RealSense eats Flight Time?

[dondec]

I started a thread recently about useful flight durations. I'm getting only 6-7 min of useful flight time, where others were getting 11-12. Someone mentioned RealSense and I started to wonder if my RealSense module was reducing flight times.

Q: there's a check box option in one of the setup menus... so if RealSense is left unchecked (disabled), does it still eat the same amount of battery (even though still physically connected)?

Q: can I remove the module (I know probably yes) but is it simple (unclip, snap out thing) or more complex (take the H apart thing)?

Thanks for your feedback

Don

 

[PatR]

Used or not used, RealSense reduces flight time. It adds weight and additional thrust is required to carry more weight even without turning the RS unit on. Consider; if we carry a 20lb sack of sugar x distance we burn x calories to perform the task. If we pick up a 5lb sack of salt in the other hand and carry both sacks the same distance we’ll burn more calories with both sacks than we did with only the 20lb sack.

If RS is switched on it consumes energy. It’s not possible to add powered devices to a circuit and not consume more energy than a circuit with fewer devices. Look at the electric meter on your home as an example. The wheel spins at a given speed with only your refrigerator working. Add lights, a television, and a laptop and it spins faster, indicating a higher rate of consumption. We pay for higher home energy consumption with dollars. We pay for higher multirotor energy consumption through reduced flight time. Leaving the probability of electrical use when turned off out of the equation we understand that if we don’t use RS the efficiency, or flight time in this case, would increase.

RS is easy to remove, only a couple screws secure it and a single mini JST connector links it to the system. Just remember to change the RS setting at the transmitter after removing it.

As for your flight time compared to others, remember that how we fly impacts flight time greatly. Fly hard and fast all the time and you’ll obtain less flight time than people that fly soft and slow. Weather conditions and altitude also impact flight time. Wind, cold temperatures, higher altitude all reduce flight time. The 800lb gorilla is our batteries. Those that understand them and treat them accordingly will experience better flight times over those that don’t.

As simple as manufacturers and advertising make multirotors appear, they are far from being simple and much needs to be learned and understood to use them effectively. They are very complex in operation and function so what is necessary to obtain maximum performance from them (flight time) is quite a balancing act. There is one constant; anything we do with them has a cost in energy consumption, depleting a battery faster or slower.

 

[record.play.rewind]

Used or not used, RealSense reduces flight time. It adds weight and additional thrust is required to carry more weight even without turning the RS unit on. Consider; if we carry a 20lb sack of sugar x distance we burn x calories to perform the task. If we pick up a 5lb sack of salt in the other hand and carry both sacks the same distance we’ll burn more calories with both sacks than we did with only the 20lb sack.

If RS is switched on it consumes energy. It’s not possible to add powered devices to a circuit and not consume more energy than a circuit with fewer devices. Look at the electric meter on your home as an example. The wheel spins at a given speed with only your refrigerator working. Add lights, a television, and a laptop and it spins faster, indicating a higher rate of consumption. We pay for higher home energy consumption with dollars. We pay for higher multirotor energy consumption through reduced flight time. Leaving the probability of electrical use when turned off out of the equation we understand that if we don’t use RS the efficiency, or flight time in this case, would increase.

RS is easy to remove, only a couple screws secure it and a single mini JST connector links it to the system. Just remember to change the RS setting at the transmitter after removing it.

As for your flight time compared to others, remember that how we fly impacts flight time greatly. Fly hard and fast all the time and you’ll obtain less flight time than people that fly soft and slow. Weather conditions and altitude also impact flight time. Wind, cold temperatures, higher altitude all reduce flight time. The 800lb gorilla is our batteries. Those that understand them and treat them accordingly will experience better flight times over those that don’t.

As simple as manufacturers and advertising make multirotors appear, they are far from being simple and much needs to be learned and understood to use them effectively. They are very complex in operation and function so what is necessary to obtain maximum performance from them (flight time) is quite a balancing act. There is one constant; anything we do with them has a cost in energy consumption, depleting a battery faster or slower.

Very interesting.

I noted the quick depletion of ST16s battery life in on of the threads concerning Build 777 H+

 

[DCH]

I have been curious about the impact RS has on flight times since I got my Pro, and have considered removing it just to compare flight time because I don't use the RS very often.

Meanwhile I find myself with a complete flying test H to experiment with (FrankenPhoon) that has no RS module. I am currently in the process of determining just how much flight time the RS eats up, but more time and testing is necessary before I post any results.

If I find that the weight & drag of the added module is not too bad, but the current draw is significant, I may add a tiny power switch for the RS, so I can turn it off and un-check the RS box for the times I don't use it.

I will say that preliminary results suggests the current draw of the CGO3+ is responsible for up to 5 minutes of flight time. Mute point I know because the camera is the whole point! The trend so far also suggest the RS module uses much less current than the camera, but no hard data yet. Stay tuned...

 

[PatR]

You can power up the system and run the camera for almost an hour without significantly depleting the battery. I have done this during a multirotor speech with continuous camera demo in constant pan. Just don’t arm the motors. The greatest load on the battery is the motors and support system while in flight.

The way I see things, better to simply accept the flight time you get and buy enough batteries to assure you have the total flight time needed. The constant quest to find a better battery is too much like herding cats for my taste.

 

[Dr Delta]

Had my H in the role of static camera. At the time the location was to small and turbulent in harsh winds to safely fly the H.
I had it powered up for two and a half hours, carrying RS. The ST 16 went from 100% to 30% during that time.

View media item 36

 

[PatR]

Indeed, the ST-16 drops voltage faster than the aircraft battery when both are powered and left sitting.