Mavic water recovery system

[Boman49]

The rear bar i chemically welded a round piece of the same ABS plastic. to do this cut up some pieces of the abs plastic and put them in a small amount of Acetone. this will make a goop. this is the glue to chemically weld the round gromit on the ends of the rear. slide the noodle together so you do dont get any on it. that way you can slide them together for storage. they do not flex much

Thanks, where did you pick up the plastic bar stock ? I assume you made the washer out of the same stock.

 

[Matt]

so i did another flight with the Pontoons to compare them with the Life jacket. prior to this i put a graph together. Pontoons looked promising but with the last flight Airdata aka Healthy drones were only indicating 18 minutes of flight. It was a moderately windy day 12mph with 20mph gusts according
to inflight wind data from airdata



so if i add in the last flight i would have the following averages

no floats
23.875 minutes
Mavic lifejacket
23.375 minutes
Mavic Pontoons
20.5 minutes

Also this last flight i could not do a carrier landing on the Hardtop of the boat like in the video i posted for the Pontoons.

oh i also found another version which also shead some light on possible weight issues with the Pontoons

This is a complete 3d print floats and all. Also has a secondary attachment to keep it from flying off in a crash
Link:
Mavic water recovery upgrade by GV007


So i think i need to look at weights.

The Full 3d printed one weight is 229 grams
Mavic Pontoons 198 grams
Mavic lifejacket 99 grams

The mavic weight is 734 grams

They reported difficulty of the Mavic to have complete stable flight. The Pontoons just a slight issue i could tell on a windy day. Life Jacket none i could tell.

I have some ideas on eliminating weight on the pontoons but i think it is safe to say that the Pontoons weight can be a issue

 

[Boman49]

Nice job on the pontoons. How did you get them so round & smooth on the ends?

 

[Matt]

Nice job on the pontoons. How did you get them so round & smooth on the ends?

i believe i mentioned it in a previous post but a heat gun. Move quickly though you can melt it quickly

well i made some changes with the Pontoons to get the weight down. the Noel design the clip were the breaking point it seemed so that is why i added the Carbon fiber rods. I eliminated them and got the weight down on the Pontoons close to the Mavic LifeJacket. i cut the section out. chopped up the piece and used acetone to make liquid ABS plastic. i wire tied the carbon fiber rod to the frame that mounts on the mavic bottom. then used the liquid plastic to chemically weld the carbon fiber rod as well as keeping the piano wire in place. as a extra i ran the wire though the carbon fiber rod around the float then back on the rod. epoxied all the points and wire.

I can hand catch with no twisting or movement. carbon fiber is amazing strong stuff and can endure a crash well.

Down side. still the issue with the Pontoons getting in the camera view with extreme turn and such. Also the location of the back strut is over the senor so you have to have the bottom senors off

So i think my tinker is done. I have two versions. Lifejacket for extreme flying and pontoons for normal flights over water.

It would be nice if someone could make some CAD changes to the noel design to incorporate the carbon fiber rods. changes would be to extend the bottom attachment aft so that you can run the rod on the other side of the rear factor landing gear. this would move it off the sensor. Also add material at these points to drill or slide through the rods instead of putting a goo of liquid ABS plastic on there. Also i think it is key to have the SS wire at the rod attachment points and around the float to keep them in place in a crash.

I sure would like to crash test these! lol

 

[Matt]

you cannot tell from the pictures but the Carbon fibers rods go all the way through the pontoons and end at the loop. The picture below you see the wire that runs through that rod wrapping around the pontoon

 

[Mxs]

Where do you guys get the egg shaped caps for the water pontoons? Any suggestions or links? I can't seem to find any that would fit the standard pool noodle.

 

[Matt]

Where do you guys get the egg shaped caps for the water pontoons? Any suggestions or links? I can't seem to find any that would fit the standard pool noodle.

i shaped the ends but it think others put these on
https://www.amazon.com/US-Toy-Plastic-Eggs-inch/dp/B00362TW9O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1508792144&sr=8-3&keywords=plastic+egg+3"



I didn't like the looks of the Pontoon version all chopped up and glued together up a couple of posts. plus i had a few design ideas so about a month ago i purchased a CR-10 3d printer. i redesigned it in cad with a oblong rear hole so you can spread it open attaching it (that sounds odd) Also a built in cradled with box out around the battery clips. you can change batteries without removing it. Tested it out on the water. made a video for some entertainment

 

[Mxs]

i shaped the ends but it think others put these on
https://www.amazon.com/US-Toy-Plastic-Eggs-inch/dp/B00362TW9O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1508792144&sr=8-3&keywords=plastic+egg+3"

View attachment 23687

I didn't like the looks of the Pontoon version all chopped up and glued together up a couple of posts. plus i had a few design ideas so about a month ago i purchased a CR-10 3d printer. i redesigned it in cad with a oblong rear hole so you can spread it open attaching it (that sounds odd) Also a built in cradled with box out around the battery clips. you can change batteries without removing it. Tested it out on the water. made a video for some entertainment

Much better design. Are these plans available to print?? Did you also fix the weak front tab issue? The one right under the gimbal area.

 

[Matt]

Much better design. Are these plans available to print?? Did you also fix the weak front tab issue? The one right under the gimbal area.

