I ignored all your warnings and used a phantom to play fetch with my dog

[JamesT1950]

Fishing with the quad might seem like fun and it probably is until you hook onto one that pulls the quad down into the water. Then you have an $800 fish that you didn't catch and lost a quad too. Only takes one time

 

[Brojon]

My pup thinks my drone is a flying porkchop.
I think it's the ultrasonics.
Anyway he totally ignored my dangly toy - he wants that drone.

 

[KNED341]

Fishing with the quad might seem like fun and it probably is until you hook onto one that pulls the quad down into the water. Then you have an $800 fish that you didn't catch and lost a quad too. Only takes one time

That's what the release is for. Once the fish bites it's no longer connected to the quad. Just like down riggers with deep sea fishing

 

[ArmyVet]

Stella approves!

Woof!

 

[Nesher]

just put two small holes about a cm apart and pushed the string through with a hook tool.

Pix, please? Sounds simpler, and perhaps therefore MORE reliable than a triggered release mechanism.

 

[Dpanetta]

Fishing with the quad might seem like fun and it probably is until you hook onto one that pulls the quad down into the water. Then you have an $800 fish that you didn't catch and lost a quad too. Only takes one time

Fishing with the drone IS FUN! And if the drone owner is smart, that "one time" can never happen. Such is the case with me. I engineered the pontoons you see in the picture, which provide enough flotation to keep the drone from sinking or even getting water into the cameras gimbal. It is also wide enough to resolve the flipping over problem, and the flight is very stable at all speeds.

And as for catching the "big one" that can take the drone down to Davy Jones locker, I made an emergency breakaway device that hangs at the bottom of the two strings you see in the picture. Below that is the hook with bate, lure, or whatever I choose to hang down there. If the device gets wet, it will immediately sever the fishing string, letting the fish get away with the hook, and letting the drone fly away to see another day. I have tested the rig many times, and it works great! Only thing I need to watch is the battery life. The pontoons cut the flight time by 1/3rd.

I LOVE the idea of thinking outside the box with the drone, and the dog chasing the ball is GREAT! I am curious about one thing though. The DJI drones emit high frequency sound waves that supposedly, dogs can hear. This is part of the obstacle avoidance system in them. Do you turn off obstacle avoidance before taking your dog out for a run, or does the sound not seem to bother him? I am thinking of doing something like that for my next fun modification.

 

[KMixson]

Experimenting with ideas like this are how inventions are born. If it fails, it is a lesson learned and you will improve the next version.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Experimenting with ideas like this are how inventions are born. If it fails, it is a lesson learned and you will improve the next version.

There is Darwinism at work, too! Drone owners will seek out and breed special dogs that respond well to drone carried tennis balls!

 

[Robert J. Oliver]

Great looking dog...

 

[BigAl07]

Ok gang. I've cleaned up this thread. If you can't be nice then don't post anything at all.

For reference here's a link for some of us to review:
Community Guidelines
Pay special attention to the section I've quoted below:
2. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully. Excessive sarcasm, belligerence, insults, profanity, anger, offensive comments about race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and national origin, are not acceptable.

 

[Dpanetta]

Ok gang. I've cleaned up this thread. If you can't be nice then don't post anything at all.

For reference here's a link for some of us to review:
Community Guidelines
Pay special attention to the section I've quoted below:
2. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully. Excessive sarcasm, belligerence, insults, profanity, anger, offensive comments about race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and national origin, are not acceptable.

Thank you BigAl07. It is nice to know that the posts placed on PhantomPilots.com are watched by the moderators. Too many other sites just let the message threads go where they may, which usually results in contributors dropping out. Its reasons like this that I review PhantomPilots.com daily.

 

[lenabanana]

Gorgeous puppers you have! Yes, mine came in the mail this week too. I will have to try it out soon, but it seems the camera has to barely move and the release drops whatever it is going to drop. You have that issue?

The release is really sensitive - but I'm glad because I don't want to put too much load on the camera/gimbal motor to press it. I noticed that in the listing picture he had the elastic twisted - but mine arrived without a twist and thats how I have been using it. I have only tested it twice on short distance flights so far but I didn't have it release prematurely or anything. I have my C1 programmed to move camera straight down and it releases it on cue. I haven't tested how far I can roll the camera before it releases but if it's too early for you I imagine it can be modified by making the release lever shorter.

 

[lenabanana]

What release mechanism did you end up buying? I'm sorry if you mentioned it, I didn't see it.

