Hand catching w/new firmware

[vtcats]

Has anyone done this yet? I have always done this with all my take offs and more importantly landing (most of the time where I use it there is never a good spot to land). I have been doing it with the Mavic 3 since I purchased a few months ago. The way I was doing it was lower the Mavic till it sees my hand (and it stops), then lower the stick again and it descends into my hand and it shuts off while holding the left stick down. With the new firmware it will lower till it sees my hand, it then it will NOT Lower again into my hand. I’ve tried it numerous ways and nothing works. Ultimately I kind of come up from behind it and grab it, which is not preferred as it fights hard and take much longer to shut off.
Has anyone else tried hand landing/catching on the new firmware yet? Any ideas? I didn’t check, but will in a minute if it’s now possible to shut off the bottom sensors. I know you couldn’t do that previously.

 

[vtcats]

Well I partially figured it out. I seems like a timing issue. I guess I wasn’t waiting for it to see my hand entirely.
It may work multiple ways, but hovering it to just about head level, then putting your hand under, it will then raise somewhat, then hold down the stick while not moving your hand and it I’ll land and then shut off.
I think the first issue I had was I was on a moving boat and my hand did not stay under it so it would not come down further and land. I believe if I could have kept my hand stationary (but stationary under the mavic, meaning move counter the boat movement), it would have landed). But too many things were moving and I kept trying to lower the stick. Second time I tried on land and I was again not waiting for it to recognize my hand (meaning move my hand under the sensor, it will go up some, then hold the stick down).
Went out again a little bit ago and made sure to do as described (tried maybe 5 or 6 times). Bring it down to just above head level and let it hover, move my hand below it so it moves up some, then while keeping my hand stationary, hold the stick down and it landed no problem.
I believe all my confusion was caused by all the movement going on while on the boat.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Well I partially figured it out. I seems like a timing issue. I guess I wasn’t waiting for it to see my hand entirely.
It may work multiple ways, but hovering it to just about head level, then putting your hand under, it will then raise somewhat, then hold down the stick while not moving your hand and it I’ll land and then shut off.
I think the first issue I had was I was on a moving boat and my hand did not stay under it so it would not come down further and land. I believe if I could have kept my hand stationary (but stationary under the mavic, meaning move counter the boat movement), it would have landed). But too many things were moving and I kept trying to lower the stick. Second time I tried on land and I was again not waiting for it to recognize my hand (meaning move my hand under the sensor, it will go up some, then hold the stick down).
Went out again a little bit ago and made sure to do as described (tried maybe 5 or 6 times). Bring it down to just above head level and let it hover, move my hand below it so it moves up some, then while keeping my hand stationary, hold the stick down and it landed no problem.
I believe all my confusion was caused by all the movement going on while on the boat.

If your on the boat you my might consider getting the Lunar Landing Pad to make hand catching really easy and safe.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Land on the boat.

 

[vtcats]

If your on the boat you my might consider getting the Lunar Landing Pad to make hand catching really easy and safe.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Land on the boat.
View attachment 150192

Maybe, but my issue was the movement in relation to the Mavic. Whether it’s my hand or the pad, if it’s moving up and down while on the boat it keeps the unit from landing easily. At least that’s what I learned today.

 

[chong67]

Sometimes the landing works on my hand, most of the time it doesn't. I am on the ground.

How to be consistent?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Maybe, but my issue was the movement in relation to the Mavic. Whether it’s my hand or the pad, if it’s moving up and down while on the boat it keeps the unit from landing easily. At least that’s what I learned today.

The landing Pad only has to be under the drone for a few seconds before it lands as you can see in the video , its instant recognition , so its a makes life on a boat really easy. The alternative is you slip and the drone falls in the water and its hard to find .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

 

[vtcats]

Sometimes the landing works on my hand, most of the time it doesn't. I am on the ground.

How to be consistent?

Not sure what to tell you other than what I wrote above after experimenting on the ground. I was able to get it to land 5 or 6 straight times without issue and I’m pretty rue that’s how I had been doing it as well before I had an issue on a moving boat (going up and down but also not stationary in the water as it was drifting).
I bring it down, let it hover about just above head level. Let up on the stick, put my hand underneath it’s few feet so it recognizes it (by moving up slightly), then hold the stick down. It lands every time. There is a YouTube video with the Mavic 3 showing this I believe if you need to see a visual.

But I also would think Phantomrains comment about his hand held landing pad could be be helpful when on a boat in thats it’s much larger an area for the drone to see allowing you to bring it down a little easier even if moving. The hand is much smaller most likely making it harder to see while moving.

 

[JimSteadman]

Well I partially figured it out. I seems like a timing issue. I guess I wasn’t waiting for it to see my hand entirely.
It may work multiple ways, but hovering it to just about head level, then putting your hand under, it will then raise somewhat, then hold down the stick while not moving your hand and it I’ll land and then shut off.
I think the first issue I had was I was on a moving boat and my hand did not stay under it so it would not come down further and land. I believe if I could have kept my hand stationary (but stationary under the mavic, meaning move counter the boat movement), it would have landed). But too many things were moving and I kept trying to lower the stick. Second time I tried on land and I was again not waiting for it to recognize my hand (meaning move my hand under the sensor, it will go up some, then hold the stick down).
Went out again a little bit ago and made sure to do as described (tried maybe 5 or 6 times). Bring it down to just above head level and let it hover, move my hand below it so it moves up some, then while keeping my hand stationary, hold the stick down and it landed no problem.
I believe all my confusion was caused by all the movement going on while on the boat.

