How long can Mavic fly continuously?

[tsl16]

Hello all, I am the manager of a transportation company in florida that is looking at creating a drone program. We were just awarded a contract that will require some complicated maneuvers several times over the next few years and we think an eye in the sky would be beneficial for us. One of our employees has a commercial drone pilots license unrelated to his role with us but has agreed to run the drones but he doesn’t know much about the equipment itself except for what he owns.

Due to the ongoing nature of this project we have decided to purchase the equipment rather than use a contractor as the quotes we’ve received will surpass the acquisition cost after they first couple months.

My question is how long can I expect a Mavic series drone to run continuously? I understand battery life, but I’m talking about replacing battery and getting right back in the air?

We will have a need to have an aerial view for 8-10 hours at a time, rather continuously, other than landing to replace batteries of course.

For our needs camera quality isn’t important, just need an eye in the sky for equipment coordination and safety purposes. I’ve reviewed the specs and even the mini meets our needs.

I would assume the electric motors reach a point that they need a break to cool down, and am trying to determine how many back to back flights these units are capable of. We are also in Florida and this is a year round project, so it will be hot at times.

thank you in advance for your help!

 

[Keule]

We will have a need to have an aerial view for 8-10 hours at a time

You might think of a tethered aircraft for your use case.

Here a few links:

Tethered Mavic 2 Kit System | V-Line Actively Tethered Drone System — Volarious

V-Line is a tethered Mavic 2 kit system compatible with all Mavic 2 series drones. This actively tethered drone system will tether DJI Mavic 2 in the air indefinitely. An intelligent tethered drone box for your tethering solutions.

www.volarious.com

Ligh-T Drone Tether Station

The Ligh-T tether station can be rapidly connected to police drones and extend their endurance for continuous aerial surveillance missions.

elistair.com

LIFELINE Tethered UAV for DJI Drones

LIFELINE is a tethered drone system that is a portable, compact, all-in-one unit. It works seamlessly with selected DJI drones like the Phantom 4, Mavic Pro and Inspire 1 & 2.

www.lifeline-drone.com

 

[tsl16]

You might think of a tethered aircraft for your use case.

Here a few links:

Tethered Mavic 2 Kit System | V-Line Actively Tethered Drone System — Volarious

V-Line is a tethered Mavic 2 kit system compatible with all Mavic 2 series drones. This actively tethered drone system will tether DJI Mavic 2 in the air indefinitely. An intelligent tethered drone box for your tethering solutions.

www.volarious.com

Ligh-T Drone Tether Station

The Ligh-T tether station can be rapidly connected to police drones and extend their endurance for continuous aerial surveillance missions.

elistair.com

LIFELINE Tethered UAV for DJI Drones

LIFELINE is a tethered drone system that is a portable, compact, all-in-one unit. It works seamlessly with selected DJI drones like the Phantom 4, Mavic Pro and Inspire 1 & 2.

www.lifeline-drone.com

thank you for your response. Unfortunately we will need the system to remain portable to follow the route, which is a few miles.

 

[THE CYBORG]

If cost isn’t the biggest issue get a backup.
Fly one then give it a rest while you fly the backup.
The unexpected can happen so a backup could save the day.

 

[Keule]

Unfortunately we will need the system to remain portable to follow the route, which is a few miles.

Then you might consider a fixed wing drone for your use case. Be sure to check the legal requirements in the area you want to fly.

Usually, those fixed wing drones are capable of flying many hours and providing the required live images or footage.

Albatross UAV : BVLOS Drone

Applied Aeronautics designs and builds affordable, BVLOS drones for government, emergency response and commercial customers around the globe.

www.appliedaeronautics.com

 

[tsl16]

If cost isn’t the biggest issue get a backup.
Fly one then give it a rest while you fly the backup.
The unexpected can happen so a backup could save the day.

We will definitely have multiple units. What I’m trying to figure out is how many. We’re looking to stay under 5K. I expect we’ll need 25 batteries or so, so that is a consideration as certain models batteries are significantly more expensive than others.

Athis point I’m trying to decide between 2-3 air 2’s or a handful of mini’s. I don’t see any benefit for us in going up to the next level of pro.

From a quality, durability and reliability standpoint, is there much difference between the air 2 and mini?

 

[Meta4]

My question is how long can I expect a Mavic series drone to run continuously? I understand battery life, but I’m talking about replacing battery and getting right back in the air?

