Water landing floats for mavic mini.

[Flycaster]

I have been thinking the exact same thing. I have the DJI care package but how do I retrieve the drone in the event of a water landing. I don’t want the wind age of the big Floats and I don’t want the added weight. Here is what I am thinking... BUBBLE WRAP. Just enough on the top with two sided tape to make it float. Question is... how much is enough? DJI would you sponsor one DJI Mavic mini so we can find out?

View attachment 105280

Easy, what is the weight of a mini?
All you have to do is displace more water weight than the weight of the mini....

 

[Bface]

Easy, what is the weight of a mini?
All you have to do is displace more water weight than the weight of the mini....

It sounds easy but the drone itself displaces water as well so to get it just right, experimentation is really the only way. The drone itself has a volume of about 330cm^3 but it’s open and water can run in which is why it doesn’t float. I’m guessing about half of that outer volume is it’s actual displacement. Which is about 160 cm^3. Which leaves about 90 cm^3 needed with bubble wrap. I measure about 3.5 cm^3 for the big bubbles which means I need about 24 bubbles to keep it afloat. Again, my initial assumption could prove disasterous without testing but there is no way to know without sacrificing my drone.

 

[Bface]

The pic above is what 24 bubbles on it looks like. The rotors still have clearance and It’s about as minimal as can be. It may weigh in over 250 grams now though. Also doesn’t close like this either and there may be over heating as the vents are blocked now. Oh wow eh. Maybe I need the splash drone in addition. Lol.

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

I kind of think at 249 grams if you get the MM dirty you might have to register it.

Thats what a pressure washer is for...

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

Remember that if your drone is blowing away, over water, and lands, it will keep blowing away while afloat. So you hopefully have a jetski on standby, to get out there, for retrieval.

 

[Fred Whitman]

Yes and getting that much bubble wrap on is tough. My calculations suggest I need between 64 and 73 bubbles to make it float which is ridiculous. I’ll have to think more about the volume of the drone itself that it displaced because I just need enough to keep it at the surface for retrieval rather than sitting on top. I don’t have time to try this with my own drone before I leave for my trip otherwise I would see what I could do.
so far I have made it to 11 bubbles which is about 2.3 cubic inches of displacement. I have a long way to go. View attachment 105326

What about a "snack" sized zip lock attached with helium in it? Won't exceed the 249 grams and you will have a body to send back to DJI.

 

[Bface]

What about a "snack" sized zip lock attached with helium in it? Won't exceed the 249 grams and you will have a body to send back to DJI.

Ya not a bad idea the trouble is mounting it in such a way as to not interfere with the blades or cause unnecessary windage

 

[Wade Gizzy]

I'm questioning the definition of "float". For $40 for a DJI "insurance policy" on the mini, all you need is it to not sink! If it "floats" and yet is fully submerged, that's OK, DJI will replace it. I attached bubble wrap on a Parrot I used to have. It went down in the water and the drone itself was fully submerged under the water, yet close enough to the surface to see the fluorescent yellow tape I had attached. I tried everything to "dry it out", didn't work. I sent it back to the "insurance" that was available thru Amazon at the time, and for$75 they replaced it! Get 250gm and see how many "air bubbles" are required just to keep it from sinking and at least near the surface!