Yes the Nola design has a small tab i think you are referring to. I printed out a couple set and yes that tab just breaks off. I have the same type of tab on this but it is bigger and dose not just snap off. Also you add .3 more ounces but we printed them with no fill. In a crash that tab and the rear attachment at the landing legs will fail most likely. The tab will break and those rubber leg come off. when i put these on the tab and the rear landing tabs hold it very secure but you need to strap it to the body for crash protection. The red rubber first goes on to tight up. This is not a rubber band but a Parker brand round belt. kind of like you would find in your vacuum cleaner. This is only as strong as the plastic so it is the 1/2" Velcro that really makes it survivable in a crash. As a note the rear legs busted/snapped off the first test so i think i got an nice hard impact. I would have to check on the CAD file i had someone do this and would have to get with him. They are available built on eBay just a few. I am not on thingiverse or anything like that

 

[Mxs]

I will be going to Tacoma this november. Can anyone recommend some places to get these two items retail wise as I have given up in canada:
- Egg shaped end caps 2-2.5 inch diameter, or any other end cap suggestion
- Solid pool noodles or skinny water bottles (besides the smart ones, they are too large for my setup)

 

[Mxs]

This is my setup. The pool noodles are the best solution as they are 50%lighter than the smart water bottles.

 

[Mxs]

I managed to find some egg caps just recently. I think it looks much better than before. I think I will make another set shortly.

 

[CanyonRunVideos]

Hi guys, I have been using the Mavic Pro/Platinum Float Kit from mikeflys.com. The photograph below shows the MikeFlys NEW Squishy Floats that can be SQUISHED totally flat after use to easily pack them into a small backpack or your drone storage case. I have also attached a video of flying my Mavic Pro with the older version of MikeFlys Float Kit with the 4" styrofoam balls. In this video there was a 15 mph constant wind that day and the Mavic Pro was zipping around without any problem at all as you can see.
I will be receiving the MikeFlys NEW Squishy Float Kit Update on Monday 2/12/2018. Then I will be going down to the lake to shoot and produce a new video to see the performance with the Squishy Floats soon.

 

[wytnyt]

How much weight can a Mavic Pro handle.

2 lbs max

 

[Mxs]

Hi guys, I have been using the Mavic Pro/Platinum Float Kit from mikeflys.com. The photograph below shows the MikeFlys NEW Squishy Floats that can be SQUISHED totally flat after use to easily pack them into a small backpack or your drone storage case. I have also attached a video of flying my Mavic Pro with the older version of MikeFlys Float Kit with the 4" styrofoam balls. In this video there was a 15 mph constant wind that day and the Mavic Pro was zipping around without any problem at all as you can see.
I will be receiving the MikeFlys NEW Squishy Float Kit Update on Monday 2/12/2018. Then I will be going down to the lake to shoot and produce a new video to see the performance with the Squishy Floats soon.

View attachment 31098

Has anyone tried these yet or gotten some videos? I"m curious to see how these perform and how they affect sensors.

 

[Matt]

Anyone try these yet?



They deflate and are portable. Not sure if they would stay on in a hard landing. Just like most Balls and Pontoons there is no attachment point to keep them on in a crash. All they need was a strap around the main body that would keep them on is a crash. i might pick up a pair just for the inflatable part and reconfigure my pontoon cradle to hold them with a proper strap around the body.

Maybe its just me but unless you only have these on for landing on calm water why even bother if they are just going to fly off in a crash? a simple strap around the mid body avoiding the bottom sensor and you have the best of both worlds

Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Mavic-Foldab...8&qid=1518445603&sr=8-5&keywords=mavic+floats

 

[Mxs]

Anyone try these yet?

View attachment 31182

They deflate and are portable. One thing they do not do like most Balls and Pontoons there is no attachment point to keep them on in a crash. All they need was a strap around the main body that would keep them on is a crash. i might pick up a pair just for the inflatable part and reconfigure my pontoon cradle to hold them with a proper strap around the body.

Maybe its just me but unless you only have these on for landing on calm water why even bother if they are just going to fly off in a crash? a simple strap around the mid body avoiding the bottom sensor and you have the best of both worlds

Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Mavic-Foldab...8&qid=1518445603&sr=8-5&keywords=mavic+floats

Dude, that is slick but I am happy with mine for now. You can see a video I made for my pontoons here.

Airvūz - Mavic Pro Pontoons Test 1

 

[Matt]

Dude, that is slick but I am happy with mine for now. You can see a video I made for my pontoons here.

Airvūz - Mavic Pro Pontoons Test 1

Nice to see you have them strapped to the body. They should stay on in a crash even if the arm bust off which seemed to be the case in my crash test

 

[JulienG]

Hello - Have you ever tried this one ? Does it work well in case of emergency landing?
It is cheap and available on Amazon and other similar websites.

3D Printed Landing Gear Bracket Protector with Buoyancy Bar Floating Set for DJI Mavic Pro Drone Parts Accessories - intl | Lazada Singapore

View media item 1710

 

[GerdS]

Hello - Have you ever tried this one ? Does it work well in case of emergency landing?
It is cheap and available on Amazon and other similar websites.

I am not so convinced of these. They produce high air resistance to the propeller downwash.