DRS DRS-M600 User manual

DRS-M600 Parachute manual
Document revision 1.1, November 14, 2019

Parachute Manual for DJI M600 and M600 pro
DISCLAIMER
The information contained in this document is confidential, privileged and
only for the information of the intended recipient and may not be used, pub-
lished or redistributed without the prior written consent of Drone Rescue Sys-
tems GmbH .
The opinions expressed are in good faith and while every care has been taken
in preparing these documents, Drone Rescue Systems GmbH makes no repre-
sentations and gives no warranties of whatever nature in respect of these docu-
ments, including but not limited to the accuracy or completeness of any infor-
mation, facts and/or opinions contained therein.
Drone Rescue Systems GmbH , its subsidiaries, the directors, employees and
agents cannot be held liable for the use of and reliance of the opinions, esti-
mates, forecasts and findings in these documents
We recommend that you do not fly prior to purchasing liability insurance. This
helps cover costs in the event that persons are hurt or property is damaged as
a result of your use of DRONE RESCUE technology. In general, RC aircraft are
not covered by standard liability insurance.
Your safety is your own responsibility, including proper use of equipment and
safety gear, and determining whether you have adequate skill and experience.
Our products may be dangerous, unless used properly and with adequate pre-
cautions, including safety gear. Our products are not intended for use by hob-
byists or nonprofessional users.
Warranty will be terminated if parachute is re-packed by yourself.
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Parachute Manual for DJI M600 and M600 pro
1 Specification
1.1 Operational and environmental limitations
Service life (before repack required) 1 year
Maximum altitude above sea level 6000 m ( 19700 ft )
Maximum UAV speed 18 m
s( 64.8 km h, 40.3 mph )
Maximum wind speed 9 m
s( 32.4 km h, 20.1 mph )
Temperature range -10 C◦to +40 C◦
Overall weight 450 g ( 0.99 lbs )
Maximum number of deployments 10
Minimum deployable altitude 58.90 m
Results tested at 11.50 kg take-off weight:
Average descent rate 3.92 m
s( 14.1 km h, 8.70 mph )
Average impact energy 88.3 J ( 65.0 ft-lb )
Results tested at 15.50 kg take-off weight:
Average descent rate 4.58 m
s( 16.5 km h, 10.2 mph )
Average impact energy 162.5 J ( 119.8 ft-lb )
1.2 Approved payloads
The DRS-M600 is approved for the DJI’s M600 series including the professional
version (M600 pro) with any additional payload as long as it is operated within
the specifications provided by the manufacturer DJI.
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2 Components
2.1 Deployment unit
1
2
3
4
Picture 1: Container to store and deploy the parachute
The deployment unit is shown in picture 1 and will store the parachute on the
DJI Matrice M600/pro while flying. It is made out of carbon fiber composites
and uses elastic rubber bands 1 to deploy the parachute automatically in case
of an emergency. The parachute is stored inside the tube covered by a lid 2 at
the top. Only the parachutes leash 3 and the connection hook 4 leads out of
the container.
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2.2 Mounting plate
1
2
3
Picture 2: Mounting plate
The mounting plate is a part which has to get mounted onto the top of the DJI
Matrice M600 /pro and acts as the connecting point between the deployment
unit and the drone as shown in picture 2. On top of the mounting plate there
is a bayonet joint 1 including five golden stripes for the electrical connection
between the deployment unit and the motor cut-off PCB. The wire 2 coming
out of the mounting plate has get passed through from top to bottom of the
center plate. The connector 3 at the end of the wire needs to get plugged into
the motor cut-off PCB.
The two engraved padlock symbols 4 indicate the correct open (left) and close
(right) position when attaching the deployment unit.
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2.3 Motor cut-off PCB
12
3
4
5
6
Picture 3: PCB to stop the motors from spinning
The motor cut-off PCB (Printed Circuit Board) is responsible for stopping the
motors from spinning in the moment the parachute gets deployed. This safety
feature reduces the risk of the parachute lines getting tangled in the propellers.
The 3-pin connector on the left 1 is an input from the A3 flight-controller
to deploy the parachute manually via the remote-controller from the pilot in
command. This PCB also forces the landing-gear coming down after the de-
ployment to safe the payload located underneath when touching the ground.
Therefor the attached servo-cable 2 has to be connected to the servo of the
landing-gear and the original cable for the landing-gear servo has to be con-
nected to the input socket 3 . The signal interface 4 has to be connected to
the mounting plate and is the main interface to the deployment unit. The PCB
gets power from the drone through the XT30 connector, which needs to get con-
nected to 5 . For additional payload the motor cut-off PCB provides the same
connector at 6
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2.4 Parachute and accessories
1
3
2
Picture 4: Deployment unit with accessories
As shown in figure 4 the parachute 1 comes wrapped in a plastic cover to
protect it from environment influences (secured by some rubber bands) and
it is equipped with a leash. The plastic cover has to stay around the parachute
canopy when getting loaded into the deployment container to secure a fast and
reliable deployment. At the end of the leash is a metal hook to connect it to the
UAVs frame. Also included are three additional leashes 2 and an other metal
hook. To store the leashes in a safe and clean way a plastic container 3 is part
of the kit. This plastic container has to be placed in the middle of the drone
in a way that the three cutouts point into the directions of the arms there the
parachute is connected.
