SteadiDrone MAVRIK - new medium lift all round workhorse - Blogs

Hey again all, been a while since I last posted here, been busy with development of our all new medium lift copter, MAVRIK, just wanted to post some details for those who are interested, and as always, any feedback welcome.

We've spent a huge amount of time and testing in developing the MAVRIK and very excited to get it out there, it does not replace the popular SteadiDrone QU4D but is it's new bigger, more grown up brother.

It's mainly aimed at professional aerial companies/pilots who need a reliable, all round medium lift workhorse they can fold up, through in the car, on the plane etc and use everyday for jobs and shoots, it's very compact, light and has some pretty cool features (check out the website) It will carry a wide range of small to medium sized cameras, like the NEX7 which we've been flying mostly, as well as smaller dSLRs and more. It features an all new very unique rail supported front mounted gimbal design which is fully adjustable and runs along the underside of the drone where the battery bay add's stability to the gimbal (full adjustable vibration damping system as well), which has the ability to point straight up past 90 degrees without anything part of the drone or props getting in the shot, it obviously also points straight down, making it ideal for inspecting under things like tall bridges etc.

You can check other specs, images and info here - http://www.steadidrone.com/drones/steadidrone-mavrik

Pre-ordered for the MAVRIK open on Monday and shipping will start mid/end September, full RTF with absolutely everything required and will come standard with the 3DR Pixhawk (Top dome cover has integrated USB and LED)

2008 is the date to be concerned with. Anything after the filing date cannot be claimed for prior art. Anything after the grant date can be contested.

This patent must have been amended at some point. The description talks about coaxial, but the claims make no mention of it.

First claim (usually the most important):

a body;

a plurality of arms extending laterally from a central pivot axis located on the body, and a rotor assembly connected to an outside end of each arm;

wherein the arms are connected to the body such that the arms can be pivoted from a flying position, where the arms extend forward and rearward laterally outward from the central pivot axis such that the arms are substantially equally the pivot axis, to a folded non-flying position where the arms are positioned substantially parallel and adjacent to each other.

No doubt your implementation is different, but the concept is the same.

In any case, this patent has been granted, rightfully or not (USPTO doesn't care). Litigation for patents can be exceedingly expensive regardless of who is in the right.

The good news is I have never heard of Draganfly trolling anyone. If someone has maybe they can chime in. The only thing that would cause concern is if you become very profitable then maybe it might be worth the effort to go into litigation, but for now, carry on.

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Comments

Spicy McHaggis September 1, 2014 at 3:03pm

2008 is the date to be concerned with. Anything after the filing date cannot be claimed for prior art. Anything after the grant date can be contested.

This patent must have been amended at some point. The description talks about coaxial, but the claims make no mention of it.

First claim (usually the most important):

a body;

a plurality of arms extending laterally from a central pivot axis located on the body, and a rotor assembly connected to an outside end of each arm;

wherein the arms are connected to the body such that the arms can be pivoted from a flying position, where the arms extend forward and rearward laterally outward from the central pivot axis such that the arms are substantially equally the pivot axis, to a folded non-flying position where the arms are positioned substantially parallel and adjacent to each other.

No doubt your implementation is different, but the concept is the same.

In any case, this patent has been granted, rightfully or not (USPTO doesn't care). Litigation for patents can be exceedingly expensive regardless of who is in the right.

The good news is I have never heard of Draganfly trolling anyone. If someone has maybe they can chime in. The only thing that would cause concern is if you become very profitable then maybe it might be worth the effort to go into litigation, but for now, carry on.
benbojangles September 1, 2014 at 1:03pm

Anyone see the new releases today? I'm not talking about JLaw either ;)

Hexa heavyload:

http://www.goodluckbuy.com/alfa-h6-1000mm-6-axis-hexacopter-aircraf...

X8 heavyload:

http://www.goodluckbuy.com/alfa-q4-700-850-1000mm-4-axis-quadcopter...

Y6 heavyload:

http://www.goodluckbuy.com/alfa-y3-600-750-900mm-3-axis-aircraft-fr...

I'm not looking for a heavy load multirotor at all but they do look quite interesting with the right flight controller mounted to it.
Euan Ramsay September 1, 2014 at 12:17pm

I'm also not convinced dihedral is patentable either, even in coaxial. And Dihedral in coax? Really? Efficiency losses not enough so you stuck dihedral in?
Euan Ramsay September 1, 2014 at 12:13pm

It's not even a *good* design feature...surely *everyone* would want arms that fold all the way in?
Euan Ramsay September 1, 2014 at 12:12pm

Makes you wonder why they bothered. Oh wait...trolling.
Gary McCray September 1, 2014 at 11:24am

Actually, the patent issued appears to pertain to coaxial dual motor / dual rotor versions only.

As well it appears that if the arms do not end up fully parallel in the folded position it would not apply.

My suspicion is that the large number of previously existing (prior to 2008) folding multicopters is why the patent is so tightly defined.
Euan Ramsay September 1, 2014 at 9:38am

No patent will be granted if there's demonstrable prior art. Or there shouldn't be...but remember this is the USPTO we're talking about...

But regardless Duran - this patent goes back to 2008 (if google is correct), so you'll need to demonstrate prior art longer than 2 years.

Yeah, and thanks for trolling the market Draganfly...<slow clap>
Duran - ALTI September 1, 2014 at 9:29am

the design is not the same, it looks similar but we've had this design for near 2 years now, mount and internals are very different, this has also been discussed before here on DIYD :)
Spicy McHaggis September 1, 2014 at 9:26am

I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but this design has been patented by another company. Are you licensing this design?

https://www.google.com/patents/US8292215
Duran - ALTI September 1, 2014 at 12:02am

The SteadiDrone MAVRIK is now available for pre-order! Get free FPV kit on a awesome pre-order special! http://www.steadidrone.com/drones/steadidrone-mavrik

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