Word's first fully shielded propellers

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Erik J
World's first fully shielded propellers - Quad/Tri/Hexa

Hello MRC fans: My name is Erik Johnson, and my team and I have developed a different type of multi-rotor propeller protection that I hope folks will be interested in. It's designed from the ground-up to be safer than flying with open propellers or bump guards.



Some background: Over the years after reading about and experiencing my own injuries during testing and flying tri's, quads, and hexas, I set about designing a propeller protection system that will protect fingers, tree branches, leaves, people, property, etc from damage. I've never been to the emergency room but came rather close a few times (a memorable moment was when I was hovering a quad and quickly looked for cars on the street and suddenly had my sunglasses ripped from my face and left me wondering if I'd have any eyesight left if I hadn't been wearing them). I'm quite the deaf guy and after that incident I'd be "see-no-evil-hear-no-evil" :nevreness:

I'm aware this post is a shameless plug for this kit we've developed but I hope to get the word out and couldn't find any forum rules prohibiting a post like this so I hope it's okay with the moderators. Moving on, we're past the prototype phase and in pre-production, taking pre-orders to gauge interest. So far so good, and we're headed towards a production release of 1000 kits Sept 1st, 2012. For simplicity and ease of assembly, our Quadcopter kit is based around the rcexplorer.se tricopter electronics and motors. Props are 10x4.7

Some specs (approximate and subject to change):

All Up Weight with battery: 1050g (37oz)
Frame weight empty (no electronics, motors, or battery): 400g (14oz)

Flight time with 3s 2200mah lipo: 8 minutes

The propeller guards will snap off in the event of a harder crash, and snap back on. We are also looking to make these modular so folks can buy just the rings and motor mounts and outfit them to their own project. You can find us at http://safeflightcopters.com

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to finally coming out of my shell and actually posting once in a while!
 
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redridinghood

redridinghood

Member
What material is used in the kit? Some more pics of the main body and how the FC and lipo is mounted would be nice.
Also when are the kits going to be ready?
 

ChrisViperM

ChrisViperM

Active Member
....I am simply amazed. If that really works - which I have no doubts - it might change the whole industry in certain aspects...especially safety. Now you woke up the lions....just don't make the mistake and only "post once in a while"...update your progress as often as you can.

I wish this will be a success

Chris
 

Gunter

Gunter

Draganflyer X4
Wow, you have done what I have been thinking about for ages! Well done. Will you ship to the UK? If so, I'll have one!

Gunter.
 

BorisS

BorisS

Drone Enthusiast
sorry if i am wrong, my eyes i am getting old. This looks like a render or is there a finished prototype already of the quad ?
Cool concept !


Boris
 
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yakjock

yakjock

Member
What is the weight of the frame with all that extra material? I really like the concept.
Doh! Just read the whole thing & you got the weight in at the beginning! Note to self read the whole thing don't skim.
 
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Erik J
Hi folks,

For some reason the thread isn't emailing me when you have replied, so I hadn't been back to check it until now. Sorry about that!

@redridinghood: The kit is based on several types of plastics, with primary function to be lightweight and strong. We've designed it to be able to be bumped into solid objects and the rings compress somewhat like a bicycle tire upon impact. Harder crashes will allow the rings to snap off (on purpose) and are re-attachable in a few seconds. More pics to come in the next few weeks, as we have changed some of the internal design of the fuselage and don't want to confuse that issue. However, I can say that the FC, battery, and receiver mount is all one functionally isolated part to dampen vibrations. On the basic kit the nose comes off and the battery slides in from the front, into an adjustable sized mount.

@Gunter: We'll be shipping worldwide, so don't worry!

@BorisS: Of course that's not a rendering! That's a finished pre-production machine you're seeing buzzing around the local park and in a friend's front yard. Yep, the little kid is real too :)

Being as these early models cost me a pretty penny to fabricate we're not intentionally crashing them, however we intend to shoot video of really wacking them into things since we know the rings themselves can withstand the abuse. I know that's important for everyone to see. Stay tuned!

I know it somewhat looks a bit like something out of Star Trek, and the rings really push that look, don't they? Hey, I like Star Trek so why not? :)

Thanks for the kind comments, guys

Erik
 

Benjamin Rowland

Benjamin Rowland

Member
I spoke with Erik on the phone recently, he's a very sharp guy and I believe his product will do really well. We talked a lot about his upcoming professional model, and I gave him as much info as I could about what I would be looking for in a pro class multi. I'm excited to see a product like this come to market.

Best of luck to you Erik!
 

ChrisViperM

ChrisViperM

Active Member
It's great that Erik came up with this product and it's great that he gets input from people like Ben who know what they are talking about.....
 


redridinghood

redridinghood

Member

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Erik J
tstrike said:
Droidworx had a couple of different versions of the same concept on display at NAB this year.
Click to expand...

Thanks folks for the comments and support! I am all ears to everyone's thoughts.

A side note: When I started this a year ago I had actually CAD'd out a prop guard very much like Droidworx's, because it is minimalistic and lightweight, which was always my starting point. The reason I never prototyped it was simply because I knew folks could still get cut up with it, especially when a machine is out of control and the automatic reaction is to stick your hands out to protect yourself. When the adrenaline is pumping a spectator isn't going to stop to think "I need to put my palms out flat, here, otherwise my fingers are going to get cut up..." -- besides I'm not a fan (pun) of the house fan look :) And I still wouldn't fly something like that around my dog or younger spectators...
 

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tstrike

pendejo grande
Yeah, Linda from DW said they designed theirs for a customer who did arial bird photography and it was designed to keep birds out of the props. How adaptable will yours be for other MR's? Nice work by the way.
 

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Malcr001

Member
This looks great the price is good too. It would be cool if you could make a kit version that comes with just the prop guard and motor mount area and fits onto standard 12mm tubing. That way people can use it on all sorts of multicopter frames.
 
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yakjock

yakjock

Member
And I still wouldn't fly something like that around my dog or younger spectators...[/QUOTE]

I agree safety first, I am keen to see the pro version.
 

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ovdt

Member
Very nice! I'm very curious about the pro version of this frames. My concern would be the aerodynamics and stability in flight, especially in windy conditions. I consider buying a quad kit just for playing.
 

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sfc

Erik J
Thanks! I fly the prototypes in 5-15mph gusts typical for Napa all the time. Sure, they get blown around a little but not much different than open-prop machines do. I will admit that I now fly in much more wind that I wouldn't have before, likely because it just generally feels less stressful when you know you can bump into stuff. Also because I don't have to constantly replace and balance props. We aimed for as little aerodynamic drag (especially in cross-winds) as possible with this design, and it's proving to work well. Stay tuned!
 

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