Has anyone attached external leds to their mavic?

smokinsoljah · Oct 28, 2023

I'm fairly sure this belongs in the hardware mods section but admin feel free to bounce this post around to where it should be.

Ok heres the question! Has anyone ever attached leds to their mavic? Static, Rgb, Rgbw, dreamcolor, anything? Im asking for long time use problems, how its obstacle avoidance/sensor system was affected, if any gps problems or not? So far so good, no problems here. Let me explain lol.

This all stemmed from a product i found by accident on youtube for a led cob system made for phantoms by flyhighfpv, Probably because they are so symmetrical that you could easily wrap a single led strip completely around it, Than i found a kit he had for a mavic but it simply wrapped around it making it impossible to fold back. I wanted the kit but i wasnt having it. I wanted leds that look similar, but applied in such a manner that i could still fold the drone. The idea i had came from 2 major influences. The video game Cyberpunk, movie like tron and my exteme love for exo cars(cars stripped down and only have exo skeleton frames), So after a couple of hours of searching i had a plan. Using enameled copper wire and a strip of led cob from the ZON, i fashioned a "exoskeleton" of wiring and leds to create a monstrosity of a lighting system. Doing so i was abel to "hide" the wires close to the body instead of having a much of regualr wires taped and or glued to the body. i also added a skin so that the leds and soldering wouldnt damage the body in any way while soldering. I did have to use wires on the joints but it completely allows you to still fold the drone without having much slack at all.

Like i said so far no gps/sensor/avoidance interference on my end, but it definitely catches the eye! it was a fairly simple task just very time taking! Let me know what your thoughts are! Constructive crisitism encouraged!

mavic3usa · Oct 28, 2023

smokinsoljah · Oct 29, 2023

Yep thats one of the videos ive seen but way too basic for me. Im an overkill kinda guy!

KB9Radio · Oct 29, 2023

No criticism here, just a thought you could slide a piece of small wire braid over the red/black wires where the arms fold, just to give it a real clean look. I have black I use for projects, but I'm pretty sure you can get different colors. Generally I think it looks very well done and looks great.

smokinsoljah · Oct 29, 2023

KB9Radio said:
No criticism here, just a thought you could slide a piece of small wire braid over the red/black wires where the arms fold, just to give it a real clean look. I have black I use for projects, but I'm pretty sure you can get different colors. Generally I think it looks very well done and looks great.

ooohhh!!! thats a great idea!! Didnt even think of that!

redserv · Oct 29, 2023

I love the idea. My question is how are you powering the led strips? Is it being powered through your mavic battery?

MS Coast · Oct 29, 2023

How do you mount the required 3-mile visibility anti-collision light?

Mrprop365 · Oct 29, 2023

smokinsoljah said:
I'm fairly sure this belongs in the hardware mods section but admin feel free to bounce this post around to where it should be.

Ok heres the question! Has anyone ever attached leds to their mavic? Static, Rgb, Rgbw, dreamcolor, anything? Im asking for long time use problems, how its obstacle avoidance/sensor system was affected, if any gps problems or not? So far so good, no problems here. Let me explain lol.

This all stemmed from a product i found by accident on youtube for a led cob system made for phantoms by flyhighfpv, Probably because they are so symmetrical that you could easily wrap a single led strip completely around it, Than i found a kit he had for a mavic but it simply wrapped around it making it impossible to fold back. I wanted the kit but i wasnt having it. I wanted leds that look similar, but applied in such a manner that i could still fold the drone. The idea i had came from 2 major influences. The video game Cyberpunk, movie like tron and my exteme love for exo cars(cars stripped down and only have exo skeleton frames), So after a couple of hours of searching i had a plan. Using enameled copper wire and a strip of led cob from the ZON, i fashioned a "exoskeleton" of wiring and leds to create a monstrosity of a lighting system. Doing so i was abel to "hide" the wires close to the body instead of having a much of regualr wires taped and or glued to the body. i also added a skin so that the leds and soldering wouldnt damage the body in any way while soldering. I did have to use wires on the joints but it completely allows you to still fold the drone without having much slack at all.

Like i said so far no gps/sensor/avoidance interference on my end, but it definitely catches the eye! it was a fairly simple task just very time taking! Let me know what your thoughts are! Constructive crisitism encouraged!

This looks epic

kiley · Oct 30, 2023

I have stopped using LED 3 mile lights. I've only gotten myself harassed by neighbors or police when they see the lights and then decide to follow them to my landing site. Then, a conversation ensues, always in my favor of course. But I just don't like the harassment. My Mav 3 Enterprise has a mode called stealth mode. It turns off all the LEDs on the drone completely. It's for police surveillence. I do use the 3 mile light that's on top of the drone, but that's the only light I turn on.

To answer your question, I have put large firehouse 3 Mile Lights on my other drones without any GPS or Compass problems. I've had 4 of them on my drone at once. They caused no instrument interference.

MS Coast · Oct 30, 2023

kiley said:
I have stopped using LED 3 mile lights. I've only gotten myself harassed by neighbors or police when they see the lights and then decide to follow them to my landing site. Then, a conversation ensues, always in my favor of course. But I just don't like the harassment. My Mav 3 Enterprise has a mode called stealth mode. It turns off all the LEDs on the drone completely. It's for police surveillence. I do use the 3 mile light that's on top of the drone, but that's the only light I turn on.

To answer your question, I have put large firehouse 3 Mile Lights on my other drones without any GPS or Compass problems. I've had 4 of them on my drone at once. They caused no instrument interference.

I've never a problem with interference from an anti-collision light or heard of anyone else having problems.

I sounds like you use a light on the top of the drone, as most do. I just didn't see any provision for mounting it in the photos. I use a small strip of Velcro.

ischonfeld · Nov 4, 2023

I routinely attach Firehouse LED strobes to my Mavic 2ED for night flying. Even made 3D printed clips so they could be attached and removed easily. Would probably fit other Mavics as well:

3D Printed LED Clips