Hand Catching

[Blucenturion]

I will go to the river where the shoreline is rocky, natch. I think hand catching as well as launching will be helpful. There was something, someplace, that mentioned turning off a sensor to facilitate the catching. What was that, please?

 

[WolfgangStiller]

Some people like to disable the sensors but this means clicking around on the menus and possibly forgetting to reenable the sensors. What I (and many others do) is to hover the Mavic at head to shoulder height with camera facing you. If you grab from the front and slightly below (just past the camera) it is easy to hand catch. (I use my other my other hand to pull the throttle all the way down so the motors shut off after getting a good hold).

 

[Blucenturion]

Thanks! Just behind the front, bottom camera then?

 

[Aaron]

I just tried hand catching today for the first time ,the method I tried was to have the craft hover at about 6 feet then Engage The Auto land sequence and as it starts to come down you gently grab it from beneath and behind hold on firmly and pull down with the left stick until the motors shut off.( the motors seem to run at full power for a few seconds while you hold on to it, so just hold on firmly until the motors stop with the left stick held down the whole time) seemed to work pretty well.

 

[Blucenturion]

Gotcha. I noticed the increased revs today for the first time. It alarmed me, needless to say!

 

[Aaron]

I have seen a few videos posted on YouTube with people that have propeller marks across their face and nose arms hands from this not going so well so be careful

 

[Glen e]

I feel real confident catching my phantom, but not the mavic.

 

[BD0G]

Quick way to disable sensors (forward and bottom) use the Sport Mode switch on the right side of the remote. Just remember that stick movements are accentuated and "faster" with Sport mode on so I would not move laterally , but just downwards after clicking into Sport Mode.

Also, remember that the rear props are actually closer to the bottom of the mavics body. So always catch towards the front. I missed that point on a recent hand catch and "tipped" my right ring finger. Stung for a short while and produced a blood blister about the size of a pencil eraser. Shook it off and was really no biggie.

 

[Aaron]

Yeah I got a phantom 3 as well a lot easier grabbing the landing gear then on the mavic for sure, it's a little dicey but if doable with a little practice I believe

 

[MavicFrank]

I feel real confident catching my phantom, but not the mavic.

I agree, the low profile of the Mavic gives me pause. I am thinking of fabricating a landing pad that can be held in my right hand while I land the drone with my left. Something like a 3 x 3 sheet of 1/4" plywood with a handle screwed in the center. Hover at about 6', move the platform under, then land. This seems much safer than hand catching. Thoughts?

 

[Aaron]

I don't think sports mode actually turns off the downward vision positioning sensors just the forward facing collision avoidance sensors I tried hand catching in sports mode and it tried to climb away from my hand when I got close to it so I found that engaging Auto Landing and as it starts to descend then you grab it. I think it thinks your hand is just the ground so it doesn't try to fly away from you.

 

[BD0G]

I agree, the low profile of the Mavic gives me pause. I am thinking of fabricating a landing pad that can be held in my right hand while I land the drone with my left. Something like a 3 x 3 sheet of 1/4" plywood with a handle screwed in the center. Hover at about 6', move the platform under, then land. This seems much safer than hand catching. Thoughts?

Safer , perhaps. Are you going to be holding the 3 x 3 board parallel to the Mavic Pro 's landing legs and going to be able to hold it in that position for 60 seconds without the weight causing fatigue?

Are you going to be able to pack that out to your location on every flight and pack it back out?

I fly in remote locations that sometimes require a hike into snow and up hills. Carrying what you suggest would be a bit much for my carry packs and bags.

 

[BD0G]

I don't think sports mode actually turns off the downward vision positioning sensors just the forward facing collision avoidance sensors I tried hand catching in sports mode and it tried to climb away from my hand when I got close to it so I found that engaging Auto Landing and as it starts to descend then you grab it. I think it thinks your hand is just the ground so it doesn't try to fly away from you.

Now that I think about it you are probably right.

I hand catch all the time and just get a really firm hold as it tries to gain altitude.

 

[Aaron]

Yeah I agree the whole point of this mavic Is it supposed to be portable, I don't think a landing pad or portable Landing Zone would work well for me either. I think eventually I'm just going to have to get confident hand catching and hand launching.
Although on the other hand I don't know if I want to be the guy with propeller marks on my face lol.

 

[Chickenskat]

Rather than auto land, in another thread I read just manually throttle down after placing your hand underneath it.


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[Aaron]

I tried that method today and when your hand gets close underneath it it senses your hand and tries to gain altitude if you engage auto-landing as it starts to descend then you can put your hand underneath and it will not try to gain altitude.

 

[Chickenskat]

Yeah I haven't tried it yet. I did try to just grab it out of a hover. It scared the heck out of me.


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[MavicFrank]

Safer , perhaps. Are you going to be holding the 3 x 3 board parallel to the Mavic Pro 's landing legs and going to be able to hold it in that position for 60 seconds without the weight causing fatigue?

Are you going to be able to pack that out to your location on every flight and pack it back out?

I fly in remote locations that sometimes require a hike into snow and up hills. Carrying what you suggest would be a bit much for my carry packs and bags.

Yeah, I guess if you are hiking up the side of Mt. Crumpit this is not the solution for you. IMO, this would be much more stable than an out stretched hand.

 

[rossmoney]

Yeah I've heard that if you hold your hand under it for a moment, your hand becomes the ground, then when it "auto lands" it auto lands into your hand.

 

[Robert Mitchell]

I simply turn off my downward vision sensor, very easy to do just before landing. Then there is no fighting a bucking Mavic. If you forget to turn it back on, the app will warn you that it is disabled, before your next flight.