Drone come Home now..... new Home location

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baz

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Subject: Drone come Home now.... new Home location

I'm researching some of the newer Drone functions. Some record/remember where they took off from and consider this to be Home when requested to come Home. They use GPS co-ords for this.

If launching a Drone when on the boat moving in the water and then changing the position of the boat I suspect/realize the Drone's Home location will be at the point it was launched from. So, given this I'm wondering if some Drones have a feature that allows the Drone controller to send a new Home location so that it can return to the boat's new location ?

Anyone know ? Thanks... 🙂
 
You will want one with the "Follow Me" mode. Then it will follow the controller which is on the boat.
 
OK, so it follows me/boat. But when requesting it come Home, where will it go to ? "Me/boat" is not same as 'Home' as far as I understand things.
 
No, you would have to land it manually.... its important to know that although many quads have autonomous functions that make them relatively and generally pretty easy to operate, they do take significant skill, practice and patience to master. Their simplicity is deceptive, and one should not fly a drone without having the ability to control it manually.... this is where most newbs get into trouble....
 
Not sure how all drones work, but the quadcopter I have has a "home" feature that will take it back to the point where it took off. I have not used that feature always bringing it back manually. If you own one, you will want to confirm that "home" function, by trying it in different places on land before using on your boat.

I have a Yuneek Q500 4K, a couple years old... no doubt the technology has changed and improved since that time. It is reasonably simple to operate (I do have a commercial pilot license), and has an adjustment feature for "slow to fast" operation (aka: turtle to jack rabbit). The down side of it: the size. Even in the case, it takes up a lot of room.

It gets tough to control in winds above 12 mph (another important consideration if you're thinking about using it on a boat).

Because the boat is a moving platform, even when not underway, you may have to "hand catch" the drone as it gets close to landing... and those spinning blades are intimidating. Even when on full GPS assist, there can be a couple feet of movement in any direction that you have to correct for.

Battery life in actual use is around 15 minutes - you do not want to run low on battery power with a long distance to return home.

The 4K camera does a decent job...

SS2downExp.jpg
 
With all the drones out there from cheap to expensive, research is critical to save money, have it easy to fly and still do what you want it to do. Flying over water could end up being very expensive if mistakes are made. I recently saw a show on some scientists doing whale studies from their small boat using a drone with pontoon landing gear. That sounds like a good safety feature to me over water.

In my research, one of the best manufactures is DJI at DJI.com Their site has great information and videos on their line of drones complete with the manuals in pdf. that go with their products. People that I have spoken to say the DJI line is one of the best.Their MAVIC PRO can fold down really small for transport and storage. It can fly for 27 minutes and has a range of 7km! If you are seriously looking or just curious, check out their site.

It has been a slow process to convince my wife that I really need this toy but I'm trying.
 
Yes... The Mavic Pro is on my bucket list for sure. It is impressive.... and Oh boy, does it have accessories galore. :lol:

It would seam to me for the Controller/Phone to be setup to configure the Drone's "Home" to be the GPS location of the Controller/Phone. If the Phone has GPS surely this info could be transmitted to the Drone and used as the "Home" location. This would then allow the Drone "Return Home" feature to return to a point different from where it was launched from. This feature is what I'm currently researching. So far, the Mavic Pro does not seem to have this feature....

Yes, I came across a site that sold 4 large floatable light-weight balls that can be attached to the Mavic Pro's feet so that landing on water is made possible. 😱

Another aspect to use of Drones is are there cases where large birds. a siege of herons or a murder of crows have attacked the Drone. 😱 :shock: :lol:
 
snydzy":2b8uzrzq said:
Baz,...Why not consider this: https://youtu.be/dScBD5TgfFQ
Click to expand...

Man, that was very cool.... I watched the Youtube video of it splashing down into the water, taking some under water video with its submerged GoPro camera, and then lifting off from the water surface without issues. It was also able to traverse the water while floating. Amazon shows it to be unavailable.... "We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.". 😱
 
Barry,

The Splash Drone 3 (the latest version) is available in stock on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071HQF33V?m= ... etail_page

or you can buy it directly from SwellPro which shows all the options and prices:

https://store.swellpro.com/splash-drone ... rsion.html

I have to agree that this looks amazing for using a drone from a boat - no worries about losing it in the water; it simply floats. Now, I just need to devise a hook to retrieve it from the water, while I'm standing on the swim platform. No plans to catch it in the air. I don't have one of these drones yet, but I likely will by the time we arrive in Florida for the winter!
 
There has been amazing progress in drones in the last few years, but in nearly sixty years of flying radio controlled stuff, the only rule that I have never seen broken is: If you fly it, it will eventually crash. I try to never fly anything that I can't walk away from with a smile. YMMV.

By the way, it's deceptively easy to catch a modern drone. Just remember that just above what you are reaching for has four or so highly effective meat cutters. A quick google will turn up some sobering images. I wouldn't want to be hours away from medical help with some of the injuries I've seen.

Just my little cheerful contribution for the day...
 
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