Need safety feature when flying over a pond

[BayouBill]

At that low altitude the only solution is to hone your piloting skills and don't depend on technology to maintain altitude.

 

[Wolfiesden]

I agree. But might as well discuss what will assist the situation no?

 

[shockwave199]

I only skimmed this thread but I will suggest that you don't have to rely solely on drone footage for every shot. You can get creative with extension arms and use go pros for different angles and close in shots. Even an osmo would be killer. Mix them in with overhead drone footage. It keeps your phantom more out of harms way and the different camera angles makes for a much more interesting shot to watch. You know how boring aimless straight ahead flying videos can be? So can boat chase videos. It's an old has been done shot, only exciting to the creator. But piece together something more compelling and you'll have something. That takes multiple angles from different cameras. Use all the tools, not just the bird.

 

[Roger Donnay]

You know how boring aimless straight ahead flying videos can be?

Oh yes. My boat can turn on a dime, so I have to make the footage interesting. I plan many different takes spliced together. Actually, one of the takes will have a GoPro in the boat and will show the action from it's point of view. Several takes will even point back at the Phantom. I wanted to rig the Phantom so it can even drop ordinance and get splashes in the water. I have spent CO2 cartridges that look like bombs. I'm putting 1/12 scale figures in the boat for most of the takes.

I worked on the DASH system when I was in the Navy. I was on a destroyer - DD787. We had the first remote controlled helicopters back in 1966. DASH means Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter. I even put all kinds of Navy decals on my Phantom and brought it to our last Navy reunion so I could run a DASH certification training school. DASH now means Drone Anti-Subversion Helicopter. I planned to fly it off the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier, but I was in restricted air space. USS James E. Kyes.

 

[shockwave199]

Don't even think about using prop guards. They will ruin all your shots.

 

[Roger Donnay]

Don't even think about using prop guards. They will ruin all your shots.

Yes, I know that. The prop guards will be used when the GoPro is looking back at the Phantom.

 

[Adam Morrison]

Fun project! I look forward to hearing how it turns out.

Another option is the WaterStrider. It allows you to actually float on the water while getting footage and would greatly reduce the risk of an accident/incident that sinks the drone. It might open up some new creative shots for your footage as well since you can go all the way onto the water.

 

[Roger Donnay]

Another option is the WaterStrider.

Awesome!! I placed my pre-order. No info about when it's available or cost.

 

[Adam Morrison]

@Roger Donnay Thank you! More information will be coming soon, and we're very excited about it! If you're on the list, then you'll be one of the first to know!

 

[ayrem]

I'm fairly good at flying my Phantom 3 and so I decided I want to create a video adventure in which I chase my RC boat across the pond. I got the idea from re-watching an old James Bond film - From Russia with Love.

It's a great Chris-Craft style boat and would make a good video. This will take 2 operators of course. One for the boat and one for the Phantom.

After some trials however, I realize that I can't get a close enough video unless I'm flying 6 ft or less above the water. This can be very dangerous. I have good GPS in the area (12 satellites) so vertical stability shouldn't be a problem. My biggest worry is that I will accidently move the altitude adjustment when making sharp turns and find myself hitting the water.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to add some safe guards? I thought about putting a mechanism on the left joystick that would require much more pressure to move the stick up/down but still allow free left/right movement. I can visualize how I would do this with a simple washer and rubber band.

I would feel much better if I could set a minimum height. The home point for takeoff would be about 6 feet higher than the water level. It would be great if there were a safety feature that makes it stop or slow dramatically if the height ever goes below home point height.

Any ideas?

I'm fairly good at flying my Phantom 3 and so I decided I want to create a video adventure in which I chase my RC boat across the pond. I got the idea from re-watching an old James Bond film - From Russia with Love.

It's a great Chris-Craft style boat and would make a good video. This will take 2 operators of course. One for the boat and one for the Phantom.

After some trials however, I realize that I can't get a close enough video unless I'm flying 6 ft or less above the water. This can be very dangerous. I have good GPS in the area (12 satellites) so vertical stability shouldn't be a problem. My biggest worry is that I will accidently move the altitude adjustment when making sharp turns and find myself hitting the water.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to add some safe guards? I thought about putting a mechanism on the left joystick that would require much more pressure to move the stick up/down but still allow free left/right movement. I can visualize how I would do this with a simple washer and rubber band.

I would feel much better if I could set a minimum height. The home point for takeoff would be about 6 feet higher than the water level. It would be great if there were a safety feature that makes it stop or slow dramatically if the height ever goes below home point height.

