Intentional Parachute Deployment - Monday - Fort Myers

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We had been posting in a few of the parachute related threads about intentionally deploying a Phantom parachute last week but the weather was not great and we had to postpone. We are now confirmed for this to happen on Monday (February 4th) in Fort Myers. We will install the parachute, send up to 300+ feet and turn the aircraft off and test the deployment of the chute as well as the impact it has when it hits the ground.

We have invited anyone willing to make the drive to join us at our large and wide open testing facility near Fort Myers.

We will also be happy to bring over anything else anyone wants to get their hands on and test fly - especially some of the newer Mavic 2 and Mavic 2 Enterprise aircrafts (as well as the Smart Controller).

If you are interested in witnessing the parachute tests or have anything in particular you would like us to bring for you to test fly, just let us know. Send us a message here or to the email below and we will get you the address and info you need to get into the facility.

Thanks - and we will be reporting the results here after the test...good, bad or indifferent. We did the same thing with a Matrice 200. We put it up in the air (200-300 feet) and turned it off to test the parachute system.

If you are not familiar with the parachute system we are going to be testing, here is a link to them:
Parachutes

Hope to see you there!
 
We had been posting in a few of the parachute related threads about intentionally deploying a Phantom parachute last week but the weather was not great and we had to postpone. We are now confirmed for this to happen on Monday (February 4th) in Fort Myers. We will install the parachute, send up to 300+ feet and turn the aircraft off and test the deployment of the chute as well as the impact it has when it hits the ground.

We have invited anyone willing to make the drive to join us at our large and wide open testing facility near Fort Myers.

We will also be happy to bring over anything else anyone wants to get their hands on and test fly - especially some of the newer Mavic 2 and Mavic 2 Enterprise aircrafts (as well as the Smart Controller).

If you are interested in witnessing the parachute tests or have anything in particular you would like us to bring for you to test fly, just let us know. Send us a message here or to the email below and we will get you the address and info you need to get into the facility.

Thanks - and we will be reporting the results here after the test...good, bad or indifferent. We did the same thing with a Matrice 200. We put it up in the air (200-300 feet) and turned it off to test the parachute system.

If you are not familiar with the parachute system we are going to be testing, here is a link to them:
Parachutes

Hope to see you there!
That phantom parachute looks very cool. If I lived in Florida I would definitely take you up on your invitation!!! Hope you have a great turn out!!
 
Thanks. Things like this we have always just done privately as a test or part of making a video - then we thought it would be great for anyone close enough to our location to be able to come join us for live tests. Nothing better than witnessing things first hand!
 
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Thanks. Things like this we have always just done privately as a test or part of making a video - then we thought it would be great for anyone close enough to our location to be able to come join us for live tests. Nothing better than witnessing things first hand!
Post some video back here for us please!
 
WONDERFUL !!!

It's always great to see actual real life tests of ancillary equipment so that we can ascertain how the manufacturer claims stack up. Without real life testing, the claims are just that...claims. Unfortunately I am too far to get there but I am looking forward to seeing the results. Good luck !
 
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That phantom parachute looks very cool. If I lived in Florida I would definitely take you up on your invitation!!! Hope you have a great turn out!!
I think parachutes are a great new accessory to drones. I lost my IMU and ESC and the Phantom 3 Advanced drone with new and never crashed or had a hard touch down. Without the IMU or ESC the Drone don't know what's up or down. I watched my drone fall from 300 ft end over end and crash none of it due to my fault. I sent it in to DJI for repair. Even though they agreed the ESC and IMU got corrupted during flight and that's not something a person with a control panel can do. They still charge me $300 to fix the damage for their software glitch. If I had a parachute I would have used it. Drc phd
 
I think parachutes are a great new accessory to drones. I lost my IMU and ESC and the Phantom 3 Advanced drone with new and never crashed or had a hard touch down. Without the IMU or ESC the Drone don't know what's up or down. I watched my drone fall from 300 ft end over end and crash none of it due to my fault. I sent it in to DJI for repair. Even though they agreed the ESC and IMU got corrupted during flight and that's not something a person with a control panel can do. They still charge me $300 to fix the damage for their software glitch. If I had a parachute I would have used it. Drc phd
We agree completely. And beyond just saving the equipment in a failure, parachutes will help slow the descent of the falling aircraft to an amount that will not be too harmful to people on the ground. They also have audible alarms that are designed to get someone's attention so they look up in the air and see the aircraft and parachute before it lands and step out of the way if they are directly underneath it.

One interesting difference between the one designed for the Phantom and the Matrice series is that the Phantom chute is a mechanical deployment and is user re-packable. The Matrice uses a small charge and has to be sent back to be re-packed by the manufacturer. Both are designed to self deploy in the event of a failure, unexpected rate of descent (falling), unexpected position (tipped over), etc.

