Find That Perfect Spot With Your Drone

[smj]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

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.

How silly of me, I should have known there would be a simple sensible answer:-)

[Pelagic]

Thanks Tomfl for a very informative post.

To confirm or clarify;

Most consumer drones have a usable range of 1.5km.., not 5km?

Above 10 knots of true wind, landing on a moving boat can be challenging?

It takes a dedicated pilot and dedicated catcher to retrieve on board and clear Line of Sights are needed?

My wish list for a navigational Drone is still not available in consumer products?

[Seaadventurers]

By law in the U.S. you must maintain visual contact with your drone and not exceed 400 feet altitude from your launch site. You can get software that will let you program a DJI drone to complete a flight path, but landing on a moving or anchored boat would still be an issue!

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Thanks Tomfl for a very informative post.

To confirm or clarify;

Most consumer drones have a usable range of 1.5km.., not 5km?

Above 10 knots of true wind, landing on a moving boat can be challenging?

It takes a dedicated pilot and dedicated catcher to retrieve on board and clear Line of Sights are needed?

My wish list for a navigational Drone is still not available in consumer products?

Depends on the model of Drone.

If you are using a Mavic the following applies.

1) DJI drones can fly up to 5 km but best to fly within line of site.

2) The Mavic Drone can easily be caught and launched single handed from a boat that is stationary in winds up to 15 knots. The best way to launch and land a Mavic drone is hand catch and release by the pilot..... Do not have someone catch it for you.

3) Newer models like the Mavic and Phamtom 4 drones have active tracking software , this allows you to hover the drone at 50 above the boat and motor your vessel through the surrounding reefs while not having to fly the drone as it will tracking the vessel and fly follow autominously.

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Thanks Tomfl for a very informative post.

To confirm or clarify;

Most consumer drones have a usable range of 1.5km.., not 5km?

Above 10 knots of true wind, landing on a moving boat can be challenging?

It takes a dedicated pilot and dedicated catcher to retrieve on board and clear Line of Sights are needed?

My wish list for a navigational Drone is still not available in consumer products?

Depends on the model of Drone.

If you are using a Mavic the following applies.

1) DJI drones can fly up to 5 km but best to fly within line of site.

2) The Mavic Drone can easily be caught and launched single handed from a boat that is stationary in winds up to 15 knots. The best way to launch and land a Mavic drone is hand catch and release by the pilot..... Do not have someone catch it for you.

3) Newer models like the Mavic and Phamtom 4 drones have active tracking software , this allows you to hover the drone at 50 above the boat and motor your vessel through the surrounding reefs while not having to fly the drone as it will track your vessel and follow autominously.

[tomfl]

I am not sure how useful it is to discuss the range of any UAS. One reason the Mavic has been so well received is it has a nominal flight time of 27 minutes according to specs while the Inspire has a nominal flight time of maybe 15. So even though the Inspire is bigger, heavier, handles better in wind, and over all is a superior platform the extra 12 minutes of claimed flight time means the Mavic really has a longer range than the Inspire.

As I posted earlier the Dragonlink on one of my HexH2o platforms has a legit range of perhaps 87kms as some of the youtube videos illustrate. But this range is accomplished by using high altitude balloons that carry the camera high up and far away. I am not aware of any hobby level UAS that has the ability to fly what would amount to close to 180kms round trip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emN3pxqkl68

It is also important to mention that the range flying down wind is significantly greater than the range flying up wind. Another consideration is when making videos conventional wisdom is to fly rather slowly. In fact in what the Mavic calls "tripod mode" which results in the highest image quality the speed is limited to around 2mph. Since one of the main points of this discussion is to use a flying camera to pick a route through reefs and such factoring in a slow flight speed would reduce the range of any platform.

