Phantom 3 carbon fiber shell

Would love to .......maybe not necessary the entire lower body...only reinforcement at the arms will do.....but how much ?
 
Interested
 
If a carbon fiber shell were available for the bottom half of a P3, would anyone be interested in replacing your plastic bottom half of the shell?

Potential benefits:
Lighweight
Strong - no stress cracks
For sure, I would be interested, even maybe for a full shell, top and bottom.
 
There are a lot of RF issues with CF.. an upper shell totally of CF would likely not be possible. But it having a plastic central dome certainly would.
 
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I would be interested in a full shell.
Other RF issues, the top half of the shell really isn't load bearing or having cracking issues; it's really only serving as a top cover for the aircraft. So the bottom half is the only one needing replacement. This would keep the cost lower for the mod, while still realizing the benefits. But if someone wanted the top too, it would just cost more.
 
Would love to .......maybe not necessary the entire lower body...only reinforcement at the arms will do.....but how much ?
I'm not sure how much yet, but I'm looking into the feasibility of designing a bottom half, and the cost associated with it. I'm an engineer, and think this can be done fairly easily, cost is the only issue for the design part. After the design is done, I think repeatable 3D printed shells can be made for <$500. To me, I'd pay that amount for the peace of mind of a robust aircraft frame. Thoughts?
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but the aircraft is getting all of it's "signals" (Tx, lightbridge, GPS etc) via the multiple antennae coming down the legs of the aircraft. What signals are we getting directly to the internals of the aircraft?
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but the aircraft is getting all of it's "signals" (Tx, lightbridge, GPS etc) via the multiple antennae coming down the legs of the aircraft. What signals are we getting directly to the internals of the aircraft?
Based on what I've seen from tear apart postings for the P3 - a GPS/Glonass receiver chip/module is in the center mounted on the main PC board. The receiver would include an antenna that would be "RF signal blocked or attenuated by carbon fiber whereas the plastic is RF signal "transparent" or at least negligibly so.
 
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Correct, sort of.

The GPS/Glonass module which contains the engine, antenna, and support circuitry is mounted to the top of the inside shell.
Thus it is separate from the 'main' PCB.

There are GPS/Compass modules available on a 'stalk' for external mounting but not sure about the compatibility with the P3's MC.

The previous Phantoms used a NAZA MC and the exact model in the P3 is unknown and maybe a hybrid of some type.
 
GPS antenna shout be reasonably easy to shift to on top of the shell if you REALLY wanted full CF.

Lightbridge antenna are down the legs so should be fine.

No idea if the compass will be ok, I guess so but I'd suggest testing this first before you pour any money into the development.


PS yes I'd be interested. I'd be happy up to around £100 ($155)
 
Correct, sort of.

The GPS/Glonass module which contains the engine, antenna, and support circuitry is mounted to the top of the inside shell.
Thus it is separate from the 'main' PCB.

There are GPS/Compass modules available on a 'stalk' for external mounting but not sure about the compatibility with the P3's MC.

The previous Phantoms used a NAZA MC and the exact model in the P3 is unknown and maybe a hybrid of some type.

Here is a link to a teardown of a P3:

FPVing.Com | Phantom 3 Teardown
 
GPS antenna shout be reasonably easy to shift to on top of the shell if you REALLY wanted full CF.

Lightbridge antenna are down the legs so should be fine.

No idea if the compass will be ok, I guess so but I'd suggest testing this first before you pour any money into the development.


PS yes I'd be interested. I'd be happy up to around £100 ($155)
That would be an awesome price for a CF shell if feasible. Someone estimated an object the size of the lower shell 3D printed would cost more than that though. I'm not sure that anything could drive it down except for mass production. Plastic in mass production is probably $5-10 for the part, so we see why DJI is using plastic.
 
It's not a complex shape and wouldn't use a huge volume of CF so i don't see it would be mega bucks.

A lot of my interior car parts have been replaced with CF from this company Ultimate Carbon | Specialist Carbon Fibre car parts the cars a VX220 and there isn't many about (less than there are P3's) so the market would be a similar size at a guess.

Is the shell different from a P1/P2 (apart from the holes for fixings) it would mean a larger market and so smaller price if it would fit the whole range (I've only had a P3 so can't check myself)
 
It looks like the auto CF maker you linked does some nice work. I was thinking the P3 CF bottom shell could be 3D CF printed, and that several hundred dollars might be a typical rate for that.
 
Is 3D CF printing even possible?!?
I can't get my head round how that would work at all?

Unless you meant 3D print a mould? But you'd only do that if you wanted to change the design, for an exact copy you'd just take a mould of an original frame.
 

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