Take off from moving platform

KiloMeater · May 23, 2020

Yesterday we took a calm river cruise on a small platform you can drive , have a snack and enjoy the quietness .
Of course I had the mini with me and I would fly it to get some family shots.
I was prepared for some of the difficulties like the invalid home point . I was also cautious about,the,highly reflective terrain and I did not take the drone too low as I would like for some closeups .
Everything went well with these limitations in mind.

What I was not ready for were the “IMU needs calibration “ messages before take off... I think the slowly moving platform was giving MM a very hard time to feel confident enough to take off .
I was getting this message shortly but then it would go away ..I stopped the boat and tried to calm it as much as possible, then at some point it locked all aspects and I triggered lift off.
Hand catch landing was not a problem

I wonder if next time I should lift off from the dock , but no second battery use then...have you tried lift off from a moving platform? How did it behave?

All in all a bit risky but I enjoy the family footage. I bought the MM for some options like this and it delivered. Well done MM.

Deleted member 103366 · May 23, 2020

I haven't taken off from a moving platform but I see "IMU calibration needed" messages quite frequently if I have been moving the powered-up but not flying MM about in my hand etc. They clear once the drone is still.
That said, could you switch it on whilst it is sat on the palm of your hand and compensate for the boat movement by moving your hand? Like a hovering bird keeping its head still.

BokiFly · May 23, 2020

How low can Mavic Mini safely fly above water?

ff22 · May 23, 2020

KiloMeater said:
Yesterday we took a calm river cruise on a small platform you can drive , have a snack and enjoy the quietness .
Of course I had the mini with me and I would fly it to get some family shots.
I was prepared for some of the difficulties like the invalid home point . I was also cautious about,the,highly reflective terrain and I did not take the drone too low as I would like for some closeups .
Everything went well with these limitations in mind.

What I was not ready for were the “IMU needs calibration “ messages before take off... I think the slowly moving platform was giving MM a very hard time to feel confident enough to take off .
I was getting this message shortly but then it would go away ..I stopped the boat and tried to calm it as much as possible, then at some point it locked all aspects and I triggered lift off.
Hand catch landing was not a problem

I wonder if next time I should lift off from the dock , but no second battery use then...have you tried lift off from a moving platform? How did it behave?

All in all a bit risky but I enjoy the family footage. I bought the MM for some options like this and it delivered. Well done MM.

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Nice job. There have been threads in the Mavic 2 forums on taking off/landing on boats. It is not entirely easy is what I recall, so you did a good job.

I really like the potted palm tree - sets the mood (g)