Mavic Pro Water Fun

[DejaViewz]

I'll be going on an annual fishing trip soon, and in a quest to gain more confidence flying around water, I decided to try the floats that are found on Ebay.
Here's a little bit of my initial testing.

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[Vadar007]

Did you get any spray onto the camera lens at take-off/landing?

 

[Tridiver]

I do a lot of OTW(over the water) flying. Lost a MPP recently and I am developing a recovery system now, which if it works will be real cool. Very low profile that won't affect flight dynamics. Most of my flying over water doesn't require any landing. I need recovery only. I balked at the ones you got, but after seeing your post, I may just have to get some so I can play around and land on water. They will definitely have a place in all my drone toys bag!! Thanks!! Bolton

 

[Storyline]

They may have a place over fresh water but I would be hesitant to use them in salt water because of all the corrosive spay that must be kicked up.

EDIT: I wonder if DJI would replace the drone under their scheme if it got too corroded to fly or maybe wriggle out saying unsuitable conditions to fly .....

 

[Tridiver]

They may have a place over fresh water but I would be hesitant to use them in salt water because of all the corrosive spay that must be kicked up.

EDIT: I wonder if DJI would replace the drone under their scheme if it got too corroded to fly or maybe wriggle out saying unsuitable conditions to fly .....

How bad is the spray??? Get up to the motors and cam?? If your not shooting, you could fly with the cover on.
I wish I knew more about DJI parameters when it comes to what they will take and not??

 

[Storyline]

I have never used them but just assume that must happen. Salt water and any electronics is never a good mix. Like you, I would love to know more about the DJI replacement policy.

 

[Mike_Flys]

 

[Storyline]

Cracking photo - those floats look like something out of Jack and the Beanstalk

EDIT: Just been on your site and see that you sell those floats. Does the teardrop shape mean that they 'stick' to the water less and make it easier to take off ?

 

[CanadaDrone]

Water spray from the props would be my biggest concern, and it looks like the water would need to be absolutely dead calm for this to be feasible at all. If it was salt water, I wouldn't even attempt it.

Definitely cool though - it would take me a while to trust a water landing. At least this way you don't lose your drone in the event of an emergency landing.

 

[choo choo]

Water spray from the props would be my biggest concern, and it looks like the water would need to be absolutely dead calm for this to be feasible at all. If it was salt water, I wouldn't even attempt it.

Definitely cool though - it would take me a while to trust a water landing. At least this way you don't lose your drone in the event of an emergency landing.

Don’t forget....never attempt to power up your MP rotors on a boat that is very slightly bobbing (pitching) up and down or it will take off to a hover without any input from your controls. If the aircraft is at the pointy end of the boat and it is moving forward (the boat) it will hit the aircraft which will be hovering in the air.
If your MP is at the blunt end of the boat, it will take off and hover, the boat could leave the MP behind, but as it is over water, it will then descend, into the boats wake.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Don’t forget....never attempt to power up your MP rotors on a boat that is very slightly bobbing (pitching) up and down or it will take off to a hover without any input from your controls. If the aircraft is at the pointy end of the boat and it is moving forward (the boat) it will hit the aircraft which will be hovering in the air.
If your MP is at the blunt end of the boat, it will take off and hover, the boat could leave the MP behind, but as it is over water, it will then descend, into the boats wake.

I only do hand launches/lands with my drones - much easier and much safer in my opinion. Also keeps the drones squeaky clean as I am incredibly picky about that sort of thing

 

[Tridiver]

Don’t forget....never attempt to power up your MP rotors on a boat that is very slightly bobbing (pitching) up and down or it will take off to a hover without any input from your controls. If the aircraft is at the pointy end of the boat and it is moving forward (the boat) it will hit the aircraft which will be hovering in the air.
If your MP is at the blunt end of the boat, it will take off and hover, the boat could leave the MP behind, but as it is over water, it will then descend, into the boats wake.

First, it's called the bow and the stern!!! 2nd, you don't know what you're typing about, so if you don't have boat flying experience, don't type about it.

