Lab Work Archives

Lab Work – Perhaps, the best way to show ‘work’ or work in progress; in most cases, the purpose is to highlight the struggle to find a solution, the test effort and the learning that takes place when fixing stuff. Or another way to share various phases of the problem solving process – hypothesize: test, learn and apply.

August 17, 2020September 27, 2024

EMAX Fix – Part 1

EMAX Repair Start

Hack-A-Thon Part 1

Lab Work – EMAX Fix – Part 1

On The Bench – TH2

Assess The Damage, Teardown

Back from the airfield, EMAX Fix – part 1. Be sure to check out the rebuild of in this series in the EMAX Quad Motor Rewire Video posted just before.

The airfield was clear, with no traffic, especially over in the helicopter and quadcopter area, so we were good to go. I unpacked the TH2 from its flight bag, got it out and up in the air with no problems. After a final check of the batteries and controller, we were ready to go. The weather was clear, and according to the flight radar, it was a clear day with mild temperatures and wind gusts of around 2-5mph. So, up we go!

Teardown

Reattach Antennae

Solder Antennae

Antennae Position

Lift is good, strong, and perhaps the easiest part of controlling the drone in flight. These drones when properly tuned , offer a smooth and vanilla flight experience. Be sure to check out the binding process using BetaFlight to bind/connect the flight controller to the remote.

There are a lot of things happening at once when flying the EMAX drones. You have to be mindful of your location, both as you ascend and descend. The flight went well, as planned/expected. I did a few loops, full power, turns, and hard bankings just to set the pace. Don’t forget to check the battery warning before your flight.

Power Leads, LED’s

Clip Leads

Resolder Leads

Clean Power Leads

Set Leads Properly

LED Seated

Now, at this point it was time to bring the TH2 home safely. As you can imagine, trouble came knocking. Damage report, minor issues included 2 LED strips out, severed antenna, severed power leads loose (+positive lead), and burned or malformed poly-frame. We fixed the issues by clipping and prepping for new wires, ordering new LED strips and poly frame, replacing the antenna, re-soldering leads, and shrink-wrapping wires where applicable.

Similar Emax status update, time has moved on since the original article and I wanted to share additional Emax content where applicable. If you’re looking for Emax content, give these a shot (in reverse order from this postings date) – ReFit Emax Flight Controller, Emax Fix Part 1 (this article) and Part 2, Quadcopter Rewire, and the TinyHawk 2.

Wrap Up Part 1

Find EMAX parts, and more, through our Amazon Affiliate links, or visit the EMAX – US Store. For additional reference, check out the UAV Performance software used to update and run the EMAX TH and FRSky Taranis QX7s controller or more from the devs of Betaflight. Own it and have fun!

August 16, 2020September 27, 2024

EMAX Fix – Part 2

TH2 Repair In Progress

eMax Fix – Hack-A-Thon Part 2

Lab Work – eMax Fix – Part 2

On The Bench – EMAX Tiny Hawk 2

In this case, we are addressing the second half of the build. Just to clarify or set the stage we have returned from the airfield with the eMax TinyHawk 2 in disparate need of repair. this is eMax Fix – Part 2. This is not the first time, nor the last time we will have this drone on the bench for repair. If you are interested in getting into drone flying, check out more EMAX Drone Kits, Drones and more here.

Total Damage, Repair

While difficult, soldering in new, nano-sized parts on these micro drones requires serious patience. Looking back, the drone may have encountered a gust of wind or air under the drone motor poly-frame; it’s hard to say. The crash wasn’t as severe as others, but the drone ended up sustaining more damage than usual. We’ve had to replace a fan blade, FC, or motor from time-to-time, but nothing like this.

Power On, Visual and Manual Checks, Power Down

LED’s Confirmed

Power On Chimes

Remove Battery

Read eMax Part 1 if you would like. Also, be sure to watch the successful rebuild video for this series EMAX Quad Motor Rewire Video which was posted just before the wrap-up article.

Additionally, similar Emax status update, time has moved on since the original article and I wanted to share additional Emax content where applicable. If you’re looking for Emax content, give these a shot (in reverse order from this postings date) – Drone Accessories, ReFit Emax Flight Controller, and TinyHawk 2.

