Find That Perfect Spot With Your Drone

[buzzstar]

To all that provided the non-nefarious uses for drones, thank you. Should the budget permit I think one would be useful, but avoiding the temptation to drop dung on specified targets would be a challenge.

[GrowleyMonster]

Yes, if a drone could poop on command, it would be a most entertaining toy indeed.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

To all that provided the non-nefarious uses for drones, thank you. Should the budget permit I think one would be useful, but avoiding the temptation to drop dung on specified targets would be a challenge.

The risk of dumping the drone if flying from a boat is pretty high, its not a question of "if" but only of "when". So I'd suggest to keep the financial exposure as low as possible.

The cheapest option for an autonomous camera drone with acceptable video quality and flight times is the Parrot Bebop 2. Its a small tablet controlled drone that can often be found on ebay / craigs list for 200-300 Euro.
Video quality is less than recent DJIs but good enough for scouting an anchorage. Range is low out of the box but can be extended to a few miles using a good MIMO wifi extender.
However the payload (poop) is too low

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by rabbi

The risk of dumping the drone if flying from a boat is pretty high, its not a question of "if" but only of "when". So I'd suggest to keep the financial exposure as low as possible.

The cheapest option for an autonomous camera drone with acceptable video quality and flight times is the Parrot Bebop 2. Its a small tablet controlled drone that can often be found on ebay / craigs list for 200-300 Euro.
Video quality is less than recent DJIs but good enough for scouting an anchorage. Range is low out of the box but can be extended to a few miles using a good MIMO wifi extender.
However the payload (poop) is too low

Actually this statement above is misleading & incorrect, the risk is actually very Low, however you need to use the appropriate quality drone of which the Parrot drone is not really suitable,

stick with the newer model DJIs and you will have no issues.

[Seaadventurers]

Originally Posted by Andrew Grace

Actually this statement above is misleading & incorrect, the risk is actually very Low, however you need to use the appropriate quality drone of which the Parrot drone is not really suitable,

stick with the newer model DJIs and you will have no issues.

As an owner of a DJI Phantom 3 Pro, I'll disagree that flying a drone from a boat is low risk. First of all, even at anchor your boat is moving. A moving boat negates the most important safety feature of the drone....its ability to land at it's "home" location should it run into any issues like low battery or a disconnect from the remote. The drone also needs to be hand launched and recovered which means you have a very narrow for takeoff and landings. Add some wind and a moving boat and you have a formula for a disaster.

I'm not a pro at flying, but I did try one flight from my boat in 10-12 knot winds and it was not pretty. I was luck to get the drone back.

[Cotemar]

Maybe add some floats, so the drone can be rescued if things go south.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A91FLTCXwcQ

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[Seaadventurers]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Maybe add some floats, so the drone can be rescued if things go south.
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Theoretically, these will work. However, the seas have not been that calm at my anchorages and even the splash from taking off and landing can ruin the current drones. They do make a waterproof drone, but I have not tried it.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

........... as America moves toward more socialism in a different form, ..............

I think recent events indicate that America will begin to end that slide and turn back towards its traditional values.

[John Holbrook]

Sure if you cruise in mainstream places there is lots of info but if you are more adventurous there maybe less info. I spent years cruising Indonesia which is not properly mapped and guide books are very limited. Many times we had to launch the dingy to find our way through the reefs. A drone would have been perfect. Even in better mapped places like Malaysia and Thailand it would have been useful.

Originally Posted by rwidman

Thinking one needs a drone to find a suitable anchorage seems like quite a stretch to me. How far ahead can you fly it? If you are watching your drone's controller and the image it is sending, who is driving the boat?

Need an anchorage? Well, there are guidebooks and specific anchorage lists (Skipper Bob's), there is Active Captain, there is Google Earth and there are nautical charts. And of course, suggestions from other boaters you meet along the way.

I haven't been cruising for fifty years like some folks here, but I have managed to find my way around without a drone scouting for me and I don't see an actual need for one on a boat. A fun toy perhaps, for taking videos of my boat underway but I would soon tire of that.

I can think of several things to spend a few hundred dollars on before I would buy a drone for my boat.

[John Holbrook]

Would a high definition camera on top of the mast be useful? No problem with landings in high winds.

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by John Holbrook

Would a high definition camera on top of the mast be useful? No problem with landings in high winds.

The problem with a cam on the mast is the down angle. Often a straight down view will reveal things that a less vertical angle will not. Look at a Google earth image or two and see what I mean. The masthead view could be useful for a boat length ahead, maybe.

[smj]

I'm wondering how you clean the salt residue of a masthead camera.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by smj

I'm wondering how you clean the salt residue of a masthead camera.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Was the question a set up? You have a choice of a masthead freshwater spray or a really long and light pole with a brush on the end. I guess an agile teen or a spray drone could also work.

[Multihull]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

. I guess ...... a spray drone could also work.

+1

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by rabbi

The risk of dumping the drone if flying from a boat is pretty high, its not a question of "if" but only of "when". So I'd suggest to keep the financial exposure as low as possible.

The cheapest option for an autonomous camera drone with acceptable video quality and flight times is the Parrot Bebop 2. Its a small tablet controlled drone that can often be found on ebay / craigs list for 200-300 Euro.
Video quality is less than recent DJIs but good enough for scouting an anchorage. Range is low out of the box but can be extended to a few miles using a good MIMO wifi extender.
However the payload (poop) is too low

Wow so much misinformation in this post. To start off a Bebop is not an "autonomous camera drone"; since autonomous implies no one needs to pilot it. I am not aware of any platform that can fly a pre planed course and land on a boat that costs less than six figures. I would love to have one of these bad boys but just can't justify the bare bones cost starting at $US150,000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKDFw4Wsxao

The risk of crashing a UAS is a function of the skill of the person piloting it. A good sailing analogy would be how common it is to run aground. It happens to some folks on a regular basis and it never seems to happen to others. While the newer ones have a lot of electronics that make flying a lot easier the pilot still needs to spend time flying either on a simulator or the real thing. And part of the skill includes not flying when conditions make it too risky.

Once you exceed line of sight flying the ability of the platform to broadcast crispy images from the camera to the screen the pilot is using to guide the craft is a must. Higher priced platforms, especially DJI stuff, are the gold standard of good video. Bottom line is simple wifi just does not cut it. If you look at the video of the girl on Starry Dreams catching the Phantom being piloted by the guy behind her it is obvious he not only has a clear view of what is going on but has the skill to get the Phantom close enough to the girl for her to catch it but not so close, and low, that the props injure her. A boating analogy would be docking. A well designed twin screw boat is much easier to dock than a single screw, but a skipper with poor skills can mess thing up.

Another consideration is the wind/waves. Just as in docking strong wind/waves mean even the best skipper will wait to dock the same is true for piloting a UAS. Again this is a situation where a higher priced platform like an Inspire which is bigger, heavier, and has more powerful engines will allow use in higher winds than something like a Bebop which even a 10kn wind might be too strong to fly in.

One of my oft repeated rants is about folks who buy boats for what they think they will be doing as opposed to what they actually do. The same goes for flying platforms that carry cameras which broadcast video. If you are only using them in dead calm winds when the water is like glass a Bebop may work, but if you expect to use it in what I consider normal wind/waves I would not recommend it.