Railfan Technology > My Low-Tech Drone Accessory

I designed and built a low-tech drone accessory that has turned out to be invaluable in my travels. 

It's a wooden docking platform that sits atop my drone's hard case in the car. It not only keeps my drone in place while traveling, but the drone is flight-ready so I can quickly launch when I pull up to a particular location. 

My drone, the DJI Inspire 1, is considerably larger than my old Phantom 2. It's too large to sit on the car seat. Its hard case is heavy and cumbersome to lug in and out of the car at each flight, not to mention having to install the propellers each time you take the Inspire 1 out of the case. 

I came up with the concept of a docking platform on a trip to Eastern Washington this summer after a day of manhandling the drone case. 

The platform is comprised of three pieces of plywood screwed together. The top two pieces, 3/4" thick, are the same size, while the bottom piece, 1/4" thick, is smaller and cut to size to fit into a trough-like design of the top of the drone case. 

On the top piece I used a 1 1/4" hole saw to cut four holes for the drone's feet to snugly fit into. The middle piece of plywood serves as a floor for the drone feet to sit on. I'm not much of a woodworker, so I had the guys at the lumber yard cut the wood to size.

I just cut the holes for the drone feet, screwed it together, and used spray varnish with lots of sanding to finish it. Add to that a couple of handles and a 3" strip of Velcro to hold it on top of the drone case and it has worked out great.

Photo 1 shows the platform under construction, after I cut the holes.

Photo 2 shows how the platform slides in the trough atop the drone case.

Photo 3 shows the completed platform in use in my Jeep.

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Thanks for sharing your solution.  It looks like it works well and you are getting great results from your travels.

Paul Birkholz
Sheridan, WY

Very nice design.

I ran into the same problem with the Phantom 2, getting it in and out of the case each time.
So my low-tech solution was a cardboard box with the top cut off. It's exacly the right dimensions for the Phantom2 and keeps it perfectly level while moving down the road. Plus I don't have to remove the props each time.

Danny Harmon
Tampa