Wrapping up the final steps, we encountered a few minor issues: 2 LED strips out, the antenna, replace positive and negative power leads, same for two of the motor wires, and a burnt out/malformed poly-frame. To fix these issues, we clipped and prepped for new wires, ordered new LED strips and a new poly frame, replace the antenna, re-soldered leads, and shrink-wrapped wires where applicable.

August 14, 2020September 27, 2024

Lego Board Housing

Borg2Borg Lego Board Containment

Lab Work – Lego Board Housing

Lego Board Housing by Borg2Borg

Who’s in for our own @LEGO_Group – lan.lego.com/clubs, Borg Housing? Anyone? Anyone? The goal of the group is to combine Lego and technology. For those who enjoy SciFi or Star Trek, you might appreciate the Borg references. So, imagine Legos and IoT boards coming together – BAM!

Lego Housing

Surrounding

HDMI Ports

Second Tie

Arrow Case

Although small, the Lego BORG housing is truly impressive. It is my own version of the BORG spaceship, capable of holding two IoT boards the @Raspberry_Pi #RPi4 And @Qualcomm #Snapdragon410C. I have also included a picture of the original Snapdragon case by Arrow – Snapdragon. Additionally, take a look a touch screen housing by Arrow – Touch Screen Housing. Comparing Arrow to the Lego Board Housing, Lego wins hands down! Both devices are currently running the latest version of Ubuntu IOT OS, allowing me to easily flash/re-flash Android and Ubuntu if necessary. It’s pretty cool. Or, if you’re looking for other work, like tear downs and Apple Repairs, check out those now.

Lastly, we create a variety of items out of Lego for the office, such as computer housing, controllers, train and IOS iPad Stands and other projects more. Give it a try, see what you can come up with!

As usual leave a comment below, let us know what you’re thinking?

August 14, 2020September 27, 2024

Flight Test

PH4 On The Bench

Full Flight Test, Gimbal Fixed, New Lens Filters

Lab Work – Gimbal Issues

DJI Gimbal FIXED

Quiet morning, a great day for a flight test. We are here at the airfield to see if the recently fixed gimbal passes the test. Pop opened the box, placed a battery, retrieved the transmitter and headed to the launch pad. The goal is push this Phantom 4Pro, test the gimbal mechanics at flight speed and put the drone through its paces. We take the DJI Phantom 4 out for test run following its time ‘in the DJI shop’ for repair. See our previous post specifically on the gimbal issues. Unfortunately we were not able to capture video of the gimbal issues.

Drone Shots At The Airfield

Lens Installed

Take Off

45 Degree Angle

Air Strip

Flight Pad

Let’s move on. Here are a few photos that will have to do in lieu of the video. The same goes for a quick snap of the new lens filters. You can find information on PolarPro and specs on those here. Anyhow, if you have similar issues, its best to reach out to DJI if the device is still under warranty. If not, give me a shout.

As usual leave a comment below, let us know what you’re thinking?

August 14, 2020September 27, 2024

DJI Fix

Gimbal Issues

Gimbal Motor Replaced, DJI Fix in for now

Lab Work – DJI Fix

Back To The Field FIXED. After 25+ days

I received some good news today, and even better news is that I got my DJI Phantom 4 ProV2 back from the repair shop. After waiting for roughly 30 days, it’s finally time to fly! The shipping and return process was a hassle, but I leave that for another post. Today, I finally received the PH4 in the mail, so it’s time to fly. I now have the package in my possession and am working on unboxing the drone as the excitement builds. Let’s see if the drone gimbal is ready for flight.

Gimbal Issue Resolution

Does the drone fix meet your expectations? This is the follow up article on the DJI Gimbal Issues. Sounds like the gimbal assembly was replaced, not sure about the camera or if the assembly is self contained, one unit; meaning the camera, gimbal and housing are all considered one replaceable unit. How long would it take to get the drone fixed? ~30 days. ReviewDJI P4ProV2 specs, make sure its your drone and in working condition.

At the airfield we pushed the drone hard, making sure the motors were good to go, a number of gimbal checks, gimbal, motors and lens filter changes. We can wrap up with a positive day at the airfield, nothing of significance to report. Just photos and videos to clean up, and clean out.

Update to come, will include video of the airfield, highlight different maneuvers and views. Or just check the above post…

Now that we have your attention, let’s delve into the DJI Phantom 4, gimbal issues, flight testing at the airfield, video and photography capabilities, and more. The same for our other drones, learn-to-fly drones, racing drones as well as maintenance and tips and hacks to ensure these drones stay airborne.

