I made a foam case for my tricopter. How do you guys transport your gear?

[baddox]

I've been hauling my tricopter and other gear around in a big awkward duffel bag, which has been getting annoying especially for flying locations which require longer walks. I wasn't able to find any sort of pre-made bag or case which was the right size, so I decided to buy some foam and make a custom foam case. I've got the foam shaped, and the tricopter fits very snugly and securely, but I don't yet know how I'm going to do the "finishing touches." Obviously, it needs some sort of bag or box on the outer layer, to keep the foam all together and provide somewhere to attach a handle and/or shoulder strap.

I'm curious: how do you guys carry your gear, especially foldable tricopters, and especially if you want to be able to walk with them more than a couple of blocks? And does anyone have any suggestions on how I could finish this foam case?

The base layer of pick'n'pluck foam, with cutouts for the landing gear and camera/battery tray:


The tricopter sitting in the base layer:


The second layer of foam, with the entire tricopter footprint shaped out:


Adding in small half-height pieces to fill in the gaps in the second layer of foam:


Second layer of foam done, just need to hot glue it:


Bottom view of the second layer, all glued together now:


The tricopter in the foam case. The thin top layer has three little square cutouts for the tips of the prop adapters, since they're just barely too tall:


The (not quite) finished result:

 

[vk2dxn]

Neat little package mate well done.
To be honest I have not thought about how I am going to transport mine.
You have given me something to think about��

 

[RoyBro]

Usually just in the back of the car. But I noticed that it would fit nicely in a canvas bag I bought from an Army surplus store.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

I made this, but haven't used it in a while.

 

[baddox]

I made this, but haven't used it in a while.

Nice! That's the only custom multirotor case I was able to find on YouTube, so it's cool to see you here as well. Have you rigged that up with a shoulder strap or handle?

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Nice! That's the only custom multirotor case I was able to find on YouTube, so it's cool to see you here as well. Have you rigged that up with a shoulder strap or handle?

Not yet. It's pretty heavy. Heavier than I'm happy with. A friend suggested using coroplast, which I might have to try. With the one end cap glued in place, it should hold the shape just fine, and the internal frame supports will protect it against crushing.

I've gotten better with the scroll saw, so I can do better at cutting the internal frame pieces.

 

[baddox]

Yeah, thick PVC is probably great for shipping or storage, but probably too heavy for lugging around by hand. Coroplast looks like some cool stuff, I will have to consider that for my own project.

 

[OutcastZeroOne]

now you just need to make that into an auto launcher with small drone disc's