Mod Mavic mini

[Johnbr]

Hi
I want to access the power on a Mavic mini. To power a second gimbal. I also want to program the cpu to control the gimbal. Anyone have experience doing this.
Cheers
John

 

[Keule]

Hi
I want to access the power on a Mavic mini. To power a second gimbal. I also want to program the cpu to control the gimbal. Anyone have experience doing this.
Cheers
John

I am not sure if the Mini is the right choice to do that kind of experiment...
Currently, there is no SDK available to program the flight controller of the Mini to do certain things.
Also, the weight of an additional gimbal (and camera?) will significantly influence the flight characteristics of the Mavic Mini.

A perfect airframe to do this kind of work is a Matrice 100 (or M200 series)

Yes, I have done this kind of developing with an M100.

 

[Johnbr]

Thanks.. the problem is I need to keep the weight below 270g

 

[Johnbr]

PS the sensor is 12g, gimble can be very light

 

[Keule]

the problem is I need to keep the weight below 270g

I see ...
To power the add-on device would be no problem, I can't think of a way to control the gimbal/sensor with something from the Mini (like a PWM signal a UART or IC2)

 

[Johnbr]

Great thanks, how do you get access to the power what gimble would you recommend has to be very light. Could we replace the controller?

 

[Keule]

how do you get access to the power

a break out cable direct from the battery

what gimble would you recommend

How many axis do you need? (pitch only, or pitch and yaw,)
Look at the usual RC model shops. (maybe a simple servo would do the job)

Could we replace the controller?

I strongly doubt it - there is more behind the FC...

To be honest, it can't be done with a Mavic Mini.

 

[Johnbr]

a break out cable direct from the battery


How many axis do you need? (pitch only, or pitch and yaw,)
Look at the usual RC model shops. (maybe a simple servo would do the job)

Pitch and yaw I would say


I strongly doubt it - there is more behind the FC...

To be honest, it can't be done with a Mavic Mini.
OK Thanks, can you think of another lightweight drone I could use with access to the controller

 

[Keule]

can you think of another lightweight drone I could use with access to the controller

Start looking around FPV racing drones (lightweight)

I recommend building your vehicle around a Pixhawk flight controller.
That would be a nice start.

Homepage - Pixhawk

pixhawk.org

Good luck!