 

[Storyline]

Don’t forget....never attempt to power up your MP rotors on a boat that is very slightly bobbing (pitching) up and down or it will take off to a hover without any input from your controls.
....
.

I have never tried it as I assumed it would not allow me to power up as I thought it needed to be totally still while it calibrates itself. However, assuming I could power up why would it take off on it's own ?

As I say, I have never tried to take off from our boat but want to. A couple of months ago I did try with my Tello on what I thought was a totally windless morning. I got it 6 feet in the air and then the tiniest gust of wind took it and by an amazing bit of luck it hit the boom and dropped down at my feet. The bit it hit was only 6" in diameter and was just at the exact right height and position - 1 in 50 chance probably. I took it as a lucky warning and will never fly the Tello from the boat again. The problem is the time it takes to get it under your control. After it gets in the air it takes 2 or 3 seconds for you to start to respond to it's movements. When you have control you can cope with a light breeze but for those 2 or 3 seconds you are in the lap of the Gods !

 

[Storyline]

I only do hand launches/lands with my drones - much easier and much safer in my opinion. Also keeps the drones squeaky clean as I am incredibly picky about that sort of thing

I always used to hand land my old Phantom Vision but it had those large legs and like you I always like to keep everything clean. I have watched various videos on hand launching/landing the Mavic but despite it being more stable than the Phantom those props always appear too menacing !

To get round the cleanliness issue I always use one of those collapsible round launch pads - an essential accessory imo.

 

[Tridiver]

Hand recovery is an almost must on a boat. Launches can do either way you're comfortable with. If you deck launch, turn off the CA sensors, don't do you any good over water anyway. Launch on the further most point of the boat into the wind. Be prepared to immediately give forward pitch after liftoff to get away from the boat. One reason you don't want CA sensors on and on recovery you don't want it to stop on approach. Or if you forget to or don't want to disable the CA's back it in(if you don't have rear CA's. If you are moving fast recording, don't forget to turn off smart RTH or be ready to cancel it when it wants to go into that with a lot of bat left to get back to take off point. One other way to avoid that is to periodically reset home point during flight. If you have care refresh and are planning on doing a lot of over water flights, check out my Mav water recovery system on you tube I made, not the 'getter back' system. Bolton

 

[Tridiver]

Here's the link

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[Storyline]

Hand recovery is an almost must on a boat. Launches can do either way you're comfortable with. If you deck launch, turn off the CA sensors, don't do you any good over water anyway. Launch on the further most point of the boat into the wind. Be prepared to immediately give forward pitch after liftoff to get away from the boat. One reason you don't want CA sensors on and on recovery you don't want it to stop on approach. Or if you forget to or don't want to disable the CA's back it in(if you don't have rear CA's. If you are moving fast recording, don't forget to turn off smart RTH or be ready to cancel it when it wants to go into that with a lot of bat left to get back to take off point. One other way to avoid that is to periodically reset home point during flight. If you have care refresh and are planning on doing a lot of over water flights, check out my Mav water recovery system on you tube I made, not the 'getter back' system. Bolton

Thanks Bolton

The sensor system on the Mavic has always been a bit of a mystery and I always fly with precision landing turned off as I don't want it to climb to 30' on launch and I hate it taking control of the last 4' on landing. I thought that this turned off the downward cameras but now I am not sure.

When you say CA above I assume you mean Collision Avoidance ? I am also not sure how that works and it is a bit difficult to find out. It also takes time to discover exactly what sensors the Pro has. It seems that there are 4 cameras in addition to the main one and also 2 ultrasonic rangefinders on the bottom. DJI also says it has redundant sensors but I have no idea what or where they are. I am not sure how you do it but it sounds sensible to turn all off.

I am confident I can get into hand launching/landing as there are a couple of ways I have seen on youtube so it is just a question of choosing one and practising in ideal conditions. The one big question mark I have about launching from the boat is the time it takes to get control of the aircraft. A couple of months ago I tried my Tello from the boat. It was a gorgeous morning and I thought there was not a breath of wind. If you do not know, the Tello is a new DJI mini drone that actually flies quite well but is easily blown around as it is so light. In the garden at home I can fly it easily in a light breeze but any gusts overpower it.

