Vehicle charging & memory card backup station

[mr.bill]

I'll be on a 5-day road trip soon with my DSLR and MP2 taking hundreds of photos and while I'm not worried about losing the shots I take with my camera, I am concerned about the MP2 crashing in the water or other terrain I cannot reach and taking my photos with it. I also needed a way to charge batteries between stops. I wanted to use the hardware & supplies I have on hand and minimize spending. This is the initial result.

• Raspberry Pi 4 (here's the kit I bought)
• Little Backup Box - this app runs automatically on the RPi and waits for a backup drive to be attached then the source (SD card). It then copies from the source to the backup and once complete, gracefully shuts down the RPi. It runs headless as you can see. I just power it on, wait 60 seconds then attach the drive/SD card. I've tested it extensively and only found a bug that relates to the Pi 4 and attaching more than one USB 3 devices simultaneously - it some times will unmount the first when a second is attached. Using the USB 2 port is the workaround right now.
• SD card reader
• USB to USB-C adapters
• 500 GB Samsung SSD I had on-hand
• FlashFish 60000mAh Portable Power Station I've been using for charging for several months - works well.
• Mavic 2 Battery Charging Hub
• All this mounted to an old monitor stand

The power station is loosely attached under the stand which could be an issue once in the trunk of the car. I need to move this whole apparatus to the car, figure out a way to secure it from sliding while remaining in this configuration. I have a trunk-net that may be wide enough to hold it in place and prevent some vibration.

The batteries coming loose are also a concern while driving. The friction holding them in is decent and I've also added a Velcro strap around that is also attached to the charging hub (Velcro) which hopefully will help.

It's not pretty but it's functional and satisfies what I'll need for the trip. I welcome any suggestions for improvement especially for keeping the batteries in place.

 

[zeusfl]

Nice idea !!!

 

[THE CYBORG]

Nice one

 

[mr.bill]

Thanks. I should also mention bringing a laptop is not option on many trips including the upcoming one so the Pi backup will be very handy.

 

[Thomas B]

Cool idea....

................... for me
I have 10 batteries and 10 SD cards... I change the simultaneously between flights... to prevent data loss.

 

[mr.bill]

Cool idea....

................... for me
I have 10 batteries and 10 SD cards... I change the simultaneously between flights... to prevent data loss.

10 batteries! That’s a lot of quiche!
The extra SD cards is a good idea but wouldn’t cover the upcoming road trip. I may have around 40 flights. There’s also a chance of losing one. Backups solve that.

 

[Thomas B]

10 batteries! That’s a lot of quiche!
The extra SD cards is a good idea but wouldn’t cover the upcoming road trip. I may have around 40 flights. There’s also a chance of losing one. Backups solve that.

A 64GB card will hold several hours of video... 3-4 should have room to record the 10 hours of flight you plan and have a LOT of empty headroom.

 

[GadgetGuy]

A 64GB card will hold several hours of video... 3-4 should have room to record the 10 hours of flight you plan and have a LOT of empty headroom.

I wouldn't plan on recording more than 3 flights per 64GB card in H.264 at 4K. Each flight of continuous video on my M2P consumes around 17GB, meaning a fourth flight would be truncated. I still swap my 64GB cards after every battery change, but sometimes forget to reformat the card before flight, so I can forget to format twice, and still have room to record a full flight.

 

[mr.bill]

A 64GB card will hold several hours of video... 3-4 should have room to record the 10 hours of flight you plan and have a LOT of empty headroom.

It’s not capacity I’m concerned with it’s having the data in two places in case one is lost.

Once a flight has ended, the card is backed up by the RPi. The card then goes back into the drone. The data now is now stored in two places. If the drone is lost next flight, I have the RPi data and vice versa if the drive connected to the RPI is lost.

Using the RPi again, I could backup the backup using another drive and keep that in a different location like my wife’s backpack.

I could even connect the RPi to a backup service (e.g. Dropbox) once I have connectivity which is another issue on this trip. I won’t have much of that but it is an option at the end of the day at the hotels. The point is to have duplicate data ASAP and with the RPi, it offers safe and reliable options. Swapping cards is an option but it doesn’t solve the duplicate data requirement.

 

[Thomas B]

It’s not capacity I’m concerned with it’s having the data in two places in case one is lost.

Once a flight has ended, the card is backed up by the RPi. The card then goes back into the drone. The data now is now stored in two places. If the drone is lost next flight, I have the RPi data and vice versa if the drive connected to the RPI is lost.

Using the RPi again, I could backup the backup using another drive and keep that in a different location like my wife’s backpack.

I could even connect the RPi to a backup service (e.g. Dropbox) once I have connectivity which is another issue on this trip. I won’t have much of that but it is an option at the end of the day at the hotels. The point is to have duplicate data ASAP and with the RPi, it offers safe and reliable options. Swapping cards is an option but it doesn’t solve the duplicate data requirement.

This is why I change SD card every time I change a battery on the drone. No connectivity needed. Each to their own.

 

[mr.bill]

This is why I change SD card every time I change a battery on the drone. No connectivity needed. Each to their own.

Tom, I'm talking about duplicate data created on-site. Connectivity at the end of the day would just be a bonus.

If you pulled an SD card from your drone, then some how lost or damage that card the data is gone. Right? The RPi setup is a simple, inexpensiveness solution for that, which can be accomplished, on-site; no connectivity required.

 

[Thomas B]

Tom, I'm talking about duplicate data created on-site. Connectivity at the end of the day would just be a bonus.

If you pulled an SD card from your drone, then some how lost or damage that card the data is gone. Right? The RPi setup is a simple, inexpensiveness solution for that which can be accomplished, on-site; no connectivity required.

You’re correct... likely you have less risk once you can get internet connection.
Most of my flying has been in the boonies.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Tom, I'm talking about duplicate data created on-site. Connectivity at the end of the day would just be a bonus.

If you pulled an SD card from your drone, then some how lost or damage that card the data is gone. Right? The RPi setup is a simple, inexpensiveness solution for that, which can be accomplished, on-site; no connectivity required.

That's also why I leave the prior flight on each SD card, and only format it when the card needs to be used again, and I carry a wallet of twelve 64GB cards. It's a backup to your duplicate created on-site, which becomes the original, or a cloud original with connectivity. You can never have too many copies!

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

I have installed an auxiliary battery in my Pajero so is easier to charge batteries and run computers with motor turned off. That way don’t have to worry about vibration and things not charging if they come loose.