Tight landing space onboard a tall ship

[stevebarnes]

Hi all,

This is the Lady Nelson, which operates from Hobart, Tasmania in Australia. She's having Redding Of the Sails events soon. I need to ascertain whether I can launch and land on her read deck whilst at sail. I'm posting because I want to check if anyone else has done something similar.
As you can see from the pictures, the read stays (ropes) fan around the stern, then there are stays toward the read of the beam (side). There's a gap though, and there's a roof on the cabin.

I am taking a look at her on Thursday, but wanted advice from anyone who's got experience with a moving object and limited space.

I assume I will need to turn obstacle avoidance right down or even off to accomplish this. I have a pretty steady hand, so am confident I can maneuver the drone. I may ask if there's a day sail I can test on first.

Advice?

Thx, Steve

Steve Barnes Media, Web & Workflow Services, Hobart, Australia

MEDIA: Quality videography, Amazing stills photography, exciting drone footage and photography, interviews and voice-overs, quality sound, post-production services and channel-delivery WEB: websites, CRM, Monday.com, databases, web forms WORKFLOW: workflow analysis, business process design and...

stevebarnes.services

 

[slup]

This will always be VERY risky... the chances that you will crash or lose your drone is huge & that cost needs to be compared to what you can gain/earn from the video/pics.

Thing's to consider...

Powering on the drone near magnetic interference = later yaw error on height

Taking off from a moving platform = the drone will maintain position when airborne, so will travel aft relative the boat immediately after take off.

Obstacle detection = if left on, with all obstacles around it will be hard to not get unexpected automated flight directions when leaving the boat & even harder to get it back over the boat for a landing.

VPS sensors = usually not able to turn them off, may prevent the last automated touch down. Hand catching is recommended (& hand launching).

HP = The HP will be fixed but the boat will continue & leave the area

RTH = As the HP isn't where the boat will be located when the drone returns the HP & RTH can't be used.

Loss of control signal = See HP & RTH above. The failsafe action that should be used is Hover.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

A couple of other things to consider,
a) about the failsafe action, unless you can get the boat to a position where you regain connection "hover" will ultimately end up in a low battery RTH
b) it would be wise to update the homeport to the controller's position quite frequently.


With a Mavic style drone I suspect that the hand catch is going to be more of a hand grab than a 'land in your hand'.
With that in mind it might be an idea to practise "snatch and twist" grabs and motor stops, i.e. once you have grabbed the drone tilt it so that the props are rotating in a vertical plain or the drone even upside down. However I have once, in experimentation, managed to turn an M2P/Z upside down without the motors stopping. I have only used the snatch and twist once in real life with an M2P/Z and it DID WORK. It might be an idea to wear a glove on the catch hand i.e. those fabric based gloves with anti-slip, rubber-coated pals and fingers, they made reduce the chance of a prop strike producing cuts.
Or use a catch handle e.g.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003703891385.html?pdp_npi=2%40dis%21GBP%21￡7.64%21￡6.57%21%21%21%21%21%40211b813b16842318412705917e6b8d%2112000026868338881%21btf&_t=pvid:12163ccd-e269-401f-aa95-ce7f1e54890b&afTraceInfo=1005003703891385__pc__pcBridgePPC__xxxxxx__1684231841&spm=a2g0o.ppclist.product.mainProduct

though do your own search, that result is UK based and came from a google for "catch handle for DJI mavic 3 classic"

 

[Avocet]

I agree with most said ... def practice hand catches with the mavic series ... they are NOT phantoms.

I would forego these ideas in favor of filming from a dingy or other support boat free of encumbrances while adding direct positional control, if, of course, at all possible. Good luck and don't do nuttin 'tupid ...

 

[Phantomrain.org]

You might Consider the Lunar Landing Pad or making something similar.
Reaching out over the boat , will help clear the lines and people interference as well for a safer landing.

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Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water or on the boat.

 

[BudWalker]

Hi all,

This is the Lady Nelson, which operates from Hobart, Tasmania in Australia. She's having Redding Of the Sails events soon. I need to ascertain whether I can launch and land on her read deck whilst at sail. I'm posting because I want to check if anyone else has done something similar.
As you can see from the pictures, the read stays (ropes) fan around the stern, then there are stays toward the read of the beam (side). There's a gap though, and there's a roof on the cabin.

I am taking a look at her on Thursday, but wanted advice from anyone who's got experience with a moving object and limited space.

I assume I will need to turn obstacle avoidance right down or even off to accomplish this. I have a pretty steady hand, so am confident I can maneuver the drone. I may ask if there's a day sail I can test on first.

Advice?

