I posted on the other thread about this and got a response. Since I dont know to do a direct quote post, orr whatever you want to call it, I'll just cut and paste what he had to say:
The project is currently stalled due to multiple factors:
- been too busy with my primary job so i had to pull back on projects
- waiting for answers from lawyers for this project (more down below)
- thinking about in which direction i want to move
The current status:
- USB-PD works flawlessly. You can use probably any charger you want. Tested it with multiple chargers with 5, 9, 12 and up to 20 Volts. The maximum output is 35 Watts, defined via my firmware which limits the maximum current. So even that is adjustable, all via software
- USB-QC works well, but has not been tested as much. I only have chargers with 9 and 12 Volts at hand. Up to 20 Volts should be possible. I have my own custom chip with software which negotiates the voltage in 200 mV steps. The whole circuit can cope with any voltage applied to it and puts out stable 13.2 Volts for the
mavic air 2.
- i added another chip ("esp" if you are interested) which controls voltage, current and temperature and activates a very small fan if anything gets too hot. Also this chip has bluetooth support, so in the future everything can be controlled via a simple android or iOS app on the smartphone (the app is not built yet, but that is rather easy).
The whole adapter is within a small 3d-printed case and has 2 USB-C inputs, one for USB-PD and the other one for USB-QC. I have not yet succeeded in combining both technologies reliably on one single USB-Port, so that's why there are two of them. If, for example, you attach a USB-PD charger on the USB-QC port, nothing bad will happen, the voltage will be limited to 5 Volts and Amps will be pretty low.
Then there is another Micro-USB Port, this one is only used for upgrading the firmware. Might not need that one, but i wanted the system to be upgradeable.
On the other side is a standard round jack, so almost anything can be connected.
I.E. i use that to attach the connector for my acer-notebook an can charge that (with 19 Volts) via my prototype-adapter. Just FYI: this is my 14th build of this adapter, as i modified it alot ... ;-)
Now on to the problems:
As i am doing a DC-DC conversion here, there are some rules. Most probably the adapter needs a CE (Europe) and FCC (USA) certification.
The CE-Certification is a little bit harder as the FCC counterpart, so by getting CE certified, the FCC will most probably be also given.
The certification process is very expensive - we are talking somewhere between 5.000 and 10.000 Euros (6.000 - 12.000 USD).
So currently i cannot simply do that - the customer base is too small. Also there is a high possibility, that my design will be copied by another company (not making a political statement here) and producing everything in china without certification and selling that via alibaba or banggood worldwide.
I only see two possible roads:
- going for a kickstarter/indiegogo to get enough backers and the money for the certification.
- going full opensource and releasing everything to the public, so that everyone can use the current DIY-Methods to create the adapter
With the first option i might get some buck for my invested time (hundreds of hours) while with the second one i will be doing something good for the community and might get some donations.
I am still not sure which way to go ... need more time to think about it.
And here is the link to the other thread for those who are interested.
That sounds awesome, I would be interested. How quickly could a
MA2 battery fully charge? Have a look at the Table in Post #33: Development: USB-Charging Cable for Drone-Battery It depends on the charger and how many watts it can supply
mavicpilots.com
