a safer way to catch your Mavic

[stonecherub]

Some of us HAVE to hand-catch our Mavics. And, since there is no FAA-Mex ...


I read about a method of catching the front of the body with my hand below the camera so that my palm is not seen by the sensors. Tried it in the back yard and it works like a charm.

I always do a bunch of hand-catches the day before I go out on the rocks.

 

[picturememiami]

Great video

 

[Shadow2020]

I tried to catch my Mavic Pro with my hand and it immediately surged and fought me. How do you kill the motors with one hand like you are in the video?

 

[theDRONEranger]

CHILDREN, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

SAFEST??? Nooooo!!! The safest is to land, as on terra firma! Not safe in the hand if for no other reason, you are trying to catch the ginsu knives in midair. One little miscalculation and you have more than diced tomatoes for your salad. Your fingers . . . (safety is always paramount when flying) are direly needed for control. How long would you be out of action if . . . ?

Cut proof gloves

Ginsu drone cuts

 

[JDawg]

CHILDREN, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

SAFEST??? Nooooo!!! The safest is to land, as on terra firma! Not safe in the hand if for no other reason, you are trying to catch the ginsu knives in midair. One little miscalculation and you have more than diced tomatoes for your salad. Your fingers . . . (safety is always paramount when flying) are direly needed for control. How long would you be out of action if . . . ?

Cut proof gloves

Ginsu drone cuts

I think you are doing it wrong.

 

[Tom-Air]

The FAA prohibits hand catching of drones. Just thought you might like to know that little rule.

Please provide where it says that. thanks!

 

[msinger]

Please provide where it says that. thanks!

You can find the current list of rules here.

 

[Tom-Air]

You can find the current list of rules here.

I have read the rules and I don't remember reading that. I skimmed it again and did not see anything about hand launch or catch.

 

[msinger]

I have read the rules and I don't remember reading that.

That's correct. See post #18 above.

 

[Tom-Air]

That's correct. See post #18 above.

Thank you, I realize organizations can have their own rules, but the FAA never wrote that as a rule!

 

[netfolks2000]

You will burn out your motors. It's not. Built for that. Notice how dji don't show that method in their startup videos...

How would that very brief motor speedup harm the motors? They just speed up and then shut off completely.

 

[NFG]

+1 for hand catching with a quick 90 degree flick of the wrist to shut the motors down. Sure, the drone thinks it's unstable and tries to right itself, and the motors get excited... For an eighth of a second or so. If I were a bettin' man I'd bet this isn't long enough to burn anything out. ^_^

Sometimes, flying in grassy or dusty areas, I don't want my drone coming anywhere near the ground. I bring the drone close, hold my hand under it, and force it to override the sensors and land anyway by holding the altitude stick down. It descends slowly, I clamp onto it, and twist. Done.

 

[Starz]

Well presented info, BUT, I will never fly any ac that close at eye level with only one hand on a controller. God gave us two eyes. You won’t get any more. I’ll just find a good place to land. (or not fly)

 

[beejAMG]

SAFEST??? Nooooo!!! i

As im with you with your reply.
The post read, safest way to HAND CATCH, not safest way to land.

 

[NFG]

Well presented info, BUT, I will never fly any ac that close at eye level with only one hand on a controller. God gave us two eyes. You won’t get any more. I’ll just find a good place to land. (or not fly)

Hmm, my arms are fairly long, and 70cm from my face seems like a pretty reasonable distance to reach out to a motionless drone and encourage it to come lower (not closer). I guess, if your eyes are on stalks or your arms particularly short, it's a valid concern. Certainly not one I share.

Stay safe as you best see fit. Ain't no one gonna argue that.

 

[Starz]

Hmm, my arms are fairly long, and 70cm from my face seems like a pretty reasonable distance to reach out to a motionless drone and encourage it to come lower (not closer). I guess, if your eyes are on stalks or your arms particularly short, it's a valid concern. Certainly not one I share.

Stay safe as you best see fit. Ain't no one gonna argue that.

Key word here would be “seems”.

 

[Kenneth Sands]

In anything but a perfect windless day-this would be extremely dangerous with a Mavic Pro.
Imagine trying to do this standing on a 45° scree slope on the side of a mountain in the Highlands in 20mph winds?
Safest hand catch with the Mavic Pro by far is to put your arm straight up above your head, make sure you're wearing sunglasses or eye protection, position the drone directly above your hand and reduce altitude very slowly so that the MP's CoG lands gently into your grasp, keeping your arm outstretched till the motors have been turned off.

 

[John Gowland]

I could not hear what you were saying during the last part, so i will ask anyway.

Did you turn obstacle avoidance off to do this. When I hand grab a landing of my Mavic Pro, the minute I grab it the motors surge and actually try and pull out of my hand. It startled me the first time and i let go but then realized what it was and as soon as I pulled down on sticks and held them it was okay.

I did not see the air try and thrust away. This is also an issue when trying to fly inside in ATTI mode, using tripod method. If you fly over a table or staircase railing the drone will lift unexpectedly and can crash into a ceiling or light fixture. Yes speaking from experience...DOH!

baddog you have to turn obstacle avoidance off, otherwise you can not get it close to you. "Grab" is the key word here. Never grab, they react accordingly, it can react violently and dangerously. So work with the technology not against it. Be aware of all the sensors. The Mavic Pro is a little more difficult to catch because of its weight and weight distribution but you can catch it just as well. I will do a vid of it tomorrow, with a little more explanation. Even if you don't use the method I suggest let it land slowly with out "grabbing" it. Please don't use ATTI mode you need a controlled, gentle, relationship when catching your drone.

 

[John Gowland]

In anything but a perfect windless day-this would be extremely dangerous with a Mavic Pro.
Imagine trying to do this standing on a 45° scree slope on the side of a mountain in the Highlands in 20mph winds?
Safest hand catch with the Mavic Pro by far is to put your arm straight up above your head, make sure you're wearing sunglasses or eye protection, position the drone directly above your hand and reduce altitude very slowly so that the MP's CoG lands gently into your grasp, keeping your arm outstretched till the motors have been turned off.

You could be right, but I have caught the Mavic Pro in high winds with this method and I feel much safer. However if the wind is very high I don't think you should be catching it anyway. Don't take off in higher winds unless you can land it safely on terra firma.

 

[John Gowland]

CHILDREN, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

SAFEST??? Nooooo!!! The safest is to land, as on terra firma! Not safe in the hand if for no other reason, you are trying to catch the ginsu knives in midair. One little miscalculation and you have more than diced tomatoes for your salad. Your fingers . . . (safety is always paramount when flying) are direly needed for control. How long would you be out of action if . . . ?

Cut proof gloves

Ginsu drone cuts

I tried to catch my Mavic Pro with my hand and it immediately surged and fought me. How do you kill the motors with one hand like you are in the video?

I tried to catch my Mavic Pro with my hand and it immediately surged and fought me. How do you kill the motors with one hand like you are in the video?

If you are aware of all the sensors and gently take hold of the Pro or Air it wont surge. When you have hold of it and raise it, taking its weight, to lower the motors pulling back the downward stick shuts off the motors. I will try to show it in a vid tomorrow with the Pro.