So I was confident when I set it up in our cockpit after moving the boom to one side. There was then nothing overhead for 20 feet or so until the back stay crossed over. I took off and a second or so later when it was 6' up a tiny gust of wind came and just took it and by an incredible bit of luck it hit the boom and then dropped at my feet. The boom just happened to be at exactly the right height and position - if the Tello had gone in any other direction it would have been over the side and over water. The lesson I learned is that it takes a second or two for you to take control with the sticks and be able to respond to the movements of the drone. As soon as you take control then it is easy but I would be worried if I tried the Mavic that I would be able to react fast enough in those critical seconds after launch to any problem. Again, after getting control I am confident I could fly around and then land again without issue.

I would only ever attempt any flying from the boat when we were at anchor so at least if it did crash into the water I could recover it and claim under the DJI care refresh cover. I will have a look at your water recovery system which might come in useful when flying over water after launching from the land as I do now. The issue then if I crashed is actually knowing where it was on the seabed. I have bought one of those new very strong neodymium magnets so as long as I know the location I can drop that down from our dinghy and should be able to get it.

I have just watched your video. Have you made one before because I recall seeing another one which used the Water Buoy ? I said at the time that I have one of them but it is old now and I think yours must be a more recent model as I can't remember anything about a light. I don't want to worry you but the old version I have was withdrawn as so many failed to inflate. Maybe things are better now. I have to say the lifting capacity of that little balloon is very impressive as is the speed it went off. The only demo I have seen was submerged for a minute or two before it bobbed to the surface (or maybe that was the Getterback).

Thanks again. I wish I had the ability to do field testing in a swimming pool in the garden. Unfortunately the weather here is just not good enough to make having one worthwhile.

Paul

 

[Cometman]

Here's the link

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That's pretty cool!

 

[Mike_Flys]

Cracking photo - those floats look like something out of Jack and the Beanstalk

EDIT: Just been on your site and see that you sell those floats. Does the teardrop shape mean that they 'stick' to the water less and make it easier to take off ?

The tear drops may make it a bit more stable in the water, how ever the shape is designed that way to make them a stronger and easier to print. They are hollow and printed from Thermoplastic polyurethane which is a flexible material. They also have threads printed in them so they can thread onto the bracket. The Smooth Styrofoam floats have a plastic bolt that goes through a hole in the middle to thread onto the brackets.

 

[Mike_Flys]

Water spray from the props would be my biggest concern, and it looks like the water would need to be absolutely dead calm for this to be feasible at all. If it was salt water, I wouldn't even attempt it.

Definitely cool though - it would take me a while to trust a water landing. At least this way you don't lose your drone in the event of an emergency landing.

I have been flying my Mavic pro on my original prop float kit for nearly 2 years. Hundreds of water landings and never any water spray on the drone from prop wash.
In the several weeks I have been working with my similar but newly designed Mavic 2 float kit on my Mavic 2 I have not had an issue with water spray from the props.

They will handle 6 inch waves. I have actually watched them handle bigger than that from a boat wake. But you are right if you want to land your drone on water calm is better. I have used them for water launching/recovery from my kayak.

What you said about not loosing your drone in an emergency water landing is the whole point. if you run your battery to low and it goes into emergency land mode it can land and float safely on top of the water.

Most people just use them for piece of mind while flying over the water, never intending to land on it.

Even if it flips upside down it will continue to float so you can recover it. Of course it will be wet from being upside down in the water. If it is fresh water you can dry your drone out in a bucket with rice in it sitting in the sun over a couple of days. Your battery will not survive, but your SD card will so you can recover your data.

My Mavic Pro fell into the Dora canal after hitting a small branch an tumbling through a tree. Floated upside down and I recovered it, dried it out and it still flys great today.

I hate to admit it but I crashed my Mavic 2 Pro into Lake Dora, flying fast too close to the water. It hit at about 20 mph which flipped it. It floated upside down for over 40 minutes until I could get a boat to recover it. 2 days later it was flying great again.

Mike