Recently mounted a minimalist Spudnik (see Water Monitoring in cold, remote locations with a solar Electron) on a small drone. The idea being to collect water quality measurements at locations that are difficult or impossible to walk to. Using a small (249gm), relatively inexpensive drone (Mavic Mini), I strapped an electron on with a BME280 collecting ambient temp., humidity and air pressure and dangled water TDS and temperature sensors from the drone. Total sensor/electron package weight is 95gm. The drone carries the equipment well and can be maneuvered to dip the TDS and temperature sensors in a bucket of water. An electron powered with a tiny LiPo reports the data back to Particle and to Ubidots every 15 seconds. The range of the drone, on paper, is about 2 miles but with the 95gm package mounted, likely to be much less. Once we get above freezing around here I’ll give it some more strenuous outdoor field test. A writeup is available on github at: https://github.com/colemanjj/Spudnik-07/blob/Drone/README.md
8 Likes