Any ideas?

Just wandering that if you put a piece of Velcro on the controller and then Velcro a hard piece of plastic just under the left stick not allowing it to go any lower then the piece of plastic but will still allow it move right to left and up but not down. Just wandering.

 

[DCDrone]

I'll offer a sideways solution to that problem.
I use a wonderful video editing tool call "video download capture" by apowersoft.com
Among other features, you can crop the screen of a video clip. So... if you can't get quite as close as you like, you can crop the screen down to, in effect, zoom in. You'll lose some resolution, of course.
The software also allows you to record video off the internet, either by downloading or capturing any part of the screen, and to convert video formats. If a video is on the monitor, you can capture it.
I think I paid $50 for it. Money well spent.

 

[Roger Donnay]

Among other features, you can crop the screen of a video clip.

I have been using Wondershare Video Editor. It handles cropping. I'm sure there are places I may want to do that. I'm really anxious to get the water strider. That gives me so many great ideas.

 

[Mark J Colbert]

P3's are pretty stable altitude wise. I fly 2-3 feet off the water all of the time. Turn VPS off as suggested. Practice. Practice. Practice. The P3 won't lose altitude unless you push the left stick. So don't push the left stick. When you're done stop, take a deep breath and think about what do do next.

Do you have access to an RC car? You could find a nice flat field and practice. One advantage of water is that it won't sneak up in altitude like land can. Tends to stay pretty flat.

Also, this would be an excellent mission to plan with Autopilot. It adds a whole new level of complexity to the game, but if you are really serious that is probably the best way to go. You can choreograph the P3 and fly autonomously, leaving you to manipulate the camera while somebody else flies the boat.

It is how a pro would do it. (Along with having three boats, four aircraft, 10 crew and a caterer.)

The P3 won't lose altitude unless you push the left stick. So don't push the left stick.

LMAO - Very Good!

 

[Roger Donnay]

The P3 won't lose altitude unless you push the left stick. So don't push the left stick.

LMAO - Very Good!

Ok, it's time to make a list of all your recommendations:

1. Don't push the left stick.
2. Buy a Getterback.
3. Buy insurance.
4. Practice with an RC car.
5. Buy pontoons for the Phantom.
6. Reprogram the sticks.
7. Use velcro to bind the stick.
8. Buy a Gimbal-guard
9. Don't make a boring video.
10. Turn off VPS.
11. Hone your piloting skills.
12. Use digital zoom.
13. Buy an iPhone and use Autopilot.
14. Stay close to the boat.
15. Get a job.

All good advice. Thanks to you all.

 

[Leojay]

Go into your settings and set the EXP setting for your altitude adjustment to make it less sensitive
on the stick requiring more input on the stick

 

[Bill S]

I wear a cup just like in football.

 

[Andy Boyd]

Please ensure you keep your VPS definitely off when flying low on waters.

I second that. I had a lovely sunset to video over a small still lake.
I thought the best way to capture the reflections off the surface was to fly level off the bank. But the moment the bird got over the water it dropped like stone. I saw the lights fading into the depths. Fortunately there was a length of barbed wire nearby and I was able to drag it out. it took a couple of days to dry out - NO RICE!!!
The only casualty was the battery.
But next time NO VPS.

 

[harrybub]

I have remapped my controls so it makes more sense and it makes these flights easier. At least for me.

Left stick:
U/D = Altitude
L/R = Strafe L/R

Right stick
U/D = Forward/Back (throttle)
L/R = Rotate L/R (yaw)

This mapping makes the right stick your steering stick and the left stick your scooting stick (as in scooting side to side up and down). Makes it pretty darn easy to fly. While this is not the common AC control scheme, it works very well. It also makes manual orbits fairly easy too.

I have mine set up the same way and like it much better. +1

HB

 

[Steve G]

I agree about boat chase videos being most interesting to the creator. That being said, I think the activity attracts a lot of us like a moth to a flame because the result is so interesting. It's so easy to push that left stick down just a little and not have enough room to correct before it's too late and your bird is swimming! The pucker moment came for me when chasing a couple of JetSkis. Fortunately, I did have enough room to react appropriately and got her up in time. I was mostly flying LOS and didn't realize how close to the water I came till I looked at the video later.

 

[Perry Jefferies]

An example of a very close call:-

Wow - great little video and amazing composure. I think that, if I had that close a call, I'd have lifted up and sat down for a minute.