I would assume the electric motors reach a point that they need a break to cool down, and am trying to determine how many back to back flights these units are capable of. We are also in Florida and this is a year round project, so it will be hot at times.

That sounds like an interesting project.
DJI did a demonstration a couple of years ago with one of their larger drones, running it continuously for 72 hours.
I'd expect the mavics to also be capable of running a long time (or those tethered systems wouldn't work).
Lots of members fly their drones near continuously without issue.
I've run 7 batteries back-to-back several times without any problems.
You could try to ask DJI for an official line on continuous run time.

At his point I’m trying to decide between 2-3 air 2’s or a handful of mini’s. I don’t see any benefit for us in going up to the next level of pro.

From a quality, durability and reliability standpoint, is there much difference between the air 2 and mini?

The mini is rather limited in the speed it can fly and the wind level it can deal with.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

We will definitely have multiple units. What I’m trying to figure out is how many. We’re looking to stay under 5K. I expect we’ll need 25 batteries or so, so that is a consideration as certain models batteries are significantly more expensive than others.

Athis point I’m trying to decide between 2-3 air 2’s or a handful of mini’s. I don’t see any benefit for us in going up to the next level of pro.

From a quality, durability and reliability standpoint, is there much difference between the air 2 and mini?

If you going to need to fly 24/7 your going to need the Air 2 , and your forgetting about the weather so your going to need the Air 2 Wet Suit to allow you to fly in the Rain and the Heavy winds .

There is no sense in considering the Mini as the Wind and the Rain alone make it a bad choice.

The AIr 2 Geared up with a Wet Suit which Protects the Batteries and the Power Buttons is your best option .
We have 24 Hour Security Companies that use this exact same setup .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic Air 2 In the rain and float on water.
Email me at [email protected]

 

[PhantomFandom]

Hello all, I am the manager of a transportation company in florida that is looking at creating a drone program. We were just awarded a contract that will require some complicated maneuvers several times over the next few years and we think an eye in the sky would be beneficial for us. One of our employees has a commercial drone pilots license unrelated to his role with us but has agreed to run the drones but he doesn’t know much about the equipment itself except for what he owns.

Due to the ongoing nature of this project we have decided to purchase the equipment rather than use a contractor as the quotes we’ve received will surpass the acquisition cost after they first couple months.

My question is how long can I expect a Mavic series drone to run continuously? I understand battery life, but I’m talking about replacing battery and getting right back in the air?

We will have a need to have an aerial view for 8-10 hours at a time, rather continuously, other than landing to replace batteries of course.

For our needs camera quality isn’t important, just need an eye in the sky for equipment coordination and safety purposes. I’ve reviewed the specs and even the mini meets our needs.

I would assume the electric motors reach a point that they need a break to cool down, and am trying to determine how many back to back flights these units are capable of. We are also in Florida and this is a year round project, so it will be hot at times.

thank you in advance for your help!

There is a lot to cover there. I will start by saying respectfully that you may be setting yourself up for failure due to the inexperience of both your company and your commercial pilot with something of this magnitude. Since this is a business endeavor and I assume that it is critical for the project, you might want to consider a pilot with a lot more experience first. In any case, some points about your project:

• Forget about the MM. It can not handle any sort of wind conditions beyond a slight breeze so you will be down most of the time.
• It seems 8 hours of continuous "surveillance" is not a best use case for a drone. Other technologies might be better suited.
• The MA2 may suffice depending on your needs but you were not very descriptive on exactly what you need to do. Depending on the area that needs to be observed and the altitude you need to fly at, you may need something with a zoom lens.
• As to continuous usage, most of the DJI drones should be able to handle it, but for many reasons it is best to have multiple units to rotate the usage.
• Remember to factor in battery cool down into your calculations. You should never take a warm/hot battery and immediately attempt to charge it. Let it cool down at least an hour indoors until it comes to room temperature before charging it.
• You mentioned a route of a few miles. Are you aware that by FAA regulations the drone must remain within visual line of sight at all times? For a small drone like a MA2, that is no more than maybe 500 to 1200 feet depending on the pilot and weather conditions. How would the pilot maintain VLOS over a few mile route?
• Regarding FAA regulations please also remember that maximum altitude at any time cannot be over 400 feet and you also cannot fly at night. Does this meet the needs of your project?
• How about pilot fatigue? If this will be a continuous 8-hour cycle, you cannot expect for one pilot to be able to safely fly and monitor the project for that long.

