Remote Landing and Launching

[GadgetGuy]

Our RA doesn’t cover landing on telephone poles. I certainly wouldn’t authorise this with our aircraft. The landing area has to be a 1 meter diameter flat space. Pilots who train for this have to do 25 approaches into a 3 meter concrete pad before than can reduce to the minimum landing area of 1 meter

Good training. With 1 meter across to work with, the landing gear would definitely help. The inability to yaw the camera when landed would limit the flexibility of the stealth video. With the only gimbal control being elevation, I was figuring on a perch not much larger than the width of the skids, so you can look down, as well as level. Landing on the edge of a 1 meter pad might still work though, to point the camera down over the edge, out of view from below.

 

[Jammer]

The 360 camera is the ticket

 

[GadgetGuy]

The 360 camera is the ticket

Hmmm...so now I am really intrigued! Using aftermarket cameras that could even be left behind, to continue their surreptitious recording, after the drone returns home, broadcasting via wifi, until their batteries died. Great way to mount a remote video camera!

 

[Jammer]

Yep - with audio and solar power....

 

[Jammer]

This is great for environmental work. You can position a tiny wildlife camera discreetly and leave it there for 3 days. Picking it up again takes practice but the system works...

 

[African wildlife]

007: Just to add perspective to my comments above. We've never taken off from a level landing site such as a car park or pavement/sidewalk. Yes, we use an old heavy duty cloth tarpaulin over the ground to protect the drone, and use the "best" spot in the immediate vicinity, but the ground underneath is natural - as different from man-made - and within a rough mountainous terrain. To us, this is "normal" and so I suggest relevant to what you're trying to do.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Lets say you land on something full of metal you may get an IMU error because the compass has gone nuts which results in no takeoff.
Lets say you land somewhere cold and don't take off for a little while, it may deny takeoff because your battery temp is too low.
Lets say you land somewhere and DJI pushes an urgent update, fingers crossed you still have battery to takeoff.
Lets say DJI updates no fly zones...
Lets say your drone starts sliding, no takeoff due to movement error or tilt error
etc

All valid concerns to be sure but, I believe most/all of those concerns could be assessed & addressed by an initial scouting run prior to the actual mission. At least, that's what I'd do. Just my two cents.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

Currently I’m working on a video project which includes a remote landing and launching scene (on a cliff edge). I think it's good to practice a bit beforehand. It was raining and I had to be quick (you’ll see a rough landing). The entire video is one continuous shot, except last scene. There was no spotters and I didn’t use goggles. Do you have any suggestion on remote landing and launching?

Remote landing are becoming more popular as more people are attempting longer flights and emergency landing are part of that.

One of are clients sent this in and she is geared up for remote landings notice the New improved Tile app with a range of 200 ft and a new beep stating that it is water proof.
Take a look at the extra landing gear , Tile and Wet Suit ready for anything including an overnight stay in a downpour.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Remote landing are becoming more popular as more people are attempting longer flights and emergency landing are part of that.

One of are clients sent this in and she is geared up for remote landings notice the New improved Tile app with a range of 200 ft and a new beep stating that it is water proof.
Take a look at the extra landing gear , Tile and Wet Suit ready for anything including an overnight stay in a downpour.
View attachment 96396 View attachment 96397

Remote landings are a natural result of accidentally flying too far, or intentional one way flights. However, it is the remote launching from afar, thereafter, that is tricky! You can easily safely land on a hospitable surface out of signal range when you drop below your LOS, as the aircraft will either land or hover until the battery forces a landing. Relaunching beyond LOS is impossible. Hence the challenge of the thread: Land remotely, power down, continue recording, then eventually power up remotely, and still fly home.

 

[OOO]

Remote landings are a natural result of accidentally flying too far, or intentional one way flights. However, it is the remote launching from afar, thereafter, that is tricky! You can easily safely land on a hospitable surface out of signal range when you drop below your LOS, as the aircraft will either land or hover until the battery forces a landing. Relaunching beyond LOS is impossible. Hence the challenge of the thread: Land remotely, power down, continue recording, then eventually power up remotely, and still fly home.

I understand your concerns but it is not that complicated, at least for me.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I understand your concerns but it is not that complicated, at least for me.

Are you suggesting that you can land beyond LOS, power off, and then power back up, and relaunch remotely? Otherwise, it's easy!

