Crashed my Mavic Pro, developing a real protective cover

[Stingray4mavic]

Hi everyone,

I am new here, and relatively new to using the Mavic Pro (just over several months)

I have been using the Mavic Pro to film and survey my clients' properties. I had one crash (not bad over dozens of flights) but that busted my drone really badly.

it flopped on its heads down straight into a concrete ground. I had the prop guards installed, so that saved me some damage. the main body and battery got badly damaged though. I looked online for some protective accessory options, but i can't find anything that would really protect the main body, battery, and etc.... I have seen the stickers and wraps, and even a thin silicone cover but they wouldn't have prevented the damage.

I have been tinkering around with a design for a protective cover for the Mavic Pros, and ide love your input.

Has anyone experienced similar crashes?

 

[old man mavic]

Hi everyone,

I am new here, and relatively new to using the Mavic Pro (just over several months)

I have been using the Mavic Pro to film and survey my clients' properties. I had one crash (not bad over dozens of flights) but that busted my drone really badly.

it flopped on its heads down straight into a concrete ground. I had the prop guards installed, so that saved me some damage. the main body and battery got badly damaged though. I looked online for some protective accessory options, but i can't find anything that would really protect the main body, battery, and etc.... I have seen the stickers and wraps, and even a thin silicone cover but they wouldn't have prevented the damage.

I have been tinkering around with a design for a protective cover for the Mavic Pros, and ide love your input.

Has anyone experienced similar crashes?

only one way to protect your mav dont crash it period

 

[Stingray4mavic]

only one way to protect your mav dont crash it period

Absolutely! Mine got tangled in power lines.... I am usually very careful flying. Crashing though seems to be inevitable at some point. it can happen for many unexpected reasons.

 

[old man mavic]

Absolutely! Mine got tangled in power lines.... I am usually very careful flying. Crashing though seems to be inevitable at some point. it can happen for many unexpected reasons.

you are correct a crash can and does happen no matter what we do unfortunately there is nothing ie a protective cover that will prevent damage there are however some products i saw at the recent drone show that consist of a cage around the drone but they are mainly for flying in confined indoor places and do reduce the fly time somewhat the product i saw is called dronecage and the phone no to contact them is+44 (0) 7903 742184 or +44 (0)3301 133888 i have no conection to them just passing on the info

 

[old man mavic]

only one way to protect your mav dont crash it period

see post #4 might be helpfull to you

 

[Stingray4mavic]

I have seen some of those "cages", and some do seem impressive.

I spent a bit of time trying to come up with a drone cover for the Mavic Pro (and the Zoom etc) that would at least minimize damage as much as possible. I would love the community's feedback on it. I am calling it Stingray for Mavic. It is a double layered, 3 stage protection attachment that will hopefully (fingers crossed) observe most of the shock if the drone crashes upside down.

 

[old man mavic]

I have seen some of those "cages", and some do seem impressive.

I spent a bit of time trying to come up with a drone cover for the Mavic Pro (and the Zoom etc) that would at least minimize damage as much as possible. I would love the community's feedback on it. I am calling it Stingray for Mavic. It is a double layered, 3 stage protection attachment that will hopefully (fingers crossed) observe most of the shock if the drone crashes upside down.

good luck with your your efforts a pic would be good when it is finished

 

[norman.hicks.35]

There are also a number of ballistic parachutes available for drone now.

 

[FoxhallGH]

I purchased one of these thinking it would help protect the gimbal and the base of the Mavic ...

But it just made the Drone pop messages about downward vision being blocked, and it kept flashing the amber tail-lights.

 

[old man mavic]

I purchased one of these thinking it would help protect the gimbal and the base of the Mavic ...
View attachment 55780
But it just made the Drone pop messages about downward vision being blocked, and it kept flashing the amber tail-lights.

saw a do not buy this product review on youtube said the same thing

 

[Flycaster]

It;s that pesky 3rd dimension.
RC cars/boats don't have this issue.

 

[Stingray4mavic]

Gimbal seems to be the most damaged part of most crashed Mavics. Ive been itching to come up with a solution for safeguarding it, but its just almost impossible The gimbal itself is just so delicate, any moderate/major impact (even to a surrounding area) can damage it. Mine malfunctioned a couple of times just from a car ride (though i must confess i didn't have the little plastic guard placed)

As far as my own experience with crashes, here is my design for a new protective cover that i have been working on. I am calling it Stingray. I have already done some prototype 3d prints and so far so good. Ide love to hear the Mavic community's feedback on it.

