Flying over water

[Seitenwerk]

So this is not a Parrot specific thing but I thought I would ask if anyone has experience about the problems or behavior that might arise, if you fly your drone over water. The Anafis Manuel States that due to the camera and sensor it is not recommended to fly over water, or in fog. From my DJI Spark i know that flying inside fog the sensors may think that a solid object is in the way, which may lead to the drone ignoring your input as obstacles get detected. The Anafi of course has no obstacle avoidance sensors so at least this problem would not arise.

But what happens if it is fooled by water? I hope it would not intend to land when it thinks it’s only some centimeters away from the ground when in fact it’s flying 1 or two meters above water. Any experience to far with this? If such thing could happen I would be much more careful in case I ever try to make videos of lakes or similar locations.

 

[Krusty Geeza]

Not sure that it really is a problem, I flew mine over water last night & it survived!

Here's some footage of it over water & it seems perfectly fine with it...

 

[AaronB]

I should think the Anafi will only automatically land if the battery is about to run out. If you happen to be over water at that point, then you will not have a happy ending

 

[Jagerbomb52]

There was a post on another forum from someone who has flown Parrot UAV's for a long time and he mentioned that yes at one time the sensors did get confused by the reflection on the water and light ripples. He said since then Parrot started using better bottom sensors and better firmware has pretty much taken care of this problem. One of my other UAV's is a Autel X-Star and during winter on a ice covered road it had a problem finding where ground was and did some weird things before coming to a skidding stop. I do not think flying a couple of meters above water will be a problem.

 

[Drbgaijin]

I was worried about flying over water, when I began flying the Anafi. However I soon found out that there didn't appear to be any problems. Just keep your wits about you and be ready to react if anything strange occurs.
In this video, I flew most of the time over water and wet mudflats at altitudes ranging from 2 metres and upwards.
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and here too
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Regards
Douglas

 

[Seitenwerk]

Thanks, I thought that it shouldn’t be a problem in most cases. Usually manufacturers just tend to warn about every edge case due to warranty reasons which of course makes sense. But who know what could happen.

For example if you are flying very low and push downwards, drones usually init landing. So in case the drone thinks it is directly over solid ground and you try to go lower (as you are actually still 1-2meter above water surface) the drone could potentially init landing and switch off.

At least if Hand launch is activated, I know that the Anafi also enables „hand landing“ meaning it will init landing if it thinks a hand is underneath it and you push down.

 

[ufosaboveus]

I was worried about flying over water, when I began flying the Anafi. However I soon found out that there didn't appear to be any problems. Just keep your wits about you and be ready to react if anything strange occurs.
In this video, I flew most of the time over water and wet mudflats at altitudes ranging from 2 metres and upwards.
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="

" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
and here too
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="

" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Regards
Douglas

DRB, that is some fantastic footage of those mudskippers. Really top notch work. I give that video 2 big thumbs up!

 

[Krusty Geeza]

@Drbgaijin At 4:15 that display from the mud-skipper is superbly captured! Another 2 thumbs up for your efforts!

 

[Drbgaijin]

Wow! What can I do with 4 thumbs? Maybe I am the source of the phrase, "He is all thumbs!" "
Seriously though, Thank you ufosaboveus and Krusty Geeza for your comments.
Regards
Douglas

 

[ufosaboveus]

Douglas, that last video with the ducks is really well done too. That was such a beautiful setting. Whoever owns that lovely house on the peninsula sure has a nice setup!

 

[Drbgaijin]

Whoever owns that lovely house on the peninsula sure has a nice setup!

The lovely house is a Japanese shinto shrine. If you look closely you can see a red, wooden "Torii" (shrine gate).
Regards
Douglas

 

[ufosaboveus]

Douglas, I learned something new today. I knew I liked that place when I saw it. That clears things up. I must admit I am ignorant of Japanese culture. It sure looks like a peaceful setting.

 

[Drbgaijin]

I also learned something new! When I first saw your "name" I imagined it was something like, "ufosa boveus" As you are in Texas, I thought it was the latin name for some steer species! Then I noticed it is actually, "Ufos above us" . So we have both been enlightened today!
Regards
Douglas

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

What about emergency landing on water?
https://www.amazon.com/Thekkiinngg-Emergency-Landing-Accessories-Compatible/dp/B07KXZ38S6

 

[Liger 1956]

You may have to land sooner with the weight of those balls!

 

[MustangPhil]

I would be curious to see how it flies (big balls right in the air flow of the props !)

DrbGaijin... let me give you a fifth thumb up so you can have a handful

 

[Krusty Geeza]

What about emergency landing on water?
https://www.amazon.com/Thekkiinngg-Emergency-Landing-Accessories-Compatible/dp/B07KXZ38S6

They are just large polystyrene balls! Problem with these apart from what's already been mentioned by @MustangPhil is that the holes in them get bigger & bigger very quickly as you put them on & off, so they then tend to randomly drop off while you are in flight, making a nightmare for landing with just 2 left on! I'm speaking from personal experience when I tried this on a Bugs 5 very recently!

 

[Drbgaijin]

I would be curious to see how it flies (big balls right in the air flow of the props !)

DrbGaijin... let me give you a fifth thumb up so you can have a handful

Not sure whether to thank you or not . In English, the phrase "He's all thumbs" means a person is very clumsy and not very good with his hands. Now, thanks to you and others, I have now 5 thumbs. 5 more and I am really clumsy .
Regards
Douglas

 

[MustangPhil]

We say in France that someone has two ´left hands’... or worst, I knew a surgeon that we called ‘left foot’ from my prior job...

 

[Mar]

I am reading about using flight plan from the manual and I see a contradiction about what they say themselves about flying over water.

Makes me kind of giggle when they recommend not to fly over water but then show making a flight plan around a lighthouse...over water.

Just do it at your own risk is what they should say, LOL