Hand take offs and hand landing

[giebe]

Hello,
I bought a 75cm wide landing pod for my drone just to find out it is too small. I bought 110cm instead and that one was way better.. but hard to transport:
7th min of this video:

After I published this video someone in comments has suggested me to learn hand take offs and hand landing what I did.
I even stopped carrying any landing pads with myself. After a few days of hand based take offs and hand landings and I realised that sometimes gimbal didn’t behave properly.. it turns in a different direction away from me.
I have contacted the Dji support then and asked to tell me what do they think about hand landing or hand take off for Mavic 2 drones and I was told that
the Mavic 2 Pro drone hasn’t been designed for any hand based take offs and any hand landing and it hasn’t been tested for this purpose.
It has no sensors which tells the drone that the landing actually happened and they don’t recommend any hand take offs and hand landing if they are not really necessary.

In result I ordered a new landing pod .. the one which folds like a map so desn't take as much space as the rounded one.. but its still 50cm wide. Finally I realised that it would be good to know what is the truth behind that hand landing and hand take offs?
I asked for official statement and more data and this is everything I have got:

'...unfortunately there's no information and testing from our end for the hand take-off and landing. As there would be no information it is not recommended'

Can anyone who has more experience and knowledge to myself elaborate on hand landing and hand take off topic? Can I damage the drone this way somehow if the take off or landing was correct without hitting anything, dropping down, cutting fingers etc?
If I hand land the drone is it ok to move 50m without turning it off and take off from hand again while gimbal tries to stabilise itself? Can I do any harm to the drone this way?
Asking About Mavic 2 Pro

Thanks in an advance.
G.

 

[JS1600]

Hello,
I bought a 75cm wide landing pod for my drone just to find out it is too small. I bought 110cm instead and that one was way better.. but hard to transport:
7th min of this video:

After I published this video someone in comments has suggested me to learn hand take offs and hand landing what I did.
I even stopped carrying any landing pads with myself. After a few days of hand based take offs and hand landings and I realised that sometimes gimbal didn’t behave properly.. it turns in a different direction away from me.
I have contacted the Dji support then and asked to tell me what do they think about hand landing or hand take off for Mavic 2 drones and I was told that
the Mavic 2 Pro drone hasn’t been designed for any hand based take offs and any hand landing and it hasn’t been tested for this purpose.
It has no sensors which tells the drone that the landing actually happened and they don’t recommend any hand take offs and hand landing if they are not really necessary.

In result I ordered a new landing pod .. the one which folds like a map so desn't take as much space as the rounded one.. but its still 50cm wide. Finally I realised that it would be good to know what is the truth behind that hand landing and hand take offs?
I asked for official statement and more data and this is everything I have got:

'...unfortunately there's no information and testing from our end for the hand take-off and landing. As there would be no information it is not recommended'

Can anyone who has more experience and knowledge to myself elaborate on hand landing and hand take off topic? Can I damage the drone this way somehow if the take off or landing was correct without hitting anything, dropping down, cutting fingers etc?
If I hand land the drone is it ok to move 50m without turning it off and take off from hand again while gimbal tries to stabilise itself? Can I do any harm to the drone this way?
Asking About Mavic 2 Pro

Thanks in an advance.
G.

I like this video on how to Hand catch and launch the Mavic 2 Pro, However I have not tried it yet.

 

[Starz]

Brave. Not for me. I’ll catch a phantom series all day, but not the mp series.
Would be interesting to know how many have damaged their hands and or their hardware.

 

[Texas Mavic]

Brave. Not for me. I’ll catch a phantom series all day, but not the mp series.
Would be interesting to know how many have damaged their hands and or their hardware.

It’s not as scary or difficult as you think. It will just hover, about head height, reach up at the belly and grab. Hit down on left stick. Motors stop. After the first try, you’ll get the hang of it quickly.

