Hand catching updates?

[scoble08]

Hand catching revisited: I viewed this hand catch video & gave it a try. When I tried to reach my M2p as shown in the video, the sensors caused the unit to lurch up when it sensed my hand. And on one practice run my M2P kept lurching up, and I made a couple of soft grab attempts. Then a red warning started flashing on the SC, & the aircraft made a forced landing, almost landing on top of me. Fortunately I was on my back deck, so it was a clean landing on a flat surface. Had I been out in the field, that might have been a bad landing. I've never seen this. Any idea what that might have been?

Hand catching was fairly easy with the front catch method shown in the video. But the down sensors would not tolerate my hand presence. Perhaps from hand MOVEMENT? I was only able to (lightly) grab hold from a frontal position, reaching past the gimbal on each side, and worried about contacting the gimbal. Video did not mention disabling sensors, but my unit would not allow the underside grab as shown. Yet, it certainly working smoothly in the video. Maybe the trick is to hold hand motionless like a landing pad, and avoid upward movement. I thought I used the same technique as shown in video, with the sensors reacting differently. Any suggestions from the experts?

In many locations hand catching seems the best option, but with multiple hand/finger injuries from past "misadventures" I tend to be very careful. Thanks

Hand catch video:

I use this technique too...works great!

 

[Checki]

I couldnt find out in my tests, what landing protection actually does. So it doesnt do anything for me, the way i fly.
But i fly without any sensors anyway. I always see my drone or know where it is, dont need sensors in the sky

 

[Citizen Flier]

I couldnt find out in my tests, what landing protection actually does. So it doesnt do anything for me, the way i fly.
But i fly without any sensors anyway. I always see my drone or know where it is, dont need sensors in the sky

For most still image work I probably don't need sensors. But with occasional video tracking shots I would be crashing a lot of hardware without sensors. And yet they will ruin a sequence on occasion overly avoiding obstacles. I also crashed one unit bc the sensors didn't register a tree top. Experience is key!

 

[GACUK]

Tripod mode landing generally helps ....

 

[Citizen Flier]

Tripod mode landing generally helps ....

Of course! I missed that obvious improvement (I typically fly P) thanks!

 

[old man mavic]

landing protection simply prevents the drone from landing in a place it considers unsuitable, such as water or a angled surface it hovers and waits for you to decide if you want it to land

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

I've hand caught my UAS for 2.5 years and 400+ flights, never had an incident. I frequently do it on a small center console in the open ocean, no issues. You don't need special equipment, just practice in your yard until you get it, disable all the vision sensors and you're good to go.

Don't disable smart return home like a previous poster wrote, that's bad advice. Keep it on as it has no impact on hand catching...SMH.

 

[Sleepy]

Once again, when the M2 lurches up from getting close to your hand just keep holding down on the throttle and it will come back down and land on your hand, and keep holding down till the blades stop. Yes it will lurch up but it will come back down and land! And there is no need to grab, just let it land.

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

I was using a plastic cutting board from the kitchen for a while. Then bought this, folds up small and fits in the little carrying bag, but pops out to this large landing pad. Bought it from Amazon Canada.

 

[Citizen Flier]

I was using a plastic cutting board from the kitchen for a while. Then bought this, folds up small and fits in the little carrying bag, but pops out to this large landing pad. Bought it from Amazon Canada.View attachment 103553View attachment 103553

Been using a similar pad since day one. Excellent & makes for EZ safe landings. But in certain conditions hand catch is preferable. Also, the cheap plastic pegs that came with it are useless on hard ground. I bring 3 alum tent pegs -far superior. BUT -need to be sure they are ALL THE WAY DOWN or props might hit exposed top of pegs.

 

[Checki]

landing protection simply prevents the drone from landing in a place it considers unsuitable, such as water or a angled surface it hovers and waits for you to decide if you want it to land

Yes. But I don't see any reason for that.
I always land where I am, so I see what I'm doing. I always do that.
But seems like many people do weird things with their drones or just situations I can't imagine.
Of course I didn't test if landing protection avoids landing in water
But speaking about water, you should turn off all the sensors anyway.
Yet another point turning them of in general
And if you fly in automatic mode and trust the sensors, that's not good. We all know, they are far from perfect!
In short:
- they are not perfect, you can't rely on them
- they can ruin shots
- in special situations they can force the drone landing in water
- flying through clouds or fog can irritate them
- sun can irritate them
- hand catching is much more complicated
-probably 1 or 2 more things I forgot.

So, many reasons to turn them off.

If you are new in flying drones, or in some situations, it makes sense to turn them on, to have SOME more security.

Just my opinion.

 

[Motorcycle Rider]

Not all drones have an off setting for sensors.

