Gotta see this, Epic drone recovery from 170 foot tall cross!!

Cool recovery! Did you have any kind of a tear-away in your hangar / speaker wire recovery system in case it got snagged on something?
 
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Cool recovery! Did you have any kind of a tear-away in your hangar / speaker wire recovery system in case it got snagged on something?

The strap that held the wire can be broken, I'm not exactly sure how easy it would of been to do it. That's maybe the one weakness to my rig. So my philosophy with it, is don't get stuck. hehe. It's the one thing in the design I need to work out.
 
The person who tried to land his drone on top of the cross made a crucial error.. The metal lip at the top blocked his radio link, and even if the drone had a return home mode, it was no doubt programmed for much less altitude, so it probably just kept spinning it's props until it ran it's battery down, and it was game over.. I loved the ingenious recovery though, which shows the P4 has plenty of lifting capacity.
 
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The person who tried to land his drone on top of the cross made a crucial error.. The metal lip at the top blocked his radio link, and even if the drone had a return home mode, it was no doubt programmed for much less altitude, so it probably just kept spinning it's props until it ran it's battery down, and it was game over.. I loved the ingenious recovery though, which shows the P4 has plenty of lifting capacity.


He thought the top was hollow. He caught the edge and it flipped over. He thought it fell all the way down, until we flew video 3 months later over and saw it. He said once it crashed he disarmed it, and shut it down. So it just stayed powered on, but not spinning. From the very little damage to it, I would agree that's what happened. One prop is clipped, and the others have just a bit of rub mark on them.

Hey, this is a Phantom 3 Advanced doing the rescue. It actually has about 1/2 - 1lbs more lifting power. The P4 they gave more battery(about 1000mah more) so it lost a little lifting capability in added battery weight.

I've attached an image of the race quad that was rescued, this was about 15 mins after we flew the mission.

18221644_10203411502603676_730950726901105537_n.jpg
 
Cool, thanks for the explanation, I was completely wrong!
Chris
 
What I wish we had recorded was all the planning, building and testing that went on before hand. Waiting a good week for perfect wind conditions. That's what enabled us to grab it on the first try. A lot more work went into it than you might think and I've been flying RC helis and uavs for 15 years. So I'm no rookie. :D
 
Maybe you should christen your drone 'Angel'...It descended from on high to rescue one in need.

Heh I named is Simone (after the movie with the same name SimOne)
 
I drive by that cross everyday. It can be seen for miles! Now I want to fly around it!!

Geo

It's cool for sure. To fly there you have to contact the admin and get permission, but if you tell them what your doing, that your FAA registered, etc, etc they'll most likely let you.

Be mindful of the power lines
 
I was wondering what you used to snag the bird, but when you got close to the top of the Cross, I could see the shadow of the coat hanger.
GREAT save!
Does that Cross have an elevator or ladder inside? Was wondering what the small doghouse on top was for.
 
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I was wondering what you used to snag the bird, but when you got close to the top of the Cross, I could see the shadow of the coat hanger.
GREAT save!
Does that Cross have an elevator or ladder inside? Was wondering what the small doghouse on top was for.


We assume it does have a latter inside. I think it might of just been for the construction workers you can see the loops they have up there for when they put it in place. For all I know, there isn't anything inside.
 
We assume it does have a latter inside. I think it might of just been for the construction workers you can see the loops they have up there for when they put it in place. For all I know, there isn't anything inside.
Oh ok.... I just thought it might be an equipment room for an elevator for maintenance, although what would need maintenance on top of the Cross?
Yes, I saw the loops... pretty big!
 
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Anyone looking for an awesome rescue claw can buy one from my eBay store: Rescue Claw Grabber Hook - NO POWER NEEDED! Use With Drones Or Any RC Product | eBay
It's a really cool setup without the need for a servo or any moving parts, just simply lower claw down over item you want to pick up and it opens over it once it makes contact and with lift grabs on with amazing holding power. I fly it around with my mavic for fun!
 
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Do racing drones have magneticly damageable circuits? If not attach a thin steel plate to top and bottom and use a neodymium magnet to get it back
 

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