Attached are some photos of my payload release mechanism. I built this quad for 3 reasons
1) - Teach myself how to do build and fly a quad
2) - Too much spare time and an active mind
3) - I'm into Ham radio and wanted a way to accurately put long antenna wires over tall trees and structures
So I needed a release mechanism to drop a wire or rope on command.
I'm using a custom battery box (more on this below) and to the side of that I epoxied a servo and on the bottom 2 beer can ring pulls under the quads CofG. When the servo switch (I use the trainer switch) is activated, the rod between the 2 ring-pulls retracts and drops the load held by the rod. The Quad can lift about 1.5kg so it will carry a light wire or rope no problems.
The battery box fits my 5000mAh batteries very snugly with a velco retainer in front. The box is made from a plastic called styrene which is available at most plastics shops. You basically heat it with a heat gun and with gloves on your hands, bend it around whatever you want it to hold. Once cooled it holds it's shape. If you make a mistake - reheat it and go again. It cuts very nicely with tin snips when cold or scissors when warm.
1) - Teach myself how to do build and fly a quad
2) - Too much spare time and an active mind
3) - I'm into Ham radio and wanted a way to accurately put long antenna wires over tall trees and structures
So I needed a release mechanism to drop a wire or rope on command.
I'm using a custom battery box (more on this below) and to the side of that I epoxied a servo and on the bottom 2 beer can ring pulls under the quads CofG. When the servo switch (I use the trainer switch) is activated, the rod between the 2 ring-pulls retracts and drops the load held by the rod. The Quad can lift about 1.5kg so it will carry a light wire or rope no problems.
The battery box fits my 5000mAh batteries very snugly with a velco retainer in front. The box is made from a plastic called styrene which is available at most plastics shops. You basically heat it with a heat gun and with gloves on your hands, bend it around whatever you want it to hold. Once cooled it holds it's shape. If you make a mistake - reheat it and go again. It cuts very nicely with tin snips when cold or scissors when warm.
