Hovering question....... please dont laugh

[Prmath]

I’m sitting on the fantail of a cruiseship which is underway....... aprox 20mph
I launch and hover my drone at ....... say 50 feet.
Will the drone be left hovering in place as the cruiseship moves away OR will it stay in place ......... hovering over me and the fantail

 

[FredericEP]

Outside, the hovering position is based on GPS input, so it will stay in place as the ship moves avay.

 

[Prmath]

Outside, the hovering position is based on GPS input, so it will stay in place as the ship moves avay.

Oh sheet........ then I would need to catch the ship to retrieve my drone now THAT would be awsome video........ for sure

 

[Starz]

Many cruise ships don’t allow what you’re describing. Might want to check with them just in case.

 

[Prmath]

Many cruise ships don’t allow what you’re describing. Might want to check with them just in case.

Wouldn’t dare risk losing my M2P........ cost too much

 

[Ken K]

Not something I would try but if the pilot selected himself, or some nearby object as a focus, would Active Track essentially keep the bird in a hover relative to the ship?

 

[rangemaster728]

Set dynamic home point to the remote... of course you’d have to have your phone attached with the GPS running. The RTH command should cause the drone to come back and attempt to land where the remote is, or at least near it.

Nice theoretical question, but no cruise line I know allows drone flights from the ship.

 

[Bwoody321]

Unless it was a private cruise ship

 

[gerrymad]

OK, now I'm curious about the opposite end of the ship. Since the drone will stay stationery based on GPS, what will happen if you take off from the front of the ship? I assume the drone will stay still, but will the sensors do anything to try to prevent the superstructure of the ship from running into it?

 

[Bwoody321]

OK, now I'm curious about the opposite end of the ship. Since the drone will stay stationery based on GPS, what will happen if you take off from the front of the ship? I assume the drone will stay still, but will the sensors do anything to try to prevent the superstructure of the ship from running into it?

Yeah if you put it in active track it would I’m guessing, but only if it could move quickly enough

 

[Starz]

When you find that out, let us know how that went. Still trying to figure out whether you will retain possession of your ac after the crew sees this going on?

 

[JDawg]

When you find that out, let us know how that went. Still trying to figure out whether you will retain possession of your ac after the crew sees this going on?

I thought this was a hypothetical but maybe not.

 

[gerrymad]

Yeah if you put it in active track it would I’m guessing, but only if it could move quickly enough

That would be tracking, but I'm kind of wondering more about the obstacle avoidance aspect. Would the drone actively avoid an object coming at it at 20 mph? I'm also now wondering about landing. How would the drone handle landing at 20 mph. It would be leaning forward to keep it's speed up, but it would be approaching the ground which it would calculate to be moving past it at 20 mph. Assuming it would actually touch down with a 20mph airspeed what would happen when it transitioned from flying to the ground since the blades are spinning quite fast to keep the forward speed.

 

[Starz]

I thought this was a hypothetical but maybe not.

Beginning to wonder myself.

 

[DanMan32]

VPS might let it track the cruise ship deck in place of GPS.
If it wasn't for VPS, it would slip to the back of the ship at 20mph based on GPS unless you countered with forward thrust.

 

[Mossiback]

One guy actually posted a video on YT where he launched his Phantom from a cruse ship and lost it because it couldn't keep up. If you managed to launch and fly without a crew member noticing, and could keep up with the ship, landing on a moving ship would be difficult. But, of course, this is only hypothetical.

 

[Mossiback]

I’m sitting on the fantail of a cruiseship which is underway....... aprox 20mph
I launch and hover my drone at ....... say 50 feet.
Will the drone be left hovering in place as the cruiseship moves away OR will it stay in place ......... hovering over me and the fantail

To answer your question, it would maintain it's GPS location while the ship moves away from it. To get it back you would have to fly faster than the ship. It wouldn't take much of a headwind to lose it.

 

[TR Ganey]

I would think you would want to turn the bottom sensors off and hand catch it. Actually, I don't think you would want to try this at all. Sounds like a good way to loose a drone. jes my .o2

 

[WithTheBirds]

As has been said the Mavic will not know it was launched from a moving vessel- it will happily hover in position. I think most cruise ships cruise at 20 knots or faster so your going to want to have your wits about you. Hand catch will be your only option- probably hang launch also if you don’t want to add atti flying with compass issues to the mix.

 

[STUFF2C]

Maybe just throw it over the side and be done with it. Don't forget to video that though.