Hi everyone,
I regularly fly from boats for work. Landing on a deck in those conditions is very difficult (I've even crashed an old Phantom 3 while trying to land on a helicopter pad) and so hand-catching is essential. I have seen the catch handles but I haven't been particularly impressed because: 1) they don't seem particularly sturdy, 2) they make landing on ground impossible, 3) they increase the weight above the 250g limit, and 4) they probably affect performance and battery life. Landing on an outstretched hand is also difficult when the boat rocks and although the propellers don't appear to cause much damage, we generally work in remote conditions where any injury is bad, and so I don't love the idea of someone sticking their fingers upwards to catch the drone. Here is an ugly but workable solution:
Pipe cleaners wrapped all the way around the body towards the aft part, and sticking down to form a handle (note the drone is upside-down in the photo). I was going to use a stiffer wire, but I had the pipe-cleaners handy, and they work well. The connection to the drone is solid, they don't add much weight, they can be tucked away when not used without having to remove them, and even when down, the drone can land normally and just pushes them out of the way. You can keep the handle small enough that it has no chance of getting fouled in the props and it still provides a little grip to hold on to. The only downside that I've seen is that while holding the handle it is difficult to turn off the props, if the downward vision sensors are enabled - for boat launches it is probably best to disable the downward sensors with tape anyways. Here are some tips for how I launch and land from a boat (that apply to drones in general) in case this is helpful for anyone:
Launch:
1) Have a second person hold the drone above their head at the front or back of the boat, with the drone facing outwards. Above the head is critical so that the drone doesn't drift back into their face.
2) Let the drone pull out of their hands and immediately go up and forwards as fast as you can, to avoid boat drift or hitting any of the antennas, towers, etc.
Recovery:
1) Fly the drone in close, staying above the tallest parts of the boat, to avoid antennas, towers, masts. Give yourself plenty of battery life to do this (even 10 minutes). Edit: update the home point now.
2) Turn the drone so that the front is facing away from you and stop looking at the screen. Now your controller movements mimic the drone's movements (i.e. right is right, left is left, forwards is forward, backward is backward).
3) Have your second person stand at a high point that is clear from obstructions with their hands over their heads. Now you can steer the drone in slowly, keeping it above their heads. They have to be ready to duck if the boat bobs up at a bad time. Keeping the drone above their head allows them to be out of the way of the props in case of a sudden shift in the boat.
Finally, disabling Smart RTH, setting it to hover if the signal is lost, and constantly updating the home point are important. I like having a drone spotter to keep VLOS if I'm watching the screen.
In general, I'm a big fan of PPE: gloves, mesh visor, ear coverings. For big drones this is essential, but even with a small, plastic-propped drone the props can do some major damage to eyes ears and noses - and so I like to have the second person wearing a visor a hat and gloves.
We've used similar protocols for large heavy drones with carbon fiber props and phantoms and I've only lost one drone to the water (a P4, when I wasn't following this protocol). Hopefully this janky-looking handle works well and this protocol is useful for someone out there.
I regularly fly from boats for work. Landing on a deck in those conditions is very difficult (I've even crashed an old Phantom 3 while trying to land on a helicopter pad) and so hand-catching is essential. I have seen the catch handles but I haven't been particularly impressed because: 1) they don't seem particularly sturdy, 2) they make landing on ground impossible, 3) they increase the weight above the 250g limit, and 4) they probably affect performance and battery life. Landing on an outstretched hand is also difficult when the boat rocks and although the propellers don't appear to cause much damage, we generally work in remote conditions where any injury is bad, and so I don't love the idea of someone sticking their fingers upwards to catch the drone. Here is an ugly but workable solution:
Pipe cleaners wrapped all the way around the body towards the aft part, and sticking down to form a handle (note the drone is upside-down in the photo). I was going to use a stiffer wire, but I had the pipe-cleaners handy, and they work well. The connection to the drone is solid, they don't add much weight, they can be tucked away when not used without having to remove them, and even when down, the drone can land normally and just pushes them out of the way. You can keep the handle small enough that it has no chance of getting fouled in the props and it still provides a little grip to hold on to. The only downside that I've seen is that while holding the handle it is difficult to turn off the props, if the downward vision sensors are enabled - for boat launches it is probably best to disable the downward sensors with tape anyways. Here are some tips for how I launch and land from a boat (that apply to drones in general) in case this is helpful for anyone:
Launch:
1) Have a second person hold the drone above their head at the front or back of the boat, with the drone facing outwards. Above the head is critical so that the drone doesn't drift back into their face.
2) Let the drone pull out of their hands and immediately go up and forwards as fast as you can, to avoid boat drift or hitting any of the antennas, towers, etc.
Recovery:
1) Fly the drone in close, staying above the tallest parts of the boat, to avoid antennas, towers, masts. Give yourself plenty of battery life to do this (even 10 minutes). Edit: update the home point now.
2) Turn the drone so that the front is facing away from you and stop looking at the screen. Now your controller movements mimic the drone's movements (i.e. right is right, left is left, forwards is forward, backward is backward).
3) Have your second person stand at a high point that is clear from obstructions with their hands over their heads. Now you can steer the drone in slowly, keeping it above their heads. They have to be ready to duck if the boat bobs up at a bad time. Keeping the drone above their head allows them to be out of the way of the props in case of a sudden shift in the boat.
Finally, disabling Smart RTH, setting it to hover if the signal is lost, and constantly updating the home point are important. I like having a drone spotter to keep VLOS if I'm watching the screen.
In general, I'm a big fan of PPE: gloves, mesh visor, ear coverings. For big drones this is essential, but even with a small, plastic-propped drone the props can do some major damage to eyes ears and noses - and so I like to have the second person wearing a visor a hat and gloves.
We've used similar protocols for large heavy drones with carbon fiber props and phantoms and I've only lost one drone to the water (a P4, when I wasn't following this protocol). Hopefully this janky-looking handle works well and this protocol is useful for someone out there.
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