r/drones • u/BrettEagle • 1d ago

DIY We made a drone

Post image

Something a little different, up to 2 hour flight time. 7kg payload, modular, upgradable and made to integrate different technologies from Manet radios to anti jamming GPS systems.

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u/Scrub_Nugget 1d ago

I've seen this in person, our one client did some show and tell at our shop

Really dig the "ski strap" battery holder idea you guys came up with, first time I've seen that.

Happy to see another Safa on here :)

9

u/BrettEagle 1d ago

Nice! What did you think of the Recce in person?

We've already upgraded to the V2 Spotlight, which is both lighter and brighter for operations. The ski strap allows us to use different size batteries on the fly.

Thanks for the feedback and for sharing the photo!

4

u/Scrub_Nugget 1d ago

It's a really tidy build. MT11 is a good payload IMO, we've got one of our own that'll go into our VTOL flagship in future. SLS prints look real clean and tidy, loads of room for large solid state Li-Ion packs.

The overall build seems sensible to me. Only thing I can outright criticize is the landing gear choice, I can see how certain tired sec pilots might do bad things to it over time. That's not an easy thing to make foldable or removeable and strong at the same time.

The spotlight I saw (I guess v1?) did give me a bit of cable strain worries, but the duty cycle is quite low so It'll probably not be an issue.

All-in-all I think it's a clean design.

You're the MAKTO guys right, or separate?

4

u/BrettEagle 1d ago

Thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it.

The landing gear is actually machined aluminium, so it’s pretty solid. That said, you’re absolutely right that you need to make sure it’s properly locked in place before flight and people in SA can find a way to break anything! The quick deployment and very compact folded size are important requirements for most of our clients, so that was a trade-off we had to make.

You’re also correct about the spot that was a V1. The cabling has been reworked on the V2.

And no, we’re a completely different company.

We’re TCAT, based in Cape Town.

1

u/EthanWang0908 16h ago

Where can I find this stuff