 

[jason38]

Yep, I do land/take off from my hand anytime, since two years now, and I never had any injury or damaged my mavic...
It can have lot advantages to make it land and take off this way:
-no dust on camera or inside the drone
-take off and land in some very hard areas
-avoid any damage to the camera lens due to little rocks or anything else which can scratch the lens surface...

I only respect carefully a few rules like always keep the drone above my head, far from eyes and head , un case of prop failure, always grab it quietely from under with 3 fingers , and always hold it on the middle of iys body.
The most important/dangerous is not to grab it, but to be sure that YOU are in a good position to do it safely. Always make sure that you are stable, that nobody will come and disturb you during the take off/landing process.
To take off, I grab the drone correctly, then put the controler on the ground, keep the drone above my head and hit the "take off" button.
To land, make the drone come about 1 meter above tour head, at a distance of a arm from you.
Then make it come down slowly , putting your hand under the drone.
Some times it will just land directly in your hand (dont let it go down IN your hand, but grab it with your fingers around the sd card case)
Some times it will detect your hand and it'll want to go up , let it do, it will come down again , like it usually does when it lands on ground

Hope it will help you!

 

[OnTheRopes]

It’s not as scary or difficult as you think. It will just hover, about head height, reach up at the belly and grab. Hit down on left stick. Motors stop. After the first try, you’ll get the hang of it quickly.

If your going to reach up and grab, probably better to turn off the downward facing sensors? I hand launch and catch mine a few times now and have to drive it down into my open hand, not as hard as it sounds.

 

[giebe]

re: Hope it will help you!
Thanks, it helps a lot.
Btw. during my recent landing/takeoff practice I have noticed one thing which might help with the Mavic 2. The bottom sensor is located at the back of the drone. Also back propellers are located lower. It makes grabbing a drone just behind the gimbal way easier to grabbing it when the drone faces back. So when you put your hand below the drone just behind the gimbal it doesnt pull up as it cant see your hand.

I was planning to use landing pads to avoid dust you have mentioned.

My concern was born after I noticed that gimbal turned side way when I did a hand landing a few times. This is decided to ask DJI directly. Shame they dont have any data regarding to hand landing. Take off seems to be piece of cake compared to the hand landing thou

Also was wandering am I really not playing with drone settings and its own calibration? I believe it knows it is 1 meter above the ground when it stops engines after hand landing. It has no idea what happened. Was wandering is it not going to put a drone into some kind of confusion and one day it will just shut down engines above the ground or something thinking that it is the new ground level.
Two years of you experience gives me the hope it wont but still not convinced is it safe for a drone
Thanks again.
G.

 

[ZX14-R]

I like my fingers and have become very attached to them over the years.

 

[brettbrandon]

I hand take off and land all the time. For landing leave it hovering, and reach under at a 45 degree angle from the rear, I keep my sensors turned off, grab it firmly, full throttle down for a few moments and done. As long as you have a steady hover there shouldnt be much to worry about. Just keep your eye on the drone...

I even started hand catching my little whoop...

 

[parkgt]

I have never found any need to turn the sensors off. Over 300 flights with probably 70% hand TO and landing.

People should do what they are comfortable with and capable of doing safely. Driving to the areas I fly is probably more dangerous than hand landing.

 

[Latawiec]

I do hand launching and hand landing all the time my M2, and I was my Mavic Air the whole previous year. Even my 6 year old son is capable of doing that with both of the drones.

 

[Kris.]

Same here - 100% hand launches and landings with my Air and now with M2P.
NB! I always land it on may palm, I don't grab it! So no stuggling from the drone. All sensors are working as they are suppose to work. The poor thing doesn't have any idea, where it landed - on the ground or on my hand .
So I don't see why it would make any harm to it. It's much more risky to land it on ground without launch pad.

 

[Dan C]

If I hand land the drone is it ok to move 50m without turning it off and take off from hand again while gimbal tries to stabilise itself? Can I do any harm to the drone this way?
Asking About Mavic 2 Pro

I have an Air, but bear with me. I often catch it in a way that doesn’t activate the bottom sensors. Now, it will “land” (shut off the motors) if I maintain downward command.