 

[OOO]

Are you suggesting that you can land beyond LOS, power off, and then power back up, and relaunch remotely? Otherwise, it's easy!

I always keep the drone in LOS not only for remote landing but for all my flights! Thus flying beyond the LOS is not an issue for me. Regarding with remote landing and launching, if the drone is not in ATTI mode and signal transmission is good it is relatively easy to land and relaunch remotely. BTW I always use landing gear extensions for this type of flights.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I always keep the drone in LOS not only for remote landing but for all my flights! Thus flying beyond the LOS is not an issue for me. Regarding with remote landing and launching, if the drone is not in ATTI mode and signal transmission is good it is relatively easy to land and relaunch remotely. BTW I always use landing gear extensions for this type of flights.

Good. Just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed something.
In the emergency landing situation, LOS is often lost during the landing, as one lands below LOS, which would prevent relaunching remotely.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Read this quote in an article on using a drone in an active shooter situation in a big box store.

"Additionally, the UAS would have been a good tool to fly into a blind spot on the store cameras, land on an upper shelf rack, and just use the video feed of the visual and thermal cameras while the UAS quietly sat there."

Sounds exactly like what we have been talking about!

Active Shooter Drone Flight Training and Video: Unexpected Outcome

 

[OOO]

Read this quote in an article on using a drone in an active shooter situation in a big box store.

"Additionally, the UAS would have been a good tool to fly into a blind spot on the store cameras, land on an upper shelf rack, and just use the video feed of the visual and thermal cameras while the UAS quietly sat there."

Sounds exactly like what we have been talking about!

Active Shooter Drone Flight Training and Video: Unexpected Outcome

I fly in ATTI mode almost in all my flights. In closed areas it is impossible to keep the drone stable for a long time if they fly in ATTI mode. IMO this project won’t work for most of the situations.

Edit:
I’m not aware of any other technologies that keep the drone stable other than GPS. If there is, then it is possible to fly and keep the drone stable in such places.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I fly in ATTI mode almost in all my flights. In closed areas it is impossible to keep the drone stable for a long time if they fly in ATTI mode. IMO this project won’t work for most of the situations.

Edit:
I’m not aware of any other technologies that keep the drone stable other than GPS. If there is, then it is possible to fly and keep the drone stable in such places.

Indeed. VPS is the best stabilizer indoors, when GPS is weak. P-GPS will revert to ATTI automatically when GPS isn't available. ATTI mode only stabilizes elevation, and is therefore the most difficult flying mode, as there is no position hold or braking, and the drone moves with the wind and any remaining inertia, when you let off the sticks. P mode with VPS will enable the perching of the drone on a shelf, to use it as a silent video surveilance device in an active shooter situation in a big box store, once placed and powered down. Alternatively, the noise generated during an attempted landing will act like a flash bang grenade and distract the shooter, while SWAT moves in on him, like in the article!

 

[OOO]

Indeed. VPS is the best stabilizer indoors, when GPS is weak. P-GPS will revert to ATTI automatically when GPS isn't available. ATTI mode only stabilizes elevation, and is therefore the most difficult flying mode, as there is no position hold or braking, and the drone moves with the wind and any remaining inertia, when you let off the sticks. P mode with VPS will enable the perching of the drone on a shelf, to use it as a silent video surveilance device in an active shooter situation in a big box store, once placed and powered down. Alternatively, the noise generated during an attempted landing will act like a flash bang grenade and distract the shooter, while SWAT moves in on him, like in the article!

I agree, but if you don’t have GPS signal (zero satellite) in store then VPS only can’t keep the drone stable. When I fly in tight places (in caves, narrow canyons) without GPS signal VPS makes it even worse. Thus, when I fly in such places I always turn VPS off. These are just my observations. I’m not a tech guy and I maybe wrong. Can I just say my 2 cents for this situation (Eng is my second language)

 

[GadgetGuy]

I agree, but if you don’t have GPS signal (zero satellite) in store then VPS only can’t keep the drone stable. When I fly in tight places (in caves, narrow canyons) without GPS signal VPS makes it even worse. Thus, when I fly in such places I always turn VPS off. These are just my observations. I’m not a tech guy and I maybe wrong. Can I just say my 2 cents for this situation (Eng is my second language)

VPS (Vision Positioning System) is camera based, and requires sufficient illumination for the cameras and a visible pattern on the ground to hold position. In caves and narrow canyons, there may not be enough light or a clear enough ground pattern to hold position.