Just be careful if it is windy and the drone is fighting the wind. It might fight you too.

 

[fly4fun]

It really helps to turn OFF the sensors before you hand catch it.

 

[Tim3459575]

Has anyone done this yet? I have always done this with all my take offs and more importantly landing (most of the time where I use it there is never a good spot to land). I have been doing it with the Mavic 3 since I purchased a few months ago. The way I was doing it was lower the Mavic till it sees my hand (and it stops), then lower the stick again and it descends into my hand and it shuts off while holding the left stick down. With the new firmware it will lower till it sees my hand, it then it will NOT Lower again into my hand. I’ve tried it numerous ways and nothing works. Ultimately I kind of come up from behind it and grab it, which is not preferred as it fights hard and take much longer to shut off.
Has anyone else tried hand landing/catching on the new firmware yet? Any ideas? I didn’t check, but will in a minute if it’s now possible to shut off the bottom sensors. I know you couldn’t do that previously.

Hi, I’ve tried to turn off

 

[Tim3459575]

Hi, I’ve tried to turn off the downward sensors and have not yet found a way. The methods I’ve tried include, turning off obstacle avoidance, using sport mode and taping over them. With all three methods they are still operation. With masking tape, the sensors can see right through the tape.

I currently use a catch handle since I found the M3 too risky to hand catch. This has risks of it’s own due to the sensors detecting the handle (see my recent post). The props come very close to the drone body which makes it very easy to clip your fingers when grabbing it. When this happened to me, the drone instantly whipped around my hand shredding 3 props in the process before crashing to the deck of my boat. Fortunately I was wearing a rubber glove and suffered no injury. The camera gimbal came out of it’s mount in the process.

Hopefully DJI will provide us with a way to turn off those sensors, as was possible with the M2. That would greatly reduce the risk of hand catching.

 

[gruszy]

I've noticed in the last week it feels like I have to keep my hand a lot steadier for a little longer to get it to land. Prior to the update I felt like holding my hand out for 1-2 seconds was enough for the drone to recognize a landing spot and the drone would come down. Now it seems to require my hand be in the perfect position for 3-5 seconds, and if I move too much the sensors cause it to abort landing.

I could see how being on a boat would be tougher with the movement of the water.

 

[vtcats]

I've noticed in the last week it feels like I have to keep my hand a lot steadier for a little longer to get it to land. Prior to the update I felt like holding my hand out for 1-2 seconds was enough for the drone to recognize a landing spot and the drone would come down. Now it seems to require my hand be in the perfect position for 3-5 seconds, and if I move too much the sensors cause it to abort landing.

I could see how being on a boat would be tougher with the movement of the water.

Interesting. I’m on 700 still as I updated before vacation and just got back. Hand catching is important to me and now that I’m back I’ll spend some more time experimenting. Right now, I believe it’s just about 1-2 seconds still with 700. I assume you are on 800?
Also, are we still able to go back and forth between 700-800 via asssitant? If not, I may stay on 700 for awhile assuming you are not eventually forced to update

 

[gruszy]

Interesting. I’m on 700 still as I updated before vacation and just got back. Hand catching is important to me and now that I’m back I’ll spend some more time experimenting. Right now, I believe it’s just about 1-2 seconds still with 700. I assume you are on 800?
Also, are we still able to go back and forth between 700-800 via asssitant? If not, I may stay on 700 for awhile assuming you are not eventually forced to update

I was on 700, just went to 800 this morning, so don't think that is the difference. But I will say I haven't done any hard testing of this, it just felt like these last 2 weeks it's taken a bit longer for the drone to recognize my hand and land. Could be my impatience, unsteady hand or even just some extra wind factoring in. I still seem to get the catch on the first try 75%+ of the time.

 

[vtcats]

Same here. But I haven’t tried turning of the sensors yet (yes, I know it doesn’t turn off the down facing, but I do occasionally get the unit either sensing me from the side or a tree or obstacle behind me).
Really wish they would just add the option to turn the bottom sensors off.

 

[redserv]

Same here. But I haven’t tried turning of the sensors yet (yes, I know it doesn’t turn off the down facing, but I do occasionally get the unit either sensing me from the side or a tree or obstacle behind me).
Really wish they would just add the option to turn the bottom sensors off.

Yup I am hoping it comes in another firmware update

 

[vtcats]

I did test a few more times on a boat (an rigid inflatable that does move) and found turning the sensors off really helps. While it’s not the downward sensors, for some reason it seems like it was the others that were hindering me more than even the downward sensors. I’ll keep experimenting…..I’m still on 700 by the way. Not sure if 800 makes a diff.

 

[TrabSeyn]

No trouble hand catching 1.6.8 and early 2022 firmware. Now with 1.6.9 and updated firmware the M2A will rise when I move my hand under the drone. It's playing keep away despite control input to decease altitude. Also getting alerts to bind the aircraft when it is bound in Device Settings. After half a dozen restarts it is finally updating the home point and finding satellites again. Obstacle avoidance resets to brake after a restarting phone/remote/drone. Very annoying. Seems like a downgrade in my experience and really makes 3rd party apps shine by comparison.