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3 Installation
3.1 Connecting the parachute
1
Use one parachute cord every second arm and
pull it around close to the hinge. Thread one
end of the cord through the other ends loop.
Tighten it well. Take care which three out of the
six arms you will select depending of the loca-
tion of anything mounted on top like the GPS
antennas. After connecting all three arms con-
tinue with step 3.
2
3
After all cords are hooked up with the arms of
the M600 pick up the small lid of the cords stor-
age box and thread all three cords through the
hole in the center.
Next step is to connect the metal hook with the
three cords. First step is to loop them through
the hole which doesn’t have the opening.
4
5
Go all the way through the hole until the three
loops are close enough for the hook to go into
it.
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Run the hook all the way through the loops of
each cord as shown in step 6.
6
7
When done the loops should get tightened to
get a solid and strong knot.
Pull the hook close to the lid. At the end the
push the cords into the storage container run-
ning through the slots at the side. The excess
length of th cords can be placed inside th con-
tainer.
8
9
Push the lid on the plastic container to get a
clean and safe installation on your M600. The
finished setup should look like shown in step
no. 9.
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3.2 Installing the mounting plate
The installation of the mounting plate is quite straight-forward. First you need
to find a position right above one of the batteries that fits best for your setup.
If your are using the M600 pro version one of the position will not be available
through the bigger top cover in the front. The mounting plate should be placed
at a position with the greatest distance away from critical components like the
GPS antennas. As shown in picture 5 the plate is mounted above battery num-
ber six because the antenna is located between battery two and three. In case of
a parachute deployment the chance of ripping off the antenna gets minimized
because of the positioning.
When mounting the plate you have to remove the two screws right above the
battery. Place the plate above the screw-holes and put back in the screws.
Picture 5: Feasible positions for the mounting plate
After mounting the plate the signal wire coming out of the plate needs to
run down to the bottom where the motor cut-off PCB will get installed.
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Parachute Manual for DJI M600 and M600 pro
3.3 Installing the motor cut-off PCB
1
Place the DJI Matrive M600/pro in stable posi-
tion upside down and move the landing gear
manually up. This way you can easily access
the bottom area. Unplug the XT30 socket which
is powering the servo for the landing gear. Re-
move the bottom plastic cover.
Remove the six screws from the terminals
which lock the red (positive) and black (nega-
tive) power supply cables for the motors. Only
pull out the red wires while you leave the black
ones at it’s original positions.
2
3
Place the motor cut-off PCB on the center with
white arrow on the PCB pointing into the for-
ward flight direction.
Put back in the six screws where three of them
are still holding the black (negative) wires. The
three other screws connect the PCB with the
positiv power supply terminals of the M600.
4
5
Connect the XT30 auxiliary power supply cable
from the M600 to the motor cut-off PCB.
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6
Connect the cables from motor 2 and 3 to the
terminals labled M2 and M3.
Connect the cables from motor 4 and 5 to the
terminals labled M4 and M5.
7
8
Connect the cables from motor 6 and 1 to the
terminals labled M6 and M1.
Disconnect the cable from the landing gear
servo and connect it to the connector labled
with "Landing gear IN". Connect the other
PWM signal cable from "Landing gear OUT"
back to the landing gear servo.
10
Connect a PWM signal cable from the A3 flight controller (Port F3) to the con-
nector labled with "Man. Deploy". And connect the cable from the base-plate
of the DRS unit to the corresponding socket (labled "DRS") on the PCB.
An overall view of the motor cut-off PCB installation is shown in picture 6. 1
are the ground and 2 the positive power supply terminals from the M600. 3
are the positive power supply for the motors. 4 shows the PWM signal cable
coming from one of the output channels of the A3 flight-controller to manual
trigger the parachute. 5 shows the 5-pin connector coming from the mount-
ing plate at the top. 7 is the PWM signal cable connected to the landing-gear
servo and 6 is the original servo cable for the landing gear from the A3 flight-
controller - now connected to the motor cut-off PCB. 8 is the connector for
the auxiliary power supply from the M600 which is used to supply the motor
cut-off PCB.