 

[old man mavic]

@Checki ,the downwards sensors fulfill two rolls,one is to control height above home point up to around 30ft ,and the other is to sense the ground below the drone and stop it from just continuing to descend into the ground upon landing,but the problems about flying above water, are caused by the sensors being unable to function correctly if they are unable to distinguish correctly the surface below them
as you will know the mavic series of drones are very low to the ground, and this can damage the gimbal and props if it impedes their actions ,so to protect against this whether on a RTH or a manual landing, the drone just hovers and waits for input from the pilot to decide if it should land or not
i myself like the lack of sensors on the MM, because i like to fly the little fella in restricted area such as forests at close quauters ,and the lack of sensors makes that much easier
i rarely use the RTH function myself and much prefer to fly home myself and i dont use the auto flight functions very often either,i cant take the chance of a hand catch going wrong and getting a deep cut from the spinning props,as i have to take a anticoagulant for my heart condition and it means i have to be extra careful so i always use my landing pad

 

[Citizen Flier]

Thanks for all the helpful input. BTW - This is in the Mavic 2 forum precisely BC the design of the drone makes it more of a challenge to catch, and it has it's own sensor issues etc.

Here's my take for what it's worth: I fly & land manually. Have never used RTH. But if issues arise & the unit initiates RTH, I want that to happen safely. I almost lost the pad in high wind recently. There was mostly tall grass, so hand catch would've been the only option if I hadn't caught the pad. Hand catching seems like the best alternative for many situations. But being prepared for unanticipated outcomes is imperative.

I mentioned above a situation where I was practicing hand catching. Something I did got the drone pissed off. Ground proximity beeps were already sounding. suddenly a red warning came on -that I didn't have time to read. Then the unit auto landed & I had to duck out of the way to avoid contact. Not sure how I caused this action. Would like to avoid a repeat. Any idea what caused the auto landing? Thanks

 

[Greekislandlover]

This is me doing palm take off and land. This was to answer a different question on the subject. I pretty well always use this method.

The landing is ropey because I'd spent the afternoon in the back garden drinking beer.

 

[Checki]

@Checki ,the downwards sensors fulfill two rolls,one is to control height above home point up to around 30ft ,and the other is to sense the ground below the drone and stop it from just continuing to descend into the ground upon landing,but the problems about flying above water, are caused by the sensors being unable to function correctly if they are unable to distinguish correctly the surface below them

I know that. But we are talking about hand catching and i suggested turning off LANDING PROTECTION. If you turn that off, your 2 mentioned points still work! VPS works, and the drone wont slam into the ground. That would be very stupid anyways. And thats the reason why i said, i couldnt find out what it actually does. Because everything works like before, plus the benefit, you can hand catch the drone without doing any weird manovers that can go wrong and you destroy your drone!

 

[Checki]

@Checki as you will know the mavic series of drones are very low to the ground, and this can damage the gimbal and props if it impedes their actions ,so to protect against this whether on a RTH or a manual landing, the drone just hovers and waits for input from the pilot to decide if it should land or not.

I repeat my self and add something: Even if you turn ALL sensors off (not just landing protection), the drone wont slam into the ground while landing!

What i dont know exactly, but i will test (or you do), is what happens when you turn off sensors and activate RTH. I am quite sure, the sensors will be activated. If you fly in S mode and go RTH, the sensors reactivate as well!

 

[Checki]

Thanks for all the helpful input. BTW - This is in the Mavic 2 forum precisely BC the design of the drone makes it more of a challenge to catch, and it has it's own sensor issues etc.

Here's my take for what it's worth: I fly & land manually. Have never used RTH. But if issues arise & the unit initiates RTH, I want that to happen safely. I almost lost the pad in high wind recently. There was mostly tall grass, so hand catch would've been the only option if I hadn't caught the pad. Hand catching seems like the best alternative for many situations. But being prepared for unanticipated outcomes is imperative.

I mentioned above a situation where I was practicing hand catching. Something I did got the drone pissed off. Ground proximity beeps were already sounding. suddenly a red warning came on -that I didn't have time to read. Then the unit auto landed & I had to duck out of the way to avoid contact. Not sure how I caused this action. Would like to avoid a repeat. Any idea what caused the auto landing? Thanks

Srsly, i dont understand you guys...

I said it in this thread and probably in 3 more others: Turn that useless landing protection OFF! Nobody says, "thanks for that, it works". Because it does!

Nobody could explain until now, what this feature actually does, and i couldnt find out in my tests. Like i said above, EVERYTHING works as normal, PLUS you can hand catch.
Yes, there may be some special situations where this feature comes in handy, but i dont know them! But i would really like to know!I

I dont understand the logic behind not turning it off, because there are no negative side effects (as far as i know).

So, please explain it to me

 

[Citizen Flier]

The landing is ropey because I'd spent the afternoon in the back garden drinking beer.

Thanks! in the US we'd call that: FUI!

(flying under the influence)

 

[Citizen Flier]

Wouldn't it be nice if DJI had REAL USER MANUALS that explained all features in depth? I've contacted their tech support, and some techs were CLUELESS. Others were on the ball. I've had most of my issues resolved here or by trial & ERROR.

These devices are pretty sophisticated IMO. But all tech can have bugs -major/minor. And there are MANY wildly unpredictable events that can occur when flying tiny RC aircraft. Turning off landing protection sounds very logical to me. But I'm rarely a believer in absolutes, as there are endless exceptions & caveats that may appear at random.