Drone Rescue Uses VHS Tape And Careful Planning

If you regularly fly your drones outdoors, you’ve probably worried about getting your pride and joy stuck in a big tree at some point. But flying indoors doesn’t guarantee you’ll be safe either, as [Scott Williamson] found out. He once got his tiny 65 mm Mobula 6HD quadcopter stuck in a roof beam at an indoor sports complex, and had to set about a daring rescue.

The first job was recon, with [Scott] sending up another drone to survey the situation. From there, he set about trying to prod the stuck quadcopter free with a improvised lance fitted to the front of a larger drone. But this ended up simply getting the larger bird stuck as well. It eventually managed to free itself, though it was damaged severely when [Scott] caught it as it fell. As told to Hackaday, [Scott] thus decided he needed to build a mock-up of the situation at home, to help him devise a rescue technique.

In the end, [Scott] settled on a grappling hook made of paperclips. A drone lofted a long length of VHS tape over the roof beam, and he then attached the grappling hook from ground level. The VHS tape was then used to reel the hook up to the rafters, and snare the drone, bringing it back down to Earth.

It took some perseverance, but [Scott] ended up rescuing his tiny drone from its lofty prison. The part we love most about this story, though, is that [Scott] planned the recovery like a heist or a cave rescue operation.

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Rescuing a Drone with a Drone

Operation Drone Rescue

When [Harrison Howes] lost his Syma X5C drone on a neighbor’s roof, he thought all hope was lost. There was no easy access to get up there, and the neighbor wasn’t interested in him attempting a rescue. Months past, and [Harrison] got a new quad. And not just any quad — a DJI Phantom 3 Professional. It was time to attempt an aerial rescue operation!

Using some old coat hangers and some green painter’s tape for visibility, [Harrison] crafted two hooks to hang below the Phantom. He also tilted the FPV module straight down for maximum visibility of the rescue.

Set to the soundtrack of No Time for Caution by Hans Zimmer (from Intersteller), watch our hero deftly air lift his old quad off the roof and back to safety.

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