There are a lot of factors here and a lot of considerations. Good luck on your project! Please keep us posted as it sounds interesting.

 

[RayOZ]

Sounds like a fixed wing with some sort of solar panels as secondary power source might be more suitable. Light enough that it can glide and use minimal power to stay airborne. Plus automated to fly preprogrammed routes.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

There is a lot to cover there. [...]

Excellent list of considerations.

Also,

• While calculating the number of batteries you will need (run time + cool down time + change time), do not use the DJI marketing material flight times in your equations. (I don't use an Air -- ask in that forum area what the actual typical run times are, but it's likely several minutes less than claimed.)
• When calculating the actual run time of a battery, also consider a safe Return To Home number of minutes, with slack. that will further reduce the practical run times of each battery. The flight controller applications have battery alert levels, one for low battery (which many of us set to go off at 25-30% remaining) and a critical low level (should not be set lower than 10%)
• Pad the number of batteries to account for failures.

You mention 25 batteries, so you may have already considered these items.

Edit: but yes, I've run my drone continuously without cool down periods for the motors. The motors don't last forever, but kept free of grit, they will go for a long time. I suppose there is an operational limit to be determined for replacement before failure, but I don't know what that number is.

Chris

 

[anotherlab]

Based on what you have posted about being a transportation company and needed to provide surveillance over a route that that is over a mile, you have a few issues to overcome.

• Mavics are consumer devices and not designed to run for 8-10 hours at a time.
• DJI batteries have a more or less fixed number of charge cycles.
• The rain in Florida will be a factor. Even with a water-resistant like the wet suit product from @Phantomrain.org, they are designed to be run in adverse conditions
• Do you have a waiver for LOS rules?
• Where is the route? Are there any restrictions along the route that would disallow the use of a drone?
• Operator fatigue. The drone remote isn't designed to be used for hours at a time.

What is the purpose of the surveillance? What are you looking to track? A drone might not be the best tool for the job. Why not mount the surveillance equipment to the vehicles following the route?

 

[tsl16]

Thanks for the feedback y’all. In summary, our job is to receive some very large, very heavy items and transport them to their final destination. These are prefabricated power plant parts, each with a length of over 250 feet weighing over 200 tons. We will transport 60 units over the next few years, 2-3 at a time, with an inbound unit every month or so. They will arrive on a custom built rail car approximately 3 miles from final destination. Our job specifically is to transload them from the rail car onto nearly 300’ long purpose built haulers, transport them to the destination, and unload them.

this will be a daylight, good weather only operation. I’m an Air Force veteran, so I don’t work in the rain ???

Transloading from the train and unloading at the destination is 90% of the work. This is where we feel having an aerial view would be helpful. But, we do this sort of thing all the time without drones, so it’s far from critical. Just something we think may be helpful and we’d like to experiment with. A drone failure would not have any serious ramifications.

the route will have several tight turns due to the length of the load that will require some complicated maneuvering to traverse. Here too at these turns an aerial view may be helpful. The speed along the route will be no more than 3-5 mph. Drone pilot will be in the immediate vicinity, could even be riding on hauler if need be (there will be an observation platform with several technicians along for the ride) and probably a couple hundred feet of altitude will do. Along route, drone will only deploy at turns, no need on straight sections. Pilot will be 50’ or so away from loading operations before we set off and while unloading. Roads will be closed. This is a critical infrastructure project with heavy governmental oversight so as far as waivers or restrictions, we’ll get whatever we ask for.

quotes we’ve received have been upwards of $25K for 30 days, 10-12hrs each. It’s not worth that much to us, but is probably worth 5K in equipment.

 

[anotherlab]

Your biggest cost will be the human costs. It sounds like two shifts per day, for 30 days. Even if one person can do the job, you want a spare person.

You could do this with a pair of Mavic Air 2 drones and a bucket of batteries. Plus chargers that can charge a bunch at once.

While you could operate the drones from the train, they are not designed to take off or land from moving targets. At 3-5 MPH, you can do it, but your pilot will need some practice. If the pilot can follow along in a car or truck, he could launch and operate the drone at the points where the trains make the turns that you want to watch. If he can launch from a non-moving surface, you have removed a potential risk of something going wrong. If you do decide to launch/land from the train, I would get prop guards.

