Tennis ball on string - drop/release?

[WV. Rootman]

I’m one that says be really careful. The park with people, kids, other dogs and what you are doing is risky. The people on this forum are not neophytes. They really know what they are talking about. We are also concerned about what image we project to the general public. The laws are getting more strict everyday. Some right now can’t even fly their drone in the park. We really aren’t trying to be a** holes.

Now that I said that: We like to talk about new ways to do things. Innovations and little tricks to do things with our drones. I wonder if a switch could be made using an electromagnet. We have a switch on the app to turn on or off the front lights. That switch is used often for the devices that drop things. The electromagnet could be energized and de - energized by the same light switch, hence the ability to drop something.

 

[lenabanana]

I’m one that says be really careful. The park with people, kids, other dogs and what you are doing is risky. The people on this forum are not neophytes. They really know what they are talking about. We are also concerned about what image we project to the general public. The laws are getting more strict everyday. Some right now can’t even fly their drone in the park. We really aren’t trying to be a** holes.

Now that I said that: We like to talk about new ways to do things. Innovations and little tricks to do things with our drones. I wonder if a switch could be made using an electromagnet. We have a switch on the app to turn on or off the front lights. That switch is used often for the devices that drop things. The electromagnet could be energized and de - energized by the same light switch, hence the ability to drop something.

This won’t be done at a park but on a private soccer field that is closed for the season. We walk there 2x daily to play fetch and rarely see another soul.

Electro magnet sounds great but also complicated. I’ve read some other posts about rigging up sensors and switches for payload drops using the LEDs and it is outside of my skill level and understanding.

Maybe when I have a bit more free time I can read into it more and learn a new skill with rigging switches and sensors.

I also have the misfortune of living in a city with no radio shack or similar - no where to buy components so a hard thing to get into - would need to order all the parts online before attempting.

Appreciate the idea though. I think I’m gonna give up on the “drop” functionality and just use sometning for a break away just Incase.
For a drop I thought maybe a paper clip would work, bent very slightly and hung on the landing gear - so any suddenly movement in the opposite direction would pull it off the drone.

 

[Bad Brad]

They are using phantoms over in Afghanistan to drop grenades so I’m sure this will work excellent you will just need a little servo to engage the drop

 

[bad karma]

Thank you for some actual useful info!

I actually had a similar idea and got some items together to test for breakaway point - clothes pins, hair clips, Velcro and magnets. Need to figure out which one of them is the right strength. Magnets seem the most promising but not sure if they’d cause interference? They are small fridge magnets - the size of a dime. Is that enough to cause interference if hung 4” under the landing gear?

Forums like this one are always good for information and help. Provided you can patiently wade through the replies telling you why you're abusing your dog or aircraft...

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Please Be sure you post a picture of what contraption / idea you come up with because you want to involve a highly sophisticated delicate precision Gps Enabled Drone to do a job that you could easily do with your arm.. to toss a stick ! and yes you sure do want to keep it s i m p l e ! Smiles.

 

[lenabanana]

Please Be sure you post a picture of what contraption / idea you come up with because you want to involve a highly sophisticated delicate precision Gps Enabled Drone to do a job that you could easily do with your arm.. to toss a stick ! and yes you sure do want to keep it s i m p l e ! Smiles.

You come toss a stick for my dog for an hour, 2x a day for 8 years and tell me how bored you eventually get. Not to mention - how far can you toss a stick? Cause I can get it maybe 20 feet which takes him 2 seconds to run and return - and after 20 throws - he is bored and still packed full of energy even at his age.

This drone is a toy for me and I bought it to have fun with it - so I’m gonna do just that and play with it. If i crash and burn that’s my fault and my problem. You use yours to fly careful delicate circles and I’ll use mine to have fun with my dog and get some cool video of us doing so.

I’m not sure why you’re so uptight about me flying a drone 20 feet over my dogs head with a light tennis ball attached on a breakaway line. Pretty low risk and it’s my risk to take.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Why Thank you Lena...Bingo......Your so right and "Good night".. to you..just be sure to let us know what you eventually rig up come back and post a drawing or a picture of the set up......im sure many want to try it too......smiles.

 

[O6-Hammerhead]

Get a cat.

 

[charlieb4]

Get a cat.

Lmfao!

 

[Soad70]

 

[Vzr1]

This is what you need .....looks like fun too!

 

[BigAl07]

Ok gang we are better than this. Let's not get personal or "snarky" and if you can't offer helpful advice in a kind and supportive manner then don't do it at all.

 

[lenabanana]

Get a cat.

I have one of those also, my next project will be attaching him to the drone and getting all the neighborhood dogs to chase after it.

**entirely joking, before anyone gets their panties in a bunch.

 

[Pete Leare]

You can always try this;
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07521DGVD/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3I4MOBWGUU9MT&colid=1NNN4ST1LJR4O&psc=0

Trying to help, although I am against the idea generally...

 

[WV. Rootman]

You can always try this;
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07521DGVD/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3I4MOBWGUU9MT&colid=1NNN4ST1LJR4O&psc=0

Trying to help, although I am against the idea generally...

That looks cool. I bet you could have a good time with that or get into a lot of trouble.

 

[WV. Rootman]

I have one of those also, my next project will be attaching him to the drone and getting all the neighborhood dogs to chase after it.

**entirely joking, before anyone gets their panties in a bunch.

There is actually a woman that does that with a much larger drone, out of my price range.

 

[Steve7777]

There is actually a woman that does that with a much larger drone, out of my price range.

The girl or the drone?... Here's one example...

I believe also available in a model-dangle-underneath model...

 

[bad karma]

You can always try this;
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07521DGVD/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3I4MOBWGUU9MT&colid=1NNN4ST1LJR4O&psc=0

Trying to help, although I am against the idea generally...

Boom. You could also get a tennis ball launcher to mount on your AR15 in place of your flash suppressor. (You do have an Ar15 don't you??) Then when your pup is getting tired an hot, thread on the soda can launcher and toss him a frosty beverage!

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

i appreciate your concern but dog is very well trained and will stop / stay / leave it on command.
Just want him to chase the chopper Planning to keep the ball out of reach. Break away is worst case scenario safety net. Since I’m hanging the ball on a string to keep the aircraft way high away from him. Don’t need it getting caught on a fence or bush either. Really not super worried, came asking for suggestions on how to implement something and instead am getting replies on how I shouldn’t do something that is pretty darn safe. I’ve seen people on here trying to drop knives from their drones getting less flack then me trying to get my dog to chase the chopper on an acre of property

Please please show me the post or posts that say that they are doing this. Quote from you > I’ve seen people on here trying to drop knives from their drones ! i will then report them !

 

[Steve7777]

Please please show me the post or posts that say that they are doing this. Quote from you > I’ve seen people on here trying to drop knives from their drones ! i will then report them !

I think that was just a 'poetic licence' suggested-as-being-true extreme-and-yet-not-true example from lenabanana...

(Don't believe everything you read on the 'net)