Quite frankly for a dedicated flying camera to be used exclusively on a boat for simple recon I would go with something like a flying wing and catch it with a big net instead of trying to land a multirotor platform on a boat bouncing around on waves in significant wind. Another option would be to get a seaplane which offers a lot more protection if you land it in the water. The downside is you need a lot more piloting skills for fixed wing platforms. But they allow much greater range, the ability to land in the water to some extent, and are a lot cheaper. If you feel up to building a fix wing FPV platform here is one option. The basic price is $US139 but adding extras like a camera and FPV system will more than double the price. While it will be harder to fly than a modern multirotor platform it does have some advantages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P9Isl5zjT4

[Seaadventurers]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Most new Drones go home to a GPS location or to the Controller location.

Most Cruisers using Drones on a boat Hand launch and Hand Land / Retrieve

That is true. However, both of those are constantly moving on a boat. When you start the drone, it acquires the location that it took off from and will land at that location if it has a problem. There is no way that will work well on a boat at anchorage or moving.

My drone also has the ability to return to the controller, but this is not dynamic....meaning it does not constantly update. You need to manually update the controllers location and again, on a moving boat, that is just not practical.

[Seaadventurers]

Originally Posted by Andrew Grace

3) Newer models like the Mavic and Phamtom 4 drones have active tracking software , this allows you to hover the drone at 50 above the boat and motor your vessel through the surrounding reefs while not having to fly the drone as it will tracking the vessel and fly follow autominously.

True, even the Phantom 3 has a "follow me" mode. The problem is you still have to land the drone on a moving boat.

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by Seaadventurers

True, even the Phantom 3 has a "follow me" mode. The problem is you still have to land the drone on a moving boat.

Last time I checked I am still able to land and launch from my boat so I don't understand all the negative comments here, if you think you can't do ....don't

The rest of us will enjoy flying our drones from our boats

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by tomfl

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.

The bebop is autonomous in the way that you can pre-program a course and it will take off, fly, film, and land by itself. If you decide to pilot manually it will return home by itself in case of lost connection for example. That is what I call autonomous camera done, but maybe there is a more versatile definition I am not aware of.

It is not capable of automatically landing on a moving boat. just like any other consumer done I guess.

It may be less likely to dump a DJI inspire in windy condition compared to a bebop because it's more stable due to its weight. But the inspire 1 is 8x the cost and 7x the weight of a bebop 1. And of course does much more harm than a bebop to both the catcher and the wallet.
The good thing about the bebop is that it is often listed on eBay for as little as 120€ for a used bebop 1. Which makes it the cheapest option for getting into autonomous flights.

Of course the DJI inspire is a much better package, but for flying off a boat I would choose the cheaper solution as the risk of dumping is real and roughly the same for both, at least in low wind conditions.

[Captain Bill]

The FAA considers drones aircraft and illegal to shoot down. They should also apply the standard aircraft object separation standard, that makes it against the law except when taking off or landing, that requires a that an aircraft maintain a minimum of 500 feet of separation from any person or man made structure or object (i.e. boat). This should take care of any privacy problems.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

The FAA considers drones aircraft and illegal to shoot down. They should also apply the standard aircraft object separation standard, that makes it against the law except when taking off or landing, that requires a that an aircraft maintain a minimum of 500 feet of separation from any person or man made structure or object (i.e. boat). This should take care of any privacy problems.

I have discovered over the years that laws and regulations don't always take care of problems. If someone wants to fly their drone closer than 500' to your naked wife or boat, FAA requirements will not stop them.

[Seaadventurers]

I believe section 333 of the FAA requirements pertains to commercial operation of a drone....not recreational use.

[John Holbrook]

Yep that's true. I had a google and some people have hoisted their GoPros up the mainsail track using a bracket so the camera faces forward. Not so useful for navigating but fun especially if you enjoy photography.

Originally Posted by GrowleyMonster

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.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by rabbi

The bebop is autonomous in the way that you can pre-program a course and it will take off, fly, film, and land by itself. If you decide to pilot manually it will return home by itself in case of lost connection for example. That is what I call autonomous camera done, but maybe there is a more versatile definition I am not aware of.

It is not capable of automatically landing on a moving boat. just like any other consumer done I guess.

SNIP

So if it is not capable of automatically landing how is it autonomous?