- heliguy™ builds lightweight and robust cage for the DJI Mavic 2 drone series - available now;
- The collision-proof cage is ideal for internal inspections and enhanced flight safety;
- Priced at £499, the cage is an affordable solution, especially compared to existing alternatives;
- heliguy™ cage has advantages over Flyability's Elios solutions, including longer flight time, versatility, cheaper, lighter than the Elios 2, and utilises sophisticated DJI technology.
Heliguy's DJI Mavic 2 drone cage offers a lightweight and collision-proof solution, ideal for internal inspection and enhancing flight safety.
Designed and built by our expert in-house team, this robust product will maximise data collection and missions in hostile environments, confined areas, and hard-to-reach spaces.
Priced at £499, this cage is an affordable entry to the internal drone inspection market, especially compared to alternative options which can cost up to £20,000.
The cage is compact and easily transportable, affords up to 15 minutes of flight time - which is longer than competitors - weighs 230g, and offers an unobscured camera view, as this video below shows.
Made from carbon fiber, aluminum, and nylon, the cage is collision-proof, with an impact resistance of up to 3m per second.
The development of the cage has been prompted by feedback from heliguy™ customers, who have been crying out for an affordable solution for the popular Mavic 2 drones.
Because it is compatible with the DJI Mavic 2 Series, the cage offers versatility for a range of jobs, whether it is utilising the 20MP camera on the Mavic 2 Pro, or capturing visible, thermal and zoom imagery with the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced.
Integrating one of the Mavic 2 Enterprise drones with the cage also means that you can take advantage of the accessories. Options available are the dual spotlight, ideal for illuminating dark areas during an internal inspection; the beacon, which offers a visual warning during jobs; and the loud-speaker, which can be used to communicate with others during a flight.
A prototype of the cage was tested by a number of Heliguy's technology partners and received encouraging feedback.
Since then, the design has been tweaked, tested, and gone out to major enterprise clients across a range of industries - used on critical infrastructure, internal inspection, and surveying jobs.
A reliable and robust solution, the Mavic 2 Flight Cage is available to buy now. Click here for more details.
Why Choose A Drone Cage?
Drones have become an important tool for commercial operations - improving safety, increasing efficiency, and maximising return on investment (ROI).
However, some limitations exist, especially when it comes to safe and effective internal, confined and up-close inspections.
Let's face it, confined space entry brings risks, especially when you are talking about pipes, tanks, sewers, manholes, or pressure vessels.
This is why a cage is a crucial accessory - turning your aircraft into the perfect confined space drone, allowing you to inspect your asset while reducing the dangers of manned inspection and reduce the risks of flying your UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) without a drone safety cage.
A drone with a cage around it gives your aircraft 360° protection, opening up new possibilities for carrying out professional applications in a controlled and trouble-free way.
No matter what your mission, a protective frame around your drone gives you peace of mind and the chance to fly with confidence, safe in the knowledge that you can operate close to objects without risking damage to your equipment, your surroundings, or people.
'The Cage Is Ideal For Internal Inspection'
With this in mind, Heliguy's Product Designer Ross Embleton has worked hard to develop a drone containment cage which is robust, compact, allows users to capture reliable data in the safest way, and utilise sophisticated DJI technology - all while introducing it to market as an affordable and cost-effective solution.
He said: "Cages are becoming an incredibly important drone accessory, helping to increase flight safety and drone protection.
"A caged drone is also an important tool when it comes to remote visual inspection, asset maintenance and high ropes work - increasing workers' safety, reducing asset downtime, lowering the cost of operations, reaching inaccessible places and helping to get up close and personal to objects in a safe and controlled way.
"Here at heliguy™, we have listened to what our customers want and the majority of them said that they want some sort of affordable collision-proof cage for the Mavic 2; a drone series which is reliable, popular, lightweight and small enough to carry out internal inspections.
"Thanks to the versatility of the Mavic 2 Series, the cage can be utilised in numerous ways and offers a range of thermal, visual and zoom capabilities, depending on the drone.
"For public safety and inspection, the cage with the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced is an ideal solution; offering protection from the cage, while the drone has a quality thermal camera, can capture 48MP visual imagery, and has 32x digital zoom and a dedicated thermal zoom.
"The cage could also be used by videographers who are flying the Mavic 2 Pro to capture some truly great shots. It means that it can be an indoor drone cage, or taken and used outside.
"The cage opens new doors for enterprise users. It allows them to operate safely - especially in confined areas - and the fact that the drone's camera is unobstructed by the camera means that they can get the same data as before but with greater protection."
How Does It Compare - heliguy™ Mavic 2 Cage v the Flyability Elios 1 v the Flyability Elios 2
Heliguy's Mavic 2 cage comes to the market as a more affordable solution than other internal inspection drones, most notably Flyability's Elios 1 and 2.
So how does our product compare?
Design
The Mavic 2 cage is made of carbon fiber, nylon, and aluminum.
In contrast, the Elios 1 and 2 are built from carbon fiber, magnesium alloy, aluminum, and thermoplastics.
The Mavic 2 cage is fixed, but it can be removed to ensure you can swap your Mavics and fly them independently of the cage. The cage on the Elios 2 is fixed, while the Elios 1 has a three-axis rolling structure.