But I sometimes simply grab it and flip it over. Also instantly shuts off the motors, and I’m pretty sure yours will do the same.

If you leave it running, however, there’s two downsides I see.

First is that I’d guess it won’t update its home point when you lift up again. Why would it? It never landed.

Second, I’d expect it to immediately try to maintain its GPS position; it’ll think the wind is making it drift. You can easily overpower that, of course, but guess what happens when you let go.

Suggest you grab it from the side, and flip it over. Motors off, and then it will properly “launch” from the new location.

 

[MalinH]

I bought a landing pad, but have not use it anymore after having looked through this Youtube video:

I always take off and land in my hand nowdays. I got inspired to doing so after having used my drone in a Swedish national park. The regulations for the national park states "it is not allowed to start or land an aircraft within the national park". I checked with the national park authorities and learned that a drone is regarded as an aircraft, and I am not allowed to start or land on the ground. "But if you can do it in your hand it's ok" they told me. So that's when I learned to start and land in my hand, and have continued doing this since then.

 

[STKNRUD]

In watching the demo video, it brings to mind the kid patting the coiled Cobra on the head...just before it bits and kills him.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I hand land/catch with my M2P all the time. I do not turn off the VPS.

However, has anyone figured out how to hand launch with a controller that has a big tablet (with hood) on it? All of the videos I see involve someone using a controller where they can reach the DJI GO 4 'take off' icon with their thumb, and there's just no way to do it with a larger tablet as a monitor (even without the hood).

As far as I know. Please advise if you know how.

Thanks, Chris

 

[Dan C]

I have a large hard-case for my gear. It's big enough for my MA to easily sit on, large and heavy enough to display grass (within reason), and thick enough to raise the drone far enough away from any dirt/sand.

When using a tablet, I auto-launch from the case.

Hand catching is still the same, of course. Grab it and hold while applying down-stick, or grab it and flip causing instant motor shutoff. The video in #14 over complicates things, IMO. He's approaching from behind-ish. Approach from the front quarter, target the mid section to grab (avoiding the camera gimbal in the front, OR the landing sensors in the back), and you shouldn't have it jumping away from you. And if it does, just maintain down-stick and it'll return to your hand. Then just grab and be done with it; no need to d**k around with it.

 

[Rico75]

I take off from hand and land to hand all the time with my M2P. No problems so far.

 

[gnirtS]

I used to have a landing pad but stopped using it. Hand launch/catch is far easier.

The mavic is so low to the ground even long grass can interfere with the gimbals and props. And a slightly sloping surface, sand, dust, water, ducting, wiring,metal pipes and everything else. Unless its a very clean surface i wont fly from it now.

Hand take off i hold it thumb and finger nice and high above my head with one hand and with the other hand swipe the auto takeoff button. Loosen grip when you feel it start to support itself. You can CSC and left stick up otherwise.

For recovery i'll *never* let it come down and land on my palm. The last thing i want is a drone descending or moving towards me not under direct, immediate control. This is especially true if its gusty or on a moving surface like a boat.
So for recovery i have it hovering slightly above head height nice and stable. I approach from the side then reach under it, grab underneath and on the side using a thumb and finger. Once gripped the other hand is left stick down to kill the motors.
If you have landing protection off it wont try to fight you or rev the motors either.

As for risk of drone damage, hand methods i suspect are better for it because its not kicking up dust, water,small rocks or hitting anything with the props. Also on congested area like boats with rigging, wires and masts its a lot easier to hover and grab than to navigate an assault course with potential magnetic interference and land it on the deck.

 

[drakkor]

It’s not as scary or difficult as you think. It will just hover, about head height, reach up at the belly and grab. Hit down on left stick. Motors stop. After the first try, you’ll get the hang of it quickly.

That's how I catch mine as well. Very handy when taking off from a boat.