scale able to securely identify a deviation of 1g (0.4%) ata total weight of 250g - this needs professional equipment....