Bebop battery hack (request for advice)

kokorodrone · Jan 6, 2021

I've just joined the forums here to post a question about a Bebop battery hack. I recently received an original Bebop with Skycontroller from a relative who almost never flew the drone. It came with three batteries but one was completely dead. The other two were resurrected via trickle charge with a hobby charger. I tore down the dead battery and threw away the three cells housed within. One was leaking and had contaminated some of the internal electronics so I cut everything away and disposed of it all. I did, however, keep the cables coming from the connector as I had a crazy idea about making a new battery...which is what I'm writing about here.

I did the following:

1. Disassembled the old battery and threw the original cells away
2. Purchased some 18650 batteries (3600 mAh capacity)
3. Purchased some battery cases with leads
4. Glued three battery cases together and soldered them in series with thick gauge cable
5. Soldered the assembly to the wires leading to the connector on the old battery pack

I now have a 3600 mAh capacity 11.1 Volt battery that powers on my Bebop. The Bebop will then pair with my Skycontroller but...here is the problem...I have no communication between the battery and drone so the drone registers the battery as being empty (0% charge) and thus will no allow me to take off. :-(

I'm trying now to figure out how to either send battery charge information to the drone or disable the drone's prohibiting me from taking off. Of course the prior is more desirable...I don't want to by flying around with no idea how much charge I have remaining. ;-)

Does anyone have any ideas about how to add something (coulomb counter?) to send the required information to the drone?

The two original batteries I have allow me to fly the drone for somewhere between 8 to 10 minutes but I'd like to continue with my little experiment. Any advice or ideas will be appreciated.

Here is a shot of the custom battery pack. It is 61 grams heavier than the original battery and slightly larger...I will finish out the custom pack if I ever get the drone to fly with it. For now, the hanging ribbons are to aid in removing the 18650 cells from extremely tight cases. The original battery cover won't fit over the three cells completely but I might modify it a bit to at least make it look a bit better....again, if I ever get it to fly. ;-)

Kokorodrone (from Japan)

P.S. I found the following page and see that the battery level is recorded as an integer within the Bebop system but am not sure where the information comes from.. Having fun searching...any advice will be much appreciated.

GitHub - AutonomyLab/bebop_hacking: Parrot Bebop Drone Hacking

Parrot Bebop Drone Hacking. Contribute to AutonomyLab/bebop_hacking development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Gipsz Jakab · Jan 7, 2021

kokorodrone said:
I've just joined the forums here to post a question about a Bebop battery hack. I recently received an original Bebop with Skycontroller from a relative who almost never flew the drone. It came with three batteries but one was completely dead. The other two were resurrected via trickle charge with a hobby charger. I tore down the dead battery and threw away the three cells housed within. One was leaking and had contaminated some of the internal electronics so I cut everything away and disposed of it all. I did, however, keep the cables coming from the connector as I had a crazy idea about making a new battery...which is what I'm writing about here. I did the following:

1. Disassembled the old battery and threw the original cells away
2. Purchased some 18650 batteries (3600 mAh capacity)
3. Purchased some battery cases with leads
4. Glued three battery cases together and soldered them in series with thick gauge cable
5. Soldered the assembly to the wires leading to the connector on the old battery pack

I now have a 3600 mAh capacity 11.1 Volt battery that powers on my Bebop. The Bebop will then pair with my Skycontroller but...here is the problem...I have no communication between the battery and drone so the drone registers the battery as being empty (0% charge) and thus will no allow me to take off. :-(

I'm trying now to figure out how to either send battery charge information to the drone or disable the drone's prohibiting me from taking off. Of course the prior is more desirable...I don't want to by flying around with no idea how much charge I have remaining. ;-)

Does anyone have any ideas about how to add something (coulomb counter?) to send the required information to the drone?

The two original batteries I have allow me to fly the drone for somewhere between 8 to 10 minutes but I'd like to continue with my little experiment. Any advice or ideas will be appreciated.

Here is a shot of the custom battery pack. It is 61 grams heavier than the original battery and slightly larger...I will finish out the custom pack if I ever get the drone to fly with it. For now, the hanging ribbons are to aid in removing the 18650 cells from extremely tight cases. The original battery cover won't fit over the three cells completely but I might modify it a bit to at least make it look a bit better....again, if I ever get it to fly. ;-)

Kokorodrone (from Japan)

P.S. I found the following page and see that the battery level is recorded as an integer within the Bebop system but am not sure where the information comes from.. Having fun searching...any advice will be much appreciated.