The look of the cages are very different. Both Elios models are spherical...
...whereas the heliguy™ cage is long and flat, because it has been built around the Mavic 2 to be compact.
The heliguy™ cage is lighter than the Elios 2. The maximum take-off weight of the Mavic 2 solution - complete with drone and cage - is 1,330g, whereas the Elios 2 tips the scales at 1,450g. However, the Elios 1 is the lightest option, weighing in at 700g.
Performance
How the heliguy™ cage can help your operation depends on the type of Mavic 2 drone you use, with each bringing different assets to the table.
Camera
First of all, the camera. The Mavic 2 Pro has superior stats, capable of taking truly stunning 20MP images, whereas the Mavic 2 Zoom, and both Mavic 2 Enterprise models can snap 12MP pictures. The Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced can capture 48MP visuals.
In contrast, the Elios 2 can shoot 12.3MP, while the Elios 1 does not take still shots.
Another string to the bow of the Mavic 2 Zoom and the Mavic 2 Enterprise is their zoom ability. The Mavic 2 Zoom has up to 4x zoom, including a 2x optical zoom, while the Mavic 2 Enterprise has 2x optical and 3x digital zoom capability. Meanwhile, the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced has 32x digital zoom, and 16x thermal zoom.
When it comes to capturing thermal data, the Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual and both Elios' can do the job, achieving a 160 x 120 resolution. The picture below shows you an isotherm image, as captured by the Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual while it is in the cage.
However, the stand-out performer in this department is the Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced, with its 640 x 512 thermal resolution and 16x thermal camera.
The other Mavics do not have thermal capabilities.
All the Mavics, as well as the Elios 1, have three-axis stabilised gimbals, while the Elios 2 features a single axis stabilised gimbal.
Both Elios models have a superior field of view, compared to the Mavics.
Because of the rolling nature of the cage on the Elios 1, the camera is obstructed by the frame, as seen in this image below.
Flyability changed the design on the Elios 2, so this is no longer an issue, while the heliguy™ cage also offers unobstructed views, as this image below shows.
Flight Time
The cage does reduce the usual 30 minutes of flight time of the Mavic 2 drones. But although this drops to 15 minutes, it still affords five more minutes of air time than the Elios 1 and 2.
Lighting
Lighting could be key if you are carrying out internal inspections. The Mavic 2 Enterprise Series drones can be integrated with a bright spotlight accessory, capable of reaching 2,400 Lumens.
While this will illuminate a dark space well enough, both Elios models have lights that are 10,000 Lumens bright, while the Elios 2 also has dust-proof lighting.
In contrast, the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom do not have any bright lighting.
Collision Tolerance
The Elios 2 benefits from a built-in distance lock, which means that it can remain at a set distance ranging from 30cm to 200cm autonomously.
It also benefits from stability sensors which allows it to hover in place and easily navigate through unstructured spaces. It is collision tolerant up to 3m/s on flat objects and up to 1.5 m/s on sharp objects
The Elios 1 can sustain collisions, evenly, all around the drone at a speed reaching up to 4 m/s.
The heliguy™ cage is impact resistant up to 3m/s.
The Mavic 2 Series has omnidirectional obstacle sensing, but these obstacle avoidance sensors would hinder normal operation in confined locations. In practice, this would require them to be switched off, increasing the likelihood of impacts and damage to both the drone and objects of interest. The cage allows you to bypass the flight aid features of the drone without the worry of flight-ending collisions. You can fly anywhere, safely.
Storage
When it comes to storage, all five Mavic 2 drones can carry a microSD card with a maximum capacity of 128GB. The Mavic 2 Enterprise drones also have onboard data-protected storage, while the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom have 8GB onboard storage.
The Elios 2 has a microSD card, onboard the aircraft, with a maximum capacity of 128GB.
Operating Temperature
All five Mavic 2 aircraft can operate in temperatures ranging from -10°C to 40°C, while the Elios 1 and 2 can fly in 0°C to 50°C.
Transmission Distance
The Mavic 2s benefit from enhanced video transmission of up to multiple kilometres at 1080p resolution, while the Elios 1 and 2 have a transmission of up to 500m in the direct line of sight.
Cost
One of the big plus points of the heliguy™ cage is the cost. Priced at £499, it is significantly cheaper than the Elios 1 and 2. It means that you could buy a fleet of Mavic drones, all with cages, for the price of one Elios 2.
Summary
The heliguy™ Mavic 2 cage has been designed to cater for this popular series of DJI drone, following feedback from our customers.
Priced at £499, the cage is an affordable solution to increase flight safety and to help pilots carry out internal and confined inspections.
Because the cage is designed for the Mavic 2 Series, pilots can take advantage of the versatility that this drone range offers - from capturing thermal data to high-resolution still imagery. It also utilises the tried and tested technology of DJI.
So whether it is your first foray into drone flights, or you are an experienced enterprise operator, the cage is a cost-effective solution to help you fly safe and capture the data you need.
To find out more about the product, how it can help you, and to buy yours, contact heliguy™ by phone or email or visit the Mavic 2 Drone Cage product page.
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