I feel its only a matter of time

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With a few drones falling out the sky does anyone think the same as me that it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt badly. If this ever happens I am sure it will be big news and manufacturers may be forced to have a built in failsafe device to stop the drone falling from the sky at speed if just one component fails. Just think how bad someone would feel if the drone fell and hit a person or anything living. It could even hit the pilot if they lost sight of it in the sky for a second when it fell.

It would be good to see a company bring maybe some sort of parachute that could even slow the thing down helping save the drone and more importantly someone from getting hurt.
It would be great to take your drone out knowing it had a backup failsafe.

Lots of things would need to be considered including weight. I for one wouldn’t mind losing some flight time for the extra weight of it was posible to do.
 
fin032 said:
With a few drones falling out the sky does anyone think the same as me that it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt badly. If this ever happens I am sure it will be big news and manufacturers may be forced to have a built in failsafe device to stop the drone falling from the sky at speed if just one component fails. Just think how bad someone would feel if the drone fell and hit a person or anything living. It could even hit the pilot if they lost sight of it in the sky for a second when it fell.

It would be good to see a company bring maybe some sort of parachute that could even slow the thing down helping save the drone and more importantly someone from getting hurt.
It would be great to take your drone out knowing it had a backup failsafe.

Lots of things would need to be considered including weight. I for one wouldn’t mind losing some flight time for the extra weight of it was posible to do.

People have been killed by RC helicopters... But I think you're right that because drones are going to be used by more of the general public (not just serious hobbyists) there will be a bigger outcry...

Did you ever see that bike helmet airbag? Something like that might work....
 
There was a thread, here, about just that. I feel it is doable. I even described how to build the electronic part, of it. I may end up making one, if so, I will post it here.

And, bad drone news, will indeed make the headlines. We are being bashed by the media. Even my previously favorite magazine (Popular Science) continues to bash private drones. I decided to cancel, but then, I decided to write in, if they will publish it. Unfortunately, we must fight this onslaught, as no one else will!

If there is enough interest, I might design, test and add the parachute device to my line. Is anyone interested? What would you consider a fair price to know your drone won't crash ever again?
 
PhantomFanatic said:
There was a thread, here, about just that. I feel it is doable. I even described how to build the electronic part, of it. I may end up making one, if so, I will post it here.

And, bad drone news, will indeed make the headlines. We are being bashed by the media. Even my previously favorite magazine (Popular Science) continues to bash private drones. I decided to cancel, but then, I decided to write in, if they will publish it. Unfortunately, we must fight this onslaught, as no one else will!

If there is enough interest, I might design, test and add the parachute device to my line. Is anyone interested? What would you consider a fair price to know your drone won't crash ever again?

Easily 200.00
 
I am sure if someone came up with a good design they would sell. Just from reading the forums you can see that people are worried and thats only with a small percentage of crashes. After watching a few clips on Youtube the Phantom doesnt fall as fast as I thought it would but I am sure it could still be painfull to get hit with one.

Not sure how it would work if you only lost 1 motor and the other 3 were still spinning.
 
fin032 said:
I am sure if someone came up with a good design they would sell. Just from reading the forums you can see that people are worried and thats only with a small percentage of crashes. After watching a few clips on Youtube the Phantom doesnt fall as fast as I thought it would but I am sure it could still be painfull to get hit with one.

Not sure how it would work if you only lost 1 motor and the other 3 were still spinning.

Theoretically you could detect a lost motor and program the quad to shut the other motors down in that instance.
 
fin032 said:
I am sure if someone came up with a good design they would sell.
Plenty of people have played around with parachutes for drones. A little googling will show you some.
DJI make one - look up the DJI Dropsafe.
But they aren't going to work on a Phantom - it's too small and weak to carry the weight.

fin032 said:
Not sure how it would work if you only lost 1 motor and the other 3 were still spinning.
No doubt - any production quadcopter would come straight down if it loses a prop or motor but that's very rare.

While you are worrying about worst case scenarios consider the probability of the freak occurrences that have you worried.
I know that if I swim in the ocean, I could be eaten by a shark or when I drive on the highway terrible things could happen.
But I also understand the likelihood of these rare events and that there are strategies I can employ to reduce that risk further.
 
Plenty of people have played around with parachutes for drones. DJI make one - look up the DJI Dropsafe.
But they aren't going to work on a Phantom - it's too small and weak to carry the weight.

