Secondary Homing Beacon

Fonyx14 · Jan 12, 2016

Has anyone put a thought into a secondary autopilot landing? Is it possible to have a "mobile" landing point?

erikgraham · Jan 12, 2016

Fonyx14 said:
Has anyone put a thought into a secondary autopilot landing? Is it possible to have a "mobile" landing point?

Kind of. I've flown a mission in Tower where it takes off one location and lands in another. You have to adjust the params to disable RTL when it looses connection with the controller.

For example, one time I programmed a route along a river. We sent the drone on it's way, jumped in the truck and sped to the end point of the mission so the controller would be in range, waited for the drone to arrive, took over and landed it right next to us. Everything was perfect... until we realized we'd forgotten to start recording.

Fonyx14 · Jan 12, 2016

There is nothing worse than not recording! Actually, the next step in the start up process should be:

Once your set up and ready to boot up:
Start up order..
GoPro
Controller
Solo
After controller/solo are booted--connect solo wifi to device
open solo app
START RECORDING
Fly, Fly Away

erikgraham · Jan 12, 2016

Fonyx14 said:
There is nothing worse than not recording! Actually, the next step in the start up process should be:

Once your set up and ready to boot up:
Start up order..
GoPro
Controller
Solo
After controller/solo are booted--connect solo wifi to device
open solo app
START RECORDING
Fly, Fly Away

Well that particular instance was with an Iris, where you had to start rolling on the GoPro manually - before you powered on anything because the gimbal was so sensitive. We lost the light that day and never had a chance to get that shot again.

Maddog · Jan 12, 2016

Fonyx14 said:
Has anyone put a thought into a secondary autopilot landing? Is it possible to have a "mobile" landing point?

Well, if your talking about an autonomous flight, your drone would need the coordinates of the landing point in advance. If the landing point is mobile how would you give the drone the new coordinates at the right time so it could land? I think you would need to get it "in the ballpark" and take over manually like @erikgraham just described.

If your talking about a landing point that is moving while the drone is landing you probably need to talk to NASA. Or maybe a naval aviator..or my dentist..not sure on this one...

Maddog · Jan 12, 2016

erikgraham said:
Kind of. I've flown a mission in Tower where it takes off one location and lands in another. You have to adjust the params to disable RTL when it looses connection with the controller.

For example, one time I programmed a route along a river. We sent the drone on it's way, jumped in the truck and sped to the end point of the mission so the controller would be in range, waited for the drone to arrive, took over and landed it right next to us. Everything was perfect... until we realized we'd forgotten to start recording.

Now that's funny! Reminds me of a Hogans Heros episode where they went to great trouble to photograph something. They get back to the barrack and Carter opens the camera and discovers he forgot to put film in it.

Chuck · Jan 12, 2016

A Hogan's Hero fan. Man, I knew there was something about you I liked.....

Maddog · Jan 12, 2016

Chuck said:
A Hogan's Hero fan. Man, I knew there was something about you I liked.....

Yep- 12 O'clock High, M*A*S*H, oldies but goodies!

Chuck · Jan 12, 2016

I hear ya, man. Can't beat 'em.

erikgraham · Jan 12, 2016

Maddog said:
If your talking about a landing point that is moving while the drone is landing you probably need to talk to NASA. Or maybe a naval aviator..or my dentist..not sure on this one...

Exactly. But there is one other thing I do a lot that's kinda sorta a mobile landing. When I'm getting ready to wrap things up I'll frequently turn on follow-me and guide the Solo to the landing site by hiking out to a clearing, or even driving out to an open area. In the end I always take over and land myself.

Maddog · Jan 13, 2016

erikgraham said:
Exactly. But there is one other thing I do a lot that's kinda sorta a mobile landing. When I'm getting ready to wrap things up I'll frequently turn on follow-me and guide the Solo to the landing site by hiking out to a clearing, or even driving out to an open area. In the end I always take over and land myself.

I was kind of envisioning landing in the back of a pickup truck driving down the road.

Jubalr · Jan 13, 2016

Fonyx14 said:
Has anyone put a thought into a secondary autopilot landing? Is it possible to have a "mobile" landing point?

In a sense, yes. Using Tower you could use 'Guided' mode while flying. Point to your landing point on the map. Solo will fly there and hover. You can then use the 'Land' button in Tower. You would just need to be sure of your landing spot, like a good size open area.