Drone Release and Drop, Payload Delivery device for DJI Phantom 3 | eBay

Fishing with the drone IS FUN! And if the drone owner is smart, that "one time" can never happen. Such is the case with me. I engineered the pontoons you see in the picture, which provide enough flotation to keep the drone from sinking or even getting water into the cameras gimbal. It is also wide enough to resolve the flipping over problem, and the flight is very stable at all speeds.View attachment 94044 And as for catching the "big one" that can take the drone down to Davy Jones locker, I made an emergency breakaway device that hangs at the bottom of the two strings you see in the picture. Below that is the hook with bate, lure, or whatever I choose to hang down there. If the device gets wet, it will immediately sever the fishing string, letting the fish get away with the hook, and letting the drone fly away to see another day. I have tested the rig many times, and it works great! Only thing I need to watch is the battery life. The pontoons cut the flight time by 1/3rd.

I LOVE the idea of thinking outside the box with the drone, and the dog chasing the ball is GREAT! I am curious about one thing though. The DJI drones emit high frequency sound waves that supposedly, dogs can hear. This is part of the obstacle avoidance system in them. Do you turn off obstacle avoidance before taking your dog out for a run, or does the sound not seem to bother him? I am thinking of doing something like that for my next fun modification.

I used a P3 not a P4 so no obstacle avoidance - if there is no ball on the drone my dog doesn't seem to care about it at all. However he was trained for CGC (Canine Good Citizen) certification so he is pretty good at ignoring sounds/ things around him in general so YMMV with other dogs.

 

[BigAl07]

Drone Release and Drop, Payload Delivery device for DJI Phantom 3 | eBay




I used a P3 not a P4 so no obstacle avoidance - if there is no ball on the drone my dog doesn't seem to care about it at all. However he was trained for CGC certification so he is pretty good at ignoring sounds/ things around him in general so YMMV with other dogs.

I had to google CGC Certification LOL. I was WAY off in my guesses as to what that stood for

 

[lenabanana]

I had to google CGC Certification LOL. I was WAY off in my guesses as to what that stood for

Haha edited my post for the next confused soul who reads it. Forgot this was a drone forum and not a dog forum for a moment! My apologies!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Drone Release and Drop, Payload Delivery device for DJI Phantom 3 | eBay

In the video at 1:24, I was waiting for him to drop the payload through the basketball hoop in the lower right! Would have been cool! Drone Basketball! He has built a better mouse trap!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Drone Release and Drop, Payload Delivery device for DJI Phantom 3 | eBay
I used a P3 not a P4 so no obstacle avoidance - if there is no ball on the drone my dog doesn't seem to care about it at all. However he was trained for CGC (Canine Good Citizen) certification so he is pretty good at ignoring sounds/ things around him in general so YMMV with other dogs.

Might have to sign up several of my many neighbor dog owners for CGC!
Canine Good Citizen - Wikipedia

 

[Sir Nobby]

Well done Lenabanana! Loved the video and everything appeared to go smoothly and safely!

 

[bad karma]

And we had a blast.
Rigged up a clothespin to release when he grabbed the ball and made sure the part that remained on the drone wasn’t long enough to swing up into the props- it worked beautifully.


Unfortunately there was too much going on for me to try and keep the phantom camera on him at the same time - I’m still new at this - so video is taken from the ground.

No dogs or drones were harmed in the making of this video.

Next week my payload release attachment arrives and we’ll try more of a “drop” method than a “pull” method.


(Apologies for the vertical and poor quality video - apparently my iPhone frame rate wasn’t set high enough to use the “speed up” feature but I didn’t want this to be a 4 minute video)

What a great looking dog! Reminds me of the pup I grew up with, an Airedale/Doberman cross... basically a big Doberman with curly hair and a beard. What a great dog and he’s lucky to have a mom willing to go the extra mile for him!

 

[ArmyVet]

And we had a blast.
Rigged up a clothespin to release when he grabbed the ball and made sure the part that remained on the drone wasn’t long enough to swing up into the props- it worked beautifully.


Unfortunately there was too much going on for me to try and keep the phantom camera on him at the same time - I’m still new at this - so video is taken from the ground.

No dogs or drones were harmed in the making of this video.

Next week my payload release attachment arrives and we’ll try more of a “drop” method than a “pull” method.


(Apologies for the vertical and poor quality video - apparently my iPhone frame rate wasn’t set high enough to use the “speed up” feature but I didn’t want this to be a 4 minute video)

Stella gives her approval.......