Will check this out.


No doubt - any production quadcopter would come straight down if it loses a prop or motor but that's very rare.

I was thinking about how the parachute would work with 3 motors still spinning. They would need to shut down some how.

While you are worrying about worst case scenarios consider the probability of the freak occurrences that have you worried.
I know that if I swim in the ocean, I could be eaten by a shark or when I drive on the highway terrible things could happen.
But I also understand the likelihood of these rare events and that there are strategies I can employ to reduce that risk further.[/quote]

I understand what you mean with there only being a small chance of it falling out the sky. With that said it would be good to take away that small chance of the worst happening.
 
fin032 said:
With a few drones falling out the sky does anyone think the same as me that it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt badly.
Define "hurt badly". Bruises and band-aids don't make "hurt badly"

Buckaye said:
People have been killed by RC helicopters.
Yes, R/C helicopters with aluminum rotors that have a diameter of four to six feet and powered by a large gas engine have killed people.

With tens of thousands of quads like the Phantom flying, where's the carnage?
I am not saying it won't happen, but the odds of a serious injury from a 3 pound quadcopter falling on someone is pretty darned remote. I've been looking for the news report of the first one.
Of all the reports of any injury by a quadcopter, it was always someone involved in the flight - usually the pilot trying to hand catch the aircraft or physically stop a runaway..
 
fin032 said:
I understand what you mean with there only being a small chance of it falling out the sky. With that said it would be good to take away that small chance of the worst happening.
Combine the very small chance of falling from the sky with the also very small chance that it will fall anywhere it can cause damage and then factor in that damage comes in a range of flavours from minor to major.
 
Meta4 said:
fin032 said:
I understand what you mean with there only being a small chance of it falling out the sky. With that said it would be good to take away that small chance of the worst happening.
Combine the very small chance of falling from the sky with the also very small chance that it will fall anywhere it can cause damage and then factor in that damage comes in a range of flavours from minor to major.

Multiplied by our [U.S.] litigous society.
 
DJI has the dropsafe -
 

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SteveMann said:
Of all the reports of any injury by a quadcopter, it was always someone involved in the flight - usually the pilot trying to hand catch the aircraft or physically stop a runaway..

There was a marathon runner badly hurt recently. Looks like they were hit by something like a 6 prop drone as its operator lost control. Apparently there was some signal interference. There was a picture of the injured runner lying on the ground immediately after. Sorry, can't remember where I saw it.
 
Narrator said:
SteveMann said:
Of all the reports of any injury by a quadcopter, it was always someone involved in the flight - usually the pilot trying to hand catch the aircraft or physically stop a runaway..

There was a marathon runner badly hurt recently. Looks like they were hit by something like a 6 prop drone as its operator lost control. Apparently there was some signal interference. There was a picture of the injured runner lying on the ground immediately after. Sorry, can't remember where I saw it.

Not this one ?
http://www.everythinggeraldton.com.au/g ... triathlete

According to the end of the report, she was it aware of it heading towards her, tripped and injured herself. Nice story for the press I guess.
 
fin032 said:
With a few drones falling out the sky does anyone think the same as me that it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt badly. If this ever happens I am sure it will be big news and manufacturers may be forced to have a built in failsafe device to stop the drone falling from the sky at speed if just one component fails. Just think how bad someone would feel if the drone fell and hit a person or anything living. It could even hit the pilot if they lost sight of it in the sky for a second when it fell.

It would be good to see a company bring maybe some sort of parachute that could even slow the thing down helping save the drone and more importantly someone from getting hurt.
It would be great to take your drone out knowing it had a backup failsafe.

Lots of things would need to be considered including weight. I for one wouldn’t mind losing some flight time for the extra weight of it was posible to do.
chute.jpg
 
EMCSQUAR said:
DJI has the dropsafe -
It needs an A2 flight controller to operate.
It's for their S900 and S1000 but is too heavy for the S800 if it also carries a camera.
It weighs 550 grams and takes up a lot of space.
Meanwhile back in Phantom Land .......
 
worldsoutro said:
Hate to say it I could see one veer off course and hit a car on a highway causing a pile up. :oops:
And the car could veer into a school bus full of children ... which falls into a deep canyon ... etc, etc.

That's Hollywood script thinking. Learn to fly properly and enjoy your Phantom.
 

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