GitHub - AutonomyLab/bebop_hacking: Parrot Bebop Drone Hacking

Parrot Bebop Drone Hacking. Contribute to AutonomyLab/bebop_hacking development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

I have Anafi. The Anafi battery has a (Battery Management System) BMS circuit. This monitors charging and discharging. The charge data is transferred from here to the drone motherboard.
Without this circuit, the drone has no information about the battery and thus does not even take off because it is not safe.

kokorodrone · Jan 8, 2021

Gipsz Jakab said:
I have Anafi. The Anafi battery has a (Battery Management System) BMS circuit. This monitors charging and discharging. The charge data is transferred from here to the drone motherboard.
Without this circuit, the drone has no information about the battery and thus does not even take off because it is not safe.

Gipsz,

Thanks, yeah, I figured there is a need for a BMS and was wondering if I could possibly make one. I dug around in my battery waste bin after posting this and was excited to find that I have not yet thrown away the bad battery. I don't know if the board with the BMS on it is still functional but I might solder it to my new batter and see if that works.

If you (or anyone) has any other ideas they will be most appreciated.

Kokorodrone

Nexus · Jun 22, 2021

kokorodrone said:
I've just joined the forums here to post a question about a Bebop battery hack. I recently received an original Bebop with Skycontroller from a relative who almost never flew the drone. It came with three batteries but one was completely dead. The other two were resurrected via trickle charge with a hobby charger. I tore down the dead battery and threw away the three cells housed within. One was leaking and had contaminated some of the internal electronics so I cut everything away and disposed of it all. I did, however, keep the cables coming from the connector as I had a crazy idea about making a new battery...which is what I'm writing about here. I did the following:

1. Disassembled the old battery and threw the original cells away
2. Purchased some 18650 batteries (3600 mAh capacity)
3. Purchased some battery cases with leads
4. Glued three battery cases together and soldered them in series with thick gauge cable
5. Soldered the assembly to the wires leading to the connector on the old battery pack

I now have a 3600 mAh capacity 11.1 Volt battery that powers on my Bebop. The Bebop will then pair with my Skycontroller but...here is the problem...I have no communication between the battery and drone so the drone registers the battery as being empty (0% charge) and thus will no allow me to take off. :-(

I'm trying now to figure out how to either send battery charge information to the drone or disable the drone's prohibiting me from taking off. Of course the prior is more desirable...I don't want to by flying around with no idea how much charge I have remaining. ;-)

Does anyone have any ideas about how to add something (coulomb counter?) to send the required information to the drone?

The two original batteries I have allow me to fly the drone for somewhere between 8 to 10 minutes but I'd like to continue with my little experiment. Any advice or ideas will be appreciated.

Here is a shot of the custom battery pack. It is 61 grams heavier than the original battery and slightly larger...I will finish out the custom pack if I ever get the drone to fly with it. For now, the hanging ribbons are to aid in removing the 18650 cells from extremely tight cases. The original battery cover won't fit over the three cells completely but I might modify it a bit to at least make it look a bit better....again, if I ever get it to fly. ;-)

Kokorodrone (from Japan)

P.S. I found the following page and see that the battery level is recorded as an integer within the Bebop system but am not sure where the information comes from.. Having fun searching...any advice will be much appreciated.

GitHub - AutonomyLab/bebop_hacking: Parrot Bebop Drone Hacking

Parrot Bebop Drone Hacking. Contribute to AutonomyLab/bebop_hacking development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Have you seen these ? ZOHD LIONPACK 3S1P 18650 11.1V 3500mAh Li-ion Battery for Sonicmodell AR Wing FPV Racing Drone/RC Planes/Cars/ Boats.. I have also used a standard 2200 lipo with nothing but power going to the bebop 1 and still get battery telemetry ?

kokorodrone · Jun 23, 2021

Nexus said:
Have you seen these ? ZOHD LIONPACK 3S1P 18650 11.1V 3500mAh Li-ion Battery for Sonicmodell AR Wing FPV Racing Drone/RC Planes/Cars/ Boats.. I have also used a standard 2200 lipo with nothing but power going to the bebop 1 and still get battery telemetry ?

Nexus,

Thanks, that is precisely what I need...or needed. I tinkered around a bit but then got busy and subsequently ran out of patience with the short flight time on my Bebop. Sold it online and bought a used DJI Mavic Air

and am enjoying that now. I would have enjoyed the fulfillment of making a new battery but alas I'm getting old I guess. ;-)

Thanks again for the helpful information. I hope someone else, searching the forums, might benefit.

Kokorodrone

bebopsta · Apr 21, 2023

kokorodrone said:
Gipsz,

Thanks, yeah, I figured there is a need for a BMS and was wondering if I could possibly make one. I dug around in my battery waste bin after posting this and was excited to find that I have not yet thrown away the bad battery. I don't know if the board with the BMS on it is still functional but I might solder it to my new batter and see if that works.

If you (or anyone) has any other ideas they will be most appreciated.

Kokorodrone

Hello there, I've replaced the stock battery with these 18650 cells. and yes if you have the old battery, the connector has the BMS on it and will work to power drone aswell as give battery data to the drone. enabling you to fly.