Thx, Steve

Steve Barnes Media, Web & Workflow Services, Hobart, Australia

MEDIA: Quality videography, Amazing stills photography, exciting drone footage and photography, interviews and voice-overs, quality sound, post-production services and channel-delivery WEB: websites, CRM, Monday.com, databases, web forms WORKFLOW: workflow analysis, business process design and...

stevebarnes.services

View attachment 164167
View attachment 164168

Go for it.

You should, of course, heed the advice given by @slup and @Yorkshire_Pud . Can you do a couple of attempts while the ship isn't moving?

 

[skyscapist]

I've taken off and landed on a tall ship before, the Royal Albatross. What i did then was to attach a GoPro tripod to the front of the drone, and used that (not as a grab handle), but as a guide when i was landing the drone.

When i was taking off, i hand-launched it from the side of the boat so the drone would move backwards once it left my hand.

 

[skyscapist]

When i was landing, i landed at the front of the ship by catching it and flipping it. I landed there as it had the most clear space, with less lines to tangle on.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

It just occurred to me the twist or flip method of stopping the motors may be the only 'safe' method of stopping the motors. The normal method, holding the throttle closed and or the CSC, might not work - due to the ships vertical and horizontal motion.
I would be wary of launching or catching from the front of the ship, as slup noted there will be a tendency for the ship to move forwards under the drone and I wouldn't attempt this at all if uninvolved passengers are anywhere near you.

 

[EyesWideShut]

I love learning! As mentioned by @slup and @skyscapist, I hadn't thought about when launching, that the drone would hold it's GPS position and not lift directly up as we are so accustom to. I'm liking the hand launch from the stern or over the side so that on takeoff the drone will immediately be drifting rearwards away from the ship and clear of any obstacles.

 

[stevebarnes]

It just occurred to me the twist or flip method of stopping the motors may be the only 'safe' method of stopping the motors. The normal method, holding the throttle closed and or the CSC, might not work - due to the ships vertical and horizontal motion.
I would be wary of launching or catching from the front of the ship, as slup noted there will be a tendency for the ship to move forwards under the drone and I wouldn't attempt this at all if uninvolved passengers are anywhere near you.

yes, the stern is he place for me

 

[stevebarnes]

I love learning! As mentioned by @slup and @skyscapist, I hadn't thought about when launching, that the drone would hold it's GPS position and not lift directly up as we are so accustom to. I'm liking the hand launch from the stern or over the side so that on takeoff the drone will immediately be drifting rearwards away from the ship and clear of any obstacles.

I have hand launched before, and am trying hand retrieval. The GoPro tripod is a great idea

 

[GadgetGuy]

I've taken off and landed on a tall ship before, the Royal Albatross. What i did then was to attach a GoPro tripod to the front of the drone, and used that (not as a grab handle), but as a guide when i was landing the drone.

When i was taking off, i hand-launched it from the side of the boat so the drone would move backwards once it left my hand.View attachment 164172

Yeah, don't try launching from the front of a moving boat!
Won't end well! LOL!

 

[stevebarnes]

Yeah, don't try launching from the front of a moving boat!
Won't end well! LOL!

Yes, the stern, facing backwards, with the wind behind your back, is the way to go! Retrieving it is the thing I am trying to work out!!!

 

[stevebarnes]

When i was landing, i landed at the front of the ship by catching it and flipping it. I landed there as it had the most clear space, with less lines to tangle on.

View attachment 164174

Did you find the mono pod affected flight performance? What brand do you have? I'l see lots on EBay from China. How much did it limit the range of camera view?
?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yes, the stern, facing backwards, with the wind behind your back, is the way to go! Retrieving it is the thing I am trying to work out!!!

Retrieval is the same way. Just make sure drone can fly faster than the combined speed of the boat and the wind, and slowly fly it towards your waiting hand.

 

[stevebarnes]

Retrieval is the same way. Just make sure drone can fly faster than the combined speed of the boat and the wind, and slowly fly it towards your waiting hand.

I gather the drone won't actually execute a landing if it is in forward motion (boat is moving), and that's why the monopod?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Did you find the mono pod affected flight performance? What brand do you have? I'l see lots on EBay from China. How much did it limit the range of camera view?
?

Get one of these. No effect on camera view. Minor flight performance impact for the task at hand. $9 and free shipping.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803517576633.html

 

[GadgetGuy]

I gather the drone won't actually execute a landing if it is in forward motion (boat is moving), and that's why the monopod?

The monopod or handle is just a little insurance to assist in catching it, if you have a hard time matching the boat speed plus the wind while "hovering" in front of yourself to grab it. It will execute a landing if you tell it to, but that will stop the forward speed and land it in the water! You need to fly it to yourself and maneuver it to within your reach.

 

[Capt KO]

Landing is easier if flying in reverse so controls match the drone movements exactly. Sounds like an exciting shoot, have fun.