Launching from a moving platform (boat)

[daws901]

I head off on the boat tomorrow and was wondering what everyone's experience has been launching from a boat? I have personally been able to launch from a kayak and a SUP board so far . I was NOT moving at the time of launch.

The issue I can see right away will be as soon as it launches, it'll set its GPS point down which will be stationary. Because the boat is moving, the anafi will effectively try to maintain its position, flying against direction of travel of the boat as it moves on. Would a hand launch be the way to get it clear of the boat before it crashed into a part of it? Or to just launch off the back of the boat?

 

[AnafiPilot1]

Never done it from a moving board, but I only do hand launches which work great! So just hand launch of the back of the boat!

My only concern would be RTH, I know the follow me function switches RTH to the controller location (gps) - so may be that will help with respect to RTH.

 

[daws901]

RTH will take it back to the launch location, not too useful if I'm 2 miles away haha i'd fly it back manually and grab it in the air to stop

 

[Rocky the FS]

If the boat is moving, you must launch it off the back, that way the boat will move out from under it. You could launch it by hand or use the afterdeck.

Point it opposite to the direction the boat is moving and fly it right up to about 30 feet or high enough to clear the superstructure immediately before you do anything else. The only way for the drone to follow the boat and keep updating its home position is with one of the Follow Me modes. Now the drone will consider home to be wherever the smartphone is located, presumably in your hand.

However, I would not use RTH in this case. Any malfunction of the RTH mode would result in loss of the drone over water. I've had it not go into hover more than once and continue straight into the grass, having missed the launch pad by a good 8 feet. Most times it stopped at head height directly over the pad like it should. The bottom sensor apparently does not consider grass to be a hard surface and probably not water either.

On a boat, I would cancel the Follow Me and manually fly it in over the stern after slowing the boat to a stop or dead slow , then grab it and turn 90 degrees on its side to stop the motors. No hand landings anymore for me after getting my fingers nicked and the drone falling to the ground twice when the motors did not shut off. I have reverted to grabbing it if I don't have a pad. (which mine has bounced all the way off of in a bit of wind a couple of tiimes.)

Don't push the battery below about 20 % because the penalty clause is rather severe.

There are a lot of cool boat videos from drones on YouTube.

 

[dashSolo]

Make sure the boat is facing downwind so the Anafi will drift away from boat on takeoff. I fly with the boat drifting and have not had a problem with RTH. So far this has worked well after a dozen flights.. Curiously the distance on the head up display has alway been close to 0 after landing. I always do a hand landing, after grab rotating 90 degrees to shut motors down.
I will not take the chance of a landing hiccup into the water.