Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

dougw — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 16:16:20 GMT

Pretty ambitious idea, but it will be awesome if you can figure out how to make it work.

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

Fred27 — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 19:51:17 GMT

I finally managed to get the lights up without the drone. I leaned out of the bedroom window with the string taped to the end of a very long drain rod, and hooked it over that way. I did the same at the other end of the house too. This is the final result.

To add injury to insult, when sending the drone up to take that photo I managed to catch my finger in the prop and have 3 nasty slices out of my fingertip!

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

Fred27 — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 19:47:38 GMT

Ok - so maybe some of you are wondering how it went.

My first attempt was pretty close. I managed to get the string over the hook, but it was doubled over and came off again when I pulled the end I could reach.

[View:https://youtu.be/NkPPgNUEaKw:640:360]

I was encouraged, and so I tried again. Unfortunately, this time a gust of wind blew the drone just slightly forward into the house. The hook caught and it pitched forward a little. Maybe one prop touched the roof, becuase it lost control, got tangled in its own string and fell 2 stories to the ground. [emoticon:4b473fb4671244b2a5887318abe9e44a]

Also, my 8-year-old camera had forgotten to start recoding and I'd forgotten to start the drome filming too, so I have no footage of the event itself. However, here's the aftermath.

[View:https://youtu.be/AJNyBgvR-tI:640:360]

Luckily, the drone still flies fine and the camera and gimbal seem undamaged. All I can see is a crack in the plastic that doesn't seem to affect it too much.

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

Fred27 — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 18:32:23 GMT

The plan

[View:https://youtu.be/gE9a7bVum-g:640:360]

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

Fred27 — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 18:14:24 GMT

The problem

[View:https://youtu.be/jw_0FUV56pU:640:360]

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

ralphjy — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 18:00:26 GMT

It will be interesting to see how well you do with this project. I've flown my little Tello drone to inspect my high gutters and solar panels and I think it will be tricky to fly in close to the roof, particularly with a load. Of course, my Tello is smaller and a lot less capable but I won't get anywhere near the roof if there is any wind at all.

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

Fred27 — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 18:00:08 GMT

As I was trying to transfer the string from one hook to another, I modified the hook below the drone a little to make it easier. With a narrow hook my horizontal alignment would have to be perfect.

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

Fred27 — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 17:58:53 GMT

Here's the carefully crafted design. It might look like I just got some wire and gaffer tape and made it up as i went along but... OK. That's exactly what I did.

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

Fred27 — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 17:56:03 GMT

OK, so here's the plan.

I mount a hook on the bottom of the drone. I'm keeping it simple, so no release mechanism or anything. I'm also not going to try to lift the lights themselves. It's only a mini 249g drone so I'll lift a long piece of thin string instead.

I pick up the centre of a long piece of lightweight string
I manoeuvre up to the eaves-mounted hook and place the string over it.
Descend just a little and back off. The string should remain on the hook.
Use the string to haul up the lights.

What could possibly go wrong?

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

baldengineer — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 17:15:50 GMT

While, in general, I'm not afraid of heights or ladders, climbing them when it is cold (and windy) is not a favorite activity of mine. (I doubt anyone enjoys it.)

So, the idea of using a drone to hang the lights is exceptionally appealing.

Also, what about an attachment to dig (dry) leaves out of the gutter?

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

beacon_dave — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 12:19:54 GMT

"...It feels dangerous. Frankly, it is dangerous..."

Yup - I get to watch videos of people demonstrating just how dangerous it can be...

Moden consumer technology is making them more 'interesting' though. e.g. using garden leaf blowers at top of the ladder.

RE: Time to put up the Christmas lights - with a difference.

Fred27 — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 11:38:57 GMT

So, on to the project. I decided to start the blog before starting the project. If it fails (and that seems likely) then it'll be documented for all to see. No problem. I at least hope it's an entertaining failure.

Earlier this year on the recommendation of a friend, I bought a drone. It did a great job documenting a family holiday to Costa Rica - the first big holiday we've done for about 5 years and one that my boys (11 and almost 9) were old enough to appreciate. The DJI Mini 2 is an impressive bit of kit for taking photos, but can it also hang up Christmas lights? YouTube suggests people have tried and failed, but that's not going to put me off! Also, I was sensible enough to take out some drone damage insurance when I bought it, so the financial risk of a crash should be manageable.

OK, so now you know there's no going back. Time to get planning...