Coalminer22 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 If the weight and battery length of the pineapple are an issue for the battery length of the drone, why not attach hook to the pineapple for pick up and make it so you can drop it off. Also if the Drone has GPS, is it possible to use coordinates from Google earth to go to a roof and back without a camera? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry99705 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 If the weight and battery length of the pineapple are an issue for the battery length of the drone, why not attach hook to the pineapple for pick up and make it so you can drop it off. Also if the Drone has GPS, is it possible to use coordinates from Google earth to go to a roof and back without a camera? Sure, but what about structures on the roof? Also hooking something with a quadcopter can be ungodly difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overwraith Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 (edited) You could also loose a little weight by removing the pineapple's casing. Wouldn't remove much weight though. Also, the bigger you make the hook and whatever the hook is attaching to, the better one's odds of success. Could use some netting, or something that the drone would fly it's nose (or hook, or whatever) at. Parachord would work, aswell as any netting you can pick up at a craft's store etc. The netting would have to have some uprights, or masts to keep the netting suspended. Colorful netting would be easiest for the pilot to see. Since there is nothing built into the drone to release the payload however this could be unfeasible. Unless somebody has something that could remotely release the payload? If somebody wanted to really get involved, they could code something for one of their drones that automatically does the pickup, would be heavy in artificial intelligence and robotics. Above all, probably just get a smaller phone. Positioning the hook in the general view area of the camera would maximize odds of success, take a page out of the air force mid air refueling people's book. Maybe instead of "masts" one could use a wire loop, that is made of wire with the same rigidity and streingth of a coat hanger's wire. Paracord can be bought orange, and then weaved into a net like a lacrosse stick or something. Edited January 5, 2014 by overwraith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awskier08 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Coalminer, Once you drop the pineapple off, how are you going to get it back? Maybe people just have $100 to spend. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xcellerator Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Electromagnets would be even cooler - and a lot easier to retrieve. Only issue is controlling the power to them, plus the weight.. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yabasoya Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Electromagnets would be even cooler - and a lot easier to retrieve. Only issue is controlling the power to them, plus the weight.. :/ Maybe wipe the sd card while in flight? :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overwraith Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 (edited) yabasoya: Maybe wipe the sd card while in flight? It all depends on how strong they are, and modern electronics are not as susceptible to that sort of thing. Xcellerator: Electromagnets would be even cooler - and a lot easier to retrieve. Only issue is controlling the power to them, plus the weight.. :/ I think ultimately there would need to be some sort of radio control involved aswell. Do they make remote controlled model rocketry kits? Edited January 7, 2014 by overwraith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coalminer22 Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 I kinda of like the net idea for the pick up. You could attach it to the center then stretch it out to the sides with little Velcro so you have wider net to snag the hook and once you get it the Velcro rips off leaving the weight on the center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awskier08 Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 you could use something like this, but maybe a smaller version, then all you need is string and hook and hopefully you can bring it back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coalminer22 Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 I was thinking more like a basketball hoop net, or kids soccer net, but rent me a helicopter and we will talk! you could use something like this, but maybe a smaller version, then all you need is string and hook and hopefully you can bring it back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacus Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 How about dropping it off with a hook attachment, then swap the hook for a permanent magnet for retrieval? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xcellerator Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 By the sounds of things, people are talking about longer term deployment. In that case, anyone given thought to waterproofing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overwraith Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) By the sounds of things, people are talking about longer term deployment. In that case, anyone given thought to waterproofing? Ziploc baggie. I also have another possible idea for a release mechanism. When magnets get hot they loose their magnetic properties until they cool down again. So if somebody had some way of remotely running current through some magnets we would have a release mechanisim. Edited January 9, 2014 by overwraith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry99705 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Ziploc baggie. I also have another possible idea for a release mechanism. When magnets get hot they loose their magnetic properties until they cool down again. So if somebody had some way of remotely running current through some magnets we would have a release mechanisim. Uhh, you'll catch something on fire before that happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overwraith Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Only if it is touching something flammable. I guess electromagnets may be the way to go. Have a bomb bay hatch on the drone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xcellerator Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Well, if the electromagnets were really strong, then maybe.. But most modern consumer electronics are protected against the presence of electromagnetic fields. Really, the field strength wouldn't be that much higher than the residual from a powered up external harddrive or portable power pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry99705 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) An electromagnet strong enough to lift a pineapple and its battery would need its own battery heavier than the quad could lift. A hook would be the simplest method, just a bitch to capture later. Edited January 10, 2014 by barry99705 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xcellerator Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 As simple as a hook would be in theory, in practice I imagine it would be nigh on impossible to actually retrieve - unless the hook was massive!I've done a small amount of research on consumer electromagnets from Conrad. It looks like even small ones require voltages too hefty for a battery capable to be lifted by a drone.I really like the idea of heating up regular magnets. Heating elements don't need too much power, but you wouldn't want to start heating until you've landed and it would a few minutes I'd imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry99705 Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 As simple as a hook would be in theory, in practice I imagine it would be nigh on impossible to actually retrieve - unless the hook was massive! I've done a small amount of research on consumer electromagnets from Conrad. It looks like even small ones require voltages too hefty for a battery capable to be lifted by a drone. I really like the idea of heating up regular magnets. Heating elements don't need too much power, but you wouldn't want to start heating until you've landed and it would a few minutes I'd imagine. One thing I just thought of. Hook probably won't be a good idea. The swinging mass will really throw off the quad. I tried hanging an old cell off the bottom of my quad to try to keep the jello effect down. Crashed about 30 seconds after take off. Quad couldn't keep up with the cg change of the swinging phone. Something to consider would be a magnet with a servo attached to it. Give the servo a long arm so it can tilt the magnet off the package. Whole assembly goes into a plastic container under the drone. Man I love having a pen on my phone.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overwraith Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I wonder how amazon does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overwraith Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 (edited) Here is an idea: what if we implemented the electromagnet, but I very small one. Not large enough to lift the pineapple. It could be used to lift a pin in a mechanical mechanism which would then drop the pineapple. The question then becomes how to prevent the pineapple from being damaged when it lands. The first thing that comes to mind is a parachute but I don't think that would be very practical. It could get tangled and blown around. Still, I would love to see a mark v dropping from the sky with a parachute, however unrealistic it is. One could always wrap it in bubble wrap but I don't think that would be enough. I was in a physics class or something a long time ago which had a class project which we had to drop an egg off a tower, and construct something that would make it survive. Bubblewrap was used by a lot of the students. You then just have to scale the amount of materials you invest in the project to the distance the pineapple will be dropping. A quick google search would probably turn up some of the most effective techniques. "Egg dropping experament". I wish we had a few people who knew robotics, that way we could make a drone that has a detachable lower, and code to reattach when the drone comes back. Edited January 11, 2014 by overwraith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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