August 14, 2020October 4, 2024

Other Lego ‘Side’ Projects

Lego Projects

Workshop Side Projects, On The Bench

Lab Work – Lego Projects

Repost – On The Bench with the Lego Tablet Base

Re-posting, similar to the Gimbal repost (had to repurpose some content, goal was to better utilize material posted in various places around the web). So, I’ll start with the Legos®… Gotta love Lego® Other Lego ‘Side’ Projects.

Situation – Think fast tablet housing needed. We need a handsfree, desktop friendly table housing.
Challenge – Build a tablet housing (landscape orientation only) to house an iPad. Regardless of what the model or make of the iPad, we had an iPad, make something that will work in 5 minutes.
Accessible materials – Legos®, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, various
Go!

In short, we were a quick solution with accessible materials that would allow for various solutions, an iterative build process, and be tabletop/desktop friendly. Another Lego ‘Side’ Projects we worked on was creating a new iPad/iPad case that was purchased separately did not come with a handy, integrated stand. This will a future piece of content. We may consider reviewing a few cases that have integrated stands, such as the Brenthaven.

Moving forward, the case we purchased did not have any kind of stand included or attached. It is a fact that buyers often regret not buyinf a tablet case with a stand. In conclusion, we had several bins of Legos lying around the workshop and with a little creativity, we were able to create a fully functioning tablet stand/base. This was our first edition, and while there were second and third iterations that were abandoned due to instability and the number of Lego bricks used, the fourth iteration is currently in progress. We plant to reduce the number of bricks used and adjust the screen angle to accommodate various viewers and users. Additionally, the Lego Housing we are featuring needs to allow for both portrait and landscape viewing, as well as integration with charging cords.

As usual leave a comment below, let us know what you’re thinking?

July 19, 2020September 27, 2024

DJI Gimbal

DJI Gimbal Issues

DJI Blunders, Days Wasted Away

Lab Work – DJI Issues

Diagnosis: bleak… The DJI camera gimbal is inoperable, with the 45° gimbal tilt consistently shifting to the right of center a known issue straight from the factory…

DJI Gimbal: Alignment issues are present from the start. The gimbal is off-centered, indicating potential trouble with the camera and motor. This is a repost from Twitter prior to X, where I wanted to share a message that detailed a 24+ day duration from workshop-to-DJI process and back.

PH4 Gimbal Issues

Power Down

Repack Repair

Next, please keep in mind that ‘repair days’ are counted by the number of days the device is in repair. ‘days in repair’. Additionally, it is important to note down time includes DJI facility time – pre, post shipment and travel time. Whether it is in the US (possibly CA) or abroad (** the total # of repair days do not include ‘in transit’ days… times are not presented online in the DJI UI – status tracker **). Just be aware, times aren’t always accurate. If you prepare for this inaccuracy, or system latency, you’ll be better off with some of the repair ambiguity. This information may come as a disappointment, but it is good to be aware of it now. From a customer’s perspective, this experience was a nightmare.

Just to clarify, ‘Hey, we don’t count the time it takes for the device to travel to and from the customer and DJI, we apologize for any confusion. It is safe to assume that most of us, myself included, do not have a spare Phantom 4 ProV2 just sitting around. Perhaps the issue is related to a defective gimbal or defective gimbal motor(S). In this case, a brand new drone was sent back to DJI for repair. Let’s bring this nightmare to a close and conclude the DJI Gimbal matter, as I would prefer not to encounter any issues straight from the factory. That said, let’s cut to the chase, here is a quick peek at the DJI Fix article some 30 days later.

Other Robot and Drone Repairs

Although this drone is under warranty or we may be ‘under-the-hood’ trying to fix this problem ourselves. That said, learn more about drone and robot repair? Read our series on the Maytronic Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus – Dolphin Down, in need of repair, under repair and Dolphin On, robot back to work in the water. Down time is money being spent, work not being done and more importantly, reducing your Return-On-Investment (ROI) – money paid to purchase a robot to do said work, compared to the manual labor to keep the pool clean. I’d say this has huge potential for those pool owners looking for a little more in-the-pool time versus pool care and maintenance time. How about Apple repairs, M1 Chip repair, or MBP Batter Swap

Finally, as usual leave a comment below, let us know what you’re thinking?

