Advice on rig to deploy shark fishing bait offshore

[antsrealm]

Hi,

I'm completely new to drones and looking to get some advice / direction on trying to achieve my goal of dropping a fishing bait of approx 2kg at a distance of around 500m offshore.

I would like to have a autonomous setup that can respond to GPS marks. Simpy take off, fly out, drop the cargo and fly back to the launch point.

Is this achievable and what sort of drone / hardware should I be researching?

I was thinking an octo was the type I'd need.

How sure can I be the drone wont decide to crash into the ocean? Obviously reliability will be a big factor here.

I appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thanks,

 

[Benjamin Kenobi]

Hi mate,

I'd give the autonomous bit a miss and just do it manually.

The problem will be getting your aircraft to stay stable when you drop the 2kg weight as the weight difference before and after is quite large.

How about a ground mounted air cannon type thing? Or a little radio controlled boat? A fixed wing aircraft might be good also.

I guess a DJI S1000 with waypoints would work. You'd probably have to initialize the drop mechanism manually when it reaches the point.

Make sure your centre of gravity (CoG) is spot on, so batteries and bait all dead centre.

Any help?

 

[antsrealm]

Hi mate,

I'd give the autonomous bit a miss and just do it manually.

The problem will be getting your aircraft to stay stable when you drop the 2kg weight as the weight difference before and after is quite large.

How about a ground mounted air cannon type thing? Or a little radio controlled boat? A fixed wing aircraft might be good also.

I guess a DJI S1000 with waypoints would work. You'd probably have to initialize the drop mechanism manually when it reaches the point.

Make sure your centre of gravity (CoG) is spot on, so batteries and bait all dead centre.

Any help?

Hi, yeah that's great. I was looking at the DJI S1000. Not quite sure what to expect in regards to price, but I'm happy to pay for something that will do the job reliably.

I have considered a RC boat before but I just thought the drone would be simpler. Good line of site and the bait stays in good condition being lifted through the air rather then dragged in the water for eg.

Say I went with the DJI S1000, what would I need to get on top of that or what do I need to research to get it the point that I can use it for my application.

Thanks,
Tony.

 

[Bartman]

tony,

i've thought about doing this from the surf for Striped Bass here in New Jersey as the clam bait would be less likely to fling off the hook and could be dropped farther out than one could cast it.

for sharks you're talking about a much larger chunk of bait i presume, is that where the 2kg number comes from? plus you'd be dragging the fishing line behind the heli for the full 500m, right? you'd probably want to fly a climbing profile as you also traverse the distance to the srop spot so you're lifting and pulling the line simultaneously but I could be wrong on that one.

2kg is about the weight of a mid size camera and mount like a Zenmuse/NEX combo and that is capably carried by the S800 hexacopter. but as much as cargo capability is important so it survivability over salt water so, if it were me, i'd go with eight motors and a flight control system that i know can deftly handle a loss of a motor/prop while airborne....Mikrokopter.

to do so you'd need to water/salt proof all of the electronics with what is called a "conforming coating"

the first question worth asking is what is your technical ability to tackle a build and the initial learning curve of getting something like this flying? and when do we sail? i'll pack a bag and have to be there for the first rounds of testing!

 

[antsrealm]

tony,

i've thought about doing this from the surf for Striped Bass here in New Jersey as the clam bait would be less likely to fling off the hook and could be dropped farther out than one could cast it.

for sharks you're talking about a much larger chunk of bait i presume, is that where the 2kg number comes from? plus you'd be dragging the fishing line behind the heli for the full 500m, right? you'd probably want to fly a climbing profile as you also traverse the distance to the srop spot so you're lifting and pulling the line simultaneously but I could be wrong on that one.

2kg is about the weight of a mid size camera and mount like a Zenmuse/NEX combo and that is capably carried by the S800 hexacopter. but as much as cargo capability is important so it survivability over salt water so, if it were me, i'd go with eight motors and a flight control system that i know can deftly handle a loss of a motor/prop while airborne....Mikrokopter.

to do so you'd need to water/salt proof all of the electronics with what is called a "conforming coating"

the first question worth asking is what is your technical ability to tackle a build and the initial learning curve of getting something like this flying? and when do we sail? i'll pack a bag and have to be there for the first rounds of testing!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm an electrician by trade in Australia and work in the industrial automation sector. So technical issues are nothing new for me. Obliviously I will have to learn this but shouldn't be a problem.

I'll probably need a little bit of time to build the budget but I figure in that time I can learn what I need to and make sure I get the right hardware the first time, unlike some of my other ventures.

So i've seen a few octocopters that look capable. Any advice on the flight control side of things?