Parachute

[Resredunt]

Hi, fairly new to drone making and I want to do it all myself. I need to create a safety measure for my quad copter as it has cost me a fair amount of money and i need to make a small self releasing parachute as well for a project of mine. I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on my design.
All it consists of is a tube with compression spring release system, but instead of having it trigger activated, i was thinking of installing a small electromagnet on the top with a servo in place as well. This will allow me to fly my drone around and when it gets low on battery or runs out the parachute will automatically release saving the drone from breaking on the ground or hurting someone.

Please let me know your thoughts, it is for a college project of mine as well as a personal addition to a quad copter.

 

[ZoomNBoom]

Doesnt sound like a good plan if I understood it correctly. You essentially want to tune the elecromagnet strength in such a way that it will release when the voltage drops below some number? Its going to be awfully difficult to make sure it actually does that, and yet doesnt release on vibration or shock (landing!) at just a slightly higher voltage.

Moreover, low battery is probably among the least critical emergencies you would want a chute for. Its also pretty darn easy to avoid, just add a $3 lipo alarm. Even if that fails, unless you are flying way higher than you should, upon low battery it will come down more or less controlled anyway. More critical is the loss of a motor or prop or esc, loss of control etc. Thats when you want a parachute.

BTW; I wouldnt underestimate how difficult it is to make a chute that actually works, that can deploy quickly, doesnt get tangled or caught in the props and can land the full weight of your quad. I also wouldnt look forward to testing it.

 

[pressalltheknobs]

but parachutes are cool...

http://flitetest.com/articles/parachutes-are-cool-diy-multirotor-parachute

 

[Maingear]

Dedicate it to a channel and set it to open in failsafe mode. The failsafe channel can also be assigned to a switch on your radio, or when you switch off the radio.... RX goes failsafe.

Electromagnets are not efficient as they constantly need power.

Justin

Reference:

https://www.spektrumrc.com/Technology/SmartSafe.aspx
http://www.rcmodelswiz.co.uk/why-you-need-a-fail-safe-device-for-your-rc-vehicle/

 

[AverageGuyRC]

but parachutes are cool...

http://flitetest.com/articles/parachutes-are-cool-diy-multirotor-parachute

Indeed. Parachutes are cool!!!!

 

[wilsonb]

This would be pretty cool if you could use a list of failure scenarios that will trigger the mechanism. For example angle from horizontal, throttle level at a certain altitude (so it doesn't trigger when landing), radio signal, battery voltage. Certainly much more difficult than a manual switch, but it's for a college project. Learn!

 

[razor02097]

As an experiment it would be neat. But chances are a failure will send your multirotor straight into the ground at great speed. The last thing you want is the parachute deploying inadvertently and getting tangled in the props. If you use a servo driven deployment mechanism you could tie it to your failsafe system and to a switch so you can either flip a switch or if it loses signal it deploys.

As for the low battery thing. Voltage telemetry of some sort, low battery alarm, or even a timer go a long way.