Lots of good stuff - and we appreciate you sharing your P3 story.

Thanks!
 
We agree completely. And beyond just saving the equipment in a failure, parachutes will help slow the descent of the falling aircraft to an amount that will not be too harmful to people on the ground. They also have audible alarms that are designed to get someone's attention so they look up in the air and see the aircraft and parachute before it lands and step out of the way if they are directly underneath it.

One interesting difference between the one designed for the Phantom and the Matrice series is that the Phantom chute is a mechanical deployment and is user re-packable. The Matrice uses a small charge and has to be sent back to be re-packed by the manufacturer. Both are designed to self deploy in the event of a failure, unexpected rate of descent (falling), unexpected position (tipped over), etc.

Lots of good stuff - and we appreciate you sharing your P3 story.

Thanks!
Exactly how does the unit determine an unexpected descent rate? It doesn't look to be connected to the Phantom's circuitry in any way. Does it use a barometer or gryo?
 
We had been posting in a few of the parachute related threads about intentionally deploying a Phantom parachute last week but the weather was not great and we had to postpone. We are now confirmed for this to happen on Monday (February 4th) in Fort Myers. We will install the parachute, send up to 300+ feet and turn the aircraft off and test the deployment of the chute as well as the impact it has when it hits the ground.

We have invited anyone willing to make the drive to join us at our large and wide open testing facility near Fort Myers.

We will also be happy to bring over anything else anyone wants to get their hands on and test fly - especially some of the newer Mavic 2 and Mavic 2 Enterprise aircrafts (as well as the Smart Controller).

If you are interested in witnessing the parachute tests or have anything in particular you would like us to bring for you to test fly, just let us know. Send us a message here or to the email below and we will get you the address and info you need to get into the facility.

Thanks - and we will be reporting the results here after the test...good, bad or indifferent. We did the same thing with a Matrice 200. We put it up in the air (200-300 feet) and turned it off to test the parachute system.

If you are not familiar with the parachute system we are going to be testing, here is a link to them:
Parachutes

Hope to see you there!
topgun.gif

Good luck!
 
Exactly how does the unit determine an unexpected descent rate? It doesn't look to be connected to the Phantom's circuitry in any way. Does it use a barometer or gryo?
Yes, they have their own system (and power source) that monitors everything and deploys upon "unexpected conditions". You have to arm the parachute prior to taking off, ascend to a particular altitude where the system arms itself (confirmed by audible tone and LED color). At this point the parachutes internal sensors are activated and the parachute is able to be deployed as necessary.
 
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Hopefully everything works perfectly and we are able to deploy, re-pack, deploy again, re-pack, deploy again, etc. We would love to have several back to back deployments and re-packs to prove its ease of use and reliability.

Thanks!
 
Hopefully everything works perfectly and we are able to deploy, re-pack, deploy again, re-pack, deploy again, etc. We would love to have several back to back deployments and re-packs to prove its ease of use and reliability.

Thanks!
I wish you the best of luck!!! This could change the saftey issues of the hobby if it proves reliable fully functional. I have one question, what prevents it from deploying (either intentionally or accidentally) while the props are still running? And would spinning props affect it?
 
I wish you the best of luck!!! This could change the saftey issues of the hobby if it proves reliable fully functional. I have one question, what prevents it from deploying (either intentionally or accidentally) while the props are still running? And would spinning props affect it?
Great question...the systems are designed to avoid prop interference. On the Phantom series you will see the 4 grey tabs in the picture - simultaneously to deployment this rotate to align with the arms of the aircraft which forces them to become an obstacle for the props. This causes the props to hit them and stop spinning. The M210 ejects the batteries to cut power to the props and the M600 is integrated into the power system to shut the electrical flow off to the motors. In all scenarios, the motors and props are prevented from tangling with the parachute. The can not accidentally deploy because they must be activated prior to take off and then do "arm" themselves until a certain altitude is reached. Once near the ground again they "disarm" themselves. Great questions - thanks!
 
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Great question...the systems are designed to avoid prop interference. On the Phantom series you will see the 4 grey tabs in the picture - simultaneously to deployment this rotate to align with the arms of the aircraft which forces them to become an obstacle for the props. This causes the props to hit them and stop spinning. The M210 ejects the batteries to cut power to the props and the M600 is integrated into the power system to shut the electrical flow off to the motors. In all scenarios, the motors and props are prevented from tangling with the parachute. The can not accidentally deploy because they must be activated prior to take off and then do "arm" themselves until a certain altitude is reached. Once near the ground again they "disarm" themselves. Great questions - thanks!
Thank you for the explanation, I look forward to seeing it in action :) Will you be offering this product for the Phantom 3?
 
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What time is this taking place? I would love to attend. I'm out of town but am returning on Monday. Hopefully I can make it back in time.
 

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