One thing to consider is having the drone to a live stream to a private YouTube channel. That would allow additional people to monitor the live feed in real-time.

 

[tsl16]

Your biggest cost will be the human costs. It sounds like two shifts per day, for 30 days. Even if one person can do the job, you want a spare person.

You could do this with a pair of Mavic Air 2 drones and a bucket of batteries. Plus chargers that can charge a bunch at once.

While you could operate the drones from the train, they are not designed to take off or land from moving targets. At 3-5 MPH, you can do it, but your pilot will need some practice. If the pilot can follow along in a car or truck, he could launch and operate the drone at the points where the trains make the turns that you want to watch. If he can launch from a non-moving surface, you have removed a potential risk of something going wrong. If you do decide to launch/land from the train, I would get prop guards.

One thing to consider is having the drone to a live stream to a private YouTube channel. That would allow additional people to monitor the live feed in real-time.

It sounds like I need to ask for a couple volunteers from our admin staff and get get certified. I’m sure we’ll have several raise their hands. I’d love to do it myself but as the PM I’ll be otherwise occupied. Though I think I will get my 107 just to have it in case I need to step in at some point. It’ll also make me more qualified as a leader to better understand they aside the of our operation if this is something we decide to make use of regularly.

To be clear, the 30 days isn’t continuous, it’ll be about 1 day a month over a few years. This is why we’re wanting utilize our existing staff and buy our own equipment, the cost of a contractor will well exceed the startup.

we won’t be operating from a moving train. Our job starts when the train arrives. We’ll unload the units from the train to the 300’ wheeled haulers, then move the last few miles to destination. When we make the tight turns we’ll come to a stop to setup for the turns so there will be time to launch. This is a slow moving project.

the live stream is a great idea. I hadn’t got there yet but was thinkingof ways to view it on a larger monitor. We have a mobile operations center. I was thinking of using an apple device on the controller and “casting” or whatever Apple calls it to another screen but a livestream might work. There may even be a marketing side to it. This is not a security sensitive operation so no worries there. The reactors are a different story, but thankfully that’s someone else’s problem ?

as of right nowI am thinking of ordering 2 air 2’s with the fly more kit and about 20 spare batteries. That’ll give us 26 with what’s included in the kit which I think is plenty enough with several to spare. I don’t want to deal with having to recharge batteries, I’d rather go into it with enough to last and not worry about it.

thanks again for all the great info! I will admit the more I research this drone stuff the more interested I am in it on a personal level. I love everything related to aviation.

 

[boblui]

FYI Youtube streaming is available in the GO app only so it wont work on the Air 2 or Mini. Not sure if Litchi can do live streaming on Facebook.

May be you can talk to DJI and see if they will sponsor the project which sounds like a good case for their marketing purpose.

 

[boblui]

Regarding the choice of drones, I think the Mini should be OK as you dont need too much range and image quality. The wind resistance is just slightly weaker compared with the Air 2 . From the user manual :

Air 2 :


Mini :

 

[lee82gx]

you may want to have a few more of the multi chargers. It takes 40-50mins to charge 1 up, so with 2 it is just enough to maintain a 25min cycle time for a single drone. With 3 and it will not bottleneck your flights.

 

[PhantomFandom]

Thanks for the feedback y’all. In summary, our job is to receive some very large, very heavy items and transport them to their final destination. These are prefabricated power plant parts, each with a length of over 250 feet weighing over 200 tons. We will transport 60 units over the next few years, 2-3 at a time, with an inbound unit every month or so. They will arrive on a custom built rail car approximately 3 miles from final destination. Our job specifically is to transload them from the rail car onto nearly 300’ long purpose built haulers, transport them to the destination, and unload them.

this will be a daylight, good weather only operation. I’m an Air Force veteran, so I don’t work in the rain ???

Transloading from the train and unloading at the destination is 90% of the work. This is where we feel having an aerial view would be helpful. But, we do this sort of thing all the time without drones, so it’s far from critical. Just something we think may be helpful and we’d like to experiment with. A drone failure would not have any serious ramifications.

the route will have several tight turns due to the length of the load that will require some complicated maneuvering to traverse. Here too at these turns an aerial view may be helpful. The speed along the route will be no more than 3-5 mph. Drone pilot will be in the immediate vicinity, could even be riding on hauler if need be (there will be an observation platform with several technicians along for the ride) and probably a couple hundred feet of altitude will do. Along route, drone will only deploy at turns, no need on straight sections. Pilot will be 50’ or so away from loading operations before we set off and while unloading. Roads will be closed. This is a critical infrastructure project with heavy governmental oversight so as far as waivers or restrictions, we’ll get whatever we ask for.

quotes we’ve received have been upwards of $25K for 30 days, 10-12hrs each. It’s not worth that much to us, but is probably worth 5K in equipment.