April 11, 2020September 27, 2024

EMAX TH2

TinyHawk 2

Night Flight – EMAX TH2 Unboxing & Test Flight

Lab Work – TH2 Test Flight

We Unbox The EMAX TH2

Pulling this for the ‘heap of old’ posts or archival posts if you will. While going through decommissioned social media posts, I thought I would share this gem. Here is the unboxing EMAX Tiny Hawk 2 from early ’20.

TH2 Unboxing

Night Flight

TH2

EMAX TH2

The EMAX Tinyhawk 2, FPV kit is a great choice for hobbyists or first-time pilot. The kit includes a drone, First-Person Video (FPV) goggles, blades, batteries, chargers, remote and a quick start guide. Charge up your batteries and take flight! I currently have four of these kits in rotation. This was the first EMAX kit personalized, and I highly recommend it. The TinyHawk series of drones is perfect for indoor flight, novice pilots and learning to fly through FPV (first- person view). Two thumbs up.

You can find the latest EMAX TinyHawk drone kit, specs, and build config here. These kits are considered RTF or ready-to-fly out of package, with little to no configuration required to fly. The current iteration is priced at ($289), but pricing may fluctuate. You may also find the kit or parts elsewhere at GetFPV. Get an EMAX TH2 today and feel free to leave a comment below to let us know what you’re thinking!

February 9, 2020September 27, 2024

PH4ProV2 Drone Shots

Venice Airfield In Flight Photos

Views, Shots and Maneuvers – PH4ProV2 Drone Shots

Lab Work – Drone Photos And Videos

Drone Shots

PH4ProV2 Drone Shots, New Drone, new gear, ‘ENGAGE’ (Cap. Jean-Luc Picard)…

The reference is to engage or go, as stated by the captain of the ship in this case, the pilot in command. It’s okay if you’ve skipped Star Trek, or don’t understand the reference. No time lost per se.

I was flying a DJI Phantom 4ProV2, and wanted to share a few shots of the airfield. The club airfield (Venice Flyers) is located in Venice, Florida. I’ve added the PH4Pro Downloads and firmware links for archival purposes and in case of an emergency. Once again, that’s the Venice Flyers Airfield in Venice, Florida. Check out the club if you’re interested in the hobby of flying RC or quadcopter (drones).

For the purpose of the pictures, the goal was to put the drone through it’s paces, learning our flight area, boundaries and line of sight high’s and low’s… Here we had a chance to capture a few snaps of the airfield parking, airfield, flying space and more. Ideally, I want to share drone specs, photo and video quality and limitations. The PH4 Pro has a high quality video camera, can produce wonderful inflight and still shots, come-to shots, fast paced fly-to and follow shots. In my opinion, it’s one of the easiest to fly, learn and best video capture frames/speed sub $4K. The drone model and upgrades are a few years old now, with great video and photo quality. Enjoy PH4ProV2 Drone Shots.

Aerial Shots

Air Strip

75% View

In Flight

Test Flight

Air Strip Above

PH4 Overhead

As usual, please leave a comment below and let us know what you’re thinking!

January 1, 2020September 19, 2024

Isle Tap & Tacos

IH – Local Restauranteur

Isle Tacos; Now Casa Masa-Fl

Lab Work – Island House Tap & Tacos

Isle Tap & Tacos – Web, Development, UX, SEO, Analytics & Hosting

Isle Group was a short-term design and development opportunity. I ran an online study and marketing site for yearly, analysis to examine local traffic and out of town impact/opportunity. Although the business has transitioned to a new business model/ownership, and expanded to new locations, the taco and smokehouse/bbq space presents another opportunity to explore for the business.

I collaborated with the Isle Tap & Tacos leadership to pinpoint social and web opportunities areas for improvement, website updates, SEO/Domain Strategy, and ways to simplify the customer experience to attract new and existing foot traffic to each restaurant.

IH Work

IH Taqueria

IH Beach Grill

Great experience! Wishing Rob, Casa Masa and the IH teams the best of luck with the restaurants and their new beginnings. If you’re interested in seeing more of our work, including designs, web builds, quick sketches and inks, follow us on X @salleetech. You can also check out more portfolio work by searching for the portfolio tag.