Will it fly?

[Photo-Sorko]

Hello there!

That's the question. Since a few days I'm thinking about a way to film the Mavic itself during flight. From the Mavic. And the footage should be in equal quality. So, what to do? Grab a GoPro, an extension and a mount and put it on the Mavic. I don't know if it will fly but I'll test it tomorrow. What do you think?




Greetings
Jürgen

 

[FoxhallGH]

That's going to push the centre-of-gravity back on that bird! The rear prop's will be pushing like crazy to keep it level and that means you'll reduce their capability to manouvre and compensate for gusts etc. to keep stable ... Don't let it get too high above a very soft surface on your test flight!!!! Good luck ...

 

[Former Member]

That's going to push the centre-of-gravity back on that bird! The rear prop's will be pushing like crazy to keep it level and that means you'll reduce their capability to manouvre and compensate for gusts etc. to keep stable ... Don't let it get too high above a very soft surface on your test flight!!!! Good luck ...

I agree. can you move the mount further front?

 

[Former Member]

BTW I like your invention!

 

[Photo-Sorko]

That's going to push the centre-of-gravity back on that bird! The rear prop's will be pushing like crazy to keep it level and that means you'll reduce their capability to manouvre and compensate for gusts etc. to keep stable ... Don't let it get too high above a very soft surface on your test flight!!!! Good luck ...

I'll try it in a safe environment for my drone. I love it.. her... she needs a name!

I agree. can you move the mount further front?

That would contradict my intentions but if it doesn't work in this way, that's the next I'll test.

 

[Former Member]

I'll try it in a safe environment for my drone. I love it.. her... she needs a name!

That would contradict my intentions but if it doesn't work in this way, that's the next I'll test.

If the camera has the perspective you are looking for, which looks good, then just move the mount and not the camera. OR!!! counterbalance the weight of the camera with some weight in the nose! Try putting something that weighs around the same or less than the whole camera and arm at the tip of the nose.

 

[Photo-Sorko]

That's another idea. Or get a helium filled balloon to counter the weight...

 

[Former Member]

That's another idea. Or get a helium filled balloon to counter the weight...

Ok... haha

No seriously, check that the center of gravity is close to where it is when the drone is carrying no weight.

 

[Former Member]

Here is the Mavic CG:

 

[Former Member]

If you put your fingers under the drone and try to balance it on the yellow line, you will see if you need to add weight to the front.

BTW, try to fly very slowly with this on there, it looks top heavy.

 

[ff22]

Hello there!

That's the question. Since a few days I'm thinking about a way to film the Mavic itself during flight. From the Mavic. And the footage should be in equal quality. So, what to do? Grab a GoPro, an extension and a mount and put it on the Mavic. I don't know if it will fly but I'll test it tomorrow. What do you think?

View attachment 66149 View attachment 66150
View attachment 66151 View attachment 66152

Greetings
Jürgen

Oooh, it looks like a scorpion! (g)

Is that curved metal an official adapter of some sort or your own contraption?

 

[Photo-Sorko]

If you put your fingers under the drone and try to balance it on the yellow line, you will see if you need to add weight to the front.

Putting some more thought in it, maybe, I'll try to run the GoPro without the battery and use a very small power bank, mounted just behind the gimbal on the bottom of the drone. That will reduce the allover weight an center the mass. But first it must fly, before I throw more money and engineering on it. If all works out, I'll provide you with all information that you can build a professional GoPro-films-your-own-drone-mount.

BTW, try to fly very slowly with this on there, it looks top heavy.

For sure. I'll start with hovering in ~1m and than slowly fly forward, backward, sideways and change direction. Only if I'm sure, it will not harm the drone, I'll go on. I also have to fix the end of the straps so that they cannot get into the props.

Oooh, it looks like a scorpion! (g)

That's.... true.

Is that curved metal an official adapter of some sort or your own contraption?

It's this thing:
POV Extender

It's very lightweight and stable and has little surface... how do you say in English? I mean the it has a very small aerodynamic effect. In German we say "Angriffsfläche" (surface of attack - 1:1 translated). Dictionary says "sail surface".

Greetings Jürgen

 

[JAW]

It can handle the load but the pendulum effect might play havoc with control.

 

[Photo-Sorko]

And here is.... my drunken bird!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

As you can see, it does fly. But as @JAW said correctly the pendulum effect has negative effects to the automatic stabilization. If I can mount the GoPro more tight, it would be a little better. The video already shows my second attempt. In the first, the GoPro was to loose and it started swinging right after the take off.

The center of mass was off by about 15mm. This and the additional weight was handled without effort from the drone.

I've to think about my next steps.

Greetings
Jürgen

 

[FormerMember07122019_2]

I’m just curious as to why you want this alternative video angle? If you answer “just because I can”, then I get it.

 

[Photo-Sorko]

To get the drone itself in the video. It's a bit of doing something different.

 

[JAW]

drone selfie

 

[Cymruflyer]

Putting some more thought in it, maybe, I'll try to run the GoPro without the battery and use a very small power bank, mounted just behind the gimbal on the bottom of the drone. That will reduce the allover weight an center the mass. But first it must fly, before I throw more money and engineering on it. If all works out, I'll provide you with all information that you can build a professional GoPro-films-your-own-drone-mount.


For sure. I'll start with hovering in ~1m and than slowly fly forward, backward, sideways and change direction. Only if I'm sure, it will not harm the drone, I'll go on. I also have to fix the end of the straps so that they cannot get into the props.


That's.... true.


It's this thing:
POV Extender

It's very lightweight and stable and has little surface... how do you say in English? I mean the it has a very small aerodynamic effect. In German we say "Angriffsfläche" (surface of attack - 1:1 translated). Dictionary says "sail surface".

Greetings Jürgen

Hallo Jurgen,

Du meinst "minimal surface area" so im vehrwenden, there is very low aerodynamic resistance due to the shape or thickness of the arm. Du kannst auch sagen, es hat ein "low drag coefficient".

You could also add weight to the opposite two arms, to off set the weight that the camera and arm have added out the back. Then the only thing to affect flight would be the aerodynamic drag of the camera and arm, with the camera being the most, from what I see.

However, that is still minimal because you are not here to create a racing machine, but rather, to just see the drone in flight, or a portion of the drone in flight and that should not really present much of a problem. Though I would suggest you get the weight and balance (CG) sorted out, before flying, to make it fly the best.

 

[Cymruflyer]

I’m just curious as to why you want this alternative video angle? If you answer “just because I can”, then I get it.

I would think that it is obvious he just wants to get a different perspective during filming in flight.

 

[Cymruflyer]

And here is.... my drunken bird!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

As you can see, it does fly. But as @JAW said correctly the pendulum effect has negative effects to the automatic stabilization. If I can mount the GoPro more tight, it would be a little better. The video already shows my second attempt. In the first, the GoPro was to loose and it started swinging right after the take off.

The center of mass was off by about 15mm. This and the additional weight was handled without effort from the drone.

I've to think about my next steps.

Greetings
Jürgen

After looking at your video, I think you can still get the front section of the drone in the filming frame and get the effect you want during flight and get a better forward looking perspective, if you shorten the arm, lowering the camera, then of course changing the angle of the camera from a less downward view to a more forward view.

By lowering, shortening the arm, you will get less pendulum effect as the drone moves about and then get a better overall image with smoother flight. I'd say you could get away with maybe half the length you have in that video. Try that and see how it looks, feels and films, before giving up completely. Most of that swinging movement is caused by the out of CG of the drone, so be sure to compensate with added weight if and when you shorten the arm.