Ah OK, now that makes much more sense and fills in the missing information. So even though you said 8 hour shifts, it seems like it will be stop and go with plenty of time for the pilot to have rest breaks and to swap out batteries. Seems much more feasible now.

Pilot riding on hauler would be fine and probably give the best vantage point. The idea of live streaming would be interesting and possibly beneficial since the pilot would need to concentrate on flying safely over monitoring the cargo. It would also be easier to monitor on a big screen in the shade. Sometimes (most times?) live feed is really spotty and unreliable so another option would be a directly attached large monitor with an HDMI cable to the controller.

Even though it is a critical infrastructure project, I doubt you can "get whatever you ask for". The FAA's primary mission is safety and the project goal really doesn't matter. You would still need to go through the same waiver process as anyone else. However in this case it seems you won't need any waivers, so you're all good.

$25K does seem a bit high if it is a local firm and you are only asking for about 12 man-days of labor over the course of a year. However, you surely won't get a qualified, safe, and experienced drone pilot to do the same work for less than the $5K you are looking to spend. How experienced is your employee with the 107 license? Perhaps think about having an experienced pilot along for the first one or two days of doing this and make sure it all goes smoothly? I also would highly recommend a dry-run. I am sure you can't close roads and use the hauler just for practice, but even a pick-up truck might work. You can also work out the auxiliary monitor/live-feed that way. I always believe in testinge EVERYTHING and having multiple back-up plans before every job I do. Nothing worse than going into a job cold and then having things fail.

 

[tsl16]

Ah OK, now that makes much more sense and fills in the missing information. So even though you said 8 hour shifts, it seems like it will be stop and go with plenty of time for the pilot to have rest breaks and to swap out batteries. Seems much more feasible now.

Pilot riding on hauler would be fine and probably give the best vantage point. The idea of live streaming would be interesting and possibly beneficial since the pilot would need to concentrate on flying safely over monitoring the cargo. It would also be easier to monitor on a big screen in the shade. Sometimes (most times?) live feed is really spotty and unreliable so another option would be a directly attached large monitor with an HDMI cable to the controller.

Even though it is a critical infrastructure project, I doubt you can "get whatever you ask for". The FAA's primary mission is safety and the project goal really doesn't matter. You would still need to go through the same waiver process as anyone else. However in this case it seems you won't need any waivers, so you're all good.

$25K does seem a bit high if it is a local firm and you are only asking for about 12 man-days of labor over the course of a year. However, you surely won't get a qualified, safe, and experienced drone pilot to do the same work for less than the $5K you are looking to spend. How experienced is your employee with the 107 license? Perhaps think about having an experienced pilot along for the first one or two days of doing this and make sure it all goes smoothly? I also would highly recommend a dry-run. I am sure you can't close roads and use the hauler just for practice, but even a pick-up truck might work. You can also work out the auxiliary monitor/live-feed that way. I always believe in testinge EVERYTHING and having multiple back-up plans before every job I do. Nothing worse than going into a job cold and then having things fail.

It’s probably more like 30 days than 12. There will be 60 units total and they will arrive 2-3 at a time. We’re hoping for 2 at a time, that means more transports and more money! Haha. The delivery schedule calls for one per month for the next 36 months, starting late spring next year. We are limited to using preauthorized federal contractors, so that probably drives the price up some too, although the 3 companies we got quotes from were all based within 100 miles.

the route is not really the biggest concern. This operation will be 3-4 hours unloading/loading on each end with about an hour of moving time. The loading and unloading are the critical stages. At over 200 tons a piece, of will be helpful to have a view from above in the operations center for positioning of cranes and tugs. The only usefulness for along the route is at the turns. We use a rig that resembles an old horse and buggy harness with several tractors moving in unison slave to a primary unit with a driver. Rigs on front and rear to push and pull and backing up. The wheels of the hauler pivot to aid in turning with additional tractors acting as tugs. Negotiating the turns will require several pivots and backing up to clear obstacles on the roadside. A birds eye view will be helpful for determining clearances.