Banner Advertising With The Mavic Pro

[TheMrAWeaver]

Moved from General Discussion...

Hey guys, I've been working on a marketable advertising package for the Mavic. So far I've been successful with lifting small banners like the one below. These things are pretty robust when it comes to lifting a little extra weight. The only real issue I've run into is finding an acceptable way to attach banners. The one pictured below is attached with straps.

Is anybody else experimenting with this and if so what methods have you come up with for banner attachment. If I had access to a 3D printer, I'd try creating an attachment but until then.....

 

[AlanTheBeast]

How does that do in a crosswind of 5 - 10 kts? Got video?

 

[HiVac]

So, I saw a post (on here I thought) where a person created a control box that worked on the front lights of the Mavic being on or off. Basically, it "sensed" the condition of the lights, and he programmed his "C2" button to toggle the lights.

It was for dropping stuff.

But if you did something like this where the banner would roll back up (small spring) if the wind conditions were putting you in a dangerous condition....you probably could get an exception and fly it over events!

 

[Will.i.am]

I'm having trouble seeing the use case for this. The banner would have to be quite small due to weight constraints, so making something visible to anyone from a reasonable height would be challenging. And as mentioned, the effects of what is essentially a big sail in any kind of breeze would be detrimental to keeping it in one position long enough to be viewed. Who is the audience for these banners. Flying at any height near or over a crowd doesn't seem like a good idea. But I applaud your innovative thinking

 

[Wombat55]

The banner would have to be small, and it would be tugged on by not only wind breezes but also by the downwash air flow from the Mavic's propellers, making the Mavic have to work even harder to stay aloft.

There may well be a day when quadcopters are used to display banners before crowd events for short periods of time, but I think that the evolution of that development is more likely to involve multiple, electronically linked quadcopters flying in close coordination with one another and all under the unified command of a central base station.

 

[Big Fil]

I know it's inevitable but I hate the thought of ads flying around everywhere. We are already bombarded by them everywhere and now there could be a bunch of ads flying. A big worry is that an idea like this gets associated with drones in general, further turning public perception against them.

 

[Robbyg]

Not a Fan of this and it looks really dangerous if the wind suddenly picks up.
Once you use the Mavic for commercial work in an unusual manor you better make sure you are legally prepared if something goes wrong.

 

[Dw911]

Guess it would keep all the bits neatly together when the mavic wraps itself in the banner and falls back to earth ;-)

 

[flightmike]

Vision sensors??? Would it think it's too close to the ground and take off???
Also agree it would have a nice soft blanket to wrap up in on the way down.
Definitely thinking outside the box though.

 

[HiVac]

What if the material was filled with holes (like the window tint on your car that shows an image on one side, and you can see thru on the other side).....this would allow the wind to not effect it as bad.....

 

[Top Hat]

I can see CRASH happening on this idea.
But no worry the banner will soften the crash if it happen (maybe).

 

[erkme73]

I posted this on your first thread. I assume you deleted it? I can't find the original content, but...

If there's one space advertisers haven't found a way to cram just one more ad into, it's the air. Just the other day, I was at the field at our clubhouse - me an my kids enjoying the beautiful, cloud-free blue sky, sounds of nature, and clean air. Moments later, the rumbling of a slow-moving, obnoxiously loud single engine flying at about 500' arrived. It was towing a banner about 10x larger than the plane advertising for Geico. Not once, not twice, but three times that #)%ing thing flew over the field. Mind you, me and my kids were the only people there. I have no idea what Geico's advertising budget is, but what ever it is, it's too much.

It's one thing to have a Goodyear blimp at a stadium, or a banner-toting plane making runs at the beach over crowds... But now they're doing it regularly over residential communities. Where does it stop?

 

[TheMrAWeaver]

How does that do in a crosswind of 5 - 10 kts? Got video?

it doesn't . We're testing this platform for indoor applications such as stadiums or convention halls. Obviously we have a long way to go before we would ever dream of flying in front of a crowd but the concept has been proven.

 

[TheMrAWeaver]

So, I saw a post (on here I thought) where a person created a control box that worked on the front lights of the Mavic being on or off. Basically, it "sensed" the condition of the lights, and he programmed his "C2" button to toggle the lights.

It was for dropping stuff.

But if you did something like this where the banner would roll back up (small spring) if the wind conditions were putting you in a dangerous condition....you probably could get an exception and fly it over events!

Interesting! We've talked about object drops from larger platforms such as the inspire series but the problem with this of course is that in order for somebody to catch what you are dropping, you have to fly over them. Id definitely be interested in seeing a write up on how he accomplished this.

 

[TheMrAWeaver]

Not a Fan of this and it looks really dangerous if the wind suddenly picks up.
Once you use the Mavic for commercial work in an unusual manor you better make sure you are legally prepared if something goes wrong.

To each his own : ). We're licensed and insured.

 

[TheMrAWeaver]

Vision sensors??? Would it think it's too close to the ground and take off???
Also agree it would have a nice soft blanket to wrap up in on the way down.
Definitely thinking outside the box though.

At this point our testing is with all downward sensors disabled. We're working on creating space between the banner and the aircraft.

 

[Robbyg]

To each his own : ). We're licensed and insured.

I have no doubt that you are but as I said when you use a device for commercial gain around the public in an unorthodox manor you better be prepared for more than just the regular problems.
I am not knocking your idea just giving you some friendly advice because an ordinary accident versus an accident while intentionally doing something untested will be deemed reckless endangerment by the plaintiffs lawyers. That's a whole different kind of lawsuit and a kind that is probably not covered by your insurance.

 

[Will.i.am]

Interesting! We've talked about object drops from larger platforms such as the inspire series but the problem with this of course is that in order for somebody to catch what you are dropping, you have to fly over them. Id definitely be interested in seeing a write up on how he accomplished this.

Here you go - Gimbal-Guard

 

[Will.i.am]

it doesn't . We're testing this platform for indoor applications such as stadiums or convention halls. Obviously we have a long way to go before we would ever dream of flying in front of a crowd but the concept has been proven.

For indoor flying, something like an RC-controlled blimp is probably better, safer and cheaper for this application than a Mavic - RC Blimp, Remote Control Airship, Inflatables - Above & Beyond

 

[AlanTheBeast]

I have to agree that an indoor blimp is inherently safer than this idea.