DIY Hexacopter Cargo Release | Visual Effects | Aerial Videography

New Aerial Possibilities

Since purchasing the octocopter, we’ve been looking at new possibilities for our hexacopter. As filmmakers we’re always looking for opportunities to make things really useful to us, and thought of something pretty awesome for the hexacopter. We can use it to carry lightweight cargo and drop it into a scene we’re shooting. An example would be for visual effects that can be used in various types of scenes. There are many purposes for it, all harmless, of course. With this idea, Don started working up some plans to make a cargo release that we could use in some of our future films that would work for our hexacopter. In the images below you can see what he came up with.

Getting The Design

Don is very good at coming up with designs for different things. He’s been wonderful to have around, and his vast knowledge really helps us get things accomplished around here. The design for the cargo release was meant to be simple and made from scrap wood he had laying around in an attempt to save us some money. As you can see from the images above, the servo operates everything. This particular design keeps the servo from having a lot of weight to carry; which means that the servo isn’t under stress allowing it to function smoothly. To release the cargo, Don programed a switch on his remote for the hexacopter to control the servo making it release whatever it was carrying. We both think this will come in handy for us in the future. I can’t wait to use it in one of our films.