Flying from moving vehicle or boat ...questions

[ChasiTail]

So,
I plan on shooting some footage from a boat using trace & follow modes and will be on the boat having the mavic following the boat for a prolonged period in one direction.

What precautions should I do during the flight. Since the mavic records the homepoint at takeoff, as I increase my distance from that spot, it is my understanding that it will shorten my fly time before the "return to home" kicks in.

Do those of you that do this sort of flying continue to update the homepoint as the controller periodically during the flight? Seems like a pain to have to toggle to this screen when trying to also fly/video the boat at the same time.

My other concern would be if I don't update the homepoint mid flight, I could run into max flight distance issues, where the drone would just stop. What happens then? I'm guessing the drone would hover, then I'd have to go in and create a new homepoint in order to continue on my path?

Since I'll be over water, I want to make sure Ive run all possible issues thru my head and understand what the drone's software will try and do, to avoid a disaster and an ill timed water landing or fly away by the drone trying to "return home"


Thanks

 

[Cyberpower678]

So,
I plan on shooting some footage from a boat using trace & follow modes and will be on the boat having the mavic following the boat for a prolonged period in one direction.

What precautions should I do during the flight. Since the mavic records the homepoint at takeoff, as I increase my distance from that spot, it is my understanding that it will shorten my fly time before the "return to home" kicks in.

Do those of you that do this sort of flying continue to update the homepoint as the controller periodically during the flight? Seems like a pain to have to toggle to this screen when trying to also fly/video the boat at the same time.

My other concern would be if I don't update the homepoint mid flight, I could run into max flight distance issues, where the drone would just stop. What happens then? I'm guessing the drone would hover, then I'd have to go in and create a new homepoint in order to continue on my path?

Since I'll be over water, I want to make sure Ive run all possible issues thru my head and understand what the drone's software will try and do, to avoid a disaster and an ill timed water landing or fly away by the drone trying to "return home"


Thanks

So I've done boat flying. The first and foremost, unless you know how to match the boat's motion when taking off and landing, is that you practice hand launching and landing, catching it in your hand. You need to disable the downward sensors, otherwise the drone will evade you when you try and grab it. When your boat is actively moving about on the water, I would disable max distance, to avoid that problem. I tend to only set a new homepoint when I go to bring it back so I can get the general heading to pilot the craft. I bring it in manually. Make sure VPS is disabled when over water. The drone doesn't handle water well and will start to sink down towards it if you are closer than 15 meters to the water.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: If your boat is moving, START AND LAND FROM THE REAR AND AT THE REAR. So many noobs have launched from the front and the Mavic ascends no longer bound by the boat's inertia, and some part of the boat crashes into the Mavic, resulting in total loss. When the RTH prompt comes up and you are certain you have sufficient battery, just cancel the prompt.

 

[msinger]

Since the mavic records the homepoint at takeoff, as I increase my distance from that spot, it is my understanding that it will shorten my fly time before the "return to home" kicks in.

You'll see a prompt in DJI GO that'll give you 10 seconds to cancel that RTH procedure before your Mavic starts returning home. If you disable "Smart Return-to-Home" in DJI GO, your Mavic will not try to return to the home point.

Do those of you that do this sort of flying continue to update the homepoint as the controller periodically during the flight?

You can either continue to update the home point or set the "Remote Controller Signal Lost" setting to "Hover" to make your Mavic hover in place if the remote controller signal is lost and the Failsafe RTH procedure is initiated. If that occurs, then move the boat toward your Mavic until the remote controller signal is reestablished.

My other concern would be if I don't update the homepoint mid flight, I could run into max flight distance issues, where the drone would just stop. What happens then?

Your Mavic would stop and hover at its current location. To prevent that from happening, disable the "Enable Maximum Distance" setting in DJI GO.

 

[Plawa]

MOST IMPORTANTLY: If your boat is moving, START AND LAND FROM THE REAR AND AT THE REAR. So many noobs have launched from the front and the Mavic ascends no longer bound by the boat's inertia, and some part of the boat crashes into the Mavic, resulting in total loss. When the RTH prompt comes up and you are certain you have sufficient battery, just cancel the prompt.

This really depends on the boat... I'm much more confident launching from the front as the boat has a sun shade that covers most of the rear, plus the front has a nice flat area I can land on. But really you don't want the boat to be (deliberately) moving before you launch/take off.

Otherwise do as MSinger said.. all very good points.

 

[ChasiTail]

MSinger, Thx a bunch for those tips & the screen shots.

How do you do those screen grabs & get them to post here in the thread?

 

[msinger]

How do you do those screen grabs & get them to post here in the thread?

I take screenshots of DJI GO on my mobile devices and edit them in an image editor (to add the red boxes).

 

[M4RK]

This may be asilly question, but can the OP not also set his Home Point to be the location of the remote if the remote is on the boat with him?

 

[msinger]

can the OP not also set his Home Point to be the location of the remote if the remote is on the boat with him?

If the OP is using a mobile device that contains a GPS receiver, he can set the home point to the location of his mobile device at anytime.

 

[Plawa]

However if you're moving that location will become obsolete the moment you set it - it's a fixed point, it does follow you.

 

[msinger]

That's correct. DJI GO does not have a dynamic home point feature.

 

[M4RK]

So if you set the Home Point to be the remote, that is only valid for the position of the remote at the very moment you set it?

 

[msinger]

So if you set the Home Point to be the remote, that is only valid for the position of the remote at the very moment you set it?

Yes. The home point never auto updates itself after it's initially set when powering on your Mavic.

 

[M4RK]

Thanks for the clarification msinger...I was not aware of that.

 

[nickels&ilikepickles]

Thanks for all the tips msinger! I was planning on creating a post asking the same type of questions. Once I have a few more flights under my belt and am comfortable with hand launching and catching, I would love to try to flying from a boat/kayak.

 

[Cyberpower678]

It would be nice to have a dynamic homepoint option.

 

[salernod]

It shouldn't be difficult for DJI to create a "return to pilot" option so DJI go can send the coordinates from the iPhone's current location and tell the mavic to go to that position if RTH is triggered.

 

[msinger]

It shouldn't be difficult for DJI to create a "return to pilot" option

Phantoms used to have that feature and DJI recently added that feature for the Inspire 2. So, it's certainly a possibility.

 

[Plawa]

Litchi does it.

 

[Ray&Paula]

You'll see a prompt in DJI GO that'll give you 10 seconds to cancel that RTH procedure before your Mavic starts returning home. If you disable "Smart Return-to-Home" in DJI GO, your Mavic will not try to return to the home point.

View attachment 16055

Turning off Smart RTH definitely sounds like great advice on a boat along with your suggestion of resetting RTH to the RC periodically and Hover in case of a disconnect problem. I have a question; Using the Hover setting in case of signal loss, does the MA hover at the altitude of the last reset or does it always ascend to the RTH altitude set in the DJI Go4 app? Thanks as always, you've been a great help to me in the forum. Ray

 

[msinger]

Using the Hover setting in case of signal loss, does the MA hover at the altitude of the last reset

It'll remain hovering at its current altitude.