DarwinFPV new waterproof FPV Drone will be released soon，
It supports IP67 waterproof and dustproof standards, and has unprecedented high reliability and durability！
We hope to find several product experience officers in the forum to test our new drone.
Even in rain and snow you can enjoy it.

Necessary... is perhaps exaggerating a bit.

But a little more robust electronics can be good if you want to fly when the sun is not shining. When it just rained or something.
And for those who like to fly on discovery trips, it can be nice to have a little extra protection when you don't know where you'll end up or fall down....

Hi Darwin fpv. I'd be happy to test your waterproof drone for you. I have been building and flying waterproof drones for the past 1.5 years. I can tell you that your float arrangement is flawed and will only cause problems. If the drone lands upside down in the water there is no way for it to right itself and fly out. Turtle mode does not work underwater. EDIT: I now see you have the motors mounted upside down, does that mean you have to land perfectly on the battery and balance or risk trashing the props?

A single float mounted on top is a better approach because the drone will always be right side up and able to fly out of the water no matter the orientation when it enters.

Are you using a 2.4ghz or 900mhz control link? 2.4 ghz will not penetrate any water and the antenna must be mounted clear of the water. 900 mhz will penetrate through fresh water and is in my opinion the better control link for water quads. Do you intend this drone to operate in salt water? 900mhz will have to be positioned out of the water when operating in salt or brackish water.

Thanks for your consideration in testing your waterproof drone.
Here is a link to my YouTube if you're interested in looking.
https://youtube.com/channel/UC78OIy7oeUeCnxrKZDfubJA

After thinking more about waterproof systems, the more I like the idea.

If someone, like me, likes exploring and long range and not freestyle and racing, it provides increased safety with something that is IP67 rated. As I wrote in my previous post, you don't know where you will end up when you fly around and checking out cool or interesting places.
And dust and dirt can cause just as many problems as water.

I live in Sweden, but even if you live in the southernmost part like me, the season is quite short if you can only fly when the weather is nice.
Half the year it rains or snows, or both. With a slightly more weatherproof system, the number of flight hours would increase significantly.

So I could probably consider buying even if the weight etc. is naturally affected

It just looks like the floats kind of interfere with the props air movement to me.

I’d be more than happy to test and review it, however, be aware that I do not have a YouTube channel or social media presence. I’m just an end user who is active in this forum, and I don’t typically buy prebuilt quads- so I’m probably not who you’re looking for.

I would like some more information on that waterproof stack and vtx, though.

I live in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. It is raining here much more often than not, so I regularly fly in the rain. Because of that, water resistance is important, so I apply conformal coating to all electronics and CorrosionX to all plugs on my builds.

(20-Aug-2022, 04:17 PM)Pappson Wrote: Necessary... is perhaps exaggerating a bit.

But a little more robust electronics can be good if you want to fly when the sun is not shining. When it just rained or something.
And for those who like to fly on discovery trips, it can be nice to have a little extra protection when you don't know where you'll end up or fall down....

Thank you for your feedback

(20-Aug-2022, 04:17 PM)帕普森 Wrote: Necessary... is perhaps exaggerating a bit.

But a little more robust electronics can be good if you want to fly when the sun is not shining. When it just rained or something.
And for those who like to fly on discovery trips, it can be nice to have a little extra protection when you don't know where you'll end up or fall down....

 Yeah, Even in rainy days and you can enjoy it.

(20-Aug-2022, 05:38 PM)FlyDaze Wrote: Hi Darwin fpv. I'd be happy to test your waterproof drone for you. I have been building and flying waterproof drones for the past 1.5 years. I can tell you that your float arrangement is flawed and will only cause problems. If the drone lands upside down in the water there is no way for it to right itself and fly out. Turtle mode does not work underwater. EDIT: I now see you have the motors mounted upside down, does that mean you have to land perfectly on the battery and balance or risk trashing the props?

A single float mounted on top is a better approach because the drone will always be right side up and able to fly out of the water no matter the orientation when it enters.

Are you using a 2.4ghz or 900mhz control link? 2.4 ghz will not penetrate any water and the antenna must be mounted clear of the water. 900 mhz will penetrate through fresh water and is in my opinion the better control link for water quads. Do you intend this drone to operate in salt water? 900mhz will have to be positioned out of the water when operating in salt or brackish water.

Thanks for your consideration in testing your waterproof drone.
Here is a link to my YouTube if you're interested in looking.
https://youtube.com/channel/UC78OIy7oeUeCnxrKZDfubJA

The center of gravity of the drone is below the floats, so no matter how the drone enters the water it will face up (we tested it many times). Regarding the installation of the motor upside down, because the propeller is installed upside down, the propeller provides thrust to the drone. Floats are installed in this way to ensure that the space above can achieve the best application, and the position of the floats will not affect the thrust of the drone.

We use 2.4ghz antenna but it always remain above the water so you do not worry it must be mounted clear of the water. If you have any good ideas and we will be happy.

(20-Aug-2022, 08:13 PM)帕普森 Wrote: After thinking more about waterproof systems, the more I like the idea.

If someone, like me, likes exploring and long range and not freestyle and racing, it provides increased safety with something that is IP67 rated. As I wrote in my previous post, you don't know where you will end up when you fly around and checking out cool or interesting places.
And dust and dirt can cause just as many problems as water.

I live in Sweden, but even if you live in the southernmost part like me, the season is quite short if you can only fly when the weather is nice.
Half the year it rains or snows, or both. With a slightly more weatherproof system, the number of flight hours would increase significantly.

So I could probably consider buying even if the weight etc. is naturally affected

If you worried about the weight and you can be assured. The floats are very easy to disassemble and it's only 7g for the floats.

(20-Aug-2022, 08:42 PM)brettbrandon Wrote: It just looks like the floats kind of interfere with the props air movement to me.

The propellers are installed upside down, the propeller provides thrust to the drone. Floats are installed in this way to ensure that the space above can achieve the best application, and the position of the floats will not affect the thrust of the drone.

Sounds interesting, Initially I thought you were holding the drone upside down. Its still using 2 floats where you only need 1 and thus creating twice as much drag. But I'm not trying to change your mind, I am curious to see how it works. I personally am very happy with a single float on all of my setups.

I'd love to see some video of it in action. An inverted entry into the water, the drone righting itself and exiting the water would be cool to see. What kind of performance do you get in higher winds, how does it handle a water entry and exit in rough seas?

Can you share specs on the drone? motors? esc rated amperage? what size battery are you intending? What size camera do you intend it to fly? estimated cost? what video system, appears to be analog, but do you have plans for other options?

(22-Aug-2022, 07:27 AM)gary1314 Wrote: If you worried about the weight and you can be assured. The floats are very easy to disassemble and it's only 7g for the floats.

I meant that the electronics, the flight stack, would be interesting to use in other builds as well.
An FC built on at least a F405 with some free UARTS, I2C and an ESC of about 15-20A in IP67 casing would be my "go to stack" for all my future drone builds. Regardless of a few extra grams.

Floaters could be added on those occasions you plan to fly over water.

This way i could go flying without looking out the window first....  

When i set out making my waterproofing it came down to flexibility. I wanted to fly the frames I felt like flying and use the components I wanted. For me, water quads were too useful to be reliant on anyone else for any part of it.

I’m asking this again because I think a lot of us builders would be much more interested in the electronics than the prebuilt quad, and much more likely to purchase.

Can we get some more information about the waterproof stack or AIO FC and vtx?

F411? F405? F7 or H7? ESC rating? VTX power? Weight?