Development: USB-Charging Cable for Drone-Battery

[Flydude]

USB-IF released the new specification for USB-PD 2.1. Good times ahead of us!

240 Watts ( 48 Volts / 5 Ampere ) is coming. Great for charging Drones and eBikes ;-)

Source: USB Type-C® Cable and Connector Specification Revision 2.1 | USB-IF

 

[Unclesugar]

I would be interested in either a purchase or a build (if you are still thinking of releasing the designs). I have been looking for a long time for something to take backpacking. I normally carry a small solar panel and a power bank, but like you have mentioned many times, it is no good for charging the Mavic Air 2.
It was mentioned before, the only other option I have is carrying my Goal Zero 100AC, but that thing is a brick I would not enjoy carrying on my back for days on end. (since it also requires the AC adapter from DJI).

I would be happy to look over the designs and offer any suggestions I come up with. I am an Electrical Engineer, not the kind that has much to do with consumer devices unfortunately. I know a couple of guys at work that do love this sort of thing, one of them has several patents to his name, they would be happy to provide some Engineering as well.

Getting this certified for direct sale to consumers would be a nightmare, I do unfortunately have experience with compliance to government regulations (I work for an electric utility). The big players self certify, for the same reasons mentioned, the cost can be outrageous.

If direct sale is something you still want to look into, perhaps i could help. My company works with an electronics manufacturer here in Beaverton, OR. They make all sorts of stuff like this for us, they could either help you certify compliance, or could build the devices for you.

 

[Unclesugar]

I did discover these on Amazon, it appears they allow charging an Air 2 or 2s battery from USB, so long as your power bank is big enough.

Amazon.com: Hanatora Battery USB Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 for DJI Air 2S,Mavic Air 2 Drone, with USB-C Charging Cable Qc3 Fast Rapid Charge Hub Accessories : Toys & Games

Amazon.com: Hanatora Battery USB Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 for DJI Air 2S,Mavic Air 2 Drone, with USB-C Charging Cable Qc3 Fast Rapid Charge Hub Accessories : Toys & Games

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: Mavic Air 2 and Air 2S Charging Hub, Mini Portable Battery Charging with Type-c for DJI Drone, Smartphone, UAV Intelligent Flight Battery Accessory Charging : Toys & Games

Amazon.com: Mavic Air 2 and Air 2S Charging Hub, Mini Portable Battery Charging with Type-c for DJI Drone, Smartphone, UAV Intelligent Flight Battery Accessory Charging : Toys & Games

www.amazon.com

 

[alluran]

USB charger FAQs | CMD

Looks like the standard is more like 2.5W but it can go up from there. I suspect any public places will support the minimum to be the most compatible.

Help me with the math on 3500mAh...

USB-PD is a negotiated spec - meaning you plug it in, a simple circuit says "hey, I can deliver up to 20V@5A, what would you like", and the device says "I'd love 15V@3A please"

Simplified, but you get the idea

 

[Gregtay67]

I did discover these on Amazon, it appears they allow charging an Air 2 or 2s battery from USB, so long as your power bank is big enough.

Amazon.com: Hanatora Battery USB Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 for DJI Air 2S,Mavic Air 2 Drone, with USB-C Charging Cable Qc3 Fast Rapid Charge Hub Accessories : Toys & Games

Amazon.com: Hanatora Battery USB Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 for DJI Air 2S,Mavic Air 2 Drone, with USB-C Charging Cable Qc3 Fast Rapid Charge Hub Accessories : Toys & Games

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: Mavic Air 2 and Air 2S Charging Hub, Mini Portable Battery Charging with Type-c for DJI Drone, Smartphone, UAV Intelligent Flight Battery Accessory Charging : Toys & Games

Amazon.com: Mavic Air 2 and Air 2S Charging Hub, Mini Portable Battery Charging with Type-c for DJI Drone, Smartphone, UAV Intelligent Flight Battery Accessory Charging : Toys & Games

www.amazon.com

I bought 2 of these. They do work. It takes approximately one hour and a half to charge one Air2 battery from two PD powerbanks starting at 25%. And double that time using single power bank.

 

[alluran]

Then we're back to most powerbanks incapable of outputting via USB the watts to charge the bigger drone batteries in a reasonable time (M2 batteries typically charge 60W or more), and for the user to misconfigure the output voltage for the battery being charged. You don't want to mistakenly set M2 battery voltage when charging an Air. Current limit setting is another concern though less so, since the intelligent batteries should only draw the maximum current they're designed for.

Perhaps if the battery adapters for the particular battery would tell the charger what the appropriate voltage and optional current should be. It has to be fixable by firmware though in case it's wrong.

I believe the goal is to utilize the USB-PD and USB-QC 3.0 (or 4.0?) specs to allow compatible chargers and battery packs to charge the device. No device is going to be able to convert your budget/vending machine battery pack into a 100W monster, but Aukey, Ravkey and Anker all have various USB-PD options available that can deliver anywhere from 60W in power-banks, to 100W in chargers.

