One of the big 'caveats' of the RM1 is that it needs to be powered/connected to the App, for one to do some programming. While doing so, the battery is usualy quickly exhausted.
Would DJI be willing to offer an AC adapter that plugs directly into the =battery compartment, and offer continuous/uninterrupted power?

With the current product, and after multiple battery charges I'm concerned that:

1. The battery won't last after multiple charge/use cycles
2. The latch on the rear door would some day break ...

Really, that part of the design, is in my opinion very rushed and not given much thought.

This is definitely possible and another member of the forums actually hacked this in:

https://hackaday.io/project/1672 ... on-and-modification

BGA Posted at 10-29 08:08
This is definitely possible and another member of the forums actually hacked this in:

https://hackaday.io/project/167276-dji-robomaster-s1-hacks/log/168044-charger-investigation-and-modification

That mod lets me charge the battery without removing it from the robot. It doesn't let me program the robot at the same time.
Another mod allows me to program the S1 while powered from a bench top power supply, I describe the connections a bit in this post. I should take some photos of the connectors I made and add it to my Hackaday IO project page you linked to. I'll try to do this in the near future.

Thank you gentlemen, very useful information indeed.

Duane Degn Posted at 10-29 11:39
That mod lets me charge the battery without removing it from the robot. It doesn't let me program the robot at the same time.
Another mod allows me to program the S1 while powered from a bench top power supply, I describe the connections a bit in this post. I should take some photos of the connectors I made and add it to my Hackaday IO project page you linked to. I'll try to do this in the near future.

Ah...  Guess I mixed your post about being able to charge while using the robot and the post about being able to charge the battery inside the robot. Thanks for clarifying.

In addition to the said above, I would love to see extended oversized battery available for S1 (from DJI or any third-party). Under oversized I mean just length -  if the S1 shell can be cut carefully (an easy DIY project), the extended battery can protrude inside under the main gimbal and turret and I think size-wise it would allow to have a battery with  6 18650 elements instead of current 3, thus doubling the battery capacity. I was thinking of modifying stock battery, but unfortunately its casing is injected molded from thin plastic, and most likely will get destroyed in the process. But any manufacturer with injected molding capabilities should be able to easily do it.

-albertr

albertr Posted at 10-30 05:32
In addition to the said above, I would love to see extended oversized battery available for S1 (from DJI or any third-party). Under oversized I mean just length -  if the S1 shell can be cut carefully (an easy DIY project), the extended battery can protrude inside under the main gimbal and turret and I think size-wise it would allow to have a battery with  6 18650 elements instead of current 3, thus doubling the battery capacity. I was thinking of modifying stock battery, but unfortunately its casing is injected molded from thin plastic, and most likely will get destroyed in the process. But any manufacturer with injected molding capabilities should be able to easily do it.

-albertr

"and most likely will get destroyed in the process."
I couldn't resist opening my battery and even with hindsight, I don't see an easy way of doing this.
The battery doesn't look too bad after being put back together, but the battery is now difficult to remove from the robot. This is the main reason I added the in situ charging capability.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I was able to add a 3S 5Ah battery in parallel to my S1. Adding the battery in parallel was a pain since I had to match voltage levels of the two battery packs.
Charge balancing is done internally with the intelligent battery so it's not possible (as far as I know) to charge the external battery and the internal pack at the same time.
I think it would be possible to combine the PCB from an Intelligent Battery with higher capacity cells. I don't know if the Intelligent Battery's logic would complain if cells' capacity were much greater than the expected capacity. My gut (with isn't very smart) thinks the Intelligent Battery's logic wouldn't complain about higher capacity cells.

Duane Degn Posted at 10-30 06:22
"and most likely will get destroyed in the process."
I couldn't resist opening my battery and even with hindsight, I don't see an easy way of doing this.
The battery doesn't look too bad after being put back together, but the battery is now difficult to remove from the robot. This is the main reason I added the in situ charging capability.

I think that's a key point here. Would the higher capacity cells be made to fit in the original volume of the current battery?  I felt the battery is 'light' and as if it has some open space inside ... This, compared to my phantom batteries which are rather heavy. A Higher capacity battery would definitely be the way to go (assuming DJI would pursue this, as they did for the Osmo batteries) , and enable us to extend the useful life (fun) with such fancy toy ... err ... piece of technology.

JB63 Posted at 10-30 07:38
I think that's a key point here. Would the higher capacity cells be made to fit in the original volume of the current battery?  I felt the battery is 'light' and as if it has some open space inside ... This, compared to my phantom batteries which are rather heavy. A Higher capacity battery would definitely be the way to go (assuming DJI would pursue this, as they did for the Osmo batteries) , and enable us to extend the useful life (fun) with such fancy toy ... err ... piece of technology.

I suppose cells specifically shaped to fill the battery encloser could be used to produce a high capacity pack but the current pack uses three 21865 cells. There's not much usable empty space in the battery.
The pack states a 2400mAh capacity but the LGABHE21865 cells are actually rated at 2500mAh.
You can see some photos of the inside of the battery pack here.
The battery pack isn't much larger than three 21865 cells and the battery management PCB.

Duane Degn Posted at 10-30 11:21
I suppose cells specifically shaped to fill the battery encloser could be used to produce a high capacity pack but the current pack uses three 21865 cells. There's not much usable empty space in the battery.
The pack states a 2400mAh capacity but the LGABHE21865 cells are actually rated at 2500mAh.
You can see some photos of the inside of the battery pack here.

Thank You ... I guess then the current RM S1 is as good as it gets. I'm curious as to what DJI did with the Osmo batteries. They have two versions, different capacity, and yet the same shape/size. Different chemistry inside ?