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11
1
2
2
2
3
4
5
63
3
3
3
3
7
8
Picture 6: Overall view of the motor cut-off PCB installation
1 Screws to connect to the negativ power supply
2 Screws to connect to the positiv power supply
3 Positive power cables connected to the motors
4 PWM signal for manual triggering - connected to A3
5 Interface connection to DRS mounting-plate
6 PWM signal for landing gear servo
7 PWM signal connected to lending gear servo
8 XT30 Power supply from drone
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3.4 Connection to A3 Flight-controller
To manually deploy the parachute via the remote controller from the pilot in
command a connection between the DJI A3 flight-controller to the motor cut-
off PCB , as shown in picture 7, has to be installed. As an example the port F3
from the A3 flight-controller can be used. Therefor connect a standard PWM
signal cable to this port. The cable has to get threaded from the A3 at the top
to the motor cut-off PCB at the bottom. Beside the electrical installation the A3
has to get configured as well.
Picture 7: PWM wire to manually deploy the parachute
To enable the manual deployment via the standard DJI remote controller
this features needs to get enabled using the DJI Assistant software as shown in
the pictures 8 and 9. Therefor the camera trigger feature is used to manually
deploy the parachute. As shown in the pictures the output port F3 is used as
the camera trigger. The PWM value of 1000µs represents the value where the
parachute will not get deployed and a value of 2000µs will deploy the parachute
immediately.
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Picture 8: Assigning port F3 to the shutter trigger channel
Picture 9: Setting shutter default and trigger PWM value
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3.5 Loading and unloading the parachute
1
First you need to open the release mechanism,
which is the small shutter at the bottom. The
easiest way to do so is to get underneath the
shutter using your fingernail and swing it out
till the stop. When open place it on a flat sur-
face and keep the shutter in this position.
Use a solid object which fits the inner diame-
ter of the deployment unit and is longer then
the whole unit. A plastic pipe is very conve-
nient but a small bottle of water should also
work. Use it to push down gently the deploy-
ment mechanism until it reaches the bottom
position. Release the shutter and slowly remove
the force pushing down to feel if it get locked in
its position.
2
3
Take care the shutter is fully back in, under-
neath the carbon fiber tubes surface. Don’t
try to pull it out manually because then the
parachute will get deployed as well.
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Remove the rubber bands from the parachute
and use your fingers to pretend and acciden-
tally opening of the plastic cover. You can only
remove the one at the bottom which is closer to
the spiky end and remove the other one when
the parachute is half inside of the tube.
4
5
Push in the parachute covered by the plastic
sheet with the spiky end first. The spikes are
essential to prevent the parachute fabric from
getting stuck in case of a deployment.
You should also pay attention that there is no
fabric being not covered by the plastic sheet.
Specially in the bottom area you should not be
able to spot any parachute fabric.
6
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7
Put on the lid to protect the parachute from sun
light and other environmental influences. The
parachute cord should lead out underneath the
lid at its designated position pointing to the
center of the M600.
Place the container on the mounting plate with
the small pike (arrow) at the bottom pointing
towards the open padlock symbol. After push-
ing it down a bit you should be able to twist it
clock-wise until the arrow is pointing towards
the closed padlock symbol - as shown in the
bottom area of picture in step number eight.
8
9
At the end connect the metal hook from the
parachute with the one where the three cords
are connected to the M600 arms.
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4 Application
4.1 Functional tests after installation
After finishing the installation of the DRS-M600 parachute rescue systems you
should run some basic tests before taking-off. These tests ensure the installa-
tion was successful and all components operate properly. For these tests it is
necessary to switch on the engines without actually talking off. Therefor we
strongly recommend to remove the propellers to prevent any injuries.
Put the deployment container under tension as described in chapter "Load-
ing and unloading the parachute" until you reached step number 3 - without
loading the parachute into the tube. Instead you should put some dummy load
(like a bottle filled with water) inside.
4.2 Visual status signal
The DRS-M600 system is equipped with a three-color RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
LED (Light emitting diode) to inform the pilot about the internal system status
as described in table 1.
Color Type Description
Blue Flashing System initializing.
Blue Solid System on, waiting for valid RC input signal.
Green Flashing System armed - ready for take-off. Manual deployment possible.
Green Solid System armed take-off detected. Automatic failure detection active.
Red Flashing System error.
Red Solid Parachute deployed.
Purple Flashing Firmware update in progress.
Table 1: LED status codes
If the status LED will not switch to solid green after taking off, the parachute
will not get deployed in case of emergency and it is highly recommended to
land the UAV and check signals between the RC-Receiver/Flightcontroller and
the DRS system.
4.3 Acoustic status signal
Whenever the parachute will get deployed, the DRS system will inform the en-
vironment about the descending UAV using a loud acoustic signal. You will also
hear a short beep when the take-off was detected.
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4.4 Storage
If you don’t use the parachute rescue system for a longer period of time we rec-
ommend to take out the parachute canopy and remove the tension from the
deployment unit. Always store the system in a dry environment to prevent
moisture accumulating inside of the parachute canopy which might increase
the time for fully inflation in case of an deployment.
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