Yes, you'll need a compatible charger/bank. Not only that, but you'll also need a compatible CABLE (not all USB-C cables are able to carry the high current of USB-PD). The goal here isn't to create a miracle, or new standard. The goal is to make use of the existing standards to deliver the required power - a much simpler and more cross-compatible task.

It even (currently) has updateble firmware, which opens up the possibility of forward-compatibility with new battery models.

It really is the best option available to us right now (short of a custom cable with the electronics embedded - but that's even more specialized and expensive to produce)

 

[alluran]

Standard USB C cable can carry 100 watts.

Not all USB-C cables. USB-C PD spec supports up to 100W, but only certain cables will support that current.

 

[Gregtay67]

I used two 22.5w PD power banks to charge one battery. It is sufficient. But these 2 batteries are about 350gm each.

 

[graystones11]

I did discover these on Amazon, it appears they allow charging an Air 2 or 2s battery from USB, so long as your power bank is big enough.

Amazon.com: Hanatora Battery USB Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 for DJI Air 2S,Mavic Air 2 Drone, with USB-C Charging Cable Qc3 Fast Rapid Charge Hub Accessories : Toys & Games

Amazon.com: Hanatora Battery USB Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 for DJI Air 2S,Mavic Air 2 Drone, with USB-C Charging Cable Qc3 Fast Rapid Charge Hub Accessories : Toys & Games

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: Mavic Air 2 and Air 2S Charging Hub, Mini Portable Battery Charging with Type-c for DJI Drone, Smartphone, UAV Intelligent Flight Battery Accessory Charging : Toys & Games

Amazon.com: Mavic Air 2 and Air 2S Charging Hub, Mini Portable Battery Charging with Type-c for DJI Drone, Smartphone, UAV Intelligent Flight Battery Accessory Charging : Toys & Games

www.amazon.com

The thing that worries me about this product is that there's no accountability with respect to liability on the part of the seller. These DJI batteries are expensive, and charging them correctly to extend their life is important. The seller of this product has chosen to obfuscate who they are and provided a fake name and address on Amazon. Just click on the Seller name (QXTECH) and you'll see it. They just strung a bunch of letters together (with some numbers thrown in there). I'm not a Mandarin speaker, but this does not look right at all to me. There's 2 total seller ratings, and they were both over 12 months ago.

I tried loading the image from an Imgur URL, but the the site doesn't appear to allow those links:

Detailed Seller Information​

• Business Name: shenzhenshiqinxiankejiyouxiangongsi
• Business Address:
  • bantianjiedaoxueganglu
  • 1021haofenghuagongyequ5dong3louGshi
  • shenzhenshi
  • guangdongsheng
  • 518000
  • CN

 

[tcope]

The thing that worries me about this product is that there's no accountability with respect to liability on the part of the seller. These DJI batteries are expensive, and charging them correctly to extend their life is important. The seller of this product has chosen to obfuscate who they are and provided a fake name and address on Amazon. Just click on the Seller name (QXTECH) and you'll see it. They just strung a bunch of letters together (with some numbers thrown in there). I'm not a Mandarin speaker, but this does not look right at all to me. There's 2 total seller ratings, and they were both over 12 months ago.

I tried loading the image from an Imgur URL, but the the site doesn't appear to allow those links:

Detailed Seller Information​

• Business Name: shenzhenshiqinxiankejiyouxiangongsi
• Business Address:
  • bantianjiedaoxueganglu
  • 1021haofenghuagongyequ5dong3louGshi
  • shenzhenshi
  • guangdongsheng
  • 518000
  • CN

I'd not worry about this... the post is almost 2 years old.

 

[dawgpilot]

The thing that worries me about this product is that there's no accountability with respect to liability on the part of the seller. These DJI batteries are expensive, and charging them correctly to extend their life is important. The seller of this product has chosen to obfuscate who they are and provided a fake name and address on Amazon. Just click on the Seller name (QXTECH) and you'll see it. They just strung a bunch of letters together (with some numbers thrown in there). I'm not a Mandarin speaker, but this does not look right at all to me. There's 2 total seller ratings, and they were both over 12 months ago.

I tried loading the image from an Imgur URL, but the the site doesn't appear to allow those links:

Detailed Seller Information​

• Business Name: shenzhenshiqinxiankejiyouxiangongsi
• Business Address:
  • bantianjiedaoxueganglu
  • 1021haofenghuagongyequ5dong3louGshi
  • shenzhenshi
  • guangdongsheng
  • 518000
  • CN

Those aren't random letters strung together. Someone basically converted the Chinese address to English and failed to add spaces like we'd normally use in English. But it's a company address in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

Regardless, even with a real company and address, good luck seeking recourse against a Chinese seller if something goes wrong.