 

[old man mavic]

Gimbal seems to be the most damaged part of most crashed Mavics. Ive been itching to come up with a solution for safeguarding it, but its just almost impossible The gimbal itself is just so delicate, any moderate/major impact (even to a surrounding area) can damage it. Mine malfunctioned a couple of times just from a car ride (though i must confess i didn't have the little plastic guard placed)

As far as my own experience with crashes, here is my design for a new protective cover that i have been working on. I am calling it Stingray. I have already done some prototype 3d prints and so far so good. Ide love to hear the Mavic community's feedback on it.



View attachment 55826

not sure from the pic how that is going to protect the gimble

 

[Kilrah]

So only a bit of bump protection for when it just falls on its back, which is probably <10% of what actually happens? What usually breaks is the gimbal and arms, battery is replaceable and you'd want to replace if after a crash anyway.

Don't see the point.

I don't think you will be able to do much to prevent the damage while retaining performance. And since crashes are rare anyway if flown carefully the best is probably what basically everybody does... plan for it financially either by charging your jobs correctly based on a finite lifespan or using insurance.

 

[Stingray4mavic]

not sure from the pic how that is going to protect the gimble

Its not designed for that, its designed from a direct impact to the top of the drone (which is what happened in my case)

 

[Stingray4mavic]

So only a bit of bump protection for when it just falls on its back, which is probably <10% of what actually happens? What usually breaks is the gimbal and arms, battery is replaceable and you'd want to replace if after a crash anyway.

Don't see the point.

I don't think you will be able to do much to prevent the damage while retaining performance. And since crashes are rare anyway if flown carefully the best is probably what basically everybody does... plan for it financially either by charging your jobs correctly based on a finite lifespan or using insurance.

When the drone gets tangled, and it inverts horizontally, the propellers rush it into the ground. This is what happened in my case. I am not sure what % of crashes this involves, but a little solution is better than no solution

BTW the battery itself cost me $80 from that crash (had the Platinum version) , not to mention a replacement body shell and a couple hours of manual repair time. For most ppl it will actually mean not only the cost of battery but the wait time and cost to get the rest of the body repaired.

 

[old man mavic]

Its not designed for that, its designed from a direct impact to the top of the drone (which is what happened in my case)

no problem unfortunatly your cover will not stop the props and or motors from damage or indeed the arms your just adding weight for no real gain sorry cant see the point of it but you carry on if it makes you happy good luck

 

[Stingray4mavic]

no problem unfortunatly your cover will not stop the props and or motors from damage or indeed the arms your just adding weight for no real gain sorry can't see the point of it but you carry on if it makes you happy good luck

Again its not designed to protect those things.. just the body from impact to the top. But Either way, i appreciate your input. That is why I am on here trying to get some outside perspective. I know this cover won't be the holy grail of protection, but if it can help even a small number of crashes survive i am satisfied.

And yes, that would make me happy.

 

[Kilrah]

I also expect the limited level of protection not to warrant the extra weight/flight time reduction/cost.

 

[old man mavic]

Again its not designed to protect those things.. just the body from impact to the top. But Either way, i appreciate your input. That is why I am on here trying to get some outside perspective. I know this cover won't be the holy grail of protection, but if it can help even a small number of crashes survive i am satisfied.

And yes, that would make me happy.

outside perspective is what i and others are trying to give you i am not trying to discourage or upset you just being honest as i see it from my perspective

 

[Stingray4mavic]

I also expect the limited level of protection not to warrant the extra weight/flight time reduction/cost.

the design will be mere grams in weight and virtually no flight time reduction.

 

[Stingray4mavic]

outside perspective is what i and others are trying to give you i am not trying to discourage or upset you just being honest as i see it from my perspective

Of course, I do welcome any constructive suggestions, and appreciate your input!

 

[Stingray4mavic]

So the final product, (before other upgrades) weighs around 20grams and is structurally designed to protect important areas of the main body from an up-side-down crash, very aerodynamic... and it does look pretty sexy,

 

[old man mavic]

So the final product, (before other upgrades) weighs around 20grams and is structurally designed to protect important areas of the main body from an up-side-down crash, very aerodynamic... and it does look pretty sexy,

looks very nice in the pics let us know about battery life after you have flown it

 

[Rnl]

Does look nice.

 

[Stingray4mavic]

looks very nice in the pics let us know about battery life after you have flown it

my initial tests are very promising... the Stingray cover doesn't seem to affect the flight time by much at all.
I will continue to test this further and keep you updated with resulting metrics.

 

[Stingray4mavic]

Does look nice.

Thank you

 

[Stingray4mavic]